Is this a good price / spec for a school server?

[marsdenprimary]

Hi folks,

 

We're upgrading our server and just wanted to know if you thought this price and spec was ok? Never really bought a server before. The only issue we have is this is coming from our local authority so we're a little tied into it...let me know what you think. x

 

SERVER SPECS: HP ProLiant ML330 G6 E5606 2.13GHz/4-Core/8MB/80W Processor, 4GB RAM, DVD, Dual NIC, 4 x Hot Plug HDD's, 460W PS Server

 

300GB 15k SAS Hard Drive x 3

 

P410 RAID 5 Controller x 1

 

Server Config & Diagnostics 10+ items x 1

 

Support: HP ML330 5yr x 1

 

Backup Exec Windows Server x 1

 

SAS HBA for tape backup x 1

 

SAS Cable x 1

 

Ultrium 2/3/4 Cleaning Cartridge x 1

 

Internal Ultrium 4 SAS Tape Drive x 1

 

Ultrium 4 Data Cartridge x 8

 

TOTAL: £3941

[zag]

Quote it up on Dell to compare, they have a great customize tool on their website.

 

Personally I would never spend more than 1.5k on a server these days. We just buy standard basic dell rack servers with 16gb ram and use them to virtualize things.

 

Tape drive!! really?? Why not just get a separate NAS like a qnap and have always online backups?

 

Backupexec is 550 quid retail.

 

Basically it seems like a lot for one single server.

[3s-gtech]

That seems like a crazy amount for a server of that spec, even with 5 year support.

[Guest Guest]

Without the tape drive and software and only 3 years warranty it comes back on the Dell premier site as less than £1700, so no that's not a good price. The tape drive can be had for just over a grand and the software is iirc a couple of hundred, if that.

[Millgate]

Hi there,

 

I'll do you a comparison if you like? I don't suppose they have included the part numbers for you have they? Just so i can make sure they are all correct

 

Thanks

[marsdenprimary]

Wow...so that's marked up at one hell of a premium then!!

[marsdenprimary]

Hi there,

 

I'll do you a comparison if you like? I don't suppose they have included the part numbers for you have they? Just so i can make sure they are all correct

 

Thanks

 

Hi- no part numbers i'm afraid. A comparison would be great thanks.

[K.C.Leblanc]

 

Server Config & Diagnostics 10+ items x 1

 

 

Is this what they're charging to come and set it up?

[Michael]

I have to agree but check the following:

 

Does the price include setting it all up with your existing domain? And does it cover all your licensing?

 

As others have suggested, ditch the tape drive. A separate NAS solution is quicker and cheaper.

 

Do you really need 15K SAS drives for a Primary school? Quality SATA drives are going to cost a fraction of the price as you'll have no need for a SAS RAID card either.

 

Memory is cheap these days, so for a new server, 2008 R2 with 8GB of memory would be recommended. It will work fine with 4GB but 8GB future proofs it.

[jamesfed]

You are never ever tied into the LEA - as a school you are free to buy what kit you want from any supplier you want (indeed its always a smart move to get at least 3 quotes for any new purchase).

 

Could you let us know what you intend on doing with this server (server roles/what your current (and future) file storage requirements are) and number of PCs in the school?

 

We just kitted out a primary with a new server which flys along for just £1,000 - on average us as a large secondary will be spending that kind of money on a normal server.

[paulellam]

We have just purchased a far superior spec with 5 year NBD warranty for less. Can PM the supplier if you want? They are a reputable Education Supplier.

[marsdenprimary]

We have just purchased a far superior spec with 5 year NBD warranty for less. Can PM the supplier if you want? They are a reputable Education Supplier.

 

That would be fantastic. I think the price does include migrating our old server, setting up SIMS, configuration etc...

[3s-gtech]

I think the price does include migrating our old server

 

Check - because this makes a massive difference. Could be well over £1k of work there depending on their rates.

[K.C.Leblanc]

You should also be specing a UPS as well.

[PiqueABoo]

Why not just get a separate NAS like a qnap and have always online backups?

 

Because Primary schools have been known to burn down etc.? [One I'm aware of that didn't do off-site got lucky because although the drives looked like toast, the specialist data recovery company did manage to get their data back]

Edited February 21, 2012 by PiqueABoo
tpyo

[marsdenprimary]

You should also be specing a UPS as well.

 

Already got one of those on our current server x

[gshaw]

Because Primary schools have been known to burn down etc.? [One I'm aware of that didn't do off-site got lucky because although the drives looked like toast, the specialist data recovery company did manage to get their data back]

 

Also viruses could easily infect \ delete online NAS data if we're talking worst case scenarios. Could have a power spike affecting your site that kills HDDs even if on UPS (I've seen it happen)

 

Having some form of offline \ different media makes me feel a lot happier... as it stands we have D2D backup via Veeam then D2T with Backup Exec streaming the Veeam files to tape. If you have a fast enough connection (and deep enough wallet) you could replace tape with online backup but the ongoing costs were too much in comparison to one-off capital purchase for the tapes in our case.

 

As for the server, does look a bit on the pricey side... I'd go to Misco or similar and get them to do bid \ education pricing on the same spec and see how it comes back... if you're paying standard off the shelf prices on that quote there could be quite a difference

[zag]

Also viruses could easily infect \ delete online NAS data if we're talking worst case scenarios. Could have a power spike affecting your site that kills HDDs even if on UPS (I've seen it happen)

 

Having some form of offline \ different media makes me feel a lot happier... as it stands we have D2D backup via Veeam then D2T with Backup Exec streaming the Veeam files to tape. If you have a fast enough connection (and deep enough wallet) you could replace tape with online backup but the ongoing costs were too much in comparison to one-off capital purchase for the tapes in our case

 

I can only speak from our experience but we have been using a Qnap 8gb NAS in a separate location for 2 years now and its been flawless. Can a virus even infect a linux device?? Anyway we've never had a problem and restores take 2 mins to do.

 

Tape is a long and distant memory.

[3s-gtech]

It doesn't need to infect it as such, it could just run a rmdir over the network for all attached devices...would need to have got onto a machine with privileges to access the NAS though - in our case that would mean installing it as an admin.

[localzuk]

Already got one of those on our current server x

 

You may wish to look at whether the batteries need replacing.

 

For setup/migration, tape and server, that price isn't overly ridiculous to be honest.

 

The migration/setup could easily be £1k+, the server £1.7k and the tape £1k.

 

So, not really a 'run for the hills' kinda price. However, is it overkill? In particular, the hard discs, and potentially the type of backup drive (the LTO-4 can handle 800GB/1600GB compressed which is significantly higher than the disk space being installed).

 

An LTO-3 drive would cost around £650 compared to an LTO-4 at around £1k. SATA drives would be around £100 - £150 cheaper, each than SAS 15k drives.

 

How many clients is it serving?

[marsdenprimary]

Because Primary schools have been known to burn down etc.? [One I'm aware of that didn't do off-site got lucky because although the drives looked like toast, the specialist data recovery company did manage to get their data back]

 

It's a shame tape drives are so expensive. Think it'll be possible to put our DELL tapedrive into a new server? A HP for example?

[pauldredge]

Run RDX instead of LTO. Cheaper and no need to replace in the long run.

[SYNACK]

Can a virus even infect a linux device?? Anyway we've never had a problem and restores take 2 mins to do.

 

Tape is a long and distant memory.

 

Does it need to, if your docs server is owned, that has write privilages on the NAS to do backups then the owned server can happily just tell the NAS to kill the files.

[m25man]

There are lot of suggestions/recommendations in this thread so I will avoid repeating any of them,

 

The E5606 is an Entry Level Low Spec server for general use with only an 8Mb cache

The server has bee mated with 3 x 15k High Performance SAS drives which provides raid 5 with no hot spare?

Only 4GB of ram which will not be of great use if you decide to lump every task that you have on it (including the Backup Exec Media Server).

 

If you plan on building a house make sure the foundations match the desired building!

 

As a file server it will suffice, for any other purposes look at using the 2.54Ghz 12Mb CPU's as these fly in comparison