So, we are a small business (6 employees, 6 PCs), that is upgrading our trusty PowerEdge 840 that has lasted us 7 years. In all honesty I would stick with the 840, but my tech consultant is urging we upgrade due to expectant failure. We actually did have it crash on us about three weeks ago when (2) capacitors blew on the RAID board. It was an exceptionally hot weekend (a/c is off on weekends), and I honestly think that is why they blew.. Luckily, with help from Google, I quickly became some sort of electrical engineer, and learned that I could salvage some capacitors off an old computer (which I happened to have), provided they match up. Sure enough, some solder, and we were back up and running!
Anyway, long story short.. We had the 840 running exchange, and AD. We have a T100 that we acquired via a UPS infrastructure upgrade (as we use UPS to ship on a daily basis, and they were offering 'free' hardware with contracts, I took advantage) that acts as our application server. It runs our order management software, accounting software, etc.
So, with the new server, we are looking to go back to running exchange, continue running the AD, and maybe put our now SQL equipped order management software on there. Our consultant wants to run Acronis Backup w/Universal Restore, and plans to use the 840 as a failover server in the case we have a crash.
I am hoping to have another 7- year run with this unit, and would appreciate any insight you all might have. Here it is spec'd out below:
225-0883 1 PowerEdge T110 II Chassis with Cabled 3.5 Hard Drives
331-2391 1 Shipping Material, PowerEdge T110 II
317-2022 1 Memory for 1CPU Platform
319-1757 1 16GB Memory (4x4GB), 1600Mhz, Dual Ranked, Low Volt UDIMM (speed is CPU dependent)
319-0202 1 Intel Xeon E3-1230v2 3.30 GHz, 8M Cache, Turbo, Quad Core/8T (69W)
330-5552 1 PowerEdge T110 Heatsink
341-4158 1 HD Multi-Select
331-2398 1 H200 CBL, PowerEdge T110II for 3.5 Hard Drives
342-0729 1 PERC H200 Adapter RAID Controller
421-5256 1 MICROSOFT Small Business Server 2011, Standard, Factory Installed
430-2008 1 On Board network Adapter
313-7919 1 Baseboard Management Controller
313-9097 1 DVD+/-RW, SATA, INTERNAL
331-2399 1 ODD Cable, PowerEdge T110II
421-5277 1 1-Pack of Windows Small Business Server 2011 USER CALs (Standard)
331-2505 1 Electronic System Documentation and OpenManage DVD Kit
331-2618 1 Add-in SAS6iR or H200 (SAS/ SATA Controller), 2 Hard Drive - RAID 1
931-5387 1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty Plus On Site Service Initial Year
935-9418 1 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty Plus On Site Service Extended Year
951-2015 1 Dell ProSupport Plus. For tech support, visit
www.dell.com/prosupport/regionalcontacts
951-5875 1 ProSupport Plus: Next Business Day Onsite Service After Problem Diagnosis, Initial Year
951-5908 1 ProSupport Plus: Next Business Day Onsite Service After Problem Diagnosis, 4 Year Extended
951-5911 1 ProSupport Plus: 7x24 HW/SW Tech Support and Assistance, 5 Year
900-9997 1 On-Site Installation Declined
926-2979 1 Proactive Maintenance Service Declined
310-9057 1 No Power Cord
310-8509 1 Power Cord, NEMA 5-15P to C13, 15 amp, wall plug, 10 feet / 3 meter
331-0846 1 Optical Mouse, Two Buttons, USB, Black
331-2254 1 Dell QuietKey Keyboard, No Hot Keys, English, No Palmrest, ESG
421-5255 1 Microsoft Small Business Server 2011, Standard Edition with Media
342-2073 2 300GB 15K RPM SAS 6Gbps 3.5in Cabled Hard Drive
430-2008 1 On Board network Adapter
Any insight? Our consultant is also my best friend since pre-school, so I trust him to keep us safe and sound.. However, this server is coming in at $2,7xx, and in all honesty, I want to make sure it lasts us a good run. We do not have a budget, in both the good way, and the bad way. Good, because I get what I need, but bad, because where do you draw the line..? ;c)