upgrade or start again?

[scotty86]

Hi.
Currently I have a Windows 2000 server running but planning to upgrade to Windows 2003, but I also have a server that isn’t need anymore which is running NT. The Windows 2000 server isn’t server hardware, it’s a desktop pc, unlike the NT server. The 2000 server is a P4 2.8 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 115GB hard drive, 100MB network card backs up on to NAS, then copied on to removable hard drive. The NT is a dual P3 800MHz, 1 GB RAM, 2 x 18GB SCSI RAID, fibre 1Gbs network card and backs up on to removable Sony AIT tape.
Network setup:
12 stations
15 users – several 100MBs each, some up to 500/600MB
2 printers and 1 photocopier shared
2 network heavy programs that run off the server on the workstations. 300MB file open several times between different users.
I’m prepared to upgrade RAM and hard drives on the NT server should it be suitable.
Which in your opinions would make the better server running Windows 2003?
Thanks

 

[markdmac]

Neither is suitable in my opinion. Spend your money on a low end server. You can save money by going with SATA RAID instead of SCSI if $ is an issue.

The price of new hardware has seriously dropped and you will get a MUCH faster CPU out of the deal. I would also recommend that you go 64 bit if you ever plan to use Exchange since the next version will ONLY run on 64 bit. This will give you the option of using this hardware down the road if you choose to.

I just purchased better hardware than you list for my DESKTOP and it only cost me $475.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

 

[scotty86]

Hi. Thanks for your reply. We are a school so haven't the money to upgrade to a brand new server.