Hardware people

So we are looking at replacing our production server as it is getting up there in age... This server hosts our java based software with a sql database.. 15 users..

I asked the software vendor for their recommended hardware requirements and it came back at around $17,000 which is way out of our price range..

Does all this seem necessary? Any recommendations for ways to cut costs? Any other information you need to help? Thanks.

IBM x3500, Dual 2.4GHz Xeon 4C, 12GB Memory, (4) 146GB SAS drives (RAID 10), ServeRAID controller, 4 Day Rotation USB Backup Solution, Dual P/S, 18.5" LCD Monitor, 1500VA UPS
Microsoft 2008 Server x64 Standard w/ Client Access Licenses (10 users)
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 x64 Standard R2 w/ Client Access Licenses (10 users)
Veritas Backup Exec w/ SQL agent

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Comments

ptilsen

You can do a bare metal backup without going to a VM, although it is very easy with a VM. But that is exactly my point about the backups -- it's not going to be an hour restore because you're not going to restore just data. Either you restore the entire server or rebuild the entire server and restore the data.

Of course, with a good enough backup system it really good be an hour, but that seems pretty unlikely when corners are cut this much. Again, that might be acceptable to bwillford for this need, but it's worth keeping in mind.

UnixGuy

If you want the hardware to live without problems, then you shouldn't buy something cheap. It can live 10+ yrs....

Take backups manually if the data is really small.

it_consultant

So I am creating a BOM for a side job. In short, they need 2 tower servers which will run Server 2012 and warm replicate the virtuals to each other for fake high availability. Dell was out because their towers are single socket. It is about $6K for one HP generation 8 ML350 or whatever it is. Keep in mind that is with two sockets, dual cabled (SAS and SATA) drive controller etc. Still, it made me jump a little bit. If I got through an Arbitech it might be a little cheaper, but not by much.

We need two of those boxes, MS licenses, backup exec licenses, a drobo, and 2 48 port gigabit ethernet switches. I refuse to put my name on a BOM that will not deliver exactly the solution I promise. Luckily, their budget is actually pretty generous so it shouldn't be an issue. It will reach to $20K easily, maybe more.

I bring this up because they are in a similar boat. A custom piece of software running on SQL server for about 40 people. Hey, this is the cost of doing business. The switches are just for the servers and some desktops, their ageing 10/100s aren't in this scope.

AlexNguyen

When I saw the retail prices of the HP servers and Microsoft licenses, I'm glad that we have an enterprise agreement with those providers. Our internal price list is way much cheaper.

ptilsen

Yeah, you almost have to go through a consulting partner if you don't have an agreement with the OEM or a distributor. Just tell them you're fine with them taking a margin as long as they can help your bottom line, and they'll do it. They get huge margins. You don't want to pay retail for this stuff. Almost no one does, and no one should. CDW is popular partly because they have a relatively low entry cost to get the discounts, it's pretty hard to get a discount on some products through CDW -- HP products being the #1 example I think of.

it_consultant

I have used Arbitech, Ingram Micro, Synnex, and SHI in the past. Pretty good discount of list, but still more expensive than Dell.

gkca

AlexNguyen wrote: »

You got what you paid for...

Like cars, you can buy a Lada, Ford, Toyota, or BMW. Each can get you from point A to point B. But which one will break first ? Which one is more fun to drive ? Which one will get you more chicks ?

Nah, man, the Запорожец is the way to go

AlexNguyen

gkca wrote: »

Nah, man, the Запорожец is the way to go

Classic Lada jokes: Classic Lada Jokes

bwillford

Ptilsen - Are you saying that it is not possible to buy enterprise-grade hardware?

What brand hardware does IBM use? Can consumers buy the same hardware?