Best provider for Hosted Windows Server in the Cloud

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SPX83

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Hi Guys

I have a friend looking to host a server in the cloud, they will be using it for their accounting package, will require Windows 2019 Server and allowed RDP sessions. I have looked at 1 Grid etc. But just want to know if anybody can recommend a provider they use and have had good support from. Any recommendations will be appreciated.
 
System requirements needed?

Can recommend ChocoPing, Azure and Vultr.
All very different price-points though but no issues with any of the environments
 
SPX83 said:
Hi Guys

I have a friend looking to host a server in the cloud, they will be using it for their accounting package, will require Windows 2019 Server and allowed RDP sessions. I have looked at 1 Grid etc. But just want to know if anybody can recommend a provider they use and have had good support from. Any recommendations will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Avoid 1 Grid like the plague

Unless you like downtime.
 
Pho3nix said:
System requirements needed?

Can recommend ChocoPing, Azure and Vultr.
All very different price-points though but no issues with any of the environments
Click to expand...
It will run a MS SQL database, with around 5 RDP users at a time. So dont think will require that high a spec machine. It is just basic processing of accounting information. So possible 6 CPU, 32GB memory and around 300GB of storage.. As a minimum..
 
SPX83 said:
Hi Guys

I have a friend looking to host a server in the cloud, they will be using it for their accounting package, will require Windows 2019 Server and allowed RDP sessions. I have looked at 1 Grid etc. But just want to know if anybody can recommend a provider they use and have had good support from. Any recommendations will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hi Op,

I'm sure we can assist you with a VPS + VPN to protect your RDP, please drop us a PM if you would like to discuss further.
 
SPX83 said:
It will run a MS SQL database, with around 5 RDP users at a time. So dont think will require that high a spec machine. It is just basic processing of accounting information. So possible 6 CPU, 32GB memory and around 300GB of storage.. As a minimum..
Click to expand...

Why RDP access for SQL Server?
 
SPX83 said:
It will run a MS SQL database, with around 5 RDP users at a time. So dont think will require that high a spec machine. It is just basic processing of accounting information. So possible 6 CPU, 32GB memory and around 300GB of storage.. As a minimum..
Click to expand...

For RDP in Azure you will also need User RDS CALs. So you're probably looking at a small domain controller too. Device RDS CALs aren't allowed in Azure. If you have a DC on-prem already then you have decisions to make as well.

Another potential Azure solution is WVD with a single host, but that also has some M365 license requirements IIRC (Which you can use for Office Shared Activation on the server so each user has Excel/Outlook which is a common need for an accounting multi-session host). But if your small "server" can run on Win 10 rather than Server 2019 then I believe you don't need RDS CALs (but test this in a lab first don't take my word for it, Microsoft makes this confusing as hell sometimes).

Either way it's all a pain in the arse unfortunately, for something seemingly simple.

Make sure you know upfront whether the accounting vendor needs to install SQL Standard or SQL Express, before you deploy an Azure server SKU with SQL Standard. It's just another pain to "downgrade" later.

First prize though is rather to go with an accounting package that has its own cloud portal, rather than sit with this headache.
 
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SPX83 said:
I was actually looking at this last night.. Am not comfortable having open RDP access to the server. So was looking for ideas to have a VPN.
Click to expand...

I've been looking at overlay networks like Zerotier and Tailscale as VPN alternatives lately. Nebula is an interesting project that Slack open sourced a couple of years ago that might work for you in this case. Would be quick and cheap to set up and I like that there's no config required on the firewall so there is nothing exposed to the web that can be targeted by an attacker
 
Bobbin said:
For RDP in Azure you will also need User RDS CALs. So you're probably looking at a small domain controller too. Device RDS CALs aren't allowed in Azure. If you have a DC on-prem already then you have decisions to make as well.

Another potential Azure solution is WVD with a single host, but that also has some M365 license requirements IIRC (Which you can use for Office Shared Activation on the server so each user has Excel/Outlook which is a common need for an accounting multi-session host). But if your small "server" can run on Win 10 rather than Server 2019 then I believe you don't need RDS CALs (but test this in a lab first don't take my word for it, Microsoft makes this confusing as hell sometimes).

Either way it's all a pain in the arse unfortunately, for something seemingly simple.

Make sure you know upfront whether the accounting vendor needs to install SQL Standard or SQL Express, before you deploy an Azure server SKU with SQL Standard. It's just another pain to "downgrade" later.

First prize though is rather to go with an accounting package that has its own cloud portal, rather than sit with this headache.
Click to expand...

This.

SaaS > PaaS > IaaS in this context.

Go for a cloud hosted Accounting Package - so many things not to worry about.
 
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SPX83 said:
It will run a MS SQL database, with around 5 RDP users at a time. So dont think will require that high a spec machine. It is just basic processing of accounting information. So possible 6 CPU, 32GB memory and around 300GB of storage.. As a minimum..
Click to expand...

Generally when I've looked at costs to run this type of application (Sage Evolution or Syspro in my case) in Azure, it tends to work out quite expensive compared to buying hardware and running a server on premise - usually one to 2 years break even point.)

Unfortunately, with these types of applications you are basically running an on prem virtual machine 24/7 (unless you can spin down the VM overnight maybe) in the cloud so you can't really take advantage of the on demand features of cloud technology. You can save some money by reserving the VM for 1 or 3 years but the discount is much less once there is a SQL Server license involved.

The Azure Pricing Calculator is pretty useful for estimating your costs up front
 
AfricanTech said:
This.

SaaS > PaaS > IaaS in this context.

Go for a cloud hosted Accounting Package - so many things not to worry about.
Click to expand...
Very limited options out there...expecially for bigger companies.

Just put the companies/books in the Cloud and host the client locally...easy as pie.
 
InvisibleJim said:
Generally when I've looked at costs to run this type of application (Sage Evolution or Syspro in my case) in Azure, it tends to work out quite expensive compared to buying hardware and running a server on premise - usually one to 2 years break even point.)

Unfortunately, with these types of applications you are basically running an on prem virtual machine 24/7 (unless you can spin down the VM overnight maybe) in the cloud so you can't really take advantage of the on demand features of cloud technology. You can save some money by reserving the VM for 1 or 3 years but the discount is much less once there is a SQL Server license involved.

The Azure Pricing Calculator is pretty useful for estimating your costs up front
Click to expand...
True - which probably makes the Hetzner type option the best for the use case (if SaaS isn't available) - basically a server hosted in a DC
 
SPX83 said:
Hi Guys

I have a friend looking to host a server in the cloud, they will be using it for their accounting package, will require Windows 2019 Server and allowed RDP sessions. I have looked at 1 Grid etc. But just want to know if anybody can recommend a provider they use and have had good support from. Any recommendations will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
I’m just checking to see if your friend managed to find a suitable provider as we’re going live tomorrow with our Windows VPS offering
 
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