Need recommendations for new build!

[LawyerRon]

Hi folks,
I haven’t built a computer for about 3-4 years so I’m not up to date on the latest processors, configurations, etc. A good friend who’s a dentist is looking to build 4-6 new workstations for his Dental Office. There is a workstation in each dental room that they use for digital imaging of x-rays, etc. I told him I’ve been out of the field for a while but I’d ask the folks on PCMech for a recommendation. We'll probably order from Newegg or Mwave.

His request to me was as follows:

“Would you please find out what your friends would suggest for a new
computer that can handle 3D graphics? What back up network attached
storage configuration is recommended? Do they have a favorite rack?
Should I build a server computer for the rack ? I plan on building
4-6 workstations and two servers (one for home as a backup)”

Money is not a big issue, but I told him he could probably build the workstations in the $600-$800 range with no problem. Stability and reliability and the biggest issues. They use special monitors, so he’s already got that handled.

So I need recommendations as to:

Motherboard (I’ve had good luck with Intel or Asus)
Processor (Intel)
Memory (type, amount??)
Good Video Card
Case (I’ve used Antec in the past)
Backup solution, and Server and rack recommendation as per his quote above.


Plus, anything else you can think of.

Thanks!

Ron

[glc]

For the workstations, I'd look at the following -

Asus P5Q motherboard
Intel E7400 CPU
4gb (2x2) DDR2-800 ram
Radeon HD4670 video
Antec case with 400w or better PSU? - NSK6580, Sonata 3

[LawyerRon]

Thanks g,
We also want to build a couple of servers. What's you recommendation for such?

[LawyerRon]

Forgot one thing; which HHD should we go with?

[glc]

On the workstations, go with a Western Digital Black drive.

For a reasonably priced server, I'd base it on an Asus P5BV-C motherboard as long as the case you choose will take a standard size ATX board. The same processor and ram will work fine, but you may want to use ECC ram for better error tolerance. For server hard drives, I'd look at WD RE3 drives. Can't help you on rack equipment.

For backups, these days external hard drives are the most cost effective. I'd build them using Apricorn housings and standard SATA hard drives - probably WD Greens.

[LawyerRon]

Originally Posted by glc On the workstations, go with a Western Digital Black drive. For a reasonably priced server, I'd base it on an Asus P5BV-C motherboard as long as the case you choose will take a standard size ATX board. The same processor and ram will work fine, but you may want to use ECC ram for better error tolerance. For server hard drives, I'd look at WD RE3 drives. Can't help you on rack equipment. For backups, these days external hard drives are the most cost effective. I'd build them using Apricorn housings and standard SATA hard drives - probably WD Greens.

g,
Does the Western Digital Black drive have a particular model designation? As you can tell, I've been out of this for a while.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by LawyerRon Thanks g, We also want to build a couple of servers. What's you recommendation for such?

Can you be more specific about what you are going to use the servers for? I build 15+ servers a month I might be able to help you here.

[glc]

It will be described as Caviar Black as opposed to Caviar Green or Caviar SE16.

[brianb]

I've used a couple of the Asus P5BV boards and they have been great. Like GLC recommended, I went with ECC RAM in the server I use for live data.

If you want a rackmount server case, look at the supermicro CSE-833T-650B for a starting point and the CSE-833T-R760B if you want redundant power supplies for extra insurance. If you are going to just have one file server, I probably wouldn't spend the money on a rack cabinet and use something along the lines of a CSE-942S-600B which would probably be overkill. You might look at the Antec TITAN650 instead.

A solid PSU is a must, but I do think a quality UPS is more important than redundant power supplies. I have even used a Sonata 3 with the Asus server board, ECC RAM, and the 5405 raid card -- and it is on a server-grade UPS in the datacenter...

I've had good luck with WD RE series drives and really like the Adaptec raid cards. A 5405 (4 port) or a 5805 (8 port) would be the cards I would look at. I like using the 8 port card because you can do a 4 drive RAID 5 with a hot spare. If you use the 4 port card, you'll want 4 drives in a RAID 5, and keep a spare on hand. Do you know what capacity you are looking at? It would help to figure out what size drives and how to setup the RAID.

I'd go with the external hard drives in an Apricorn housings for primary backup.

The idea of building a second server for offsite backup is great, but before you go that route you need to find out how the data will be stored on the server so you can see if replication is a viable option. For example, if data is stored in an SQL database like MS SQL or MySQL, you can use its built in replication. If it stores its own flat files, you'll want to look at third party replication tools, and then it may not be practical due to file sizes. I'd considering buying a couple more external hard drives and storing them offsite in a rotation scheme...

[LawyerRon]

Thanks for all the help folks. I'll contact my friend to try to get more specs on the server.