[Foundation]

Currently, we have 4 servers - 1) RE & FE, 2) TIE, 3) Exchange, 4) Main application. Our TIE server is pretty old and FE/RE may need to be replaced too.

We're also in the process of implementing Sharepoint, and may at some point add NetCommunity and Grantedge. Blackbaud's kb for NetCommunity requirements says "A dedicated database server, especially with high user loads and activity, should be considered. No mission-critical databases or other client/server applications, including other Blackbaud applications, should run on the same server."

At one time, I believe we were told TIE and NetCommunity should run together on a server.

The recommendations for the grants software we're considering (Grantedge) are "to put RE, FE and GE on a specific server, which would also include the Database, SQL SERVER 2005 Standard Edition, at a minimum. The server should have at least 2GM of memory and a dual processor of at least 2Ghz for each processor"

We do have an IT consultant we use to help with these decisions, but I'd like to get some feedback from this group too.

Thanks.

[Doug Creek]

I actually just started working on combining up servers as well, with the goal being getting RE/FE/TRE on the same server, and setting up a dedicated reports server.

Our current configuration is:
*Server 1: RE Production, TRE Production, Crystal Reports Server XI, Crystal Reports Developer XI
*Server 2: FE Production
*Server 3: RE Test, TRE Test, Crystal Reports Enterprise XI (test instance)
*Server 4: FE Test

All server host terminal services as we use Citrix to connect to our applications (we're spread out thru the state of Alaska)

Server 3 and 4 are OLD Dell servers (not even sure what they are, was way before my time), and will disappear after this server shift.

Server 1 is a Dell Poweredge Dual Core Dual Processor (3.6 GHZ) with 4 Gigs of RAM. I have 28 user licenses, and we are maxing this server's memory out
Server 2 is a Dell Poweredge Dual Processor (2.8 GHZ) with 3.75 Gigs of RAM (not sure why its 3.75, I wasn't around when this server was purchased)

We have a new server to put RE, FE, TRE, and papersave on. Its an HP DL-380 with Dual Core Dual Processor 3.0 GHZ Processors (Upgradeable to Quad Cores) and 16 Gigs of RAM (upgradeable to 32 gigs of RAM). This server is connected to an MSA30 drive cage with 5 (4 live with 1 hot spare) 300 gig drives, setup on RAID 1+0. I can put up to 2 terabytes of storage in the array, so hopefully we're set for some time to come...

Server 1 will become our reports server (which will have CR Server XI R2 and Developer XI R2 on it), and server 2 will become our test environment.

One thing to watch is that Windows Server 2003 Standard will only allow you to use 4 gigs of RAM, so if you have a lot of users and are using a terminal services environment, you'll use up 4 gigs pretty quickly.

Probably a little more information then you were looking for, but let me know if you have any questions. I was mostly trying to give you specs on what I'm using in a kind of similar setup...

Doug

[nisaac]

Doug, Thanks for sharing your configurations and planned moves. It's really helpful.

Tina, I currently have two SQL servers and 1 web server. I run FE and two other small SQL (not Blackbaud) databases on one SQL server. I run RE and the BBNC database on the other. On my web server I run the BBNC web app and another small web application.

I'm just beginning the process of determining how I want my environment to look in the next year or so. I haven't come up with a set solution yet, but hope to find lots of help on this board.

Oh, I also have a file and print/exchange server separate from these servers and an old clone running Sharepoint Services and WSUS.

[Foundation]

This is great info... thanks Nora & Doug.

[cabrower]

Tina, have you thought about virtualization for server consolidation? There is tremendous benefits to it. We have moved almost our entire server environment over to VMware ESX. We used to run 30 physical servers, we currently run 5 with the same amount of servers being run in a virtual environment. This saves us on cooling, electric, warranty services, downtime, space, and it costs almost nothing to provision a new server to perform tasks. It has also lowered our microsoft software licensing for windows server. With Windows server datacenter edition you can run unlimited virtual windows servers. For us we purchase 4 CPU licenses of datacenter at nonprofit pricing which costs roughly 500-600$ and now i can provision a virtual server when ever i need to. This also allows for easy development and testing environments. If you are interested and need more information feel free to contact me.



Thanks,
Chris Brower, MCP, VCP
Network Architect
Salesianum School
cbrower@salesianum.org

[mwittman]

The Ultimate Server Setup:

A Mac Mini running a VMWare virtualized WindowsME operating system. Daisy chain a couple of SCSI hard drives (let's get real here, you willl need a SCSI Controller-to-Firewire adapter), backup to a small stack of Iomega ZIP Disks (Jaz if you've got extra budget) and you're ready to rock!

Mind you, you won't find much support for a cutting edge config such as this ... except here on blackbus - where all things support are possible.

[Foundation]

[quote=cabrower;18423]Tina, have you thought about virtualization for server consolidation? There is tremendous benefits to it. We have moved almost our entire server environment over to VMware ESX. We used to run 30 physical servers, we currently run 5 with the same amount of servers being run in a virtual environment. This saves us on cooling, electric, warranty services, downtime, space, and it costs almost nothing to provision a new server to perform tasks. It has also lowered our microsoft software licensing for windows server. With Windows server datacenter edition you can run unlimited virtual windows servers. For us we purchase 4 CPU licenses of datacenter at nonprofit pricing which costs roughly 500-600$ and now i can provision a virtual server when ever i need to. This also allows for easy development and testing environments. If you are interested and need more information feel free to contact me.


Thanks Chris. We have considered it, but right now are sticking with our physical servers. We have FE/RE on one and TIE on another one (which is about to die). I'll definitely keep you in mind if we revisit.