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Possible server upgrade/replacement?

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  • Servers
  • Business Computing
Last response: in Business Computing
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January 26, 2014 11:57:59 AM

I currently have a dell power edge 2900 running 2 Intuit point of sale systems. There are two workstations with one copy of pos on each and one computer with both on it. (we are two buisnesses on the same server). There are more computers on the system, but they do not interact with the server. The poweredge is getting to be a little slow, and has server 2003 on it. Instead of upgrading the os, i was considering a new server because this one costs about a dollar a day to run and i believe i may get away with a smaller system. I am not an expert,however i did network our building, and built all of our workststions. someone please advise. one other thing to consider, is that i hope to be able to one day back up offsite to my home automatically. Thank you so much in advance.

More about : server upgrade replacement

January 26, 2014 4:31:06 PM

Given the age of the server, I'd probably recommend replacing the server to a new unit as well. Not just because it may be much more cost efficient, but because of compatibility and support. Newer generation operating systems may not be supported on the older generation servers, so if you need to update software for compatibility, you may run into issues with compatible operating systems, drivers, hardware features, etc. It doesn't sound like you have a huge amount of demand on your server, either, but you may consider if there are other things you can utilize your server for and plan accordingly. For example, you have your application server, but what about network storage? Do you have files that you'd like to centralize and share? What about video camera storage for an IP camera system, or a domain controller? You can add multiple virtual machines to help solve many needs and server several different roles all on one physical set of hardware. But you want to plan ahead, as if you only get the minimum hardware to fit your current needs, it may not grow to accommodate future expansion or needs if you decide to add in the future.
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January 26, 2014 4:46:10 PM

choucove said:
Given the age of the server, I'd probably recommend replacing the server to a new unit as well. Not just because it may be much more cost efficient, but because of compatibility and support. Newer generation operating systems may not be supported on the older generation servers, so if you need to update software for compatibility, you may run into issues with compatible operating systems, drivers, hardware features, etc. It doesn't sound like you have a huge amount of demand on your server, either, but you may consider if there are other things you can utilize your server for and plan accordingly. For example, you have your application server, but what about network storage? Do you have files that you'd like to centralize and share? What about video camera storage for an IP camera system, or a domain controller? You can add multiple virtual machines to help solve many needs and server several different roles all on one physical set of hardware. But you want to plan ahead, as if you only get the minimum hardware to fit your current needs, it may not grow to accommodate future expansion or needs if you decide to add in the future.


You are correct, i dont believe we use the server to its potential, that is why im not sure what to get as a server. Network storage is and most likely will never be an issue. We use dropbox for our shareables, simply because it integrates flawlessly with anrdroid, and we will never have the need for ip cams or any other large storage. We simply use it for the pos applications. and most likely will for the foreseeable future
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January 27, 2014 9:23:27 AM

Given that, I might suggest looking into a single processor server such as the HP ProLiant ML310e servers, or if you have rackmount options something similar to that. These servers offer a broad range, from a dual-core Core i3 processor to quad-core hyper-threaded Xeon processors. I would recommend at least going with a quad-core processor to give you some future growth if needed just in case, and the price difference between the dual-core Core i3 pre-configured models and the quad-core Xeon models is quite little. These servers also support up to 32 GB of memory. I'd suggest 8 GB to 16 GB for what you are doing, and ideally utilize virtualization for your server to help improve disaster recovery or ease of management.

This specific server also comes standard with an onboard software Dynamic SmartArray B120i SATA RAID controller. It does offer pretty good performance, especially for a light demand workload, but I might suggest seeing if you can purchase a dedicated RAID controller such as the SmartArray P410 or P420 as it may offer greather throughput for database systems like this as well as improved fault tolerance and stability. It does cost more but is just an option to add if you wish.

Again, you can go with whatever brands you wish, Dell also has similar models and configurations available, I'm just personally more used to and work more with the HP systems so that is what I know to make recommendations on. Let me know if you have further questions or need some more information.
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January 27, 2014 9:25:46 AM

choucove said:
Given that, I might suggest looking into a single processor server such as the HP ProLiant ML310e servers, or if you have rackmount options something similar to that. These servers offer a broad range, from a dual-core Core i3 processor to quad-core hyper-threaded Xeon processors. I would recommend at least going with a quad-core processor to give you some future growth if needed just in case, and the price difference between the dual-core Core i3 pre-configured models and the quad-core Xeon models is quite little. These servers also support up to 32 GB of memory. I'd suggest 8 GB to 16 GB for what you are doing, and ideally utilize virtualization for your server to help improve disaster recovery or ease of management.

This specific server also comes standard with an onboard software Dynamic SmartArray B120i SATA RAID controller. It does offer pretty good performance, especially for a light demand workload, but I might suggest seeing if you can purchase a dedicated RAID controller such as the SmartArray P410 or P420 as it may offer greather throughput for database systems like this as well as improved fault tolerance and stability. It does cost more but is just an option to add if you wish.

Again, you can go with whatever brands you wish, Dell also has similar models and configurations available, I'm just personally more used to and work more with the HP systems so that is what I know to make recommendations on. Let me know if you have further questions or need some more information.


Thank you so much for your help.
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February 22, 2014 11:41:19 AM

The server we use at our office is an Advatronix Cirrus 1200. We're a little bit smaller than you it looks like, we have one workstation and four computers, and we've been very happy with the server. It has a Xeon processor, is upgradeable to 32GB of RAM, and we had ours preconfigured with RAID 5.

It has a small footprint (much smaller than that 5U monster you currently have) and it is as quiet as a regular desktop computer so you can put it anywhere. It is also very power efficient so it doesn’t cost very much at all to operate.

The performance is good too and you probably wouldn’t have to worry about upgrading again for another five years at least. It comes with 12 hard drives which might seem like a lot but if you look at it as a long term thing where you buy it once and then don’t have to worry about it for years, it makes sense.

And lastly, if you wanted you could hook up the other computers you said were in the office to the server and manage them that way (automated updates and backups, things like that.) you'd be able to do that.

If you’d like to check it out its at http://www.advatronix.com/products/CU1200/Tech_Specs.ph...
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