W/2000 server and multiple applications

This isn't a simple yes or no answer. While the power and storage capacity of present servers greatly outstrips those of days gone by, the true answer still remains "it depends." While Win2k is more efficient and more stable than NT, it still comes down to system design.

Whether to specialize servers or consolidate will depend on the applications to be be run and the number of users that will access these applications.

Many applications by default will use all available CPU cycles and memory as a normal means of operation. Putting several such applications on a single server could lead to problems.

Putting several applications with large user bases on a single server can lead to I/O bottlenecks (depending on the storage technology used).

You need to look at the following before making any decision:

How many users will be accessing a given application?
How does the application use system resources?
What is the size of the files the application manipulates?

Hope this helps.

I like answer #1, it is well written and exactly correct. The architecture of W2K is oriented to run more applications simultaneously, and more stablely than it's MS predecessors. It also depends on what type of application you are running 16-bit, 32-bit, etc. But that is only 1 of many concerns you must access.

In addition to the items listed in answer #1, also consider the capacity of through-put of the NIC(s) installed, and the network segment it is connected to.

Consider the scope of users affected if any given server service were down, and partion downtime to clients accordingly. Typically, the cost of running multiple servers is significantly lower than the cost of employees not being able to work.

This question was closed by the author