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Servers - Hardware considerations for a low end server in a home business you
can use a normal computer if the workload is light. |
I have a motto - "Buy cheap, Get cheap!"
Servers - Hardware
considerations, how many processors, how much memory, hard drive space,
how many NIC's and services you will need to install to make your server functional in your
environment.
Most servers support more than one processor, some go as high as 64
processors (these high end servers cost as much as a house!)
Normally you would
want a server with dual or quad processors. When you have dual or quad
processors the server will be able to do more tasks faster. That is if the
server is a file server it will be able to send and receive, read and write
files faster. The name of the game for servers is speed, you don't want your
employees waiting on the server to open a file, you want them to be working on
the file.
Servers - Hardware considerations Introduction:
 Server memory is different from workstation memory, it has more controls on
how the memory is written to and retention of the data in memory, EEC
(Electronic Error Checking) is one of the most common types of memory for
servers.
Servers also have the facility for more memory than a workstation. Some
servers can accommodate up to a tetra byte (102,400,000,000 bytes) of memory,
that is 1024 gigs of memory, your workstation will bulk at more than 128 gig of
memory!
Server storage (hard drive space) is also different from workstation storage,
although the storage is becoming more aligned because of the SATA specification.
If you have a SATA drive in your workstation the same drive can be used in a
server, it is the way the drives are configured that is the key.
Legacy servers
use a drive specification called SCSI (Small Computer Serial
Interface) and
Legacy workstations used IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) the two type of
interfaces are not compatible, you need a different controller for each
interface. With SATA you have one specification.
 Sever services, when you decide what role the server will play in your
network design (you do have to have a network to use a server!) the role will
dictate what services you install. A Domain Controller for example will have to
have additional services either on the Domain Controller or an additional
support server, such as DNS, WINS, and DHCP.
So how do you figure out what your specifications for the server will be? By
the role the server will play in the overall scheme of the domain.
You wouldn't want to pay for 900 gig of storage in an RAID 5 configuration
for a DNS, WIN's, DHCP server, but you would want to have a dual or quad processors and
eight to sixteen gig's of memory.
Servers - Hardware considerations Implementation:
A small guide for server hardware:
File, Data Base, or application servers. These types of servers require large
quantities of storage. These servers will require more storage and a backup
solution to protect the data in case of a catastrophic failure. Depending on
your requirements the storage would run from 100 gig to many tetra bytes.
Domain Controllers, Web servers, and support serves such as a print server,
DNS, DHCP, or WIN's servers are more processor and memory intensive processes
and do not require huge amounts of storage, they do however require a backup
solution. Requirements vary but a starting point would be a dual processor(s) and
four gig's of memory.
Normal OS requirements for primary storage is 16 gig, but with all upgrades,
patches, and additional security that the OS will undergo over the span of
service I would recommend you start with a minimum of 36 gig, if you can afford
it 72 gig.
You will also want a secondary storage for the swap file, any data the server
will be using or creating such as data base programs that the Domain Controller
will create.
Before you buy and start your
Hardware considerations get more guidance from the Build a Server Guide.
A special server would be a Firewall server, this server would have a
firewall software solution and a proxy server software solution to keep your
network safe from cyber attack, this server does not have to be a high powered
server or have a large amount of storage. In addition to the router hardware
firewall solution this will enhance your networks security.
One last special server is the Multimedia server. The reason this is a
special server is that it requires large amounts of storage, memory, and
processing power. In addition to the storage, memory, and processors it requires
a higher video resolution than the normal server. Add to that some multimedia
applications require special optical devices.
Because each server will have multiple clients connecting to it for different
services you would want the response time to be as low as possible. Thus you
would want to have multiple NIC (Network Interface Card)
and the best solution is to have hardware teaming of these NIC's. The more NIC's
you have you can build in redundancy for failure and increase speed of incoming
and outgoing connections.
Note: Windows Server 2008 / 2014 / 2019 hardware requirements for memory and
processors will be higher. Partially due to the enhancements to security and
partially due to the increase in code those Operating Systems will have.
With that paragraph in mind ...
You can't expect an ERD that was made from a Operating System
that is over 10 years old to do the job on newer Operating Systems, you need to make a custom Emergency Repair Disk (ERD)
that is up to date... Check this out.
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