Small Business Server Build

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ZanyLlama

ZanyLlama

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Oct 27, 2014
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Need to upgrade my small business server. I currently use it to run my agency (3-4 employees) and my home network. (5 users). Instead of going and buying a server, I wanted to look into building one. I have built computers before, so that is not an issue. The quick part list I put together was this: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/ZanyLlama/saved/MfzWGX

SSD is for boot drive
Either running 2 x RAID 0 - 2 x 1TB drives (one RAID array for business, one for family)
One RAID 10 or 0 - 4x 1tb drives then partition.
- What would by best option be for the drive configuration? It's essential they are backing up constantly (hence the RAID)

The network card should be able to run at 4 gb/s if I have 4 Ethernet cables connected to my router... correct?

I likely be reusing the PSU, case, optical drives, and GPU from my old server.

For the OS, I am planning on using this: http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Server-2012-Essentials/dp/B00GAIBC0I/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t
- Just to verify, this is the complete OS and I will be able to RDP at least 10 users?

Thanks for reading and I appreciate your input!
 
Solution
casper1973
A lot of issues to cover here.

#1 - Hard Drives
Western Digital Black drives are not designed for use in RAID. They don't have TLER enabled which is essential for a reliable RAID configuration. They aren't designed for 24/7 use either. Sticking with WD you need at least WD RED, or preferably WD RE4 drives.
PS - TLER isn't so much of an issue if you are using software RAID

#2 - RAID configuration
I would NEVER use RAID0 on a server. It's just too risky. One disk goes faulty and you loose it all. I think in your situation 2x RAID1 volumes would suit best. One Business, One Family.
Also, RAID should not be considered a backup!!! It won't save you from deleted/corrupted files, unbootable system, virus infections etc. You still need a...
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ZanyLlama

ZanyLlama

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Oct 27, 2014
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So I ended up switching to WD caviar black, since I've heard they're the most reliable, and for the sake of budget, went with 2 x 2TB drives instead. I also changed the SSD to a 240GB because I just heard you need at least 160GB for the OS
 
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casper1973

casper1973

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Dec 30, 2012
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A lot of issues to cover here.

#1 - Hard Drives
Western Digital Black drives are not designed for use in RAID. They don't have TLER enabled which is essential for a reliable RAID configuration. They aren't designed for 24/7 use either. Sticking with WD you need at least WD RED, or preferably WD RE4 drives.
PS - TLER isn't so much of an issue if you are using software RAID

#2 - RAID configuration
I would NEVER use RAID0 on a server. It's just too risky. One disk goes faulty and you loose it all. I think in your situation 2x RAID1 volumes would suit best. One Business, One Family.
Also, RAID should not be considered a backup!!! It won't save you from deleted/corrupted files, unbootable system, virus infections etc. You still need a good backup routine in place as well as RAID.
Extra: I would also consider using RAID1 for the OS with a 2nd SSD. After all if your OS goes down, everything goes down.

#3 - Hardware
All of your hardware is consumer grade. Server grade hardware isn't just a sales pitch - it has been designed and tested to run 24/7 while your consumer grade hardware is aimed at 'average use' which is 6-8 hours per day. This isn't to say your build won't work, just the reliability will be significantly lower that a system using actual server hardware.

#4 - Network card
You can't simply plug 4 Ethernet cables to your router and magically have a 4Gb connection. Your router/switch needs to support link aggregation, sometimes called bonding. Your average router will not support this. If it does, you need to configure this on both the server and the router/switch. With less than 10 employees this is huge overkill. A single gigabit link should be fine.


Server 2012 Essentials should be a good fit for your requirements. Just be aware it's limited to 25 users if you foresee any expansion. If you move up to Server 2012 Standard you will also have to purchase CAL's (Client Access Licence) for every user/device that connects to your server. This can add a significant amount to your cost.


Some recommendations:
I know you are looking to build your own, but have a look for pre-built servers that come bundled with 2012 Essentials. This saving along can make it worthwhile.

Change the CPU to an Xeon.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80644e51620v3


 
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ZanyLlama

ZanyLlama

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Oct 27, 2014
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So I took the advice on the HDDs and SSDs, and updates the list. I will probably end up doing raid 1 on the SSDs, and 10 on the HDDs. Can the motherboard support this RAID configuration, or would I need a RAID card for this?

I am aware I'm using consumer-grade parts, but this is a small business, and I'd rather not spend a whole lot of money for server-grade parts. As long as my data is safe and can be transferred fairly quickly, I'm satisfied.

I got rid of the network card, just going to use the integrated.

For the OS, I know you can have 25 Users RDP, but from what I've read, only 2 can RDP at the same time. Did I misread this, or would I have to buy more CALs to have more people (at least 3) RDP at once?

Why would I switch to a Xeon? I know they can consume less power, but I'd rather have the increased performance of an i7. Unless the ones you suggested are faster. In which case I'll switch.

P.S. I pay for my data to be backup up to a military-grade security facility that will send me copies of all my data, even if my house burns down.
 
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casper1973

casper1973

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I believe the 2 simultaneous connections relates to RDP sessions directly to the server. I'm assuming you want people to RDP to their own workstations in which case this shouldn't be an issue.

However to be honest CAL's have always confused me. I would wait on a second opinion on this.



The ones I suggested are actually slower. The reasoning is reliability and support for ECC RAM. However I forgot your board doesn't support ECC RAM anyway.



Awesome. Always good to know you have a fail-safe if everything else goes out the windows.
But also keep in mind it could be 1-2 days for that data to arrive/download. I'd also wan't something more accessible like an external HDD for quick restoration.

 
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ZanyLlama

ZanyLlama

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Oct 27, 2014
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Cool! So it looks like it's almost done. I'll have to figure out the CALs...

I'm a little confused by what you mean on that last part. By "that data" do you mean a replacement hard drive if one fails? I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say.

UPDATE 23 SECONDS LATER: Oooops, I misread the reply. This is actually foy my dad's agency, and he seems to like the way it's being backup right now, although I may end up using the HDDs from the old server in addition to a 1TB external drive for even more safety.
 
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