I was recently tasked with replacing an outdated server for an SMB. Spec'ing a server is not something I have much experience with so looking for input based on what I've gleaned from contacts and lots of reading online.
We're upgrading from a server with an Intel E31240 processor with 16GB of ram. It is running Windows Server 2012 which is our DC and file server. It has a 250GB OS drive and 2TB data drive, both HDD. Date drive shares mostly Microsoft office documents, pdf's, etc. Backups are currently to a separate My Cloud that also houses an 8TB media drive.
We have about 30 users who authenticate against the DC, probably only half are regularly accessing files. Media drive is accessed by about 3-4 people with mostly occasional usage except during the summer when summer camp staff upload weekly content (about 200-250GB/week, mostly on weekends).
Based on recommendations and research, I've spec'd (but haven't purchased yet) the following:
Dell R740xd 12-bay 3.5" server
2 2.5Ghz Silver 4215 8-core processors (wanting to stay at 16 core for licensing reasons)
224 GB of ram (maybe this is too much?)
HBA3
DRAC9 enterprise license
Dual port 10GB SFP+ + Dual port 1GB RJ45 Intel X710-DA2 (network architecture supports 10GB, planning to use DAC SFP cable)
2 1100W PSU
2 2TB WD Red Pro or Gold drives for OS
2 2TB HDD for regular file share, ZFS mirror
2 8TB HDD for media file share, ZFS mirror
6 6TB or 4 6TB HDD for backup, ZFS Z2
Additional backup will go to WD My Cloud and external drive for now until I can repurpose another computer as a standalone backup appliance.
I know I could just pool drives together and create virtual drives for the data and media but I was thinking that by separating the media and data shares, and large reads or writes wouldn't slow down access for the regular data share.
I'm planning on running PVE with 2-3 VM's, one for Microsoft Server 2025, another for TrueNas, and maybe another one for our wireless AP management. We don't have any performance issues with our current setup, but it's been running for about 12 years and needs to be retired. It seems like our normal usage is not resource intensive but don't want to just squeek by or not have any room to expand, though there isn't anything I'm seeing that would require much expansion other than maybe a few additional users over the years.
From my reading, it seems most people recommend SSD's for the VM's, but someone I've worked with in the past said HDD's will be just fine in our use case. I know we don't need 2TB of space for VM's, that's just the smallest I can find.
We are a nonprofit so money is of course an important consideration, but not allocating resources appropriately is something I want to avoid. Spend where we need to without over or under buying.
Based on this info, is there something I'm overlooking? Will the processor meet our needs? Do I need that much ram? Would making one storage cluster (but separate virtual drives) for media and regular files be fine?
Thank you for your feedback.
We're upgrading from a server with an Intel E31240 processor with 16GB of ram. It is running Windows Server 2012 which is our DC and file server. It has a 250GB OS drive and 2TB data drive, both HDD. Date drive shares mostly Microsoft office documents, pdf's, etc. Backups are currently to a separate My Cloud that also houses an 8TB media drive.
We have about 30 users who authenticate against the DC, probably only half are regularly accessing files. Media drive is accessed by about 3-4 people with mostly occasional usage except during the summer when summer camp staff upload weekly content (about 200-250GB/week, mostly on weekends).
Based on recommendations and research, I've spec'd (but haven't purchased yet) the following:
Dell R740xd 12-bay 3.5" server
2 2.5Ghz Silver 4215 8-core processors (wanting to stay at 16 core for licensing reasons)
224 GB of ram (maybe this is too much?)
HBA3
DRAC9 enterprise license
Dual port 10GB SFP+ + Dual port 1GB RJ45 Intel X710-DA2 (network architecture supports 10GB, planning to use DAC SFP cable)
2 1100W PSU
2 2TB WD Red Pro or Gold drives for OS
2 2TB HDD for regular file share, ZFS mirror
2 8TB HDD for media file share, ZFS mirror
6 6TB or 4 6TB HDD for backup, ZFS Z2
Additional backup will go to WD My Cloud and external drive for now until I can repurpose another computer as a standalone backup appliance.
I know I could just pool drives together and create virtual drives for the data and media but I was thinking that by separating the media and data shares, and large reads or writes wouldn't slow down access for the regular data share.
I'm planning on running PVE with 2-3 VM's, one for Microsoft Server 2025, another for TrueNas, and maybe another one for our wireless AP management. We don't have any performance issues with our current setup, but it's been running for about 12 years and needs to be retired. It seems like our normal usage is not resource intensive but don't want to just squeek by or not have any room to expand, though there isn't anything I'm seeing that would require much expansion other than maybe a few additional users over the years.
From my reading, it seems most people recommend SSD's for the VM's, but someone I've worked with in the past said HDD's will be just fine in our use case. I know we don't need 2TB of space for VM's, that's just the smallest I can find.
We are a nonprofit so money is of course an important consideration, but not allocating resources appropriately is something I want to avoid. Spend where we need to without over or under buying.
Based on this info, is there something I'm overlooking? Will the processor meet our needs? Do I need that much ram? Would making one storage cluster (but separate virtual drives) for media and regular files be fine?
Thank you for your feedback.