I think the box would perform more or less adequately. I don't like the disk configuration, however; you should consider a RAID-1 pair for the OS and Exchange IS and DS logs, and the rest in a RAID-5 for the databases and MTA queues. Even better would be separate RAID-1 pairs for the OS and for the logs, but for 30 to 50 users, I don't think it's a requirement. I used to run 1,000 Exchange 5.5 users on a box that size [1], and I don't think Exchange 2000 causes that much extra load!
You should check the Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List, however. With the dual whammy of a potentially unsupported hardware configuration and the difficulty of obtaining spare parts, this box may end up costing you far more than it saves. [1] Even with 256MB, but we upgraded that after a short while. The box was supposed to have come with 768MB, but 512MB of it was missing. It actually ran not too badly at 256MB. If you were to do one thing to that box, you should consider buying some more memory for it, even for 30 to 50 users. Ed Crowley MCSE+Internet MVP kcCC+I Tech Consultant hp Services Protecting the world from PSTs and Bricked Backups! -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Erick Thompson Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 3:15 PM To: Exchange Discussions Subject: Re: Server capacity I know it is well beyond end-of-life, but given our financial constraints, is it useable? I don't have the resources to do a proper stress test to see how response times would be under a ~30-50 user load. If it takes 45 seconds for a user to open their inbox, then I will have a good reason to say that we need something with more muscle. I haven't set up an Exchange server before, so I don't know what kind of load it puts on systems. Erick ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ed Crowley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Exchange Discussions" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 3:00 PM Subject: RE: Server capacity > Even if it was, that machine is well beyond end-of-life. > > Ed Crowley MCSE+Internet MVP kcCC+I > Tech Consultant > hp Services > Protecting the world from PSTs and Bricked Backups! > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Martin > Blackstone > Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 2:05 PM > To: Exchange Discussions > Subject: RE: Server capacity > > > I don't think E2k or even W2K is recommended on a Ppro system. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Erick Thompson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 2:05 PM > To: Exchange Discussions > Subject: Server capacity > > > I am hoping that I can get some feedback on a server configuration. I > have a Compaq Proliant 6500, dual PPro 200, 256 MB ram, and 7 x 4.3GB > drives in RAID 5 with a hot spare. I want to set this system up as an > Exchange 2000 server for about 30 local users, and another 20 via OWA. > The email load will be fairly heavy, and there will be a lot of use of > shared folders and calendars. > > I'm concerned about taking the time to set the server up, get Exchange > up and running, only to find that it's running too slowly for the > users to be productive. I know more is better, but this is a > non-profit with a very limited budget, so I want to make sure we have > what we need. Is this server going to be a serious bottleneck? > > Thanks, > Erick > > > _________________________________________________________________ > List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm > Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp > To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > _________________________________________________________________ > List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm > Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp > To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > _________________________________________________________________ > List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm > Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp > To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Archives: http://www.swynk.com/sitesearch/search.asp To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
