First of all I want to say, this site is amazing. I have been a long time reader and fan of the site.
I was hoping for any assistance, ideas or recommendations from everyone. I am in the market to build a new office server.
HISTORY:
About the current(old) server, HP ML350g4p, circa 2005. 2 - 3.2 xeon single processors, 4 gigs of ram (MAXed out) and 5 - 74gb 15K ultra320 harddrives, 1 - Raid 5 array with 2 partitions, Boot and Data. Was an exchange server too until 2012 when it maxed out drive space and was offloaded to office365.
It is now operating at 33% free space for boot and 7% for data on the harddrives. I ordered and hotswapped 146gb 15k ultra320 into server to extend the array (this was to be a band-aid solution to get us through the busy season (TAX SEASON!)). Should be simple enough right? Unfortunately this server has never had a single update (by design) since it was setup by the original tech company, they hate updates. And I can not get HP's "System Management Homepage" to even load on localhost or remotely thought iLO. The "array utility" doesn't load. I went to the extent of updating using HP's updating program and still have had no luck with all updated drivers, firmwares and management programs. I've attempted to google a solution with no luck, just hundreds+ of others with the same problem, but most of them are in rack rooms and have master certifications with HP...tech company could not figure it out either. They referred me to someone I have yet to call tomorrow.
Our file cabinet program allows us to digitally store files replacing the need for paper copies in actual file cabinets. This being our busy season, this is what consumes our drive space for 11,000 clients.
Server runs a software by Thomson Reuters - CS Professional Suite, among a few others. UltraTax and Filecabinet being the 2 main programs. I did not set up this server, but as far as I can tell it is a file server for 3rd party software that uses SQL. The way it is currently managed, the programs are installed on server first and then on the other pc's using a "desktop" folder that the program installs on the server.
We built out a new office last summer so upgrading to a new server was out of the question last year, I wanted to virtualize with passthrough. Instead, I updated all the pc's from Pentium 4's running XP to i5's with windows 7 pro. Cost was $600 each, got to love ITX. We are now in a position to replace it the server. We were forced to do this because of office 365 with outlook...
Esxi Host:
VM 1: Since we have new computers we don't have a need to virtualize with passthrough at this time (I will do that next time). My plan was to build a ESXI platform and virtualize Windows Server 2003 and migrate the current sever to RAID 10 with 4 - 1TB drives SAS 7200rpm drives with SED. Until, I used the site calculator that recommends RAID 6, seems like a no brainer for array security. Thoughts on this? I am thinking the read speed on 7200rpm should still be higher performance than the old Ultra320. I think 320mb/s was its cap.
VM 2: After Server migration is up and running, I was going to virtualize another 2003 and attempt to actually install all updates and setup a fresh install of all programs nice and neat, backup and restore the client files into the new build. The software has this built-in. Go live for the office after it was completed to test stability and to become the new office file server.
VM 3: Oracle PBX Server...I want to try one of these out. If I can bring it in house we could PBX/Truck for $24.95 with our current VoIP provider, instead of 24.95 per line. I get the feeling this will be a fun setup!
VM 4: And finally, a 4th virtual to host my unraid server, which will have its own separate SATA drives. Should I buy a separate Raid card for my unraid to run SATA?
VM 5: Test Lab for Live Server for updates.
VM 6: I may try a 3rd virtual with ZFS file system with filesharing. I am not entirely sure this software can run without a windows install. I like the idea of parity checks and the other advantages that zfs has to offer. This would be in lieu of updating to Window Server 2008 or 2012.
In the end I should have 3 virtuals that will run at all times, and a 4th that would be a lab to test new windows updates for the main file server. I may run a virtual to test Server 2008 or 2012, but its not a priority atm.
Server:
Esxi 5.5
Intel E3-1245v3
Supermicro X10SLH-F-0
32 Gigs RAM Kingston ECC unbuffered
Raid Card(s) (TBD, so many choices!) Needs to support Encrypted Drives, I've been watching ebay for cheap LSI. Any advice on models would be greatly appreciated.
2 - SSD 128GB, mirror, Boot drive (PNY's)
4 - 1TB SAS SED 7200rpm Harddrives
1 - 4TB SATA 7200rpm - backup images for onsite and offsite file replication.
Case: Haven't decided, but thinking something that could host passthrough cards next time around. I am leaning towards NORCO 4220 - 6gb/s backplanes.
Eventually - Synology Onsite Backup to replace the TeraStation (Takes 6.5 hours to copy 124gig backup file)
Lenovo T140 i3, 8gb ram, 4 x 4tb SATA Offsite Server (Already up at my home)
Should I be ok with 3gb/s raid/backplanes? Or should I aim for 6gb/s (where I am at currently)? There is a Supermicro 24 hotswap case on ebay for $500 shipped currently but its backplanes are 3gb/s. Server 2003 does NOT support trim, should I be worried with SSD boot drives? My plan was to leave 20% unpartitioned.
I am curious as to what you guys think. What everyone prefers for backup software, onsite, etc?
I was hoping for any assistance, ideas or recommendations from everyone. I am in the market to build a new office server.
HISTORY:
About the current(old) server, HP ML350g4p, circa 2005. 2 - 3.2 xeon single processors, 4 gigs of ram (MAXed out) and 5 - 74gb 15K ultra320 harddrives, 1 - Raid 5 array with 2 partitions, Boot and Data. Was an exchange server too until 2012 when it maxed out drive space and was offloaded to office365.
It is now operating at 33% free space for boot and 7% for data on the harddrives. I ordered and hotswapped 146gb 15k ultra320 into server to extend the array (this was to be a band-aid solution to get us through the busy season (TAX SEASON!)). Should be simple enough right? Unfortunately this server has never had a single update (by design) since it was setup by the original tech company, they hate updates. And I can not get HP's "System Management Homepage" to even load on localhost or remotely thought iLO. The "array utility" doesn't load. I went to the extent of updating using HP's updating program and still have had no luck with all updated drivers, firmwares and management programs. I've attempted to google a solution with no luck, just hundreds+ of others with the same problem, but most of them are in rack rooms and have master certifications with HP...tech company could not figure it out either. They referred me to someone I have yet to call tomorrow.
Our file cabinet program allows us to digitally store files replacing the need for paper copies in actual file cabinets. This being our busy season, this is what consumes our drive space for 11,000 clients.
Server runs a software by Thomson Reuters - CS Professional Suite, among a few others. UltraTax and Filecabinet being the 2 main programs. I did not set up this server, but as far as I can tell it is a file server for 3rd party software that uses SQL. The way it is currently managed, the programs are installed on server first and then on the other pc's using a "desktop" folder that the program installs on the server.
We built out a new office last summer so upgrading to a new server was out of the question last year, I wanted to virtualize with passthrough. Instead, I updated all the pc's from Pentium 4's running XP to i5's with windows 7 pro. Cost was $600 each, got to love ITX. We are now in a position to replace it the server. We were forced to do this because of office 365 with outlook...
Esxi Host:
VM 1: Since we have new computers we don't have a need to virtualize with passthrough at this time (I will do that next time). My plan was to build a ESXI platform and virtualize Windows Server 2003 and migrate the current sever to RAID 10 with 4 - 1TB drives SAS 7200rpm drives with SED. Until, I used the site calculator that recommends RAID 6, seems like a no brainer for array security. Thoughts on this? I am thinking the read speed on 7200rpm should still be higher performance than the old Ultra320. I think 320mb/s was its cap.
VM 2: After Server migration is up and running, I was going to virtualize another 2003 and attempt to actually install all updates and setup a fresh install of all programs nice and neat, backup and restore the client files into the new build. The software has this built-in. Go live for the office after it was completed to test stability and to become the new office file server.
VM 3: Oracle PBX Server...I want to try one of these out. If I can bring it in house we could PBX/Truck for $24.95 with our current VoIP provider, instead of 24.95 per line. I get the feeling this will be a fun setup!
VM 4: And finally, a 4th virtual to host my unraid server, which will have its own separate SATA drives. Should I buy a separate Raid card for my unraid to run SATA?
VM 5: Test Lab for Live Server for updates.
VM 6: I may try a 3rd virtual with ZFS file system with filesharing. I am not entirely sure this software can run without a windows install. I like the idea of parity checks and the other advantages that zfs has to offer. This would be in lieu of updating to Window Server 2008 or 2012.
In the end I should have 3 virtuals that will run at all times, and a 4th that would be a lab to test new windows updates for the main file server. I may run a virtual to test Server 2008 or 2012, but its not a priority atm.
Server:
Esxi 5.5
Intel E3-1245v3
Supermicro X10SLH-F-0
32 Gigs RAM Kingston ECC unbuffered
Raid Card(s) (TBD, so many choices!) Needs to support Encrypted Drives, I've been watching ebay for cheap LSI. Any advice on models would be greatly appreciated.
2 - SSD 128GB, mirror, Boot drive (PNY's)
4 - 1TB SAS SED 7200rpm Harddrives
1 - 4TB SATA 7200rpm - backup images for onsite and offsite file replication.
Case: Haven't decided, but thinking something that could host passthrough cards next time around. I am leaning towards NORCO 4220 - 6gb/s backplanes.
Eventually - Synology Onsite Backup to replace the TeraStation (Takes 6.5 hours to copy 124gig backup file)
Lenovo T140 i3, 8gb ram, 4 x 4tb SATA Offsite Server (Already up at my home)
Should I be ok with 3gb/s raid/backplanes? Or should I aim for 6gb/s (where I am at currently)? There is a Supermicro 24 hotswap case on ebay for $500 shipped currently but its backplanes are 3gb/s. Server 2003 does NOT support trim, should I be worried with SSD boot drives? My plan was to leave 20% unpartitioned.
I am curious as to what you guys think. What everyone prefers for backup software, onsite, etc?
Last edited: