Server Upgrade to Windows Server 2019

I think the very clear consensus on EE is that servers should be installed as Virtual Machines.  It would be reasonable to add another drive (SSDs could be a good choice if Enterprise level drives) and set up the Server 2019 on it as a VM.

6G of RAM seems inadequate, even for the existing server.  You could add 16G for about $50, which would be a wise investment if you are keeping the server.

A newer, faster server with more cores, RAM, and better drives would be a good choice, but would also add significantly to the cost.  The good news is that if you do the 2019 server as a VM, it would be very easy to move over to a new box if you decide later that this one doesn't really cut it.

Be sure to carefully check the licensing on whatever Server license you buy.  Some allow transfers to another computer and some do not.  It is possible that installing it as a VM on the existing machine will "lock" the license to that machine and you'll be (legally) prohibited from moving it to a newer one.  I'm not aware of any physical restriction on that, only a potential legal one.

Pretty sure you can't install Windows 2019 on a Xeon 5400 based system as it doesn't support second layer address translation (and most of the other requirements won't be met either).

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started-19/sys-reqs-19 tells you how to check.

New OS on old hardware is a bad idea plain and simple.

I suggest running with either Essentials 2016 or Standard 2019 for the OS. Virtualizing would be an option with the latter.

I should probably have mentioned that this company has less than 10 employees, around 5 desktops & 7 laptops.
The server is over 10 years old so probably time to invest in a new one.
It's pretty much used as a file server so a NAS would have been an option except that there are various software packages that run off the server. The newer versions of these sofware packages require newer Server OS so time to upgrade the lot i guess.
Thanks for all the advise.

Def get a new server.  But what do they do for backup.  I'd factor that in.  Because whatever they do is prolly old too

You can find very respectable used HP or Dell servers with dual power supplies, 24G of RAM, 12 cores, and 8 slots for 2.5" SAS or SATA drives on eBay for about $180.  You need to add drives and the OS and you are ready to go.  If you have great concerns about reliability, consider purchasing a spare for backup.  If you are on a tight budget, this can be a much better choice than going with the hardware that you have.

Hate to drag this back up but with Covid over here this got sidelined.

i’m getting the go ahead for a Fujitsu Primergy TX1310 with Win Server 2019 Essentials so gonna run mirrored enterprise  SSDs for the OS & mirrored 2gb enterprise storage drives for data. They want to run Onedrive on the data drive, will be around 800gbs.

is this a good idea to share data?

Currently they are using Dropbox & Teamviewer so making a mess of their file dates.

Will also backup locally to a network USB drive & maybe Backblaze if they’ll agree to pay for it.