I'm in the process of evaluating some servers in my office for replacement. The current setup includes two HPE machines with a single Xeon processor, 96GB of RAM, and four 2.4TB 2.5" SAS drives, which I got for a steal at $5K each back in 2021. I also have three self-built SuperMicro servers from 2015/16, each with 16 to 32GB of memory and a mix of 3.5" hard drives. Right now, the HPE servers are handling Active Directory and file sharing, while one of the SuperMicro machines is dedicated to SQL, and the other two are for email (primary and backup).
As I look toward upgrading, I'm hoping to get suggestions for new tower-style servers, since I work in an office and the rack-mounted servers are usually quite loud. My needs include at least two servers for Active Directory (primary and backup) that can also accommodate file storage in a replication setup. Additionally, I need one server for MSSQL that's separate from the domain controller, and another to host our Exchange server since I plan to migrate to Exchange SE later this year. I'm open to combining the SQL server and Exchange onto one machine if it makes sense. Thanks for any recommendations!
1 Answer
Sounds like a good chance to think about virtualization! Consolidating everything with Hyper-V or ProxMox could really help simplify your setup with just a few hosts. But before you dive into that, it might help to evaluate how you're currently using your servers. How busy are your Active Directory and file services? And do you have enough storage and computing power left? That’ll guide your next steps.
The mail server is definitely the most active in our setup. The AD and file servers have lighter loads since we only have about 50 users. I'm open to virtualization, but I haven't prioritized it since my current hardware is still doing fine. The SQL server mainly sees two users a couple of times a month.