I have to disagree with you there Mike. Virtualization works will for production, dev and test environments. I have more virtual servers than actual physical servers. I have production SQL server applications (heavy I/O too) that run flawlessly in VMWare. I also have a production box with an inventory control application that the company said they didn't think would run on VMWare and it not only runs on VMWare, it runs better on VMWare than it ever did on a physical box.
OK, stepping off my VMWare soapbox...... On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 8:06 AM, Sharie Breaux <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: We only need one server at this point. The primary server that I will be buying needs Windows 2003 Server Std edition. Yes to AD and we already have an Exchange Server of which I will be taking with me as the other company is using something else for mail. The exchange server is only about 1-1/2 years old. The SQL server is the oldest, but they don't want to spend the money on that now because of all the other moving expenses - furniture, cubicles, etc. The backup server I will also be taking with me and it is only 1-1/2 years old. I felt that blade servers were overkill myself, but I needed some backup on this issue. Thanks everyone for the information. Anymore at any time will be greatly appreciated! ________________________________ From: Martin Blackstone [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 8:59 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Need opinion on Blade Servers Sharie, how many servers do you need? What systems will you be running here? Do you need AD? Exchange? From: Sharie Breaux [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 5:49 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Need opinion on Blade Servers Small Business Server is not supported by our software and our trading system uses SQL databases that have to be on a separate box as well. Sharie ________________________________ From: Andy Shook [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 8:36 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Need opinion on Blade Servers It all depends on the needs of the firm. My knee-jerk was to put in a SBS box for everything since its only eight people, however, there may be more to it than meets the eye. (Dude, transformers are awesome!!) As far as host based virtualization, I think this environment would be an ideal candidate. It's small and there is no physical space allocated for severs. I would look into the option of taking your beefiest box, maxing out the RAM and putting everything I could on it. My outside view, $.02 Shook http://www.linkedin.com/in/andyshook ________________________________ From: Jon Harris [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 8:18 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: Need opinion on Blade Servers -- Sherry Abercrombie "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Arthur C. Clarke Adding to the VMware /Vmware ESX hat on. Yes we do use Dev test and production for Vmware ESX hosts on SQL, apps, File servers, Print servers, etc etc. Only thing I don't use it for is Exchange and DC's. I even have small/low end SQL databases on ESX hosts and they work fine. Also forgot that anything with Java in it, keep it away from ESX hosts, Java runs like a pig in ESX hosts, but fine on regular similarly sized hardware. (Seen about 20X issues across our farm with java and Vm not playing nice nice. ) /Vmware ESX hat Off Z Edward E. Ziots Network Engineer Lifespan Organization MCSE,MCSA,MCP,Security+,Network+,CCA Phone: 401-639-3505 -----Original Message----- From: Sherry Abercrombie [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 9:15 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: Need opinion on Blade Servers ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~