PowerEdge rack mount entry level server recommedation

Question

HI,

I am going to buy a new rack mount entry level server for our company, company size around 15 staff, it just for file server purpose, no any Windows application will be performed and the old server runs Centos 7, would someone recommend the configuration of new server? Please see my below requirement.

Model: R340/R440 <---no idea for this moment

CPU: Xeon grade

Ram: 16GB

FF: 1U

OS: Centos but I may change to Windows server 2016

Storage: we have a large amount files to be stored, current old Dell server hard drive space already used around 4.5TB/ total 6TB running RAID 5.

Also, what RAID controller recommend, I saw they have PERC H330 or H730P, etc.

For HDD, I want to use 2.5" instead of 3.5" HDD as 2.5" will have 8x, 2 can be used system disk running RAID1 and others will perform RAID 5, can current PERC controller handle two RAID system?

Jason

Daniel My · Answer

Hello

I think you should reconsider several of your requirements. Requirements like 1U, 2.5/SFF, rack, etc are probably not the best for what you are trying to accomplish. Do you have a rack in this office or is it some kind of mount for rack systems? Why only 1U?

For small office single server environments I would typically recommend a tower. For a file server focused on storage capacity I would recommend 3.5/LFF. If you are going to use a parity RAID level to maximize storage space then you need to use a good storage controller with write cache(H730).

I would recommend the R540 or the T340. Large capacity SFF drives are much more expensive than LFF drives. All of our storage controllers should support multiple virtual disks. The H330 and H730 support many more virtual disks than you would be using. You can find specifications in the storage controller manual.

http://www.dell.com/storagecontrollermanuals/

Thanks

jasonpg2019 · Answer

Thanks Daniel,

Because budget limit, if R540 price close to R340, then we may choose R540, I still prefer 3.5" HDD as we can choose large amount size, for each 2.5" HDD only provide 2TB Max..

Choose rack mount because we have a rack cabinet and it will save our server room space.

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PowerEdge rack mount entry level server recommedation

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