Help with equipment

[marine1]

Guys please need some advice.

Friend has a business that needs to have the following.


He needs a server, proper one. (advice?)
They have 2 machines or three locally and need to run Pastel which will be stored and backed up on the server.

The 2 machines seem ok but may need upgrading, 1 x macbook and 1 x PC.

What server would you recommend for this?

He would also need the facility to dial into Pastel remotely from Cape Town to JHB. (advice?)

He will also use the server for file storage of other things.

Thanks so much.

 

[Hobbs zn]

Well
You description is limited some questions will need to be asked?
What ver of pastel are they running?
What’s your budget?
How will the CPT office connect to the JHB office (ASDL/DIGINET?)

You could use any DELL, HP, IBM or even and Intel server. Specs would have to be custom depending on your budget, Server OS will need to be purchased as well and then that depends on connectivity between the two offices. You would have to look at TS or VPN.
I know pastel offer a solution for pastel in the cloud. You would then only need a server for file storage. Pastel will host your info and control the backing up of the company’s data in pastel.
Just giving you some idea’s.

 

[w1z4rd]

Generally if you are asking for a server you need to explain to people what its for.

Its like asking people what car you should buy without telling them what you are going to be doing with it.

For a mini server (which is what you need here), I would go HP Microserver with ClearOS installed. Cant go wrong with that. Should cost less than R3000

 

[shadow_man]

Hi,

With his requirements I doubt he needs a 'server'.

You're using the term very loosely, much like the way the media describes someone as a 'hacker' when simply guessed a password etc.

From the sounds of that a desktop would do fine as their 'server'.

1.) I'd just chuck something like an i5 with 8GB of ram and let Pastel run off of that.
2.) For the remote access you can use RDP, that's built in to Windows - if he goes with a server OS like Windows 2008 then he can have 2 remote users connecting - should he wish to have more then he will need to purchase additional licensing for remote users.
3.) If he's storing critical data on it then: 1.) I'd recommend some form of redundancy e.g. a RAID solution where you have redundancy if a drive fails. 2.) I'd recommend a UPS in case of power failures and 2x portable hdd's so that you can rotate backups offsite on a weekly basis.

J

Guys please need some advice.

Friend has a business that needs to have the following.


He needs a server, proper one. (advice?)
They have 2 machines or three locally and need to run Pastel which will be stored and backed up on the server.

The 2 machines seem ok but may need upgrading, 1 x macbook and 1 x PC.

What server would you recommend for this?

He would also need the facility to dial into Pastel remotely from Cape Town to JHB. (advice?)

He will also use the server for file storage of other things.

Thanks so much.

 

[shadow_man]

Hi Ghoti,

While I agree the Microserver is an AWESOME box it wouldn't work in this scenario, for 1 - you want to run ClearOS which isn't going to help him run Pastel and for 2 - I think the little Atom CPU will be a bit weak for this - however its GREAT as a storage box. I run Debian and ZFS on all of mine and they chug along merrily.

J

Generally if you are asking for a server you need to explain to people what its for.

Its like asking people what car you should buy without telling them what you are going to be doing with it.

For a mini server (which is what you need here), I would go HP Microserver with ClearOS installed. Cant go wrong with that. Should cost less than R3000

 

[Recruitsmiths]

Agree....less than 5 PC Pastel network, you can work on a workgroup server, i.e. make one of the workstations (maybe i3/i5) the server & let the others work of that. You can use the win7 remote login feature or a 3rd party application for easy access..

 

[marine1]

He is at present running a Windows 7 box as a server and it doesnt work great, a bit slow. I thought a nice server would increase speed? Guess I am wrong?
Not sure what version of Pastel, I assume the latest.