Our Data CenterSo what is server and what it can do for you?
Let’s take an example of a small office having around 10 desktops and few laptop computers. You all work on your files. Where would you save them and how do you share with a colleague? You will share a drive on your computer. Well, what if your computer is off, you are concerned with if she can delete files or may get access to some confidential files also.
Server can help you:
- You can share your files on a server. Create a users and groups and allow access to only people who should have permissions, you can set read only or read-writer permissions. Not only that, you can prevent deleting your files also.
- Server with RAID configuration can add another level of protection by replicating content of one hard drive to other hard drive in real time. (Means you don’t need to copy from one drive to other)
- RAID can keep your server running even if one disk fails and you can replace disk. In some servers with hot-swap features you even don’t need to shutdown server to replace hard drives.
Before you buy server:
Branded or Unbranded: You have two choice, If you are looking for a mission critical applications and you really need performance and you are going to run your servers 24×7 you must opt for Branded Servers. You can choose from IBM, HP, Dell Servers.
Unbranded servers are good for small business or companies to run non-mission critical services like and budget is a problem. You can still use non-branded servers for mission critical use or running 24×7. It all depends on how your server is build, what components are used.
Rack or Tower: Rack servers can save lots of space compared to tower. If you are planning to co-locate your server in ISP data center you have no option but to buy Rack Mount servers. Rack mount servers are bit expensive compared to tower servers.
If you need only one or two servers and you do not have dedicated server room and rack. You must buy tower servers.
Hardware or Software RAID: Operating system like Windows 2003 or 2008 provides you option of having software RAID where you can do mirroring or even RAID 5. But this will effect performance. If you are looking for server for small set of users and your budget is limited, you may go for software RAID. Software RAID is created after Operating System is installed.
To setup hardware RAID you need a raid controller. Many server motherboard have onboard RAID controller with RAID 0,1 or 5. Hardware raid donot require processor resources hence you will get better performance. You may get features like Hot Swap which allows you to replace disk while server is running. You must opt for hardware RAID if you are using your server for mission critical applications like Exchange server or ERP server.
Running servers 24×7: If you are hosting mail server; website or running a mission critical business applications like SAP you may want your servers to run 24×7. You will need to plan and design your data center to run servers 24×7. It’s not only running servers at 24×7 but your entire data center would run 24×7 to maintain availability. The first thing is providing enough power backup, cooling and redundant links. You cannot ignore security. Your server should be protected behind firewall which is configured well. Only required inbound ports should be opened. You must monitor event logs, disk space, processor and memory usage.