Servers
Servers for Small Business
Do you even need a server? Small Companies are increasingly using the Cloud to provide their server needs with Email, Databases and even File Storage options available but there is often a need for a local server and also concerns about where your data resides and who has access to it. There is also the problem of speed. Even a good FTTC connection is only 20Mbit upstream and we are used to 1Gbit networks for local file access so cloud storage feels slow and sluggish for all except the most basic use.
A small business will usually need a server to be the Active Directory Controller (ADC), File-Server, Backup Server for several systems, Database server and often several other functions such as controlling the Unified Wifi Access system.
We nearly always advocate the use of a Hypervisor these days and there are many choices but VMWare ESXi and Linux KVM remain the favourites. The Hypervisor allows you to run several Virtual Servers inside the same Hardware server and thus compartmentalise systems for security and reliability. (You don't want to have to get everyone out of the Sage accounts just so you can reboot the Domain Controller)
What to buy and how much to spend?
Servers are like Yachts, you can spend anything from a few hundred pounds right up to £12K for a 'Small Business Server' and even beyond if you get carried away.
Firstly we should consider what we want. Reliability, Speed, Value are all watchwords that people quote most often with Upgradability being another common request. (We will deal with upgradability separately later)
The first and foremost of these requests should be reliability and this is the reason that we always recommend using Server Grade hardware. It is possible to re-purpose an old PC to act as server and many companies get started this way but it is usually a compromise. Server hardware is designed (and warranted) to run 24x7 with the sort of loads that multiple users can generate.
Another aspect of reliability is being able to administer the server remotely at any time. Proper servers come with 'Baseband Control' which allows the administrator to switch them on and work on them from the ground up, even reloading the operating system if required. ILO or iDRAC as HP and Dell call them is a huge bonus and often means that a server can be fixed onsite, out of hours instead of being taken down during the working day or even taken offsite for fixing and updating.
Once you decide that you would like Baseband control you limit the servers you can buy to basically HP, Dell and SuperMicro.
Once a server is running, if it is kept cool and not knocked, it should run for years. If it can be kept dust free it will really be years and years. I have seen servers removed from datacentres where the airconditioned and filtered air has left he server looking like the day it was installed. On the other hand I have seen servers so full of dust that they overheated and stopped within 12 months.
In reasonable conditions the only parts of a server that are really vulnerable are the Power Supply Unit (PSU) and the Hard Disks. We have ways of giving both of these systems redundancy. We can buy a Twin PSU whereby if one of the PSUs fails then the other carries the full load and the system carries on until we can replace the dead PSU. Similarly with disks, we can use RAID to allow the server to continue even when a disk fails.
So what do you buy?
Right now it is hard to beat Dell. You phone them up, explain your specs, hope that they have a deal running and then order. Delivery is usually 2 or 3 weeks and prices start around £2000. But their prices are designed to catch out the unwary and you can easily get caught with only basic iDRAC Express or with a slow disk system like the PERC 310.
Realistically, you will need to spend £3000 or even a little more to get an off-the-shelf Dell server with the sensible requirements for a small company and we often see them at £4 to 5k for busy companies with room to grow.
Dell servers come with a 3 years warranty and although they don't like sending engineers out on-site they are very good at sending swap-out disks and PSUs if required.
If the ease and comfort of Dell come at too high a price we can build a server using an HP ML110 or SuperMicro chassis so we still get the advantage of ILO/KVM. Typically such a server will cost about £2400
to £2800 and will have Quad Core Xeon CPU, 32GB RAM, Mirrored 500Gb SSDs for speed and Mirrored 4TB HDDs for backup and archive.
If the budget is less than this we can sometimes find a special offer if we are not in a hurry or even pick up a used server which we then fit with brand new disks.
Upgradability.
It is nice to have the ability to swap out a processor for a faster version later or add RAM and hard disks but first we need to carry out a risk assessment. Let's suppose that your server has been fine, spinning away in the corner for 3 years and carrying out sterling work for you. Now you are struggling with either speed or space and you wonder about upgrading the server. If there are empty hard disk bays then adding space should be simple and low risk. You just make sure your backups are good then slot in new disks and configure them as you require. Adding RAM is usually similar albeit with increased risk because if there is a fault with the new RAM then the whole server will be affected. Upgrading a CPU always comes with the highest risk. The CPU has been running for 3 years and will be baked into the motherboard with dust and thermal paste. You can easily reach the point where the server won't recognise the new CPU so you try to regress to the old one and that no longer seats correctly so the server is dead. This is a worst case scenario but is based upon a true story.
Do you even need a server? Small Companies are increasingly using the Cloud to provide their server needs with Email, Databases and even File Storage options available but there is often a need for a local server and also concerns about where your data resides and who has access to it. There is also the problem of speed. Even a good FTTC connection is only 20Mbit upstream and we are used to 1Gbit networks for local file access so cloud storage feels slow and sluggish for all except the most basic use.
A small business will usually need a server to be the Active Directory Controller (ADC), File-Server, Backup Server for several systems, Database server and often several other functions such as controlling the Unified Wifi Access system.
We nearly always advocate the use of a Hypervisor these days and there are many choices but VMWare ESXi and Linux KVM remain the favourites. The Hypervisor allows you to run several Virtual Servers inside the same Hardware server and thus compartmentalise systems for security and reliability. (You don't want to have to get everyone out of the Sage accounts just so you can reboot the Domain Controller)
What to buy and how much to spend?
Servers are like Yachts, you can spend anything from a few hundred pounds right up to £12K for a 'Small Business Server' and even beyond if you get carried away.
Firstly we should consider what we want. Reliability, Speed, Value are all watchwords that people quote most often with Upgradability being another common request. (We will deal with upgradability separately later)
The first and foremost of these requests should be reliability and this is the reason that we always recommend using Server Grade hardware. It is possible to re-purpose an old PC to act as server and many companies get started this way but it is usually a compromise. Server hardware is designed (and warranted) to run 24x7 with the sort of loads that multiple users can generate.
Another aspect of reliability is being able to administer the server remotely at any time. Proper servers come with 'Baseband Control' which allows the administrator to switch them on and work on them from the ground up, even reloading the operating system if required. ILO or iDRAC as HP and Dell call them is a huge bonus and often means that a server can be fixed onsite, out of hours instead of being taken down during the working day or even taken offsite for fixing and updating.
Once you decide that you would like Baseband control you limit the servers you can buy to basically HP, Dell and SuperMicro.
Once a server is running, if it is kept cool and not knocked, it should run for years. If it can be kept dust free it will really be years and years. I have seen servers removed from datacentres where the airconditioned and filtered air has left he server looking like the day it was installed. On the other hand I have seen servers so full of dust that they overheated and stopped within 12 months.
In reasonable conditions the only parts of a server that are really vulnerable are the Power Supply Unit (PSU) and the Hard Disks. We have ways of giving both of these systems redundancy. We can buy a Twin PSU whereby if one of the PSUs fails then the other carries the full load and the system carries on until we can replace the dead PSU. Similarly with disks, we can use RAID to allow the server to continue even when a disk fails.
So what do you buy?
Right now it is hard to beat Dell. You phone them up, explain your specs, hope that they have a deal running and then order. Delivery is usually 2 or 3 weeks and prices start around £2000. But their prices are designed to catch out the unwary and you can easily get caught with only basic iDRAC Express or with a slow disk system like the PERC 310.
Realistically, you will need to spend £3000 or even a little more to get an off-the-shelf Dell server with the sensible requirements for a small company and we often see them at £4 to 5k for busy companies with room to grow.
Dell servers come with a 3 years warranty and although they don't like sending engineers out on-site they are very good at sending swap-out disks and PSUs if required.
If the ease and comfort of Dell come at too high a price we can build a server using an HP ML110 or SuperMicro chassis so we still get the advantage of ILO/KVM. Typically such a server will cost about £2400
to £2800 and will have Quad Core Xeon CPU, 32GB RAM, Mirrored 500Gb SSDs for speed and Mirrored 4TB HDDs for backup and archive.
If the budget is less than this we can sometimes find a special offer if we are not in a hurry or even pick up a used server which we then fit with brand new disks.
Upgradability.
It is nice to have the ability to swap out a processor for a faster version later or add RAM and hard disks but first we need to carry out a risk assessment. Let's suppose that your server has been fine, spinning away in the corner for 3 years and carrying out sterling work for you. Now you are struggling with either speed or space and you wonder about upgrading the server. If there are empty hard disk bays then adding space should be simple and low risk. You just make sure your backups are good then slot in new disks and configure them as you require. Adding RAM is usually similar albeit with increased risk because if there is a fault with the new RAM then the whole server will be affected. Upgrading a CPU always comes with the highest risk. The CPU has been running for 3 years and will be baked into the motherboard with dust and thermal paste. You can easily reach the point where the server won't recognise the new CPU so you try to regress to the old one and that no longer seats correctly so the server is dead. This is a worst case scenario but is based upon a true story.
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