Be in the "working group" from the very beginning
Buying a server for an organization is a task with many variables that requires consideration of the budget, the current structure of the company, and the forecast for the future. Everyone wants a budget solution that satisfies not only current, but also new problems. In small and medium businesses, at the junction of budget and functionality opportunities, there is a choice between entry-level servers and servers of the “working group” level.
Much has been written and said about the similarities and differences in the levels of server solutions, but when the question rises directly, it turns out that everything is not that simple. Consultations on this issue with various vendors are usually not very informative and everything depends on the question: “How much money do you have?”
We want to present the differences between the levels of servers according to the version of vendors representing the three whales of the server industry: HP, Dell and IBM. We phoned many companies that implement server hardware. Various trade representatives of the companies were asked a trivial question: “We have a firm of 25 people. Possible rapid growth in the number of employees up to 70 people. We are engaged in wholesale trade. It is necessary to store the base somewhere, 1C, internal mail. Which server of “Enna” of the company would be better for us: “X” of the entry level or is it the “Y” of the average level? ”Two specific options were offered for consideration. At HP: DL160 and DL360; Dell has: R320 and R420; for IBM: x3250 and x3550. Generations were considered top, because vendors prefer to be at the peak of the wave.
Immediately I would like to touch the servers of Dell and IBM, since in this case everything turned out to be trite and extremely logical.
')
1. The considered entry-level servers of these brands are exclusively single-processor versus dual-processor “workgroup” machines, but the sockets are identical.
2. There are also less slots for RAM and other ports at the initial level than there is in the case of a “workgroup”.
In both cases, we were kindly advised to purchase a mid-level server so that in case of expanding the organization we should change the equipment.
But with the equipment HP is not so clear. Both the DL160 and DL360 are dual-processor servers. Of course, there are more memory slots and gigabit ports on the 360th, but otherwise the servers are completely identical. Thus, even with a significant expansion of the state of our abstract company, the maximum 512GB of DL160G9 RAM is enough. The downsides are that these servers are often equipped with a B140i controller, from which there is quite a bit of benefit: this is softrade. Hence, there may be problems when using operating systems other than the Windows family. For the 440th controller, the increase in price will already be noticeable.
It goes without saying that the server of the “working group” level is much preferable, but the price here becomes the decisive factor.
Consider the DL160G9 server in a specific configuration in order to have an idea of ​​the price.
HP ProLiant DL160G9
Processor: 2 x 1.90GHz Intel Xeon E5-2609 v3 (Haswell-EP) 6-Core, 6.4GT / s QPI, 15MB L3 cache.
OP: 64 GB (16 x 8GB DIMM DDR4 PC4-2133)
2 network adapters: Intel i350 PCI-E Gigabit LAN Network Interface Controller w / VMDq, SR-IOV support
BMC Network Adapter: HP Integrated Lights-Out Management Gigabit LAN Network Interface Controller
HDD: no.
Cost: 350,000 rubles
However, mid-level servers unconditionally offer more opportunities for expanding the company's staff and when new challenges arise. Therefore, the acquisition of such a used server with a guarantee makes it possible not only to meet the budget, but also to satisfy all the tasks. Therefore, when there is a need to buy a server for an organization, there is no sense in pursuing a novelty in the form of equipment reliability and full coverage of a range of tasks.
For the same money, you can take two second-hand DL360G8 mid-level servers with 6-core processors, and by building a cluster-“mirror” of them you get a fundamentally different level of reliability: no downtime when even one of the nodes fails completely. Plus, it is quite possible to produce load balancing between nodes.
If we consider one server, then in the situation we modeled a great alternative would be to buy a used HP Proliant DL360G8 server , in which a large number of memory slots and two 8-core processors provide excellent opportunities for expansion.
All of the above is in the form of a vendor position report, made on the basis of our numerous calls and letters on the topic of optimal server selection and the corresponding conclusions. As a result, the vendors themselves are confused in evaluating their own products. We are entirely for rational purchases, so if there is an opportunity to purchase a higher level server for less money without any risk, then why not.
Much has been written and said about the similarities and differences in the levels of server solutions, but when the question rises directly, it turns out that everything is not that simple. Consultations on this issue with various vendors are usually not very informative and everything depends on the question: “How much money do you have?”
We want to present the differences between the levels of servers according to the version of vendors representing the three whales of the server industry: HP, Dell and IBM. We phoned many companies that implement server hardware. Various trade representatives of the companies were asked a trivial question: “We have a firm of 25 people. Possible rapid growth in the number of employees up to 70 people. We are engaged in wholesale trade. It is necessary to store the base somewhere, 1C, internal mail. Which server of “Enna” of the company would be better for us: “X” of the entry level or is it the “Y” of the average level? ”Two specific options were offered for consideration. At HP: DL160 and DL360; Dell has: R320 and R420; for IBM: x3250 and x3550. Generations were considered top, because vendors prefer to be at the peak of the wave.
Immediately I would like to touch the servers of Dell and IBM, since in this case everything turned out to be trite and extremely logical.
')
1. The considered entry-level servers of these brands are exclusively single-processor versus dual-processor “workgroup” machines, but the sockets are identical.
2. There are also less slots for RAM and other ports at the initial level than there is in the case of a “workgroup”.
In both cases, we were kindly advised to purchase a mid-level server so that in case of expanding the organization we should change the equipment.
But with the equipment HP is not so clear. Both the DL160 and DL360 are dual-processor servers. Of course, there are more memory slots and gigabit ports on the 360th, but otherwise the servers are completely identical. Thus, even with a significant expansion of the state of our abstract company, the maximum 512GB of DL160G9 RAM is enough. The downsides are that these servers are often equipped with a B140i controller, from which there is quite a bit of benefit: this is softrade. Hence, there may be problems when using operating systems other than the Windows family. For the 440th controller, the increase in price will already be noticeable.
It goes without saying that the server of the “working group” level is much preferable, but the price here becomes the decisive factor.
Consider the DL160G9 server in a specific configuration in order to have an idea of ​​the price.
HP ProLiant DL160G9
Processor: 2 x 1.90GHz Intel Xeon E5-2609 v3 (Haswell-EP) 6-Core, 6.4GT / s QPI, 15MB L3 cache.
OP: 64 GB (16 x 8GB DIMM DDR4 PC4-2133)
2 network adapters: Intel i350 PCI-E Gigabit LAN Network Interface Controller w / VMDq, SR-IOV support
BMC Network Adapter: HP Integrated Lights-Out Management Gigabit LAN Network Interface Controller
HDD: no.
Cost: 350,000 rubles
However, mid-level servers unconditionally offer more opportunities for expanding the company's staff and when new challenges arise. Therefore, the acquisition of such a used server with a guarantee makes it possible not only to meet the budget, but also to satisfy all the tasks. Therefore, when there is a need to buy a server for an organization, there is no sense in pursuing a novelty in the form of equipment reliability and full coverage of a range of tasks.
For the same money, you can take two second-hand DL360G8 mid-level servers with 6-core processors, and by building a cluster-“mirror” of them you get a fundamentally different level of reliability: no downtime when even one of the nodes fails completely. Plus, it is quite possible to produce load balancing between nodes.
If we consider one server, then in the situation we modeled a great alternative would be to buy a used HP Proliant DL360G8 server , in which a large number of memory slots and two 8-core processors provide excellent opportunities for expansion.
All of the above is in the form of a vendor position report, made on the basis of our numerous calls and letters on the topic of optimal server selection and the corresponding conclusions. As a result, the vendors themselves are confused in evaluating their own products. We are entirely for rational purchases, so if there is an opportunity to purchase a higher level server for less money without any risk, then why not.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/270977/
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