New Network Setup Specs

[Gben 20]

Hi I have a friend (Chartered Accountant) who needs to upgrade his computers because the latest industry software is removing support for Win2000 which is his current operating system. He strongly follows the "if it ain't broke... don't fix it!" Heh, he actually is a bit Aimish in his attitudes to even 'updates' for *any* software. Anyway time waits for no man, and his hand has been forced.... time to upgrade.

 

He needs a new fileserver and 5 workstations.

 

He tech guy has made this quote for him, and I'm wondering if there is any obvious omissions, or if you have better suggestions?

 

My main requirements are reliability & speed.

I want to future proof the server at least, for speed for say 3-5 years ahead, and for MS & MYOB software support certification.

The reason we are forced to upgrade now is that the new MYOB tax 2009 software will not work on our Win 2000 server.

Zelko

 

Here is a suggested new workstation:

 

Next one would be the Quad Core 2.66Ghz which would add $479.00 inc to the price of each. These would be equivalent to about a P4 6Ghz.

 

- HP dc5800 Dual Core 2.9Ghz with 2Gb RAM, 250Gb Hard Drive, DVD Burner, Gigabit Network Interface, Small Form Factor Case, Vista Business Operating System with XP Professional Operating System Licence, 3 Year Next Day HP Onsite Warranty.

Total $1,121.00 inc gst each

 

- Microsoft Office 2007 Small Business Edition Licence $385.00 inc gst each

- MYOB/Sol6 recommends 3 Gb CPU and over 1 Gb RAM for the Viztopia program.

 

Server SPECS:

 

SAS Disk Version $7,545.00 ex gst

 

Hewlett Packard ML 350G5 Server with Xeon Quad Core 2.5Ghz CPU, 4Gb RAM, 4 x 146Gb SAS Drives in RAID5 format with hot spare, RAID Controller, Gigabit Network Port, Redundant Power Supply, Windows 2003 Standard Server Operating System with 10 Client Access Licences, 3 Year Next Day HP onsite Warranty.

Uninterruptible Power Supply $850.00 ex gst

 

Backup System $2,726.00 ex gst

 

Quantum LTO2 200/400Gb Internal SCSI Tape Drive with Controller + Cleaning Tape + 10 Backup Tapes + BackupExec Server Software.

 

New Firewall $680.00 ex gst

This is required to accommodate the Exchange Server and provided added protection against internet threats and provides the VPN (virtual private network) connection for the remote users

 

 

All prices in Australian dollars.

GST = TAX or plus 10%.

[Johnnyxp64 20]

Hi I have a friend (Chartered Accountant) who needs to upgrade his computers because the latest industry software is removing support for Win2000 which is his current operating system. He strongly follows the "if it ain't broke... don't fix it!" Heh, he actually is a bit Aimish in his attitudes to even 'updates' for *any* software. Anyway time waits for no man, and his hand has been forced.... time to upgrade.

 

He needs a new fileserver and 5 workstations.

 

He tech guy has made this quote for him, and I'm wondering if there is any obvious omissions, or if you have better suggestions?

 

 

All prices in Australian dollars.

GST = TAX or plus 10%.

 

ok because i dont have right now the time to go to ext ream details and explanation, i find the offer besides expensive and also a little bit unbalanced!

 

 

what i mean is that the workstation is close to the server specs besides the SAS disks! and also both workstation and specially server are low on ram!

if you talk about future speed and stability, you dont buy only 2gbytes of ram for a server! no way!

 

 

so to sum up

i dont know which brand they would prefer but i personally even for serious and bussiness companies i DONT like OEM systems, they are too expensive jsut in case they are broke you will have a warranty and they are performing less than a build in PC!

 

so my suggestion to your friend is dont pay That much attention to the CPU power its useless with out RAM!

and if the application isnt specially build for multicore systems again its a waste of money to go for 4 cores in workstation or 3.0gz dual core! no way.

 

this is what i build for a similar situation 1 File / Application / Database Server and 5 workstation for a medioum - big Medical Company that i support.

 

defenetly a 100/1000HUB and upgrade all the LAN cable to cat5 FTP

and i have only 1 WS having internet in a totally other network, i dont want to mess with internet viruses, so if its a "serious" company what ws needs internet must not have a "direct" connection with the Server network!

 

Workstations:

Intel Dual Cores 2.6 - 2.8 with 1066 buss

DDR2 RAM 3Gbytes at 800-1066mhz (DC)

Gigabyte Motherboard with P35 chipset and Onboard VGA (they will have PCI-X for later upgrades)

HDD Western Digital 250GB sata2.

1000MB Lan

HD sound

lots of usb (gigabyte has that)

 

those workstations can be upgraded if needed easily, they have a stable and powerfull p35 schipset that will even support i-core7 and a damn stable LAN connection

and fast responce. great quality with solid capasitors low power consumsion and small to feet in a prety medium Case.

 

 

for Server

Quad Core 2.8 - 3.0 Ghz (no need for Xeons just a good quad core with lots of L2 cache)

8Gbyte of DDR2 at 800-1066 (dual channel always)

Gigabyte Motherboard P35 chipset WITH RAID support too for SAS and MIRRORING and STRIPE!

if not an onboard VGA then what ever you want GF 9500 would be ok.

4 HDD drivers WD 2x250GB in STRIPE for Application NOT data

and 2x WD 500GB each in Mirror Raid for DATA

2 LAN cards 10/100/1000

 

and you should get a spare Mobo for your SERVER just in case.

 

the total amount of money would be more than half down to what was suggested and you will have a spare part for the ONLY critical server part that in case it fails you can replace it in a min and Boom, your OS will be back again with no formats and running, untill you get the "bad" part replace and store it back.

 

the trick to performance isnt power its tweaking and choose hardware parts that work Great together, and in my expiriance i found what parts work well fast and stable and i prefer to build them all insted of buying it ready for HP or Dell or whet ever because those machine cost a fortune for nothing special and when they get burned they cost damn too much cause they demand "special" hardware to be replaced with! special Rams special HDD tha cost a LOT.

 

Customer even the most big one DONT want to spent money that are just for a Brand! who care if its a brand and blows up and costs 1.000.000$ to be repaired.

 

think of it in the end there is MORE money to win for the work the IT guy will do insted of giving those money to HP.

 

also i would recomend for OS

 

Workstation Windows XP sp2 PRO

and for the server

Windows 2003 Standard x64 sp2 (if they can be found i think you can buy 2008 and downgrade)

 

if the IT guys really knows how to tweak them and build them, then you will have no problems at all time!

 

this approach works for me for more than 10 years now.

i buy brand servers and workstation ONLY if the customer is totally "stuck" with that and doesnt care about money, but most of them after an expensive "crash" they all say "damn Johnny you were right we should build PCs, now we have to rather wait for the extra part or pay a hell of a money to get it (IF still exists after 5 years!)" ;-)

 

the only thing that can not be easily replaced in a server is the mobo! get an extra and you are done for the next years! also i always have similar rams and vga parts in my other Workstation in case a Server after 5 years burns all of its RAMs and i cant find any fast enough i can take 1-2 rams for the workstation put it in the Server and ka-boom Back on line in no time!

 

the key word to a successful network setup is "FLEXIBILITY"

 

 

p.s damn that was long i hope you got a coffee.

Edited August 2, 2009 by Johnnyxp64