Server Choice Considerations

With all the hype surrounding Cloud Computing you may be forgiven for thinking that the local, on-site server is dead. Nothing could be further from the truth. Clearly the convenience of services in the cloud cannot be dismissed, but neither can the performance, security and immediacy of the local server. The reality is that, for many organisations that have a mix of on-site and mobile staff, a mix of on-site and internet-based servers makes most sense.

With your own server, it can manage data, printers, email, backup, disaster recovery and of course who gets access to everything. Servers can range from simple, inexpensive tower PCs to sophisticated boxes designed to handle heavy workloads and provide disaster recovery with backup, data redundancy and fault tolerance. Sifting through the many options in the server market need not be a headache if you have a good understanding of what your business needs. Here are the key considerations...

Price. Clearly your budget has a significant impact on server choice. If all you need is file and print services plus backup and remote access then a low-end server would be fine. Bear in mind however that lower-end servers tend not to be as scalable as more expensive offerings. If the server is going to be hosting business applications with high data processing requirements then a more powerful system is going to be required. An HP ProLiant MicroServer is a capable machine for the lower-end budget. See more information about this server range here.

Scalability. Continuing from the Price point, scalability impacts the initial decision. If your current needs are modest but the business plan is to grow the organisation and its dependence on IT, then selecting a new server that has the capacity to have new disk drives, additional memory and processors is a good start. In larger scenarios you'll be looking at rack-mount blade servers and possibly virtualisation. An HP ProLiant DL360 G7 server is a good example of a scalable server. Here's some information about this system.

Day to day Operations. Servers come in configurations that are designed for ranges of numbers of users. If you're looking for a server to handle email and remote access then take into account the number of people who will access the server. The IBM System The x3400 M3 is a high-performance, cost-efficient tower server with large processing capacity and flexible configurations designed for demanding applications in growing businesses.

Data Redundancy and Fault Tolerance. Some businesses cannot afford any interruption in productivity due to server problems and downtime. Maybe complete data loss would mean complete ruin for your business. Others may have more forgiving data requirements. Data redundancy and fault tolerance are ways to keep data intact and servers functioning in the event of a disaster such as disk drive failure. Fault tolerance and data redundancy are achieved through a server technology known as RAID. This technology uses various techniques (levels) to provide better performance and/or data copies by duplicating data automatically onto additional disks.

This article discusses the various levels of RAID if you're interested.

Space and Environment. In a smaller business or perhaps a branch office, physical space may become an concern - and there's also the issue of noise. Putting a rack-mount system into an office just won't work - they're big, noisy and ugly (well, unless you like that kind of thing!). In the office your're likely to be looking at the smaller servers that are quieter and produce less heat. Where you have a room specifically for the server you'll need to consider air-flow and cooling requirements - even for larger tower servers.

IT Skills. Whether you have IT staff available also influences your server choice. Remote administration capabilities in many servers make it possible to have your system managed by IT staff centrally or perhaps by a third party. Trustco provides services - see here for further information.

These are some of the major considerations for server choice. At Trustco we have years of experience in helping our clients choose the right server for their specific situation. Get in touch now to get some advice without having to do all the leg-work yourself.

HP has some additional advice on this subject here