General discussion

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #2175640

    best purchase for an institute server?

    Locked

    by icelemon ·

    we are going to run a small animation institute with 10 computers (normal graphic workstations)
    we like to hook them to this main server where it provides each of students 5GB of storage for storing their art work
    as well it will be used to store a large amount of traffic forum
    so apart from having to have a large diskspace
    what is the best solution for purchasing a server?
    please direct me to the right direction with brand,specification..etc, thanks!

All Comments

  • Author
    Replies
    • #3331370

      Reply To: best purchase for an institute server?

      by wlbowers ·

      In reply to best purchase for an institute server?

      Call Dell or HP in that order and get prices.

      Dell will sell with or without software.

      Poweredge 800
      P4 2.8 for the processor.
      As much ram as you can afford. 2gig minimum.
      Minimum dual 160gig SATA drives. This will allow you to mirror the drives.

      2003 server software. You will need to purchase 5 additional cals. (client license) 5 come with the software.

      Good Luck

      Lee

      • #3347236

        Reply To: best purchase for an institute server?

        by icelemon ·

        In reply to Reply To: best purchase for an institute server?

        icelemon :
        thanks for your suggestion, im appreciated but is Dell really a thumb up these day? their customer service in UK disppointed me badly as well the quality of their notebook is a two thumbs down haha, still thanks for you suggestion! 😉

    • #3331324

      Reply To: best purchase for an institute server?

      by sgt_shultz ·

      In reply to best purchase for an institute server?

      please, define: ‘traffic forum’
      wonder who will be servicing/maintaining this server/these workstations? ask that person for input on purchases?
      Dell is decently solid server hardware and excellent web-based support. minutes to locate exact info and drivers for any dell server. i love that.
      if i understand, you want the server to function as a domain controller (AD, wins, dns, dhcp) and a file server. other needs? hosting internet website(s)?. internal email? backup the students 50gb of data onto tape or an external drive(s) or locally to each workstation? does (10) workstations allow for growth? might that number increase.
      you want to figure out your drives. you start with as complete as possible list of what the server must do. out of hat suggestion: 2 mirrored system drives on one controller and 3 (or more if can afford) striped data drives that add up to 200gb or so on 2nd controller. with tape backup drive on third controller. and floppy drive so you can set up windows 2003 svr for automated system recovery. firewire ports or add them. cdrom drive. dual processors. dual nics. dual power supplies for goodness sakes.
      if you are on a budget, visit the dell outlet on their website where you can get deals on refurbished servers, lets you get good stuff you otherwise couldn’t afford. especially if you can take a rack mount.
      have you thought about rackmount? very nice. buy rails for rack mounting the server when you buy it btw. you can buy everything to rack mount: UPS, power distribution, lightning/surge suppression. fans, keyboard shelf, monitor shelf.
      i guess a refurb like that will cost about $4500 plus extra licenses for win2003 svr which dell can sell you. plus the ups.
      if you are starting up and have some money in the budget i would spend it on the best and longest on-site dell service plan they had. with expiration date and dell phone number plastered all over the server room. pay for itself with one use and probability of one use is very high imho

      • #3331320

        Reply To: best purchase for an institute server?

        by sgt_shultz ·

        In reply to Reply To: best purchase for an institute server?

        no, i don’t have stock in Dell. wish i did.
        my ibm server is rock solid.
        compaq used to be great but who knows now?
        never saw their server hardware. worked on too many walmart hp desktops.
        i visit web support and ask for pre-sales tech support when i am trying to decide how to buy.
        you can get lots of great free advice from all the main brands server salesman in this process. they are trained and if they you sell too much hardware. well, i just don’t think it’s possible…(rdl)

      • #3347237

        Reply To: best purchase for an institute server?

        by icelemon ·

        In reply to Reply To: best purchase for an institute server?

        icelemon :
        we are going to open an animation institute soon, in order to expand the business in the future we are also considering purchasing a server to sponsor a large 3d-community forum in taiwan, so apart from “we” i am very thankful for your suggestions, cheers!

    • #3347235

      Reply To: best purchase for an institute server?

      by icelemon ·

      In reply to best purchase for an institute server?

      This question was closed by the author

Viewing 2 reply threads