RCI Machines

Is there any way for me to find out if the desktops available through RCI can support 1GB of RAM? Also, I'd like to use an RCI machine as a simple file server, but my network guy recommends 4GB of RAM for that application.

We don't need a ton of horsepower as we are only managing MS Office files, a client database, and a donor database. Any input would be helpful.

Thanks,

Mark

Four gig of ram for a simple file server? I run servers with SQL databases in the millions of records on only three gig.

The term "simple" is pretty vague, but four gig, even in today's world of cheap ram is quite a bit.

What server operating system are you planning on running?  That may have been the basis for your network guy's reccomendation for 4GB.  If you are planning on Small Business Server 2008, well it has a requirement of 4GB of RAM and won't even let you install if you have less (even if you only have 3 users, this was a very frustrating lesson for me to learn...  now it peaks at 768 MB RAM during the day...  thank you Microsoft).  Anyhow, I agree with Gary's assessment.  4GB of RAM seems very high for your use.  How many people are you serving files to?  And again, what operating system will you be using?

To check to see if one of the RCI computers will support 1GB (or more) of RAM, do you know the model and make of the computer?  I often use the Crucial memory configurator at crucial.com to determine this.  Also gives me a good idea on the price to upgrade.

I'll be serving files to 6 people. We have around 2,000 clients and about 1,000 donors. He's recommending Server 2003 Standard and a DAT backup system. No comm, nothing web-related.

We will be running GiftWorks and Client Service Tracker, along with Office 2003 Professional. I'm planning on 1GB RAM on all the desktops.

The only info available through RCI is that the desktops are Dell P4 units, 1.7-1.8 Ghz, 256 RAM, 20GB hard drive, CD-ROM.

I haven't seen any Dell P4 1.7-1.8 GHz machines that couldn't take up to 1GB of RAM (that doesn't mean that there aren't any, but I would put a good bet that you are ok).  I have seen them cost a lot of money, however - it depends on the type of RAM they use.  That was right about the time we had three major types of memory:  DDR, SDRAM, and RDRAM (I think).  DDR and SDRAM are cheap today.  RDRAM is not - it is extremely expensive.

As for your file server, I would suggest investing money here.  4GB still seems high, but its cheap to get these days.  Make sure you have some sort of RAID system.  I recommend a hardware RAID system (where the technology is provided by a RAID controller), but software RAID would be acceptable.  I'd also recommend external hard drives as a backup - depending on which backup strategy you implement, it could save you money.  DAT tape drive is acceptable and is a proven technology.

Also consider that if your network guy is the one supporting this, you want to make sure its a system he's comfortable supporting.  You can get entry-level servers from Dell that have hardware RAID-1 SATA drives, Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of RAM for a lot less than you might think.

Thanks for the help. My guy did also recommend a RAID drive setup. I'll check out the Dell you recommended as it doesn't look like the server hardware I'm going to need can be procured through TechSoup.

I'll check out the external drive idea as well.