ML
    • Recent
    • Categories
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Groups
    • Register
    • Login

    Storage Question

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved IT Discussion
    dellstoragessdraidsatasaspercperc h310perc h710dell poweredge t320
    242 Posts 9 Posters 138.1k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • BRRABillB
      BRRABill
      last edited by

      So, to take a step back...

      We are a smallish shop. We used to have 60-70 employees in our heyday, now we have 15.

      We currently have 4 DELL Windows 2003 servers. A PDC that is also our data server. A BDC that is basically just a BDC and VPN server. A 3rd party mail server (MDaemon). And a server I've already retired that was basically just being used as a backup machine, back when we had tapes. (We now use a DATTO device.) When we were back at 60-70 employees, these servers sometimes had other uses. Now, not so much.

      I'd like to maintian both the data server and mail server on site. I have no requirements other than moving off of Server 2003. In fact, if it wasn't for having to do that, we'd probably never even been having this conversation.

      It sounds like the recommendation as of now is (hardware independent)

      1. Move the data and mail servers into VMs on the new DELL server.
      2. Use the data server as the DC and VPN server.
      3. Roll without a backup DC.
      scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • BRRABillB
        BRRABill @MattSpeller
        last edited by

        @MattSpeller said:

        I think you'll fit in well man, hope you stick around

        I prefer texting/writing to talking. I'll be fine here!

        scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • scottalanmillerS
          scottalanmiller @BRRABill
          last edited by

          @BRRABill said:

          @MattSpeller said:

          I think you'll fit in well man, hope you stick around

          I prefer texting/writing to talking. I'll be fine here!

          Same here 🙂

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • BRRABillB
            BRRABill
            last edited by

            Part of the issue is, anyone can buy anything. Or be recommended to buy anything. But it is optimal?

            As the keeper of the IT purse here, I've been proud we'll lasted so long on 10 years old servers.

            I'm just looking to 100% maximize this next investment.

            Thanks to everyone for the discussion today. It's been awesome!

            StrongBadS scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • StrongBadS
              StrongBad @BRRABill
              last edited by

              @BRRABill said:

              As the keeper of the IT purse here, I've been proud we'll lasted so long on 10 years old servers.

              Oh no, you did it now. You are forever to be known as the "Purse Keeper."

              BRRABillB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • scottalanmillerS
                scottalanmiller @BRRABill
                last edited by

                @BRRABill said:

                Part of the issue is, anyone can buy anything. Or be recommended to buy anything. But it is optimal?

                Absolutely, it is all about finding the right solution for your individual situation. This is why I hate budgets, they encourage you to potentially not spend as much as you need to OR to spend as much as you can rather than saving as much as makes sense.

                I can buy a Ferrari to commute to work but just because I can doesn't make it a good decision. I can take the bus and save a lot of money, too.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                • StrongBadS
                  StrongBad
                  last edited by

                  Have you looked into hosted email options? For just fifteen users that would be pretty cheap and would eliminate an entire workload from your servers that you have in house. Most hosted email offerings are about four dollars a month, so that would be sixty dollars a month and cover the software, hosting, support, storage and whatnot. Might be worth looking into that option now while doing a big refresh. That would potentially really change what you are looking at as your needs internally.

                  BRRABillB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                  • scottalanmillerS
                    scottalanmiller
                    last edited by

                    Did we mention yet the option of looking at refurbed gear like xByte has? Will save some money and make things easier. If you are willing to forego the SSDs, you might be able to get into a server for far less and get fully supported NL-SAS drives for cheap and get all of the alerting and stuff.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • scottalanmillerS
                      scottalanmiller @BRRABill
                      last edited by

                      @BRRABill said:

                      It sounds like the recommendation as of now is (hardware independent)

                      1. Move the data and mail servers into VMs on the new DELL server.
                      2. Use the data server as the DC and VPN server.
                      3. Roll without a backup DC.
                      • Windows Server 2012 R2 or wait for 2016 to release before making a big upgrade right before a major release
                      • Two VMs on a single piece of hardware. Very low cost use of the licenses.
                      • Move data and AD DC to a single VM
                      • Move email to another VM or go hosted as @StrongBad mentioned
                      • Roll without a DC
                      • Make sure you have a good backup strategy
                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                      • BRRABillB
                        BRRABill @StrongBad
                        last edited by

                        @StrongBad said:

                        Oh no, you did it now. You are forever to be known as the "Purse Keeper."

                        Always loved your videos. I'll take that from you. Haha.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • StrongBadS
                          StrongBad
                          last edited by

                          Don't forget my video game too!

                          BRRABillB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • BRRABillB
                            BRRABill @StrongBad
                            last edited by

                            @StrongBad said:

                            Don't forget my video game too!

                            That I never saw.

                            StrongBadS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • StrongBadS
                              StrongBad @BRRABill
                              last edited by

                              @BRRABill said:

                              @StrongBad said:

                              Don't forget my video game too!

                              That I never saw.

                              What!!

                              http://www.gog.com/game/strong_bads_cool_game_for_attractive_people

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • DashrenderD
                                Dashrender
                                last edited by

                                You can move to Rackspace for $1-2/user/month (depending on the spiceworks deal going on now)

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • scottalanmillerS
                                  scottalanmiller
                                  last edited by

                                  Xbyte has the T320 as well.

                                  BRRABillB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • BRRABillB
                                    BRRABill @StrongBad
                                    last edited by

                                    @StrongBad said:

                                    Have you looked into hosted email options? For just fifteen users that would be pretty cheap and would eliminate an entire workload from your servers that you have in house. Most hosted email offerings are about four dollars a month, so that would be sixty dollars a month and cover the software, hosting, support, storage and whatnot. Might be worth looking into that option now while doing a big refresh. That would potentially really change what you are looking at as your needs internally.

                                    I've thought about it, but for various reasons I do not want to go that route now. MDaemon has been great for us.

                                    It's definitely in the future cards, though. We've been burned a few times with week-long power losses.

                                    MattSpellerM scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • BRRABillB
                                      BRRABill @scottalanmiller
                                      last edited by

                                      @scottalanmiller said:

                                      Xbyte has the T320 as well.

                                      Who is this Xbyte, exactly?

                                      MattSpellerM scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • MattSpellerM
                                        MattSpeller @BRRABill
                                        last edited by

                                        @BRRABill said:

                                        week-long power losses.

                                        Good grief

                                        BRRABillB scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • MattSpellerM
                                          MattSpeller @BRRABill
                                          last edited by

                                          @BRRABill said:

                                          Who is this Xbyte, exactly?

                                          Cheap recertified Dell servers - used pretty extensively around here & well regarded

                                          BRRABillB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • BRRABillB
                                            BRRABill @MattSpeller
                                            last edited by

                                            @MattSpeller said:

                                            @BRRABill said:

                                            week-long power losses.

                                            Good grief

                                            Notice the -es in that.

                                            Happened twice in the span of 3 years.

                                            I guess that is a good barometer of how we operate here. We knew the storms were coming, so I made sure everyone had a alternative e-mail address. We were also able to access our backups in the cloud, so I could grab any files anyone needed.

                                            Kludgy, but it works.

                                            DashrenderD scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • 1
                                            • 2
                                            • 3
                                            • 4
                                            • 5
                                            • 6
                                            • 7
                                            • 8
                                            • 12
                                            • 13
                                            • 6 / 13
                                            • First post
                                              Last post