Windows Small Business Server Hardware Recommendations |
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Written by Rick Winkler
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Thursday, 10 April 2008 |
Many customers ask us what hardware they should purchase for a Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS) installation. The following are some suggestions that apply to both RTM and R2.
The three areas that will most affect the performance of your new server are: Memory, Hard Disk, and Processor.
- Memory – SBS supports up to 4GB of RAM. Always use 4GB. It also helps to get the fastest memory available for your server. If you already have a server in place and are not using 4GB of RAM, upgrading to this amount will help with performance. This is also a relatively cheap upgrade to perform.
- Hard Disk – Your hard disk configuration will vary depending on the number of users that will be using the server. For smaller installations with 5-35 users, a pair of drives in RAID 1 is usually sufficient. For larger installation with 35-75 users, a RAID 5 configuration is preferred. Also for the larger installations, giving Exchange its own set of RAID 1 drives can really overall responsiveness.
You should also purchase the largest and fastest drives you can afford. Over time you will appreciate the extra capacity, and the faster drives will again help with performance.
For partitioning, we reserve 50GB for the C: partition to hold the system files. The rest of the space is partitioned as D: and all data is stored here. On larger installations that have a separate set of drives dedicated to Exchange, this partition will be E: and will hold all Exchange data.
- Processor – Most modern server grade processors will yield adequate performance. In smaller installations, a single dual or quad core processor is recommended. For larger installations, dual processors are recommended in either the dual or quad core variety.
SBS is a great and economical way for small businesses to implement a number to professional services for their organization. Sizing the correct amount of hardware takes a little bit of research.
If you need assistance with your installation and are in the Dayton, Springfield, or Cincinnati areas, give us a call.
Additional Resources:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/evaluation/sysreqs/default.mspx
http://207.46.19.190/technet/prodtechnol/sbs/2003/plan/gsg/default.mspx
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