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From: Al Williams on 6 Oct 2009 10:18
Don't forget if you want the "premium version" SQL server you will need a
second server (or go virtual) IIRC.

As for server speed, given enough RAM always put your money into the disk
array.

For your current server you could probably bring your performance up a ton
by upping your current server to 3 or 4G of RAM - 2G is not enough for 35
users.

Also - if this is same Mike as the thread below with your C: drive filling
up, you indicated you had a 30GB paritition which is more than enough, you
just need to move some data and limit your logs (SBS/Windows takes around
10GB, what is the rest?).

--
Allan Williams




Mike wrote:
> Sorry guys, a bit more info. We are currently at 35 active users -
> if I had to guess it might change by 1-2 additions per year. I have
> quotas on users for Exchange,but am still running around 50Gb, and
> our SQL databases are not huge either and the biggest one will go
> away sometime next year.
> I would say if I planned for 10% growth per year, that would be more
> than adequate. We are going through right now and digitizing all of
> our documents, but they are stored on a different server, so that is
> not an issue for the SBS machine.
> My current machine is noticbly slow now, but it is old - HP ML370
> with a six disk array (36Gb 15K drives), split into two partitions
> (one for OS and one for Exchange). It has only 2Gb RAM, and I'm
> running out of disk space on the OS partition (deleting logs to keep
> up and running).
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> "Mike" wrote:
>
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I am planning to upgrade our SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 early next year
>> (budget planning begins next week). I have used both Dell PowerEdge
>> products and HP Proliant servers, so I'm not married to either one.
>> Any advice on HW - Dell vs HP? How many drives and in what config?
>> Memory? We will be using both Exchange and SQL Server.
>>
>> Mike


From: Mike on 6 Oct 2009 10:58
Al,

Thanks for the reply. I have been considering more memory, but I've also
wanted to avoid spending any more money on this machine, but memory isn't
that expensive, so I will price it out.

Yes, it is the same Mike - and I have freed up some space with cleaning out
old log files. Actually my C: drive partition is 23G, of which 10G is the
Windows directory, Program Files is about 6G and other folders are about 2G,
and I have 5G free at this time. Yesterday I moved my Backup Exec install
off the C drive partition, which freed up about 2G itself. Also, my space
isn't fluctuating like it had been the last few days, so Backup Exec may have
been a culprit.

Mike


"Al Williams" wrote:

> Don't forget if you want the "premium version" SQL server you will need a
> second server (or go virtual) IIRC.
>
> As for server speed, given enough RAM always put your money into the disk
> array.
>
> For your current server you could probably bring your performance up a ton
> by upping your current server to 3 or 4G of RAM - 2G is not enough for 35
> users.
>
> Also - if this is same Mike as the thread below with your C: drive filling
> up, you indicated you had a 30GB paritition which is more than enough, you
> just need to move some data and limit your logs (SBS/Windows takes around
> 10GB, what is the rest?).
>
> --
> Allan Williams
>
>
>
>
> Mike wrote:
> > Sorry guys, a bit more info. We are currently at 35 active users -
> > if I had to guess it might change by 1-2 additions per year. I have
> > quotas on users for Exchange,but am still running around 50Gb, and
> > our SQL databases are not huge either and the biggest one will go
> > away sometime next year.
> > I would say if I planned for 10% growth per year, that would be more
> > than adequate. We are going through right now and digitizing all of
> > our documents, but they are stored on a different server, so that is
> > not an issue for the SBS machine.
> > My current machine is noticbly slow now, but it is old - HP ML370
> > with a six disk array (36Gb 15K drives), split into two partitions
> > (one for OS and one for Exchange). It has only 2Gb RAM, and I'm
> > running out of disk space on the OS partition (deleting logs to keep
> > up and running).
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >
> >
> > "Mike" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi folks,
> >>
> >> I am planning to upgrade our SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 early next year
> >> (budget planning begins next week). I have used both Dell PowerEdge
> >> products and HP Proliant servers, so I'm not married to either one.
> >> Any advice on HW - Dell vs HP? How many drives and in what config?
> >> Memory? We will be using both Exchange and SQL Server.
> >>
> >> Mike
>
>
>
From: Charlie Russel - MVP on 6 Oct 2009 11:12
Given what else you've described, I'd look at an HP ML330 G6 or ML350 G6.
(Remember, I have a strong HP bias.<g>)

Somewhere around 12 GB should be enough. You'll be running two hyper-v
virtual machines on it -- one the SBS 2008 server (8GB), the other your SQL
server(3GB) , running on the second server that is part of SBS 2008 Premium.
You'll leave 1GB for the parent partition.

I'd choose the maximum number of SAS disks you can fit in the box (and you
might want to consider Small Form Factor disks). Upgrade the built in 410
controller to 512 Mb of cache. 300 GB disks should be more than enough for a
while, in an overall RAID 6 array. Partition off 60-80 GB for the parent
partition, and the rest to hold the VHDs for the SBS and second server. I'd
also suggest that adding an additional dual NIC would be a good idea. This
will give you a dedicated NIC for each VM, plus one for the host.

--
Charlie.
http:/msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64


"Mike" <Mike(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BD7A4D1A-5E98-45CE-9411-E78AC44C4A45(a)microsoft.com...
> Oh yeah, not that this makes much of a difference, but my company is a
> non-profit community developement organization, so money is always tight -
> always looking to get the most machine I can for the least amount of
> money.
> That's why my current SBS box is 6 years old.
>
> Mike
>
>
> "Mike" wrote:
>
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I am planning to upgrade our SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 early next year (budget
>> planning begins next week). I have used both Dell PowerEdge products and
>> HP
>> Proliant servers, so I'm not married to either one.
>> Any advice on HW - Dell vs HP? How many drives and in what config?
>> Memory?
>> We will be using both Exchange and SQL Server.
>>
>> Mike

From: AllenM on 6 Oct 2009 11:21
Doesn't appear you have disk space issues on your C: partition. With 23GB
total and over 5GB+ free you are over the recommended 20% threshold of free
disk space. As far as hardware seeing how you are a small business using SBS
2003 you can run Exchange and SQL on the same server. Just make sure when
you upgrade your new hardware needs to support 64-bit and don't be shy on
the memory. In SBS 2003 4GB is good enough however in SBS 2008 looks like
6GB is "bare" minimum and most are opting for 12GB. Make sure you make your
C: drive partition no less than 60GB but again most are opting to go
100-120GB. I would also recommend you do a "migration" to SBS 2008 as
opposed to an "upgrade" as that is not supported. There is plenty of
documentation for migrating from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008. Keep in mind unlike
in SBS 2003 Premium in SBS 2008 there is no ISA so if you are using ISA now
you will need to implement a hardware firewall device or you can go with ISA
2006 on a different piece of hardware running W2K3.


"Mike" <Mike(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:DEF12690-44AF-44F0-A4FB-B899E9F249A4(a)microsoft.com...
> Al,
>
> Thanks for the reply. I have been considering more memory, but I've also
> wanted to avoid spending any more money on this machine, but memory isn't
> that expensive, so I will price it out.
>
> Yes, it is the same Mike - and I have freed up some space with cleaning
> out
> old log files. Actually my C: drive partition is 23G, of which 10G is
> the
> Windows directory, Program Files is about 6G and other folders are about
> 2G,
> and I have 5G free at this time. Yesterday I moved my Backup Exec install
> off the C drive partition, which freed up about 2G itself. Also, my space
> isn't fluctuating like it had been the last few days, so Backup Exec may
> have
> been a culprit.
>
> Mike
>
>
> "Al Williams" wrote:
>
>> Don't forget if you want the "premium version" SQL server you will need a
>> second server (or go virtual) IIRC.
>>
>> As for server speed, given enough RAM always put your money into the disk
>> array.
>>
>> For your current server you could probably bring your performance up a
>> ton
>> by upping your current server to 3 or 4G of RAM - 2G is not enough for 35
>> users.
>>
>> Also - if this is same Mike as the thread below with your C: drive
>> filling
>> up, you indicated you had a 30GB paritition which is more than enough,
>> you
>> just need to move some data and limit your logs (SBS/Windows takes around
>> 10GB, what is the rest?).
>>
>> --
>> Allan Williams
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Mike wrote:
>> > Sorry guys, a bit more info. We are currently at 35 active users -
>> > if I had to guess it might change by 1-2 additions per year. I have
>> > quotas on users for Exchange,but am still running around 50Gb, and
>> > our SQL databases are not huge either and the biggest one will go
>> > away sometime next year.
>> > I would say if I planned for 10% growth per year, that would be more
>> > than adequate. We are going through right now and digitizing all of
>> > our documents, but they are stored on a different server, so that is
>> > not an issue for the SBS machine.
>> > My current machine is noticbly slow now, but it is old - HP ML370
>> > with a six disk array (36Gb 15K drives), split into two partitions
>> > (one for OS and one for Exchange). It has only 2Gb RAM, and I'm
>> > running out of disk space on the OS partition (deleting logs to keep
>> > up and running).
>> >
>> > Mike
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > "Mike" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi folks,
>> >>
>> >> I am planning to upgrade our SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 early next year
>> >> (budget planning begins next week). I have used both Dell PowerEdge
>> >> products and HP Proliant servers, so I'm not married to either one.
>> >> Any advice on HW - Dell vs HP? How many drives and in what config?
>> >> Memory? We will be using both Exchange and SQL Server.
>> >>
>> >> Mike
>>
>>
>>


From: Mike on 6 Oct 2009 11:28
Great info Charlie, Thanks!

Mike


"Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:

> Given what else you've described, I'd look at an HP ML330 G6 or ML350 G6.
> (Remember, I have a strong HP bias.<g>)
>
> Somewhere around 12 GB should be enough. You'll be running two hyper-v
> virtual machines on it -- one the SBS 2008 server (8GB), the other your SQL
> server(3GB) , running on the second server that is part of SBS 2008 Premium.
> You'll leave 1GB for the parent partition.
>
> I'd choose the maximum number of SAS disks you can fit in the box (and you
> might want to consider Small Form Factor disks). Upgrade the built in 410
> controller to 512 Mb of cache. 300 GB disks should be more than enough for a
> while, in an overall RAID 6 array. Partition off 60-80 GB for the parent
> partition, and the rest to hold the VHDs for the SBS and second server. I'd
> also suggest that adding an additional dual NIC would be a good idea. This
> will give you a dedicated NIC for each VM, plus one for the host.
>
> --
> Charlie.
> http:/msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
>
>
> "Mike" <Mike(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:BD7A4D1A-5E98-45CE-9411-E78AC44C4A45(a)microsoft.com...
> > Oh yeah, not that this makes much of a difference, but my company is a
> > non-profit community developement organization, so money is always tight -
> > always looking to get the most machine I can for the least amount of
> > money.
> > That's why my current SBS box is 6 years old.
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >
> > "Mike" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi folks,
> >>
> >> I am planning to upgrade our SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 early next year (budget
> >> planning begins next week). I have used both Dell PowerEdge products and
> >> HP
> >> Proliant servers, so I'm not married to either one.
> >> Any advice on HW - Dell vs HP? How many drives and in what config?
> >> Memory?
> >> We will be using both Exchange and SQL Server.
> >>
> >> Mike
>
>
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