Servers
There are several
differences between desktop computers and servers. Functionally a desktop
computer can provide file sharing and centrally managed Antivirus/Anti-spyware
but True Server Operating systems offer easier management of security and added
functions and other options (see Functionality below) and Server Class Hardware
usually offers improved performance, reliability and durability. See below for
details. True Server Operating Systems can be installed on desktop hardware and
some of the features usually associated with server hardware can be implemented
on desktop hardware. While substituting desktop hardware for server hardware can
save money, some features are being sacrificed. Another option is to install
Network Attached Storage (NAS) to provide just centrally stored and shared data
(See below for detail).
Functionality
Function is primarily provided by the
Server Operating system as opposed to a Desktop Operating system. Features that
may be included are: robust file sharing and related user security, centrally
stored e-mail to provide backup of e-mail plus scanning for viruses, spam, etc.,
file archiving, internal website, hosting of an external website, central backup
solution, centrally managed anti-virus and anti-spyware, remote access and
support.
Performance:
Processor - speed, number of cores (single, dual,
Quad), amount of L2 Cache, Bus speed
Memory Amount of memory (32bit OS can use a
maximum of 4 GB of memory), Speed of memory (533/667/800)
Disk Drive: speed of drives, technology (IDE/SATA/SCSI/SAS),
RAID (none/mirroring/striping)
Ethernet Adapters: Speed (100Mhz/1Ghz), Multiple
adapters with load sharing
ECC memory performs better than non-ECC
Reliability: (Reducing how often serve goes down due to component failure)
Redundant Hard Drives - Drives that configured
with RAID (mirrored or stripped) provide for redundancy of storage which
prevents data loss (in most cases) when a drive fails and usually allow the
server to continue to functions properly even with a failed drive until the
failed drive can be replaced.
Hot swap drives - Failed drives in a Raid
configuration can be replaced without turning the Server off.
Redundant power supplied Multiple power
supplies (power converters located inside the server) allow the server to
continue to run when one power supply fails.
Hot swap power supplies allow replacement of a
failed power supply without turning the server off
Hot swap fans allows cooling fans inside the
server to be replaced without turning the server off.
Durability:
Server class equipment - motherboard, power
supplies, disk drives are built to run 24/7 so, on average, will last longer
than similar desktop components before failure.
Server
configurations below are all configured with single power supply, Mirrored SATA
hard drives, 2 GB DDR2/667 ECC memory and 2 Gigabit Ethernet adapters. All
models can be upgraded to include redundant power supplies; Raid 5 (striped)
drive arrays, hot swap drive bays, faster processors (within the same family),
and additional memory. Prices include Small Business Server with 5 client
licenses but do not include load and configuration of the Server Operating
System.
|
Processor |
speed |
L2 Cache |
Number of Cores
|
Number of Processors |
Base Price |
|
Core 2 duo E4400
Desktop class hardware |
2.0 GHz |
2 MB |
2 |
1 |
$1524 |
|
Xeon 3060 |
2.4 GHz |
4 MB |
2 |
1 |
$1831 |
|
Xeon 5130 |
2.0 GHz |
4 MB |
2 |
2 |
$2642 |
|
Xeon 5320 |
1.86 GHz |
8 MB (2 x 4) |
4 |
2 |
$2999 |
Network Attached Storage:
Network attached storage attached to the network
which includes RAID 0,1,5 and basic security features. Pricing is from $800 to
$2,000 for 1,000 GB to 3,000 GB of storage.