Servers - Hardware considerations

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Hardware considerations for a server, how many processors, how much memory, hard drive space, services you will need to install to make your server functional in your environment.

Most servers support more than one processor, some go as high as 64 processors (these high end servers cost as much as a house!) Normally you would want a server with dual or quad processors. When you have dual or quad processors the server will be able to do more tasks faster. That is if the server is a file server it will be able to send and receive, read and write files faster. The name of the game for servers is speed, you don't want your employees waiting on the server to open a file, you want them to be working on the file.

Server memory is different from workstation memory, it has more controls on how the memory is written to and retention of the data in memory, EEC (Electronic Error Checking) is one of the most common types of memory for servers. Servers also have the facility for more memory than a workstation. Some servers can accommodate up to a terabyte (102,400,000,000 bytes) of memory, that is 1024 gigs of memory, your workstation will bulk at more than 8 gig of memory!

Server storage (hard drive space) is also different from workstation storage, although the storage is becoming more aligned because of the SATA specification. If you have a SATA drive in your workstation the same drive can be used in a server, it is the way the drives are configured that is the key. Legacy servers use a drive specification called SCSI (Small Computer Serial Interface) and Legacy workstations used IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) the two type of interfaces are not compatible, you need a different controller for each interface. With SATA you have one specification.

Sever services, when you decide what role the server will play in your network design (you will have to have a network to use a server!) the role will dictate what services you install. A Domain Controller for example will have to have additional services either on the Domain Controller or an additional support server, such as DNS, WINS, and DHCP.

So how do you figure out what your specifications for the server will be? By the role the server will play in the overall scheme of the domain.

You wouldn't want to pay for 900 gig of storage in an RAID 5 configuration for a DNS, WIN's, DHCP server, but you would want to have a dual processor and four to eight gig's of memory.

A small guide for servers:

File, Data Base, or application servers. These types of servers require large quantities of storage. These servers will require more storage and a backup solution to protect the data in case of a catastrophic failure. Depending on your requirements the storage would run from 100 gig to terabytes.

Domain Controllers, Web servers, and support serves such as a print server, DNS, DHCP, or WIN's servers are more processor and memory intensive processes and do not require huge amounts of storage, the do how ever require a backup solution. Requirements vary but a starting point would be a dual processor and two gig's of memory.

Normal OS requirements for primary storage is 16 gig, but with all upgrades, patches, and additional security that the OS will undergo over the span of service I would recommend you start with a minimum of 36 gig, if you can afford it 72 gig.

You will also want a secondary storage for the swap file, any data the server will be using or creating such as data base programs that the Domain Controller will create.

A special server would be a Firewall server, this server would have a firewall software solution and a proxy server software solution to keep your network safe from cyber attack, this server does not have to be a high powered server or have a large amount of storage. In addition to the router hardware firewall solution this will enhance your networks security.

One last special server is the Multimedia server. The reason this is a special server is that it requires large amounts of storage, memory, and processing power. In addition to the storage, memory, and processors it requires a higher video resolution than the normal server. Add to that some multimedia applications require special optical devices.

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