Getting a server for your business

You need a server for now and the near future, not the far future. Apples to apples are only a fair comparison if they are similar. I can always find a cheap junky server that costs less. I want to make sure we don’t buy a Porsche or a Yugo. Definitely don’t want to pay for a Porsche and end up with a Yugo either.

I test the processor rating by speed at cpubenchmark.net 7000+ is a good rating. 3000 or less is horrible.
Don’t go off the speed of GHZ anymore. It’s useless. A 2GHz processor can run faster than a 3.6GHz computer. The rating is accurate.

RAID drives are better for a RAID1 because it’s a mirror. It’s simple and one drive can be removed from the set and connected to almost any other computer to see the data. This is not possible with a RAID0, RAID3, RAID5, RAID10, RAID50 etc. Take a drive from one of those sets and you end up with a non-functioning hard drive data set.

Memory on a server is almost insignificant. 8-16GB of RAM on the server is perfect. 32GB is overkill. Over 32GB or RAM cannot even be used on a server unless the version of the server is Windows Server DataCenter. The lesser OS can only see 32GB max.

Sound, Video, Chipset on a server are all useless to worry about.

Monitor is unimportant on a server except to see that it’s okay and a few basic functions to create or disable users. 17” is fine but may not be able to find a monitor that small.

Warranty is extremely important for 3 years minimum and to be onsite. 24x7 is not quite as important as 8x5. Depends on your downed server tolerance. 24x7 costs more and pro support costs more too. If you buy some home grown server you may save a few hundred bucks, but when you have a server hardware issue, you can kiss your server goodbye for 10 days. Near the end of 2 years, that home-built computer no longer has parts available for purchase to replace the part. Some IT companies will cover parts and labor and gamble on the possibility that nothing will go wrong, but cannot deliver your parts when the call comes in. Very unlucky for you. At the end of 3 years if the server is still performing great, add two more years of warranty. Most warranties expire at 5 years. If you let a server get out of warranty, the manufacturer will have the parts available for other customers under warranty, but as punishment, they will tell you that your server parts are out of warranty and unavailable for back order for 2 weeks. No business owner is going to wait two weeks for a part while their employees sit around waiting for it. The other alternative is they tell you it is no longer supported or available at all.

Dual power supplies are generally a waste of money. 30+ years I have seen a single power supply failure in only 1 or 2 servers. Dual power supply servers have failed over zero times in my 30+ years. Single power supply is fine.

UPS battery is very important on a server. They are generally 50-70 bucks, but not for a server. For a server, they are generally 300-500 bucks. They tell the server to shut down if the battery only has five minutes left. They also condition the power so that 110 Volts is a constant.

Server version. There is Small Business Essentials which is an automatic 25 users but a max of 25 users. There is Standard Edition with is 5 users and add more licenses for more users. The Max number of users is bigger than 25 users. Small Business Essentials is like 700 bucks and Standard Edition is like 800 bucks and add 5 users for 180 bucks each 5 pack or so. Do you need a server? Maybe. Maybe not. If you answer yes to any of the next questions, you need a server.
Do you need to have 6 users or more to start?
Do you need remote access?
Do you have a program that requires a server?
Do you need more than one user to use the same workstation?
Do you need to login as the same person on different computers?
Do you need access for the files when you travel?

Knowing these rules can help you decide a better server choice.

Service is important for a timely repair.
DELL, Lenovo, HP. Yes.
All others. NO!

Louis and MILE Technologies = Yes.
2-3% others = Yes.
The other 96%+ = No.