New File Server

[kevin_lane]

I’m planning on getting an HP DL180 g6 its going to be the new home for the pupils N Drives / Profiles as it is currently on our DC server (my inheritance) lol any way the server I’m going to be getting as well as 2 new DC

 

I’m going 2 have 2 mirrored drives for the c:\ and x4 drives which are going to be in a RAID 5 config I’m not really too Fust on how fast it writes to the hard disk or anything like that because at the end of the day i'd rather the data be safe. But I’m trying to work out the amount of memory im going to want to put in as it will have a gbit NIC plus 2 cpus with 4 cores

 

any input or suggestions would be helpful thanks

[tmcd35]

8 Cores for a file server? How meny pupils do you have? Sounds over kill to me. I recon, at a guess, most file servers wouldn't even make full use of 2 cores. Simarly I've never seen my file sever user more than around 3Gb ram.

 

If you want to play safe - 1x 4-core processor and 4-6Gb ram would almost certainly fo it. A dual port bonded nic or faster hard drives or more hard drive space are all better places to throw money at on a file server IMHO.

 

Of course, if you are looking at more roles than just a file server, or are thinking of virtualisation in the future, then maybe some extra raw grunt is worth buying now?

[danrhodes]

I'd go down a different route if your wanting good fast expandable storage and get something similar to a Fujitsu Eternus DX80, its easily expandable and can be attached to any server.

 

http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/STRSYS/system/dx80_datasheet.pdf

 

We use these in our setups where we run virtualization, 2 identical servers both fibre attached to the DX80 runnig VMWare and vMotion for a quick recovery if one server fails all the VMachines transfer accross and you only get <1ms downtime.

 

Thats one use, but we also use them on Windows Server's and just map them as a normal drive in explorer.

 

D

[IanT]

Dont go overboard with a File Server, I've seen some really silly specs for a FS..........2x Quad Core, 16Gb of RAM.............thats just overkill.........nice simple dual core with 4Gb of RAM can do the job no problems.......also make sure you get a Dual or even Quad NIC......and team them

[browolf]

dual quadcore is more like what you'd use for running virtual servers.

[danrhodes]

We run dual quad core 16GB Ram for Hyper-V. Works lovely!

[kevin_lane]

thanks for your input really appreciate it . we have over 1300 pupils. all of our pupils have mandatory profiles but as we are doing more media stuff I guess is right in saying. i can slowly see the increase of disk space and I’m just thinking that we are going to go down that road. Especially with move maker and MP3 files being used in music (monitored of course) just gives me concern.

[danrhodes]

What have you settled on then are you going with a server with integrated disk's or are you going for a server with fibre attached storage, or just the fibre attached storage and a current server upgrade?

 

D

[tmcd35]

Well based on that I really would say don't worry about processor cores or Ram. Save money - dual core, 4Gb really will cover it.

 

Spend the money on fast SAS drives and dual/quad bonded nic's. If large media files are going to be run across the lan I think your users will thank you for the extra network bandwidth/drive speed.

[kevin_lane]

Not sure yet lol still in the planning stage plus I haven’t got my budget it yet. Fibre does sound nice. Plus if do increase the amount of disk space the pupils can have it means by backups are going to increase slightly. But with new disk quotes thanks for all of your input btw

[danrhodes]

Well depeding on what budget you get I'd go down the fibre attached route, we use on at the site I'm on now, and it is very quick.

 

How about-

 

Server

http://ts.fujitsu.com/products/standard_servers/rack/primergy_rx200s6.html

 

Switch

HEWLETT PACKARD HP StorageWorks 8/8 Base (0) e-por - Misco.co.uk

 

Storage

ETERNUS DX60/DX80/DX90 Disk Storage Systems : Overview : FUJITSU

 

Then obviously you need the drives for in your DX80.

 

D