New Server

A pentium MMX 200 Mhz with 128 ram serves 15 connections as good as Woodcrest. you don't need a super computer for that, take that money to Las Vegas and make it big.

,,

that's true... for a unix system.
For a windows system, an 800mhz and 512ram is enough for 15 connections i guess...

seriously, what are those 15 users gonna be? terminal services? file server? just a gateway?

currently we are using a p4 3.0 with 1G. It is working but it does seem a bit slow. We are also experiencing occasional crashing ... right now I think it is hardware issues more then anything. The P4 is only a desktop. I am hoping to not have to worry about this issue for a while and sustain a 5 X growth rate in 5 years. Every once in a while the system comes down to a crawl. Not sure why yet. Server is primarily a file server a this time. I still would like to know who makes the best servers?

well, i still think that your current server is enough for a file server for 15 people, even with a 5X increase, just need a hardware check or even windows reinstall, in my opinion... but anyway, as you asked, i think dell makes good servers at a reasonable price. Also, if you dont want to worry about performance, go for scsi drives.

now, if you want to spend zero money with no performance loss in the next 5 years, just install linux with samba in your current server. The slowdown is probably due to some virus/spyware or even windows itself. If you want to increase performance just add some drives and put on a raid or something.