New Server for the office
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The morning I'm tasked with ordering some new IT stuff as our company is splitting in two -- FINALLY!
We are taking about 3TB of data. I bought Dell servers for a long time then Lenovo, so now I'm wandering what brand I should go with and then what config. I think I'm going to go with Server 2016 but also tempted to something like NextCloud on a VM and a D.C. On another VM. I'll be putting someone else in charge of daily IT so I'm not sure I want to use Linux.
I'm a die hard Mikrotik fan at least for the office network gear.
So I'm looking for feedback on what vendor and config everyone is favoring these days.
So I'm looking at...
1.) 30ish network users accessing about 10% of a 3TB file storage share, the rest always has to be available for fast browsing of just a few guys
2.) if anything better than mikrotik has surfaced I'd be surprised, but open just for sake of conversation
3.) maybe a few CAD stations getting replaced
Budget is anywhere under $10k. Could also just go with a NAS if I try Azure AD out, just really can't decide who I want to use for hardware.
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Super Micro. Take a look at them.
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For such a small footprint you could get something from xByte (assuming they are allowed to sell/ship to your location) for well within that price range.
Having a budget before really knowing what you need is a bit difficult though, as you may end up cutting corners. Or wasting money.
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@bigbear said in New Server for the office:
2.) if anything better than mikrotik has surfaced I'd be surprised, but open just for sake of conversation
Check out Ubiquiti. I've never used Mikrotik so can't compare the two but I've used Ubiquiti a lot in the past and it is really solid equipment for a very inexpensive price.
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@DustinB3403 said in New Server for the office:
For such a small footprint you could get something from xByte (assuming they are allowed to sell/ship to your location) for well within that price range.
Having a budget before really knowing what you need is a bit difficult though, as you may end up cutting corners. Or wasting money.
I would say check out SuperMicro and xByte. They have loads of options available and the support to go along with it.
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With any solution you're going to want to virtualize. So be it Hyper-V, XenServer, ESXi or KVM. Installing anything besides a hypervisor to bare metal really needs a very specific reason. Which I don't think you have.
You may be able to get something from @scale within that price range, but I honestly don't know.
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@DustinB3403 said in New Server for the office:
With any solution you're going to want to virtualize. So be it Hyper-V, XenServer, ESXi or KVM. Installing anything besides a hypervisor to bare metal really needs a very specific reason. Which I don't think you have.
You may be able to get something from @scale within that price range, but I honestly don't know.
I thought their base price was $23K. May be wrong though.
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@coliver It might be more than 10K. I've never looked at their pricing.
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@bigbear This is a VM host machine housing one domain controller and a file server only? Is the network gear you are referring to a UTM that charges you licensing fees etc?
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@bigbear said in New Server for the office:
Budget is anywhere under $10k. Could also just go with a NAS if I try Azure AD out, just really can't decide who I want to use for hardware.
A NAS, while a reasonable solution to a lot of use cases, is not in its self a solid solution. If you are going to be hosting services on site, such as file shares and AD services, you need at least 2 pieces of hardware.
Production Server and Production backup target.
The NAS almost always falls into the "backup target" category.
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@DustinB3403 said in New Server for the office:
You may be able to get something from @scale within that price range, but I honestly don't know.
Isn't there a used one for sale around here?
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@StrongBad said in New Server for the office:
@DustinB3403 said in New Server for the office:
You may be able to get something from @scale within that price range, but I honestly don't know.
Isn't there a used one for sale around here?
Actually yes there is!
https://mangolassi.it/topic/12990/used-scale-hc3-equipment-for-sale/1
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Paging @mroth911
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@coliver said in New Server for the office:
@DustinB3403 said in New Server for the office:
With any solution you're going to want to virtualize. So be it Hyper-V, XenServer, ESXi or KVM. Installing anything besides a hypervisor to bare metal really needs a very specific reason. Which I don't think you have.
You may be able to get something from @scale within that price range, but I honestly don't know.
I thought their base price was $23K. May be wrong though.
They're offering single servers now, so I'd assume around 1/3 that price, $7700.
I'd immediately check what @xByteSean has to offer.
Lenovo is a never touch company now. In addition to all the lies around superfish, the BIOS level remote access bug was only ever fixed by a password change. So if you have a Lenovo on your network, you are no longer in control of said network.
Mikrotik do make some good gear, but Ubiquiti has surpassed them in value.
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@coliver said in New Server for the office:
@bigbear said in New Server for the office:
2.) if anything better than mikrotik has surfaced I'd be surprised, but open just for sake of conversation
Check out Ubiquiti. I've never used Mikrotik so can't compare the two but I've used Ubiquiti a lot in the past and it is really solid equipment for a very inexpensive price.
Have used a lot of Ubiquiti over the years as a regional WISP. All new stuff is Mikrotek now.
There really is no comparison on the router side, Microtik is incredible. They aren't big in the US. Their hardware is killer but you can download RouterOS and run it on a VM.
You should check it out.
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@wirestyle22 said in New Server for the office:
@bigbear This is a VM host machine housing one domain controller and a file server only? Is the network gear you are referring to a UTM that charges you licensing fees etc?
They blow everything else away. Best hardware, best software, no-BS licensing. 20 years hardened.
I'm not close minded though, always looking. But for 3 years I have been a Microtik fanboy.
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I have not looked at MicroTik in probably a decade
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@travisdh1 said in New Server for the office:
@coliver said in New Server for the office:
@DustinB3403 said in New Server for the office:
With any solution you're going to want to virtualize. So be it Hyper-V, XenServer, ESXi or KVM. Installing anything besides a hypervisor to bare metal really needs a very specific reason. Which I don't think you have.
You may be able to get something from @scale within that price range, but I honestly don't know.
I thought their base price was $23K. May be wrong though.
They're offering single servers now, so I'd assume around 1/3 that price, $7700.
I'd immediately check what @xByteSean has to offer.
Lenovo is a never touch company now. In addition to all the lies around superfish, the BIOS level remote access bug was only ever fixed by a password change. So if you have a Lenovo on your network, you are no longer in control of said network.
Mikrotik do make some good gear, but Ubiquiti has surpassed them in value.
I never really trust them, lol. Early on I was an AS400 admin (oh 18 years ago) and I had always been drawn to IBM. So I gave them a shot.
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I have a scale 3 node cluster for sale?
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@JaredBusch said in New Server for the office:
I have not looked at MicroTik in probably a decade
They rely heavily on partners and I dont think there is any good marketing to the U.S. Since I have dealt with them they remind me of dealing with Ubiquiti or Ruckus in their earlier days. A lean/mean company that makes everything in house.
RouterBoard hardware incredible, I dont know how they stay so far ahead with RouterOS thought.
