What's in the eBook?
- Full list of reasons for poor performance
- Ultimate measures to speed things up
- Primary web monitoring types
- KPIs you should be monitoring in order to increase your ROI
Course Of The Month
8 days, 17 hours left to enrollBecome a Premium Member and unlock a new, free course in leading technologies each month.
Solved
Small Office Server - Processor Options
Posted on 2013-11-18
A customer on a tight budget is upgrading their network of < 5 computers. Dell low end servers give several option of processors the lowest cost are Intel Core i3 ( e.g. Intel® Core™ i3-3220 Processor, 3.30GHz, 3MB Cache, 2C/4T, 55W ) then at a higher cost Xeon Processors (e.g. Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1240v2, 3.40 GHz, 8MB Cache, Turbo, 4C/8T, 69W ) etc.
What advantages would there be for a very small office network only using the server for storing files, printing and providing centralised user authentication to use a Xenon processor rather than Core i3 ?
Thanks
John
What advantages would there be for a very small office network only using the server for storing files, printing and providing centralised user authentication to use a Xenon processor rather than Core i3 ?
Thanks
John
[X]
Welcome to Experts Exchange
Add your voice to the tech community where 5M+ people just like you are talking about what matters.
- Help others & share knowledge
- Earn cash & points
- Learn & ask questions
5 Comments
Active today
If your budget will allow it, the Xeon processor will be somewhat faster at printing. I don't think it will make a lot of difference to file sharing.
If the above is ALL they want, the Core i3 3.3Ghz will work.
Customers have a habit of adding things, so try to fit the Xeon into your budget if you can. Make sure you get lots of memory.
... Thinkpads_User
If the above is ALL they want, the Core i3 3.3Ghz will work.
Customers have a habit of adding things, so try to fit the Xeon into your budget if you can. Make sure you get lots of memory.
... Thinkpads_User
Active today
I disagree - if the purpose is file and print, I wouldn't expect ANY NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE for a network of your size. Indeed, I would say disk would be more important for printing since the server spools the print job and then feeds it to the printer... the faster the disk the faster the spooling/printing.
I think the better the CPU the longer the server can last, but it's really not that critical.
Not sure what version of server you're looking at but you might want to consider Server 2012 Essentials or Server 2012 Foundation Edition. Essentials can do workstation backup and doesn't require CALs for up to 25 users; Foundation doesn't do workstation backup but doesn't need CALs for up to 15 users (though it cannot grow beyond 15 users - only Essentials can grow beyond 25 users).
I think the better the CPU the longer the server can last, but it's really not that critical.
Not sure what version of server you're looking at but you might want to consider Server 2012 Essentials or Server 2012 Foundation Edition. Essentials can do workstation backup and doesn't require CALs for up to 25 users; Foundation doesn't do workstation backup but doesn't need CALs for up to 15 users (though it cannot grow beyond 15 users - only Essentials can grow beyond 25 users).
I'd use a Xeon personally just because it's intended for that kind of use. As said above, the disk will be very important in making sure things run smoothly for your customer. It might be worth running some performance monitoring on physical disk queues and average queues to see whether there is a bottleneck there currently. Then you'll know whether or not you need faster disk configuration going forward.
Processors are almost equal, the i3 will beat the Xeon on Graphics in desktop applications but thanks to Intel's Fast and Flex Memory Access on Xeon processors family the Xeon will must likely outperform the i3 in I/O in both RAM and HDD.
Also, 4 cores will perform better than 2 even if the threads are 4, look it at this way... 4 lanes for 4 cars instead of 2 lanes for 4 cars.
If possible try to go with at least 8GB of Ram as 4GB will slow down performance on server and while printing.
Note: I was able to find such Servers only in New Zealand with a difference of $100.00 (without OS) for 4GB and $300.00 when compared with 8GB
Also, 4 cores will perform better than 2 even if the threads are 4, look it at this way... 4 lanes for 4 cars instead of 2 lanes for 4 cars.
If possible try to go with at least 8GB of Ram as 4GB will slow down performance on server and while printing.
Note: I was able to find such Servers only in New Zealand with a difference of $100.00 (without OS) for 4GB and $300.00 when compared with 8GB
Featured Post
Question has a verified solution.
If you are experiencing a similar issue, please ask a related question
This is my 3rd article on SCCM in recent weeks, the 1st (http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Server/Windows_Server_2008/A_4466-A-beginners-guide-to-installing-SCCM2007-on-Windows-2008-R2-Server.html) dealing with installat…
Welcome to my series of short tips on migrations. Whilst based on Microsoft migrations the same principles can be applied to any type of migration.
My first tip Migration Tip #1 – Source Server Health can be found here: http://www.experts-exchang…
This is my first video review of Microsoft Bookings, I will be doing a part two with a bit more information, but wanted to get this out to you folks.
Do you want to know how to make a graph with Microsoft Access? First, create a query with the data for the chart. Then make a blank form and add a chart control. This video also shows how to change what data is displayed on the graph as well as form…
Suggested Courses
Earn Certification
HTML5 Specialist - Certification
Free withPremium
Course of the Month8 days, 17 hours left to enroll
617 members asked questions and received personalized solutions in the past 7 days.
Join the community of 500,000 technology professionals and ask your questions.