need help from the computer/IT pros
 

Hey everyone.

Need to set up a network for a small physician office (mine). Need the following stuff listed below.

I was hoping you all could answer the following:

1) Best (as in great prices/great equipment) source for server, and two client workstations

2) Server will go name brand, maybe workstations emachines or equivalent. suggestions?

3) RAID5 vs SCSI? I assume the raid5 is better. also, what is the difference between RAID5 and RAID 1 or 0,1?

4) What the hell is terminal server service?

5) CDrw vs DVDrw? (I would think DVD, right?)

6) Which OS? 2003 server or advanced/enterprise?

7) tape backup? ughh? any other ideas? (wouldn't a DVDrw be better though I know 4.7 vs 8gB but not much data for the first few years)


thanks for all the help!

Recommended hardware for Multi-User with 4 or more workstations, or any network planning on using ChartMaker
Dedicated server- IBM E-Server XEON/XEON MP single/dual processor or better dedicated server running Windows 2000/2003 Server or Advanced/Enterprise Server, 2 - 4GB RAM, CD-Rom, single 72GB or larger SCSI HD or RAID5 disk array with 72GB minimum, 15” or 17” flat panel or.28mm color monitor, 10/100/1000 mps Network Interface Card, Terminal Server service installed for remote support and diagnostics ( for systems supporting 10 or more users add IBM 40GB DAT tape drive with Backup Exec Server 9.0 or higher). *



For workstations - Business Class IBM, HP/Compaq or Dell (Optiplex only) using Intel Pentium4-2.4GHz or higher workstation with at least 512MB RAM, 40GB or larger HD, 17” flat panel or.28mm color monitor, Windows 2000 Professional OS, Windows XP Pro OS, CD-Rom, US Robotics 56kbps Sportster V.90 external modem, 10/100/1000 mps Network Interface Card, Symantec PcAnywhere v.9.2 installed for remote support. *



Note: All Networks Require:

Battery Backup for the server, Surge-Line Conditioner, Intel, 3COM or equivalent Ethernet 10/100 network cards on all workstations, Twisted Pair Category 5, RJ45 cable in proper length to connect each workstation to the main computer processor via an ethernet-wiring hub or switch. Twisted Pair Category 5, RJ45 cable and Ethernet network card to a wiring hub or switch. One 56 Kbps U S Robotics Sportster V90 external modem and pcAnywhere 9.2 for remote diagnostics. One HP 1300 (or better) laser printer. An HP Colorado 8GB or better tape back-up system including Back-up Exec or Stomp BackUp My PC software with 5 tapes.



Installation of Hardware Equipment and Network Software.

Hardware and/or system network set-up, cable runs, loading of the network software including MS Windows NT/2000/2003 for server and Windows 98SE/2000 Pro/XP Pro for workstations, installation and network testing are the responsibility of the company providing your hardware equipment. (We can provide installation services and/or provide Operating Systems software at an additional cost of $120/hour if requested plus price of the software.) In the event that any of the above installation activities are not performed satisfactorily we will inform you, and if STI is requested to retrofit any hardware or software our charge is $120/hour. Loading, installation, and testing of the Perfect Care software are STI's responsibility.



Network Cable

There is no labor charge for STI to run workstation cable as long as the machines are in the same room and wiring does not pass inside a wall. If you need to run workstation cable inside of walls or through walls to another room a qualified electrician is required due to fire codes, and STI cannot perform this work. For your convenience, we can subcontract the services of a company that is licensed to run computer cables behind walls for you. The approximate cost to wire one workstation through the walls is $150.00. If you choose to have us subcontract any wiring work you will be billedseparately after the work is performed. Of course, you are always free to contact your own building electrician to perform wiring and we will work with your company to provide proper wiring specifications.



Non-compliant Hardware

If your existing hardware does not meet STI minimum requirements for installation of Perfect Care for Windows or ChartMaker your office will be required to sign a hardware disclaimer prior to the software installation. STI will make a reasonable effort to use your hardware but cannot guarantee the software will install or perform properly. See attached sample STI Hardware Disclaimer



* All hardware equipment must be Y2000 compatible. Some printers are not supported.

1) Build all machines yourself. I have built over 20 myself. I just built this PC that I am now using last Sunday. I recommend your server to have a dual-core processor due to the mostly multi-thraded requests it will be processing. Look at the Pentium D or Athlon64 X2 processors for fast performance. I personally use the Pentium D 830. www.ncix.com for all your parts.

2) Build all yourself.

3) RAID5 since SCSI just is too expensive. Also, when you create a RAID5 array, use the latest generation hard drives to ensure performance. Seagate and Western Digital already offer 2nd-generation SATA-2 based drives with 3GB/s throughput. Blistering fast. Look for Western Digital models more since some offer a 16MB cache, as opposed to 8MB. Trust me on this one - I got one for myself. :)

4) Dunno

5) DVD-RW since they have realy become cheap these days for what they do. I recommend the brands NEC, Pioneer and Plextor personally.

6) Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Pro would be the easiest and cheapest solution. However, you can run a Windows 2003 Server with Windows XP Professional clients. If you build workstations with 64-bit capable processors (i.e. Pentium 4 6XX-Series, 8XX-Series, AMD Athlon64 Series), you can run Windows XP 64-bit Edition).

7) You might consider Network Attached Storage instead of tape-backup since that's an aging technology anyway.

If you're interested in how much each thing will cost you, drop me a line with some details. I am certain IBM or HP would rip you off.

hey, drex, shoot SANguru a PM or an email. He does this for a living... I am sure he can help you out. :)

Juan

1) Best (as in great prices/great equipment) source for server, and two client workstations

I recommend buying from Dell. I doubt you need dual processors on the server for two client workstations. In fact the requirements sound overkill to me but I'm not familiar with the app.

2) Server will go name brand, maybe workstations emachines or equivalent. suggestions?

Dell. Although I build my own machines I think you want to have next day support.

You may want to buy a minimum memory config on the RAM from Dell and get the memory from somewhere newegg.com. That's one area that Dell will gouge you on.

3) RAID5 vs SCSI? I assume the raid5 is better. also, what is the difference between RAID5 and RAID 1 or 0,1?

RAID5. http://www.google.com/search?q=raid5+explained

I think SATA IDE is the way to go for disks. I doubt you need SCSI.

4) What the hell is terminal server service?

Allows you to run native apps on the server remotely as well as administer the server. Sounds like overkill to me for a small physician's office. You can use remote web workplace (built-in to SBS 2003) to run your office apps and email from over the web. It's significantly less expensive than Windows Server 2003.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserv...s/default.mspx

5) CDrw vs DVDrw? (I would think DVD, right?)

DVD.

6) Which OS? 2003 server or advanced/enterprise?

I recommend you look at Windows Small Business Server 2003. It has Windows Server 2003, Exchange 2003 and even SQL 2003 in the premium version.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserv...s/default.mspx


7) tape backup? ughh? any other ideas? (wouldn't a DVDrw be better though I know 4.7 vs 8gB but not much data for the first few years)

Probably need tape. I prefer backing up to an external USB2 disk. They're so inexpensive now you can just archive each months worth of backups to have offsite. I do this through SBS's built-in backup.

I got some very good deals on some Dell SC420 servers. $225 per box. Can't beat it for a P4 3.0. I bought 2GBs of ram from Newegg for about $150 and now have a kick butt server.

For backup and storage, you should look into the Accordance ARAID 2000. I have two in my new network servers (one in the file and print and one in the SQL server box. Makes backup a no brainer, and I can keep multiple drives running in RAID 1 and can pop one out at night and take it off site with me. Plus, for the price, this arrangement can't be beat! They also make an external USB version if you prefer it over the internal version.

Also, look into Small Business Server 2003 Standard. You don't need SQL so you don't need the Pro version. The features in SBS are awesome, including a Wizard setup to run Exchange Server internally. Or you can always get Excahnge at 1and1.com for $7/month. That's what I do. :thumbup:

I defer to the other experts here on the other specifics as I had a friend setup out network. I'm just an expert at buying paying for the stuff. :D

Ooooooooo, whats the latest on SATA-2?? I have a WD Raptor SATA drive and I am always looking for faster disk. Whats the latest on this, is there a Raptor 2 out?

hey drex.. will call you tonight..

Hope that helped Drex.. BTW, I highly recommend the service contracts and I'll price it out for you tomorrow...last thing you want is a hardware failure and you having to order spare parts on the server yourself and having to worry about it. This would be a much better solution than building a server yourself since you cannot afford downtime. BTW, you can run terminal services off the host we discussed so you should be all set. Also, I believe there is monitoring/call home/SNMP traps capability to make sure the environment is up but I will look into that for you.

Well SATA-1 has a throughput of 1.5GB/s as you know. Your Raptors perform at this speed. While the Raptor is really quick due to it's low seek time, the transfer speed is now no longer the quickest. Plus it's got an 8MB Cache.

I just built my new dual-core PC last weekend, and one of my most favorite toys is the HD, Chris. It's a Western Digital 250GB drive. It spins at 7200RPM, but has the SATA-2 interface. This allows for 3GB/s operation (twice that of SATA-1). Now while my seek time is still twice as slow as yours, the transfer is twice as quick. Plus the 250GB model has a unique 16MB cache, as opposed to 8MB of most others.

Chris, here is a link to my drive over here...

While Western Digital was the first to supply the stores with these new drives, others like it also exist. There are plenty of SATA-2 drives with an 8MB Cache. But if you want the 16MB-cache varieties, you will have to wait until they are made in sufficient quantities for online stores. :D

EDIT: There is no Raptor 2 out yet.

Anybody built PC with Dual -AGP cards? e.g. Intel SLI