[SOLVED] Need advice for a Small Business Server

[RedDevil74]

I need a server to handle the operations for a small-medium size business. The current server is is a very basic and outdated one, 500gb of storage. I do not have all the details but I know that it is slow and it needs to be replaced. The office has around 25 computers and may be expanded in the near future. The server will handle simple storage of documents and the computers will access the documents (word, powerpoint, excel, etc) through the server. Not too much storage will be required, about 1TB-4TB should be good enough for future proofing.
A local computer shop has quoted building a server with RAID, 1TB storage, windows server operating system and 4GB ram and Intel Xeon 4C CPU at about $3600, but obviously that is very expensive and we are looking at something cheaper. Ive looked online for prebuilt servers but I do not know enough about servers to make a concrete decision. Something cheap, reliable and simple would be perfect, which requires less maintenance. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[faalin]

Are you running any Virtual Machines for programs or apps? A Domain Controller to handle all the computers?

If your just storing files then you can set up a normal computer with raided drives and share folders off that. I would highly recommend getting a backup system for said stored files....... raid is not a backup solution.

We run a raid 5 on our server and use Veeam backup to push backups to another server in the same rack, a server across the street, and to the cloud

 

[kodydoty]

So if you are only doing file storage/transfer on the network you have many options. If you want it to be a legitimate server that runs 24/7 ish you can get a Tower or Rack server. If you are happy with a rack server i would suggest an R410 server, with a 2 SSD and 2HDD setup. 2 SSDs for your instant transfer from computer to computer, the SSD allows for a better transfer speed and lower chance of mechanical failure. The 2 HDDs should be NAS grade and those should be used for your backup / lower access rate data. Definitely get windows server which runs $300-$1000+ depending on the version you want but if the server is dedicated i would 100% suggest windows server.

If you want a tower server i would suggest a HP ProLiant ML350p Gen8 with a similar drive setup.
I only have experience with rack servers i genuinely dislike the tower dust traps and i feel they are a waste of time. But if you guys dont have to have the server 24/7 you can buy a basic PC and set it up for file sharing.

 

[mdd1963]

Windows 2012/206/2019 Standard or above now adds $40 per user CAL costs...

for basic storage/file serving/storing, not a lot of CPU power/cores are required, so, I'd be checking out 4-6 bay NAS units from Synology....; if your network and all clients are on 1 simple 1 GbE capable switch, then decent NAS units for $400-$800 abound.... (if you anticipate needing/upgrading to 10 GbE in the near future, add $200-300 for a 10 GbE capable unit...

Add $120 per drive to stuff it full of 4-6 WD Red 4 TB drives (I'd opt for a 6 bay unit, fill the unit with 4 or 6 TB drives, and choose RAID 6 functionality, where loss of one or even two drives does not result in data loss), and you are in business quickly....

For example:

https://www.newegg.com/synology-ds1...ynology&cm_re=Synology-_-22-108-700-_-Product

The above Synology (at $750-is) is $250 less than the cost of even just the CALs required for many WIndows Server (Standard) setups...