Comp Server Upgrade

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initroot

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Hi guys,
Need some opinions on the following:
Company is running some very old servers and decided to upgrade.
We have received a quote for the following:

HP Proliant ML350e Gen8 v2 E52407 v2
8gb ram, etc etc For around 41k

Including software, Sever 2012, Exchange 2013, this adds another 62k.

This excludes all the migration and re installation costs etc.

The company only needs the servers to run PASTEL, SQL DATABASES FOR CASEWARE, EXCHANGE MAIL SERVER and general file server for keeping information as it's a accounting firm with around +-45 employees.

Is this maybe not a bit of a overkill for 150k just on servers?
 
Not sure about that particular server, but good quality enterprise-grade servers cost in that region. I prefer Dell over HP, and know that good Dell servers sell in that region, depending on specs. For a company of 45 employees, it is well worth the money.

What you need to do is get comparative quotations from a few different suppliers, so that you know you aren't getting screwed.
 
Server cost seems fair considering the spec you are going for. DO you need to go so high spec or is this for growth? That may be the better question
 
Thanks for the replies.
I've checked their prices with other quotes, it looks better than the others. They also seem keen on adjusting if need to be.
Well i'm pretty sure the company will be sticking to the same amount of employees and computer requirements for at-least another 7 years. I've also looked at exchange 365 but considering the type of information being handled it might be better to keep the mail server in house.
I wanted to go with a 310e and limit the VM's to only 2 by moving over to Pastel Evolution instead of hosting it ourselves.
We'll be saving on licensing, maintenance and hardware.
 
Servers don't come cheap unfortunately, and you pay even more when you have the HP or Dell name badge on these servers. We had a new Intel generic server built up in March that came to 50 grand. Luckily since we are a school we don't pay for software, or it would have been way more expensive than it already was.

One last point - unless you plan to virtualise and separate the roles, you really, really don't want to run Exchange on your Domain Controller. Not to mention, 8GB RAM is nowhere near enough.
 
Asha'man X said:
Servers don't come cheap unfortunately, and you pay even more when you have the HP or Dell name badge on these servers. We had a new Intel generic server built up in March that came to 50 grand. Luckily since we are a school we don't pay for software, or it would have been way more expensive than it already was.

One last point - unless you plan to virtualise and separate the roles, you really, really don't want to run Exchange on your Domain Controller. Not to mention, 8GB RAM is nowhere near enough.
Click to expand...

Yes plan on going the VM route.
 
PsyWulf said:
Server cost seems fair considering the spec you are going for. DO you need to go so high spec or is this for growth? That may be the better question
Click to expand...

I'd phrase it differently. Go as high spec as your budget allows. If management approves it, then why not? You can never have too much computing power. Better to get something high spec that lasts 4-5 years, or that will support future growth, more services and VMs, then having to do server migrations every 2-3 years because you skimped on specs.*

* figures used for number of years are thumbsucks, to illustrate a point.
 
Saajid said:
I'd phrase it differently. Go as high spec as your budget allows. If management approves it, then why not? You can never have too much computing power. Better to get something high spec that lasts 4-5 years, or that will support future growth, more services and VMs, then having to do server migrations every 2-3 years because you skimped on specs.*

* figures used for number of years are thumbsucks, to illustrate a point.
Click to expand...

I agree, I am about 20k over the budget that's why I was looking at maybe limiting it to only 2VM's now and the 310.
We can always just add another license for another VM later on.
It must be high specs since they don't want to upgrade again for atleast "5 years" but I don't want to compromise the setup being "future-proof".

In the end unfortunately I can only work within the budget.
 
Make sure that your basic server spec includes a good raid controller with write cache and battery. Google the Raid controller to check there are no performance issues reported. Don't skimp on initial spend. Also make sure you get an extended warranty for the server.
Relook at office 365 - there are plans for just mail hosting and plans including office. You can mix and match licensing depending on needs. Also can change licensing monthly. This saves on exchange license and CALs for every user. If the server fails, mail will still be available and it is fully maintained and backed up by Microsoft. Takes away a lot of pain. It still needs to be administered by you or your IT provider though. It also takes away a lot of overhead on the server to run exchange / email antivirus /spam filtering.. If the internet line goes down, users can still get mail on phones / 3g / whatever. Microsoft also guarantees privacy.
 
Electron1 said:
Make sure that your basic server spec includes a good raid controller with write cache and battery. Google the Raid controller to check there are no performance issues reported. Don't skimp on initial spend. Also make sure you get an extended warranty for the server.
Relook at office 365 - there are plans for just mail hosting and plans including office. You can mix and match licensing depending on needs. Also can change licensing monthly. This saves on exchange license and CALs for every user. If the server fails, mail will still be available and it is fully maintained and backed up by Microsoft. Takes away a lot of pain. It still needs to be administered by you or your IT provider though. It also takes away a lot of overhead on the server to run exchange / email antivirus /spam filtering.. If the internet line goes down, users can still get mail on phones / 3g / whatever. Microsoft also guarantees privacy.
Click to expand...

Thanks I'm definitely going to look into that. I did ask for a good raid controller will just have to go check their options they had about three recommended ones.
Much appreciated. I'm currently looking into the office 365 options, its relatively cheap especially the options that includes desktop version.
 
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