Cheapish lab server?

[TheMan100]

Hi,

I'm looking for a cheapish server for my soon to be 'lab', nothing special, but it's to run Windows Server 2008R2, Exchange, AD and maybe a few other things... Can anyone recommend a decent server which will run all of these for a reasonable price?

 

Thanks

[featured_spectre]

Any decent dual core PC will do the job fine if it is a lab server only...production environment server will need to be beefier

[TheMan100]

Any decent dual core PC will do the job fine if it is a lab server only...production environment server will need to be beefier

 

At the moment I'm using my laptop now and then which is not ideal as I just don't like the idea of my laptop being on for such long periods of time. Also from what I can understand, server hardware is much more durable.

[featured_spectre]

speak with the guys at @CPLTD in the morning and they might be able to do you a deal on a cheap PC ...whilst server hardware is more durable, if it is just a test environment then add another NIC for good measures

[Guest Guest]

HP ProLiant MicroServer Athlon II Neo N36L 1.3GHz 1GB.. | Ebuyer.com You get £100 cashback

[TheMan100]

@nephilim I think I'll give that a go soon.

 

HP ProLiant MicroServer Athlon II Neo N36L 1.3GHz 1GB.. | Ebuyer.com You get £100 cashback

 

"Purchase your ProLiant Microserver (part code

633724-421) between 1 February - 31 May 2011,

complete this claim form and HP will refund £100"

[MatthewL]

@TheMan100 if you wanting something second hand I've got a HP ProLiant ML110 G4 with 4Gb of ram and I think a 250Gb hard drive. Drop me a line if it suites you.

[TheMan100]

@TheMan100 if you wanting something second hand I've got a HP ProLiant ML110 G4 with 4Gb of ram and I think a 250Gb hard drive. Drop me a line if it suites you.

 

I wouldn't mind something 2nd hand as long as it's in good condition. I've PMd you.

[jamesfed]

I built my own - Athlon II Dual Core @3.0 ghz, 8Gb DDR3 RAM, ebayed a WD Velociraptor drive and got a cheap case - total cost about £300.

[Arthur]

"Purchase your ProLiant Microserver (part code 633724-421) between 1 February - 31 May 2011, complete this claim form and HP will refund £100"

The MicroServer offer has been extended (yet again) until the end of June 2011. eBuyer are linking to the old claim form. The new one is here.

 

HP also have a brand new special offer this month on the Xeon X3430 Proliant ML110 G6 (P/N: 585458-035) - £110 cashback! Click here for details or here for the claim form.

 

Spec

Intel Xeon X3430 Quad-Core Processor
1x1GB DDR3 1,333MHz RAM (4 DIMM slots in total / Max: 16GB)
250GB 7,200rpm SATA HDD
DVD-ROM
1 Year NBD Warranty

 

After cashback, this server costs £249.94. 8GB RAM would cost an additional £54. I'm quite tempted myself.

[dhicks]

I'm looking for a cheapish server for my soon to be 'lab', nothing special, but it's to run Windows Server 2008R2, Exchange, AD and maybe a few other things...

 

Exchange needs to be run separatly from your Active Directory domain controller, so you'll need a physical server that can act as a virtual machine host. If your "lab" doubles as your living room / bedroom, as mine does, then I have a Tranquil PC machine at home - completly silent, passivly cooled, Core i3/i5 machines with a plethora of eSATA ports available for attaching external harddrives. Otherwise, I've had no problems with Dell's entry-level servers - very quiet (although not actually silent) desktop-sized, solidily-built machines that will, despite what the official specifications says, quite happily fit at least 4 3.5" harddrives (if you remove the CD drive) and an internal 2.5" SSD or USB stick (they come with a proper internal USB port). Fit third party harddrives (eBay) and RAM (Crucial) as Dell's are rather pricey.

[irsprint84]

I have my quad core 8GB home PC with two instances of oracle virtual box using 2GB each for test purposes, just do exchange 2010 this weekend on my test rig