Choosing the right server for your business can be a difficult task. You need to choose from not just the different brands and models but also the processors, storage, connectivity, and many more features. It is indeed difficult to know where to begin. But don’t worry, if you are looking to set up a server for your business, you are at the right place.
Which Server Will Be Best For My Business?
We’ve narrowed down your search for servers to the top 5 servers for small and medium businesses. We’ll look at each of the server options and talk about what makes them a good choice, their specifications, as well as their benefits and drawbacks. Our list includes tower, rack, and blade servers ranging from basic and inexpensive to top of the line and pricey.
If you already know which type of server- tower, rack, or blade server you want, your choice will be even simpler. But if you haven’t decided yet, you can use our guide to servers for small businesses to quickly narrow down your options for which server type to choose.
Here’s our list of the top 5 servers for small and medium business:
Let’s look at each of the different server options in detail to find out which is most suitable for your business...
1. Dell PowerEdge T30
Dell PowerEdge T30 is an affordable, entry-level server available either as barebones or a fully configured server. Even though it comes in a small tower form factor, it packs a ton of essential server features. In addition, it is budget-friendly and has expansion potential that can address future growth requirements. All of these features make the Dell PowerEdge T30 a very attractive option for small and medium businesses.
Dell PowerEdge T30 Specifications:
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1225 v5
RAM: Up to 64GB
Storage: Up to six SATA HDD
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics P530
Connectivity: 10 x USB ports, HDMI, VGA, PS2, Display port, serial, Gigabit Ethernet port
Dimensions (H x W x D): 36 x 17.5 x 43.5 cm
The specifications are customizable, which makes it a versatile server. It offers flexible memory options. For critical usage, you can use ECC RAM and for less critical requirements you can use DDR3L. The T30 works well with both Windows Server and Ubuntu. The installation process is simple and usually, you don’t need any additional drivers.
Here are the pros and cons of Dell PowerEdge T30:
Pros:
It has a fast quad-core Xeon processor,
There is room for 6 internal disks,
Budget-friendly.
Cons:
Only one network interface controller (NIC) onboard,
No hot-swappable drive bays.
2. HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen 10
The HPE ProLiant ML350 is a robust and versatile server and a good investment for any small and medium-sized business because it supports dual processors, has lots of memory, and impressive storage. The ML350 Gen 10 comes with Intel Xeon Scalable processors, which gives it an excellent performance boost. Although it doesn’t come with built-in storage, it does support a wide range of storage options. It is designed as a tower server but can be easily turned into a rackmount server giving you flexibility for future growth.
HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen 10 Specifications:
CPU: Intel Xeon Scalable 4210
RAM: Up to 3 TB (24 x 128 GB LRDIMM)
Storage: Up to 24x 2.5″ drive bay
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics P530
Connectivity: USB ports, iLO Management port, VGA, Display port, serial, 4 x NIC ports
Dimensions (H x W x D): 47 x 18 x 65 cm
HPE has a modular design that allows you to configure different storage arrangements including LFF 3.5″ and 2.5″ SFF drive bay drives. A fully-populated configuration gives you 24x 2.5″ SFF drives in the chassis. The HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen10 is a highly flexible server because of the large number of configuration options available for the CPU and memory, storage, and even GPUs making it an excellent option for small and medium-sized businesses.
Here are the pros and cons of HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen 10:
Pros:
Highly flexible and customizable,
Suitable for a wide range of deployments and configurations,
Robust storage options,
Great remote management.
Cons:
Doesn’t come pre-populated with hard drives,
Some upgrades may require additional cooling.
3. Lenovo ThinkServer SR650 2U
The Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 2U is a general-purpose server designed to fill many different roles. It is a flexible server that makes excellent use of the Intel Xeon Scalable platform and is designed to handle a wide range of workloads, such as databases, business analytics, and big data, virtualization and cloud computing, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), enterprise applications, etc. It is an ideal 2-socket 2U rack server that provides reliability, ease of management, and security, as well as performance and flexibility for future growth.
Lenovo ThinkServer SR650 2U Specifications:
CPU: Intel Xeon Scalable 4210
RAM: Up to 3 TB (24x 128 GB 3DS RDIMMs)
Storage: Up to 24x 2.5-inch or 14x 3.5-inch drive bay
Graphics: Supports a range of NVIDIA Quadro, Tesla, and AMD Radeon
Connectivity: USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, VGA, Gigabit Ethernet port
Dimensions (H x W x D): 8.7 x 44.5 x 76.4 cm
The SR650 server has a unique design called AnyBay, which allows you to use different drive interface types, such as SAS drives, SATA drives, or U.2 NVMe PCIe drives, in the same drive bay. Lenovo SR650 offers a wide range of possible configurations allowing you to customize almost everything including storage bays, drives, memory, CPU, networking, and more.
Here are the pros and cons of Lenovo ThinkServer SR650 2U:
Pros:
Highly flexible and customizable.
Suitable for a wide range of deployments and configurations.
Hot-swappable drives, power supplies, and fans.
Good remote management controller.
Cons:
Doesn’t come pre-populated with hard drives.
May need drivers for Ubuntu installation.
Networking is provided via a LOM, which isn’t included by default.
4. SuperMicro SuperBlade
SuperMicro SuperBlade isn’t a well-known blade server brand but one you should definitely consider if you are on a tight budget. SuperBlade isn’t the cheapest blade server option out there, but its wide range of options and reasonable price offer a great bang for the buck. SuperMicro SuperBlade’s dense, four-socket Xeon blades offer a budget-friendly option for those companies that don’t want to invest in similar but more expensive products from HPE or Dell.
SuperMicro SuperBlade Specifications:
CPU: Max 4 Xeon Scalable CPUs / 112 cores
RAM: Max 3 TB for half-height and 6 TB for full-height
Connectivity: Up to 2 hot-pluggable 10G Ethernet switches
Dimensions (H x W x D): 35.6 x 44.7 x 81.3 cm
The SuperBlade houses multiple blade servers in a single enclosure packing more computing power into a given space than other similar server systems. Each node can include up to four 28-Core Xeon Scalable CPUs with 3 TB DDR4 2666MHz in 48 dual in-line memory module (DIMM) slots. It has front-loading nodes making access and maintenance easier. In total, the SuperBlade chassis can support up to 8 NVMe or 4 SATA3/SAS3 hard drives, and up to 8 hot-pluggable 2200W Titanium (96% efficiency) power supplies.
The blade servers are available in half height and full height versions. You can fit up to 20 half-height 2 socket blade servers in an 8U SuperBlade chassis. So you can fit 200 CPUs per 42U rack getting incredibly high compute density per space. You can get your blades optimized for various use cases such as enterprise blade server, data center optimized blade, workstation blade, and office blade.
Here are the pros and cons of SuperMicro SuperBlade:
Pros:
Four-socket Xeon blades
Reasonable cost.
Highly flexible and scalable.
Much smaller form factor compared to competitors.
Cons:
It lacks the management and enterprise-class capabilities
5. HPE Synergy 660 Gen10
The HPE Synergy 660 Gen10 is a top-of-the-line server designed for large businesses. Nevertheless, we are including it here because in many cases there can be no compromise on performance. If you can afford it, the Synergy 660 Gen10 is the best blade server owing to its speed, sophisticated data processing capabilities, and the ease with which it can balance physical, virtual, and containerized applications.
HPE Synergy 660 Gen 10 Specifications:
CPU: Max 4 Xeon Scalable CPUs
RAM: Max 6 TB
Connectivity: Up to 2 hot-pluggable 10G Ethernet switches
Dimensions (H x W x D): 6.35 x 43.03 x 59.92 cm
The HPE Synergy enables you to rapidly boot up infrastructure ready to run physical or virtual applications. The Synergy 660 is designed for high operational velocity and to reduce operational complexities, giving you noticeably large improvements in your data processing with cloud-like speeds on-prem.
The Synergy 660 Gen10 is a 10U full-height, single-wide, compute module that plugs into the HPE Synergy Frame 12000. It supports up to four hot-pluggable SFF SAS SSD drives for up to 61.2 TB (4 x 15.3TB) storage. It is highly scalable as well as offers flexibility in I/O configurations. The system protects assets against downtime associated with hacking and virus infection as well as offers threat detection, protection, and recovery. It includes management features such as auto-discovery, quick provisioning, and third-party integrations.
Here are the pros and cons of HPE Synergy 660:
Pros:
Four-socket Xeon blades,
Top of the line performance,
Excellent management features,
Enterprise-class capabilities.
Cons:
It is expensive.
Conclusion
Buying a server for your business is a long-term investment and possibly one of your most important investments for the growth of your business. Many companies may choose to depend entirely on third-party cloud-based servers, which is a cost-effective option, but most of the time the decision to use on-prem servers is governed by business and compliance requirements. If you haven’t decided between the cloud and on-premises server, our blog on the Cloud Vs on-premises servers can help you decide.
If the cost of servers is your biggest concern, there are many options available that will help alleviate it. You have the option of building your own server or renting a bare metal server. And if you choose to go with a Linux server distro, your initial investment will be a little lower. In many cases, the total cost of ownership of on-prem servers can be lower than that of hosted servers in the long term. But the biggest advantages of on-premises servers are the control and security you get.
Do you need help with server installation, upgrade, or migration? We have extensive experience in server installation and maintenance, from small branch office servers to data centers to cloud hybrid servers, we can help you with any IT infrastructure needs for your business. Click the button below and reach out to us today.
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About The Author
Hari SubediMarketing Manager at Jones IT
Hari is an online marketing professional with a focus on content marketing. He writes on topics related to IT, Security, Small Business, and Mindfulness. He is also the founder and managing director of Girivar Kft., a business services company located in Budapest, Hungary.