Spec'ing out a new server

Yahoo Archive
1
We're running Enterprise. Vantage doesn't run on 64-bit yet. Rather, there
is no 64-bit version of Vantage. According to the people I spoke to, you can
get it to run on Win64 but the performance leaves something to be desired.

~John


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
2
We are in the process of buying a new server to run 8.0 and beyond.
Right now we have 35 office clients and 4 data collection on the shop
floor. I'm looking at a HP DL360 G5 with two dual core Xeon 3.0 Ghz
processors, 4GB RAM and two 72GB 10K rpm SAS hard drives...plus
redundant fans, power supplies and DVD-R.

The network is all gigabit, as are the clients. Client minumim is a
2.8Ghz P4 with 512 Ram, most are 3.0 Ghz P4's with 1GB ram and 80Gb
hard drives.

Anyone else running with a similar number of users on 8.0, what kinda
of hardware are you using?

Anyone using Terminal Server clients for data collection or offsite
clients?

Thanks!

- Erik
3
Erik,

Only two disks? What level of RAID do you plan on using? I would
recommend adding at least two additional disks and using RAID 10. The
more disks, the better the performance. RAID 10 will give you the best
performance/redundancy.

Todd Hofert
IT Director
Spartan Graphics, Inc.

________________________________

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Erik S
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 10:51 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server



We are in the process of buying a new server to run 8.0 and beyond.
Right now we have 35 office clients and 4 data collection on the shop
floor. I'm looking at a HP DL360 G5 with two dual core Xeon 3.0 Ghz
processors, 4GB RAM and two 72GB 10K rpm SAS hard drives...plus
redundant fans, power supplies and DVD-R.

The network is all gigabit, as are the clients. Client minumim is a
2.8Ghz P4 with 512 Ram, most are 3.0 Ghz P4's with 1GB ram and 80Gb
hard drives.

Anyone else running with a similar number of users on 8.0, what kinda
of hardware are you using?

Anyone using Terminal Server clients for data collection or offsite
clients?

Thanks!

- Erik






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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
4
Actually I'm setting up something similar but I'm more concerned about the Database settings.

How should I set the Progress database to maximise efficiency?

Erik S <esmalley@...> wrote:
We are in the process of buying a new server to run 8.0 and beyond.
Right now we have 35 office clients and 4 data collection on the shop
floor. I'm looking at a HP DL360 G5 with two dual core Xeon 3.0 Ghz
processors, 4GB RAM and two 72GB 10K rpm SAS hard drives...plus
redundant fans, power supplies and DVD-R.

The network is all gigabit, as are the clients. Client minumim is a
2.8Ghz P4 with 512 Ram, most are 3.0 Ghz P4's with 1GB ram and 80Gb
hard drives.

Anyone else running with a similar number of users on 8.0, what kinda
of hardware are you using?

Anyone using Terminal Server clients for data collection or offsite
clients?

Thanks!

- Erik






---------------------------------
Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
5
Server sounds OK but I would recommend 2 Raid one arrays which would
require 4 drives. Also if you plan on using OE as the database, you
might wish to consider a third array for AI extent files.

All of our V8 clients are running with 2GB of RAM but 1GB should
suffice, 512MB will work but not very well.

We are running 15 clients.



________________________________

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Erik S
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 10:51 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server



We are in the process of buying a new server to run 8.0 and beyond.
Right now we have 35 office clients and 4 data collection on the shop
floor. I'm looking at a HP DL360 G5 with two dual core Xeon 3.0 Ghz
processors, 4GB RAM and two 72GB 10K rpm SAS hard drives...plus
redundant fans, power supplies and DVD-R.

The network is all gigabit, as are the clients. Client minumim is a
2.8Ghz P4 with 512 Ram, most are 3.0 Ghz P4's with 1GB ram and 80Gb
hard drives.

Anyone else running with a similar number of users on 8.0, what kinda
of hardware are you using?

Anyone using Terminal Server clients for data collection or offsite
clients?

Thanks!

- Erik





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
6
> ... two 72GB 10K rpm SAS hard drives

Are you mirroring the two drives? If so, are you planning to put the operating
system and V8 on the same drive?

We have two drives with RAID 1 (Mirroring) for just the operating system. We
have four drives with RAID 10.

FWIW,

Mark W.
7
Erik's original stated spec is very close to what I have been looking at. In the repsonses though the mention of RAID 10 puzzles me. For Progress 9.1d it has always been recommended not to RAID (other than RAID 1 mirroring). What is the situation for Pogress for Vantage 8.0? Is any form of RAID now acceptable without performance hit or risk of uncommitted writes corrupting the DB?
-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of Mark Wonsil
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 10:05 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server



> ... two 72GB 10K rpm SAS hard drives

Are you mirroring the two drives? If so, are you planning to put the operating
system and V8 on the same drive?

We have two drives with RAID 1 (Mirroring) for just the operating system. We
have four drives with RAID 10.

FWIW,

Mark W.







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
8
Erik,

Assuming that your server is dedicated to Vantage, two 72GB SAS drives
configured as RAID 1 will be more than sufficient. Presuming that you
allocate approximately an 8GB partition for your OS, you will have the
remaining 64GB available for Vantage and the OE10B server and database and
that will most certainly suffice for the foreseeable future with a user base
of your size. The trick will be to allocate sufficient buffers so as to
cache the bulk of the DB in memory and eliminate the disk subsystem as a
resource constraint. Chief among server side performance considerations
would be to allocate BI writers, APWs, sufficient buffer blocks and to not
implement after imaging unless you have a pressing need for DB journaling.

As for the clients, 85-90% of the perceived application performance is
associated with the workstation's ability to render the five(5) layer .NET
component stack that comprises the V8 UI. In that regard, the constraining
factors are the speed of the processor and the memory bus bandwidth. Load
the workstations you have up with RAM and you will be configured as best
possible for V8.

Regards,

Michael
Michael Barry
Aspacia Systems Inc
866.566.9600
312.803.0730 fax
<http://www.aspacia.com/> http://www.aspacia.com/



_____

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Erik S
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 7:51 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Spam [Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server



We are in the process of buying a new server to run 8.0 and beyond.
Right now we have 35 office clients and 4 data collection on the shop
floor. I'm looking at a HP DL360 G5 with two dual core Xeon 3.0 Ghz
processors, 4GB RAM and two 72GB 10K rpm SAS hard drives...plus
redundant fans, power supplies and DVD-R.

The network is all gigabit, as are the clients. Client minumim is a
2.8Ghz P4 with 512 Ram, most are 3.0 Ghz P4's with 1GB ram and 80Gb
hard drives.

Anyone else running with a similar number of users on 8.0, what kinda
of hardware are you using?

Anyone using Terminal Server clients for data collection or offsite
clients?

Thanks!

- Erik






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
9
I'm running Vantage 6.1 with RAID 10 and it seems fine. I checked with
Epicor before purchasing the server and they told me RAID 10 was
preferred...??


-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of
Todd Caughey
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 10:24 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server



Erik's original stated spec is very close to what I have been looking at. In
the repsonses though the mention of RAID 10 puzzles me. For Progress 9.1d it
has always been recommended not to RAID (other than RAID 1 mirroring). What
is the situation for Pogress for Vantage 8.0? Is any form of RAID now
acceptable without performance hit or risk of uncommitted writes corrupting
the DB?
-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com [mailto:
vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com]On Behalf Of
Mark Wonsil
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 10:05 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server

> ... two 72GB 10K rpm SAS hard drives

Are you mirroring the two drives? If so, are you planning to put the
operating
system and V8 on the same drive?

We have two drives with RAID 1 (Mirroring) for just the operating system. We
have four drives with RAID 10.

FWIW,

Mark W.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
10
Yes, our server is dedicated to Vantage. One other big concern is
which OS to run. Win2K3 Server Standard or Win2K3 Server Enterprise
Ed. because Standard only allows for a maximum 4GB of RAM. Anyone
having an issue only running 4GB? Is it worth the added cost to run
Enterprise and have the ability to ramp up the RAM later?

- E

--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "Michael Barry" <mbarry@...> wrote:
>
> Erik,
>
> Assuming that your server is dedicated to Vantage, two 72GB SAS
drives
> configured as RAID 1 will be more than sufficient. Presuming that
you
> allocate approximately an 8GB partition for your OS, you will have
the
> remaining 64GB available for Vantage and the OE10B server and
database and
> that will most certainly suffice for the foreseeable future with a
user base
> of your size. The trick will be to allocate sufficient buffers so
as to
> cache the bulk of the DB in memory and eliminate the disk
subsystem as a
> resource constraint. Chief among server side performance
considerations
> would be to allocate BI writers, APWs, sufficient buffer blocks
and to not
> implement after imaging unless you have a pressing need for DB
journaling.
>
> As for the clients, 85-90% of the perceived application
performance is
> associated with the workstation's ability to render the five(5)
layer .NET
> component stack that comprises the V8 UI. In that regard, the
constraining
> factors are the speed of the processor and the memory bus
bandwidth. Load
> the workstations you have up with RAM and you will be configured
as best
> possible for V8.
>
> Regards,
>
> Michael
> Michael Barry
> Aspacia Systems Inc
> 866.566.9600
> 312.803.0730 fax
> <http://www.aspacia.com/> http://www.aspacia.com/
11
Take a look at a Dell 2900 server.

I'd suggest buying the optional split backplane kit and use 4 hard drives.

The split backplane kit takes the 8 drive bays and converts them to 2 racks
of 4 with each rack having it's own RAID controller.

Put 2 drives on top and 2 on the bottom - mirror both sets.

Add in 4 gig of RAM

Use 15,000rpm drives

Setup this server as a stand alone server on your network away from your AD
server.






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
12
Keep in mind if you set up a single Raid 1 array, you will have your Bi,
Temp, and your OS swap file on the same physical drive. It would be a
shame to spend the money on all that memory and kicka$$ dual core
processors with a gigabit nic only to see your performance sapped
because of disk contention.

Epicor recommends Raid 10, that should give you an idea right there how
much disk activity it commits.

If you run with a single Raid 1 mirror, you will most likely be very
unhappy with how Vantage performs.







________________________________

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Erik S
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 12:16 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Spam [Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server



Yes, our server is dedicated to Vantage. One other big concern is
which OS to run. Win2K3 Server Standard or Win2K3 Server Enterprise
Ed. because Standard only allows for a maximum 4GB of RAM. Anyone
having an issue only running 4GB? Is it worth the added cost to run
Enterprise and have the ability to ramp up the RAM later?

- E

--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> ,
"Michael Barry" <mbarry@...> wrote:
>
> Erik,
>
> Assuming that your server is dedicated to Vantage, two 72GB SAS
drives
> configured as RAID 1 will be more than sufficient. Presuming that
you
> allocate approximately an 8GB partition for your OS, you will have
the
> remaining 64GB available for Vantage and the OE10B server and
database and
> that will most certainly suffice for the foreseeable future with a
user base
> of your size. The trick will be to allocate sufficient buffers so
as to
> cache the bulk of the DB in memory and eliminate the disk
subsystem as a
> resource constraint. Chief among server side performance
considerations
> would be to allocate BI writers, APWs, sufficient buffer blocks
and to not
> implement after imaging unless you have a pressing need for DB
journaling.
>
> As for the clients, 85-90% of the perceived application
performance is
> associated with the workstation's ability to render the five(5)
layer .NET
> component stack that comprises the V8 UI. In that regard, the
constraining
> factors are the speed of the processor and the memory bus
bandwidth. Load
> the workstations you have up with RAM and you will be configured
as best
> possible for V8.
>
> Regards,
>
> Michael
> Michael Barry
> Aspacia Systems Inc
> 866.566.9600
> 312.803.0730 fax
> <http://www.aspacia.com/ <http://www.aspacia.com/> >
http://www.aspacia.com/ <http://www.aspacia.com/>





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
13
It depends upon the size of your DB and your transactional volume. The
primary design consideration to optimize performance would be to take the
disk subsystem out of play as a constraint by caching everything into
memory. This is particularly true because Progress supports lazy writes as
a means to mitigate disk system access. A simple way to tell would be to
Promon your DB to determine cache hit ratio and to use Windows Performance
monitor to monitor disk access. If your cache hit ratio is below 95% and
your disks are showing above 20-30% continuous utilization then you should
allocate more memory blocks to the DB. If you are unable to do so because
of limited RAM resources, then you will be forcing the disks into play which
is, of course, not an optimal configuration.

With your user count, unless you are journaling your DB and/or have auditing
turned on in Vantage, in all likelihood Windows Standard's 4GB limit
shouldn't pose a problem. If, however you wish to invoke those
capabilities, your DB could grow to the point that you may need to consider
the extended capabilities of Enterprise.

Michael

_____

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Erik S
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 9:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Spam Re: Spam [Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server



Yes, our server is dedicated to Vantage. One other big concern is
which OS to run. Win2K3 Server Standard or Win2K3 Server Enterprise
Ed. because Standard only allows for a maximum 4GB of RAM. Anyone
having an issue only running 4GB? Is it worth the added cost to run
Enterprise and have the ability to ramp up the RAM later?

- E

--- In vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com, "Michael
Barry" <mbarry@...> wrote:
>
> Erik,
>
> Assuming that your server is dedicated to Vantage, two 72GB SAS
drives
> configured as RAID 1 will be more than sufficient. Presuming that
you
> allocate approximately an 8GB partition for your OS, you will have
the
> remaining 64GB available for Vantage and the OE10B server and
database and
> that will most certainly suffice for the foreseeable future with a
user base
> of your size. The trick will be to allocate sufficient buffers so
as to
> cache the bulk of the DB in memory and eliminate the disk
subsystem as a
> resource constraint. Chief among server side performance
considerations
> would be to allocate BI writers, APWs, sufficient buffer blocks
and to not
> implement after imaging unless you have a pressing need for DB
journaling.
>
> As for the clients, 85-90% of the perceived application
performance is
> associated with the workstation's ability to render the five(5)
layer .NET
> component stack that comprises the V8 UI. In that regard, the
constraining
> factors are the speed of the processor and the memory bus
bandwidth. Load
> the workstations you have up with RAM and you will be configured
as best
> possible for V8.
>
> Regards,
>
> Michael
> Michael Barry
> Aspacia Systems Inc
> 866.566.9600
> 312.803.0730 fax
> <http://www.aspacia <http://www.aspacia.com/> com/> http://www.aspacia
<http://www.aspacia.com/> com/






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
14
A twist on this topic....
I got asked today to plan on setting up a test/conversion server for evaluating. Plan is to use it to test drive V8 and start converting RB to Cryatal XI or Dashboard Queries. Probably not ever have more than 3-4 users trying things out. When we buy the "real" production server this server would become something else...probably a web server.

What are some of you others using (or have used) for this purpose? I need to keep the cost relatively low so where can I get away with scrimping? Would a single CPU, moderate (2GB) memory on SATA disks type server be OK?

Thanks,
-Todd C.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
15
Todd,

If you're really trying to appease the cost mavens and you are only going to
have a small handful of users on the test system at any given time, you
could run your test system in a virtual on the production server and simply
cut it over to native when you go into production.

Regards,

Michael

_____

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Todd Caughey
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 1:04 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server



A twist on this topic....
I got asked today to plan on setting up a test/conversion server for
evaluating. Plan is to use it to test drive V8 and start converting RB to
Cryatal XI or Dashboard Queries. Probably not ever have more than 3-4 users
trying things out. When we buy the "real" production server this server
would become something else...probably a web server.

What are some of you others using (or have used) for this purpose? I need to
keep the cost relatively low so where can I get away with scrimping? Would a
single CPU, moderate (2GB) memory on SATA disks type server be OK?

Thanks,
-Todd C.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
16
Almost a Catch-22 sort of deal...can't get production server until I prove things out on a "cheap" server. When I go to the well for the production server it the proposal wil be loaded with everything under the sun...new tape drives, NAS, SAN, server like Erik proposed and maybe some upgraded net switches. One chance is all I will get to get it all right, and then only after test server has proven the benefits of upgrading. I expect to take about a year for trials and conversions before buying the ultimate setup.

If you mean virtual on current server...not a chance. Only 550Mhz proc with 1GB RAM and only a couple gig free disk (DB is 1.5GB) running Win2K Server.

Thanks,
-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of Michael Barry
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 3:28 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server



Todd,

If you're really trying to appease the cost mavens and you are only going to
have a small handful of users on the test system at any given time, you
could run your test system in a virtual on the production server and simply
cut it over to native when you go into production.

Regards,

Michael

_____

From: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com [mailto: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com] On Behalf Of
Todd Caughey
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 1:04 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com
Subject: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server

A twist on this topic....
I got asked today to plan on setting up a test/conversion server for
evaluating. Plan is to use it to test drive V8 and start converting RB to
Cryatal XI or Dashboard Queries. Probably not ever have more than 3-4 users
trying things out. When we buy the "real" production server this server
would become something else...probably a web server.

What are some of you others using (or have used) for this purpose? I need to
keep the cost relatively low so where can I get away with scrimping? Would a
single CPU, moderate (2GB) memory on SATA disks type server be OK?

Thanks,
-Todd C.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
17
Todd,
I purchased a DualCore Laptop for just this purpose. I figured if it's good
enough for the Epicor sales junkies to do their dog and pony shows on... It
is not the fastest thing in the world as far as running V8 goes, but it has
the advantage of running local to avoid the network end of issues related to
speed, although it can be run as a server and will be used for early client
testing. It is portable so I can bring the test server into the conference
room or an office on a whim, and when I am through with it I still have a
nice laptop to work on. As I noted it a previous post, it also saved my
behind a couple weeks back when I was able to install 6.1 on it and run it
for a short time as our production 6.1 server while the real 6.1 server was
repaired. I did spec a laptop with Dual core as I said, and 2 GB ram as
well as SATA HD, and it came with a GB Nic. If you care to check out the
base unit I selected, it was a Compaq nc8430.
Anyway, it's doing the job of a test server for us as we prepare for the
real server in the Nov. timeframe.
Good luck,
Aaron Hoyt
Vantage Plastics

-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of
Todd Caughey
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 4:51 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server


Almost a Catch-22 sort of deal...can't get production server until I prove
things out on a "cheap" server. When I go to the well for the production
server it the proposal wil be loaded with everything under the sun...new
tape drives, NAS, SAN, server like Erik proposed and maybe some upgraded net
switches. One chance is all I will get to get it all right, and then only
after test server has proven the benefits of upgrading. I expect to take
about a year for trials and conversions before buying the ultimate setup.

If you mean virtual on current server...not a chance. Only 550Mhz proc
with 1GB RAM and only a couple gig free disk (DB is 1.5GB) running Win2K
Server.

Thanks,
-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of
Michael Barry
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 3:28 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server

Todd,

If you're really trying to appease the cost mavens and you are only going
to
have a small handful of users on the test system at any given time, you
could run your test system in a virtual on the production server and
simply
cut it over to native when you go into production.

Regards,

Michael

_____

From: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com [mailto:
vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com] On Behalf Of
Todd Caughey
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 1:04 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com
Subject: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server

A twist on this topic....
I got asked today to plan on setting up a test/conversion server for
evaluating. Plan is to use it to test drive V8 and start converting RB to
Cryatal XI or Dashboard Queries. Probably not ever have more than 3-4
users
trying things out. When we buy the "real" production server this server
would become something else...probably a web server.

What are some of you others using (or have used) for this purpose? I need
to
keep the cost relatively low so where can I get away with scrimping? Would
a
single CPU, moderate (2GB) memory on SATA disks type server be OK?

Thanks,
-Todd C.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
18
Hmmmmmm,

If you use a P2000 with 512 meg RAM and 1 x 7,200 rpm hard drive ... say an
older destop.

When performance is a bit doggy it will help you sell the idea that you will
need a decent server when you go live.



_____

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Todd Caughey
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 3:51 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server



Almost a Catch-22 sort of deal...can't get production server until I prove
things out on a "cheap" server. When I go to the well for the production
server it the proposal wil be loaded with everything under the sun...new
tape drives, NAS, SAN, server like Erik proposed and maybe some upgraded net
switches. One chance is all I will get to get it all right, and then only
after test server has proven the benefits of upgrading. I expect to take
about a year for trials and conversions before buying the ultimate setup.

If you mean virtual on current server...not a chance. Only 550Mhz proc with
1GB RAM and only a couple gig free disk (DB is 1.5GB) running Win2K Server.

Thanks,
-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com
[mailto:vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com]On
Behalf Of Michael Barry
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 3:28 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com
Subject: RE: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server

Todd,

If you're really trying to appease the cost mavens and you are only going to
have a small handful of users on the test system at any given time, you
could run your test system in a virtual on the production server and simply
cut it over to native when you go into production.

Regards,

Michael

_____

From: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com [mailto:
vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com] On Behalf Of
Todd Caughey
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 1:04 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com
Subject: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server

A twist on this topic....
I got asked today to plan on setting up a test/conversion server for
evaluating. Plan is to use it to test drive V8 and start converting RB to
Cryatal XI or Dashboard Queries. Probably not ever have more than 3-4 users
trying things out. When we buy the "real" production server this server
would become something else...probably a web server.

What are some of you others using (or have used) for this purpose? I need to
keep the cost relatively low so where can I get away with scrimping? Would a
single CPU, moderate (2GB) memory on SATA disks type server be OK?

Thanks,
-Todd C.

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19
The Epicor sales junkies also have additional drivers/patches and custom stuff written in to boost their dog and pony shows at customer sites that run considerably faster than you ever will in a real-live system and they very well might be running 8.04 while selling you 8.00.
Also single user vs. 10 users will show a difference ultimately in true performance. You'll want to give yourself time to tune for performance the live server while users are doing testing/hammering away before you go-live. good way to run load-testing.
Its almost a guarantee that what you see on the sales pitch is not what you will get on your go-live. I always wondered why those sales guys never saw the umpteen unexpected application errors that we are so readily able to produce, on their laptops.
Given that disk and ram are cheap these days, I wouldn't skimp on either particularly RAM.
RSN

Aaron Hoyt <aaron.hoyt@...> wrote:
Todd,
I purchased a DualCore Laptop for just this purpose. I figured if it's good
enough for the Epicor sales junkies to do their dog and pony shows on... It
is not the fastest thing in the world as far as running V8 goes, but it has
the advantage of running local to avoid the network end of issues related to
speed, although it can be run as a server and will be used for early client
testing. It is portable so I can bring the test server into the conference
room or an office on a whim, and when I am through with it I still have a
nice laptop to work on. As I noted it a previous post, it also saved my
behind a couple weeks back when I was able to install 6.1 on it and run it
for a short time as our production 6.1 server while the real 6.1 server was
repaired. I did spec a laptop with Dual core as I said, and 2 GB ram as
well as SATA HD, and it came with a GB Nic. If you care to check out the
base unit I selected, it was a Compaq nc8430.
Anyway, it's doing the job of a test server for us as we prepare for the
real server in the Nov. timeframe.
Good luck,
Aaron Hoyt
Vantage Plastics

-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of
Todd Caughey
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 4:51 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server

Almost a Catch-22 sort of deal...can't get production server until I prove
things out on a "cheap" server. When I go to the well for the production
server it the proposal wil be loaded with everything under the sun...new
tape drives, NAS, SAN, server like Erik proposed and maybe some upgraded net
switches. One chance is all I will get to get it all right, and then only
after test server has proven the benefits of upgrading. I expect to take
about a year for trials and conversions before buying the ultimate setup.

If you mean virtual on current server...not a chance. Only 550Mhz proc
with 1GB RAM and only a couple gig free disk (DB is 1.5GB) running Win2K
Server.

Thanks,
-Todd C.

-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of
Michael Barry
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 3:28 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server

Todd,

If you're really trying to appease the cost mavens and you are only going
to
have a small handful of users on the test system at any given time, you
could run your test system in a virtual on the production server and
simply
cut it over to native when you go into production.

Regards,

Michael

_____

From: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com [mailto:
vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com] On Behalf Of
Todd Caughey
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 1:04 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com
Subject: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server

A twist on this topic....
I got asked today to plan on setting up a test/conversion server for
evaluating. Plan is to use it to test drive V8 and start converting RB to
Cryatal XI or Dashboard Queries. Probably not ever have more than 3-4
users
trying things out. When we buy the "real" production server this server
would become something else...probably a web server.

What are some of you others using (or have used) for this purpose? I need
to
keep the cost relatively low so where can I get away with scrimping? Would
a
single CPU, moderate (2GB) memory on SATA disks type server be OK?

Thanks,
-Todd C.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






---------------------------------
Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
20
Todd, are you privy to the total investment for the ERP budget for your project. Have they/you factored in maintenance and upgrade costs for the 3 years and perhaps done a cost analysis to show the bean-counters /mgmt the drop in the bucket on investment over 3 years-souped up server /backup/tape drivesetup+a new switch with more than what we needed ran us $17,000.00-over 3 years that comes out to like....?????? per year.....
Hope you've also factored in workstation upgrades for RAM and O/S- its good to have everyone on XP and at least 760MB (nominal-ideal is 1GB) to run the very obese client.
Regards
RSN

Todd Caughey <caugheyt@...> wrote:
Almost a Catch-22 sort of deal...can't get production server until I prove things out on a "cheap" server. When I go to the well for the production server it the proposal wil be loaded with everything under the sun...new tape drives, NAS, SAN, server like Erik proposed and maybe some upgraded net switches. One chance is all I will get to get it all right, and then only after test server has proven the benefits of upgrading. I expect to take about a year for trials and conversions before buying the ultimate setup.

If you mean virtual on current server...not a chance. Only 550Mhz proc with 1GB RAM and only a couple gig free disk (DB is 1.5GB) running Win2K Server.

Thanks,
-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of Michael Barry
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 3:28 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server

Todd,

If you're really trying to appease the cost mavens and you are only going to
have a small handful of users on the test system at any given time, you
could run your test system in a virtual on the production server and simply
cut it over to native when you go into production.

Regards,

Michael

_____

From: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com [mailto: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com] On Behalf Of
Todd Caughey
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 1:04 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com
Subject: Spam RE:[Vantage] Spec'ing out a new server

A twist on this topic....
I got asked today to plan on setting up a test/conversion server for
evaluating. Plan is to use it to test drive V8 and start converting RB to
Cryatal XI or Dashboard Queries. Probably not ever have more than 3-4 users
trying things out. When we buy the "real" production server this server
would become something else...probably a web server.

What are some of you others using (or have used) for this purpose? I need to
keep the cost relatively low so where can I get away with scrimping? Would a
single CPU, moderate (2GB) memory on SATA disks type server be OK?

Thanks,
-Todd C.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






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All-new Yahoo! Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster.

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