Server and software refresh

[mwild]

My school is using very old versions of Xen Server (6.x), PHD Virtual Backup and VEEAM. The hardware is HP DL380 G8 and P2000 SAN.

 

For a refresh what solutions do people use and recommend for the software - VM management and backup. As always cost is a prime consideration.

 

Thanks.

[Jaan]

We use a 3 nodes s2d cluster with local storage with a ssd cache layer. We then use Veeam to back it all up. All managed with Microsoft cluster manager and hyper-v

[mavhc]

Proxmox, can do standalone, cluster with or without shared disk using CephFS, depending on if you want to cope with a node just dying and be back running in a few minutes

 

I use zfs for storage and backup to a write only zfs backup server, but you can use Proxmox Backup Server, or Veeam

 

Also does containers that can easily run docker inside, so deploying web apps is a 5 min job

[dmj]

Proxmox, can do standalone, cluster with or without shared disk using CephFS, depending on if you want to cope with a node just dying and be back running in a few minutes

 

I use zfs for storage and backup to a write only zfs backup server, but you can use Proxmox Backup Server, or Veeam

 

Also does containers that can easily run docker inside, so deploying web apps is a 5 min job

 

That's literally what I would do to, perhaps native KVM.

[dmj]

We use a 3 nodes s2d cluster with local storage with a ssd cache layer. We then use Veeam to back it all up. All managed with Microsoft cluster manager and hyper-v

 

Replace linux with windows in 2024. Radical.

[pete]

Software-wise, if you're happy with Xen, look into XCP-NG. https://docs.xcp-ng.org/installation/migrate-to-xcp-ng/

 

Upgrading from Xenserver 6 adds a couple of extra quirks, but if you're standing it up on new hardware you shouldn't really run into them.

[MatthewL]

License costs are starting to make it expesive to host on site and the fact hardware is more expensive. We are due a hardware refresh and licenses are coming to and end and its looking cheaper to move to Azure believe it or not.

[mwild]

License costs are starting to make it expesive to host on site and the fact hardware is more expensive. We are due a hardware refresh and licenses are coming to and end and its looking cheaper to move to Azure believe it or not.

 

That's interesting. It looks expensive for us to move to the cloud but can compare once we have an onsite refresh cost.

[PotNoodleTech]

You don't have to spend 50 grand on servers, most schools could get away with a second hand Poweredge 740XT and 24 SSD's and Veeam to a Synology NAS. Chances of data loss are low chances of total data recovery are high, and can be had for under circa £5000.

 

In my experience of servers the more complicated you make it with sans nasses clusters extra fibre switches etc etc the less reliable overall it becomes (and often slower, too).

[Jcx500]

I would go with a [emoji639] or [emoji640] node s[emoji638]d cluster.

[dhicks]

For a refresh what solutions do people use and recommend for the software - VM management and backup.

 

We went from a Xen server setup with failover configured between two servers to two servers running Windows Server, one main server and one backup / standby. We're about to turn off our old Windows Domain Controller and file server, leaving just print server (Papercut), phone system (3CX) and door access (Paxton), which could pretty much be run on a small NUC or similar in a network cabinet somewhere.

[mavhc]

License costs are starting to make it expensive to host on site and the fact hardware is more expensive. We are due a hardware refresh and licenses are coming to and end and its looking cheaper to move to Azure believe it or not.

 

Total licencing cost for my setup was, £0