[jdink]

The company i work for is looking to upgrade all of our hardware systems as we expand and i am in charge of doing the research to figure out what we need.

We are a small company (4 people) and will probably be looking at a small business server, 2 desktops and 2 laptops, but will also need the ability to expand to say.... 8 people.

Can anyone out there give me some recommendations at where I should start looking and what I should be looking for? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[!Xoible]

just any beefy computer with 4+GB or RAM and some fat ass hard drive (expandable) or might consider investing in tera station or something. should do.

what u gonna be doing on that server? is it a file server? does it host apps?

[iatacs19]

Dell or hp have pretty good solutions with integrated management features, their solutions are pretty scalable as well. Call the small business line for either and they will walk you through and suggest a good solution to meet your needs.

[txusa03]

don't forget to invest in backups (a must for all business with electronics data). Something that can handle raid configuration, or tape backups, or an external hard drive.

[jdink]

Originally Posted by ///Mantis

just any beefy computer with 4+GB or RAM and some fat ass hard drive (expandable) or might consider investing in tera station or something. should do.

what u gonna be doing on that server? is it a file server? does it host apps?

it will be a file server and will most likely hold apps. we have some central apps to our business that we want in one spot that will always be up to date.

Originally Posted by iatacs19

Dell or hp have pretty good solutions with integrated management features, their solutions are pretty scalable as well. Call the small business line for either and they will walk you through and suggest a good solution to meet your needs.

yeah, so far i'm leaning towards dell. we get the business discount and microsoft has some small business loan type deal where we can basically spread the expenses over a long period of time. i forget the exact details but its pretty nice.

I was thinking about calling the smal business line but want to havea better idea of what we need first so i dont get oversold stuff we dont need.

Originally Posted by txusa03

don't forget to invest in backups (a must for all business with electronics data). Something that can handle raid configuration, or tape backups, or an external hard drive.

+1 to raid. we also have an offsite backup done every night.

[!Xoible]

for files i'd opt to have 2 tera stations one of them mirrors the other that hook up thru sata to the server and make it the network "file server" and have everyone map a network drive to it.

what he said sounds great though

[jdink]

Originally Posted by ///Mantis

for files i'd opt to have 2 tera stations one of them mirrors the other that hook up thru sata to the server and make it the network "file server" and have everyone map a network drive to it.

what he said sounds great though

i'll wiki it, but can you explain tera stations?

[iatacs19]

Unless you will be doing the maintenance of these systems day to day, I suggest you also look at a good plan where they can come and service the hardware failures and other common problems.

RAID != backup

[1WickedE90]

Originally Posted by jdink

We are a small company (4 people) and will probably be looking at a small business server, 2 desktops and 2 laptops, but will also need the ability to expand to say.... 8 people.

Desktop: Dell Optiplex 755 w/ 3yr next-day onsite service
Laptop: IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad T61 series w/ 3yr next-day onsite service
Server: HP Proliant DL380G5 series w/ same-day, 8x5 onsite service

Don't have any info on what NOS, email, etc you're using so PM me for more info if you want.

[b335i]

Just make sure you have redundant backups!! Raid/Tape/offsite

[!Xoible]

Originally Posted by jdink

i'll wiki it, but can you explain tera stations?

brand for external hard drives that are terabytes in size

[E36_325i]

Dell PowerEdge 2950 server with ML3000 SCSI/iSCSI Disk enclosure for data storage. The 2950 will be the front end for your file server and your apps. Desktops should be Dell optiplex or Latitude laptops. Small PowerVault Tape Backup Unit for backups to be kept offsite.

Done.

[Neurorad]

Everyone who has posted is insane.

Hire someone to pick it out, install it, and manage it.

Ask other local small business owners who they use.

There must be a hundred nearby small IT companies that would jump at the chance to help you.

Try google -> maps -> find business, search "office computer network" - gamble on a small, new company or use name recognition.

Or call Dell or Cisco for a list of local IT affiliates if you want someone more established.

Get several price quotes, after free consultations. Make it easy on yourself.