Which one?Single Scsi or IDE Raid 0,5,10?

[ceej]

I'm going to be ordering a server for a 6 user company. It will replace their aging server.

In order to save money for the company I'm entertaining using an IDE Raid. The system is file/print server that is used mostly for the accounting system.

What would you choose for a the hard disks? Which would be faster, more stable?

1. Single Scsi
2. IDE Raid 0
3. IDE Raid 5
4. IDE Raid 10

I'm trying to balance performance with cost.

Thanks

 

[technome]

So you want to save the company money.....

In a way you get what you pay for. Go with the least expensive route, and up front cost will be low but your TCOFM (total cost of operation financially and mentally) will be much higher.

Your client will initially be envisioning money savings; overall since he operates the company the computer network is only part of his investment in the company. Should the system fail, it becomes a major investment stress factor for him. Who ass is he going to take this out on ? He may go home take it out on the wife an kids but ultimately your the scapegoat, you made the decision on the hardware(even if it is not true).

Personally I prefer to build my own servers or purchase from the upper tier manufacturers. Some of the lower tier manufacturers are good but should something go wrong let Dell, IBM, Gateway ect take some flax. If you purchase from a lower tier manufacturer, your the sole target.

Having been a consultant for over 15 year, everytime I have worked with a low end server it has come back to haunt me again and again. Now I won't deal with deal it; I sleep better and make more money.

Enough for the rant...

Minimum, a server class box with redundant power supplies, scsi raid 1, preferably raid 5, battery backup unit, and a decent tape drive unit. Dell or IBM.

 

[IslandCustom]

As a LAN Admin, I use IBM servers (formerly used Dell's) with redundant power supplies and SCSI RAID 5, with tape backups and of course UPS's. At home I'm a bit more lax -- IDE RAID 1, UPS, and manually run a back-up batch file to an external USB 2 hard drive.

For small businesses, lately I've been doing IDE RAID 1 (7200rpm, 8MB cache, ATA133 or SATA drives) with good sized UPS's. For backup I've resorted to Maxtor One-Touch USB backup, which comes with software to automate the backup (no one ever remembers to back up). RAID 0 may show a performance improvement, but there's no safety net. RAID 1 provides a mirrored drive so that if one fails, the server keeps running.