Sims new server spec

[THERADIOTUBBY]

Hi all

 

April 1st is on its way and we have budgeted for a new Sims/FMS server

 

What are peoples recommendations for the best spec

 

We are a 700 student Secondary who make extensive use most aspects of the software

 

Thanks for your thoughts

[zag]

I'd just make it virtual and assign it 4 cores. I have 10gb of RAM on ours.

[3s-gtech]

Plenty of RAM, plenty of fast discs in RAID, and redundancy features such as dual PSUs. Also price up a decent backup system if you don't already have one.

 

As an example, ours is a VM on an ESXi host (HP DL385G2) with 32GB RAM, 4 x 10k SAS discs in RAID 10, two PSUs, eight CPU cores. It is sufficient, we're a 900 student secondary.

[teejay]

If you want SIMS to run at a decent speed, you might want to ask the NSA if you can be on the list for one of their quantum computers...

 

In reality, plenty of RAM (16GB+), high speed disks (maybe an SSD RAID if affordable) and plenty of grunt in the CPU cores (Higher speed in the cores rather than a massive number of cores tends to work better for SIMS).

[rickypike]

VM for us too, smaller school than yours (540 pupils) (2 cores / 8GB RAM) running perfectly

[ICTDirect_Dave]

I can get you a server to run sims for a very reasonable price. Dell / HP refurbs with a two year warranty.

 

Drop me a PM if you're interested

[vikpaw]

Virtualise with as much as you can afford.

Stats in sig.

[woody]

900 students. 2vCPUs. 8GB RAM. No issues.

[VeryPC_Ed]

Hi all

 

April 1st is on its way and we have budgeted for a new Sims/FMS server

 

What are peoples recommendations for the best spec

 

We are a 700 student Secondary who make extensive use most aspects of the software

 

Thanks for your thoughts

 

Hi Tubby

 

As most others have said, I would recommend virtualization as an option depending on your budget and IT strategy.

 

First thing first, I would recommend that you perform an assessment on your existing SIMS server and any other kit you have in place (that you may consider virtualizing) to determine exactly what you need and then look at scope for expansion and growth.

 

We have helped quite a few schools and Edugeekers with performance assessments and identifying the required licensing etc. - We don't like to just stick our finger in the air for a spec we 'think' will work or just what is this months latest promotional offer.

 

I'd be happy to speak with you regarding this and see if we help identify the best spec kit for the job not just shift some piece of tin that may not be the best option..

 

I'll send you a PM with my contact details - drop me a line if you want to chat.

 

Thanks,

 

Ed

[PotNoodleTech]

I'm going to stick my finger in the air here, wave it around in my 13 years of experience and propose that i "think" that 4Cores and 16GB RAM would be fine for SIMS/Discover/FMS. In terms of the disk subsystem, either stick with 10k/15k SAS drives in RAID10 (preferably 8 or more drives) or if your feeling flush enterprise level SSDs in RAID1.

[matt40k]

... with a nice SQL 2012 Standard license (processor) as you'll only have 1 physical CPU and more than 30 users (total, not concurrent) and you don't want to limit SQL to 1GB of that nice 16GB.

 

Also, random did you know fact - Did you know if you use AMD processors you get a discount on Microsoft SQL processor licensing

[PotNoodleTech]

Yes the core licencing model is a bit over the top but basically if you have a virtualised SIMS server with 4 cores available to SQL server you will be best off going with the "Standard Core Based Edition" and buying 4 virtual core licences. It doesn't matter how many physical CPU's the physical machine has, you only need to buy core licences for the virtual cores you use in the VM, in this case 4.

 

Also, random did you know fact - Did you know if you use AMD processors you get a discount on Microsoft SQL processor licensing

 

It makes sense as AMD cores are less powerful than intel cores. You only get the discount if you're running SIMS on a physical server. If you are virtualised the "core factors" do not apply so you'll pay the same per AMD vCore as you will per Intel Vcore.