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Windows Server Domain |
Server Hardware
Having built my domain on the "cheap", I started out with a
disparate selection of servers from various manufacturers, but
mainly Dell and HP. Even with my very small system, having to
support machines from more than one manufacturer was a bit of a
pain, so I eventually selected HP on the basis that I had more
of them at the time and I had been happy with their performance
and support channels - even as a non-paying customer. I think
that Dell would have been an equally good choice, but FWIW, I am
now focusing on HP and this page describes the hardware that
currently runs my domain - or, at least it will when I finish it
!
There is one issue with HP servers that I should mention. Up until
2014, HP made access to firmware and driver updates open to all,
however, in early 2014, HP decided that system BIOS upgrades
would only be available to customers with valid warranties or
support agreements. This means that BIOS upgrades for older
systems will no longer be available to second users - however,
drivers and option board updates continue to be available - at
least, as of August 2018.
When I first expanded my network storage to a decent level, I
used both Dell and HP hardware; a Dell PowerVault 220S with 14 x
300 MB SCSI disks (4.2TB) and a HP Modular Smart Array (MSA) 20
with 12 x 500MB SATA disks (6TB). These devices provided ample
storage capacity for my network but had significant power
requirements, making them pretty expensive to run, not to
mention, extremely noisy. I have now
replaced these devices with a pair of Buffalo Terastations with
4 x 2 TB SATA disks (8 TB) which gives me slightly more storage
capacity with much lower running costs. The downside is that
SATA drives do not have the performance of SCSI so the
performance of the file servers is not as good as it was, but
they are more than acceptable for my needs.
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