Plan for a scalable server infrastructure

Overview

Do you feel like your PDA should do more for you than it does? Do you want to find ways to be more productive while you are on the go? Are you ready to put some energy into getting better organized and becoming more efficient? If so, this How-To Guide is for you. This guide helps you understand the various software packages available for your Pocket PC so that you can use it more like a desktop computer rather than just a planner. The sections of the guide include:» Understand it: discover the features of your Pocket PC and how they can help you be more efficient and productive.» Plan it: investigate the office applications available for your Pocket PC, such as word processors, spreadsheet programs, Web browsers, e-mail clients, and more.» Do it: learn the shortcomings of and how to work more efficiently with office applications made for handhelds.» Use it: learn how to preserve your handheld's battery life, memory, and storage space, and use the infrared port.» Buy it: shop for the products that can help you implement your mobile printing solution.Understand it

Although handhelds offer an abundance of features that increasingly come closer to matching what is possible with a note-book or desktop computer, most individuals still use their handhelds primarily as a replacement for their paper planner. Why is it that users tend not to make the most of their handhelds? Handhelds are more than plannersHandhelds are wonderful devices for keeping track of schedules, recording contact information, and taking notes. After all, handhelds were first created for these specific tasks. However, handhelds quickly evolved, acquired more capabilities, and became more than simply glorified digital planners. Nearly all handhelds on the market today, with the appropriate configuration, allow you to access a local network or the Internet via wireless Ethernet or Bluetooth, record and play back sound such as oral notes or MP3s, take and store digital photos, send and receive e-mail, access Web sites, create and view slide presenta-tions, and much more. Taking the time to plan and discover To use your handheld more productively, you must first be familiar with the realm of possibilities regard-ing your handheld and identify how those features best meet your individual work style. Although using and experimenting with your handheld can increase your knowledge regarding such features, you are likely to become familiar with only a small number of the capabilities. Most of us begin using our hand-helds as a digital planner of sorts and then become used to treating the device as only a planner -- the more we turn to this device for only planner-oriented tasks, and the more we will consider it a planner and nothing else. You'll need to spend a bit of time and effort discovering all of the options that are possible with your handheld, but this time is well worth it. By realizing you can use your handheld to do such tasks as, for example, editing documents of varying types or giving presentations, your productivity is certain to increase.

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New HP

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Overview Today's modern small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) need more processing and server capability than ever before. From routine applications like e-mail and a Web site, to business applications that support payroll and accounting features, to specialized mission-critical applications like e-commerce transaction processing or proprietary databases, SMBs struggle to keep up with the demand for processing cycles.

Planning a scalable server infrastructure can be the key to keeping up with such demands. By creating a carefully crafted collection of servers that are organized by role and designed to expand as demand increases, SMBs can control costs and provide the necessary processing capability and horsepower. Better still, SMBs can confidently accommodate growth in processing needs and capabilities because their server architecture can easily keep pace with increasing demand.

If your company services include public Web sites, e-business or e-commerce activities, or ever-growing databases of customer, product, or other information, a scalable server architecture can help keep your customers and staff happy while leaving the door open for future growth and expansion. It may be time for your company to implement a role-based server design that organizes multiple servers -- each of which can expand internally, or be augmented with other servers to balance heavy processing loads. This type of scalable server architecture offers an open-ended, flexible way to provide enhanced processing capabilities and services as your company expands.

This How-To Guide covers the steps you need to follow to create a scalable server architecture that can meet your current demands and accommodate large-scale growth if necessary. The sections of this guide include:

» Understand it: examine the term "scalability" and understand what it really means in two different contexts: within an individual system and within an entire server architecture.

» Plan it: evaluate your current and future server needs to find ways to improve their infrastructure and make it more expandable.

» Do it: see how SMBs of varying sizes put servers and infrastructures that are more scalable in place.

» Use it: meet HP's robust collection of server and solution sizing tools.

» Buy it: browse HP's server options to find the right collection of systems to meet your needs.

Understand it You're aware of the alluring promises of server technology as described in business-focused publications, and you talk to savvy IT professionals regularly. The message from both sources is that flexible, scalable server infrastructures can be planned and implemented with a little careful design. But exactly what does that mean?

First and foremost, it's essential to understand that servers are specially constructed computers that differ from ordinary desktop PCs in the following ways:

• Servers are specifically designed to store, manage, send, and process data across a network.

• Server technology makes them more reliable than desktop systems.

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• Server hardware is more powerful than desktop systems, which means they can process data faster and more efficiently. This increase in capability includes a server's processor(s), disk subsystem(s), network interface(s), and more.

• Servers can easily be extended to support data backup and enhanced security.

• Servers are designed to bring horsepower where system demands are highest, reduce data bottlenecks, and allow information to flow quickly and freely.

• Servers are designed to support multiple channels of powerful processing -- which applies to processors, disk and network access, and so forth -- to permit them to add capacity and capability to meet increasing demand. This is called scalability, but might be more precisely described as "server-level scalability" since it occurs within a single server at a time by adding more (or more powerful) devices and components.

Servers are different animals from desktop computers, and use different technologies to provide intense levels of processing and capability for the user communities they serve.

Why and when to think about scalable server infrastructures The possibility of a scalable server infrastructure enters the picture when processing demands grow to the point where multiple servers become necessary. In such circumstances, identifying specialized server roles is your first step in choosing solution components that meet the different processing demands for each role. Even so, you don't want to make technology purchases that won't help your bottom line, improve key business processes, or otherwise improve your organization's situation. There really is no single test you can apply to determine if you need multiple servers, but some general guidelines will help. In general, when you need a computer system that processes, shares, or otherwise manages data, you'll need a server! For example:

• If your organization has more than five staff members, or if it operates various elements of an IT infrastructure itself -- such as a public or private Web services, e-mail services, database services, and the like -- one or more servers will definitely help. Servers not only provide a central location for important files and services -- they can also support shared applications and other common resources you'd like to share.

• If you need to run a company intranet, an ERP (enterprise resource planning) or CRM (customer relationship management) application, or some kind of e-commerce or e-business solution.

• When access to specific services -- such as e-mail, database, Web services like e-business or e-commerce, ERP, CRM, and so forth -- represents a mission-critical objective or when a single server lacks sufficient horsepower to do as many things as your organization needs done.

Meet ABC Corp ABC Corp sells widgets through its Web site, which has several components:

• Web server

• Parts database

• Production tracking system

• E-commerce solution

This setup permits ABC to process and track purchase orders and cash purchases online as the number of customers grows into the hundreds or beyond. In this situation, the kind of server architecture shown in Figure 1 makes sense.

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Figure 1: ABC Corp's role-based server infrastructure.

This architecture segregates servers by role: a Web server, a database server, an e-commerce server, and a departmental server (for intracompany use) all fit together nicely into an integrated whole. As a side benefit, authorized employees can access all servers directly to monitor performance, manage security, generate reports, or use their database engine to manage private databases (such as employee or accounting data) as well as public information.

Augmenting existing servers vs. adding new servers The most important thing you can do to ensure that a server infrastructure meets your company's needs and fits your budget is to devote some time and energy to assessing your needs and planning a comprehensive solution. Until you understand what kinds of servers you need, and how you want to use them, you run the risk of implementing an underpowered solution or of spending more money on hardware and equipment than you really need. Before you launch into planning a server infrastructure, however, you need to understand two ways you can scale such an infrastructure:

• Incremental growth: adding capabilities to servers you already own

• Server multiplication: adding new servers to your current server collection

When it comes to adding capacity or capability to your server collection, the decision to augment an existing server versus the decision to add one or more new servers is a matter of degree, cost and complexity. If your planning and analysis indicate that your processing and other related needs (storage, network bandwidth, and so forth) won't increase by more than 50-60% over current levels, this level of boost is attainable by adding more processors and possibly other components like disk controllers, disk drives, or network interfaces, to an existing server.

But as soon as your needs for processing reach or exceed twice your current levels, you're probably better off duplicating the existing servers that need the boost and doubling up (or as

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many multiples as are necessary) to meet projected peak loads. In this case, you'll also need to make sure you can cluster your servers for the role that needs the processing boost.

Let's call the strategy where you add components to a server incremental growth, and where you add servers server multiplication.

Alternatively, you might decide to use some kind of load-balancing hardware or service to spread processing loads evenly across multiple servers offering the same services. This is particularly feasible for Web services, where such configurations are commonplace, well-understood, and relatively easy to implement. For example, Figure 2 shows what might happen at ABC Corp if customer load picked up to the point where more Web and e-commerce processing were required.

Figure 2: ABC Corp expands its Web and e-commerce servers.

Remember, also, that this kind of architecture is usually only justified when quick response from servers is absolutely necessary, or when large numbers of users (typically, 100 or more) are likely to be active online simultaneously. For smaller active user populations, you may be able to double up on server functionality -- that is, use one server for multiple functions. For example, if ABC Corp only expects 25 simultaneous user sessions, it could double up e-commerce and Web services on a single server, and possibly also double up database and departmental services on another server.

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Once you understand what your options are, you can move on to the sometimes arduous, yet inevitably rewarding planning process.

Plan it Ultimately, assessing needs and determining solutions requires you to answer various important "how much," "what kind," and "how many" questions. Please note further that these questions must be answered for each individual server role you plan to implement. For example, ABC Corp needs to develop separate sets of answers for its Web servers, database servers, e-commerce servers, and departmental servers. Once you have formulated the broad outlines for the kind of solution you want, you can work with a reseller or a consultant. The tools at hp.com will help you convert your broad-stroke picture into more detailed server specifications (more on these topics in the Use It section later in this guide).

To assess your architecture needs, you must evaluate several different aspects of your operation before you can confidently select the right servers to support your solution. In the next section we'll consider your requirements in the following areas:

• The solution itself

• Software

• Data

• Users

• Special requirements

Your solution You may already have some idea about the kind of solution you plan to create. The more details you can supply, the easier it will be for you to choose the right server hardware. For example, if you are planning to build a public Web server, do you plan to include interactive forms, handle database queries when processing user requests, or make use of Web-enabled services for technical or customer support? All these things require additional processing capability and horsepower, and mandate a more powerful server.

On the other hand, if you simply want to post some static documents (brochures, tip sheets, price lists, blank forms for printing, and so forth) for easy Internet access, you'll need far less capability. For each server role you contemplate implementing, you must decide what kinds of capabilities and servers you want the corresponding servers to offer.

Above and beyond deciding how your servers will behave when first deployed, you should also consider what kinds of changes or enhancements you plan to make in the near term. Set your time horizon between a few months and the next year. While you may plan to start small with a modest collection of static documents, if your phase two planning includes more complex capabilities, you should "buy ahead" to support them. Then, you'll be able to implement an online purchase capability, a purchase and shipment tracking facility, or an accounts database for your sales force without having to replace or upgrade your first batch of servers.

Server roles Returning to ABC Corp, let's analyze the various server roles we've identified:

• Web server: must support up to 100 simultaneous users for access to static documents, e-forms for ordering and purchase tracking, and billing and payment information. This represents a light to moderate processing load.

• Database server: must support a comprehensive widgets database with technical specifications, user's manuals, tip sheets, brochures, stock information, and component ordering, tracking, and delivery for manufacturing use. This represents a moderate

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processing load, but involves large amounts of data (which in turn require extra storage and memory).

• E-commerce server: must support up to 100 active users on the system, each with multiple orders open or pending. This represents a moderate processing load, but involves extra security considerations (money is involved) and requires quick response time (extra memory and processing power can help a lot here).

• Departmental server: must support all 50 ABC Corp employees simultaneously, plus as many as 20 contractors or temp workers. The server needs to provide file and print services for all users, and will also act as a domain/directory controller to manage access controls, security settings, and so forth. This represents a moderate processing load.

Services and software If you plan to run a particular set of software packages or network services on a server, such as a Web server or database software, you must assemble all pertinent details about such services or packages before you go server shopping. In the preceding section, we've tried to specify the basic kinds of information you'll have to determine in advance.

Now its time to translate your data on server roles into specific implementations (IIS or Apache for the Web server software, for example, or SQL Server or Oracle for the database package). Most such packages state specific requirements for the kinds of systems they can run on, and will typically mention minimum and recommended processor speeds, RAM size, and hard disk space needs.

When the documentation for such packages or services includes requirements information, you might also consider asking the software vendor for advice on what kind of system to purchase. They want to sell you their software, so they'll be happy to share the benefits of their usually considerable experience in implementing their software on various types of servers. They may also be able to alert you to additional requirements you may have overlooked. Finally, they can usually recommend the kinds of servers that work best when their software is used in standalone mode (that is, when a server is dedicated only to running their software, as is normally the case when building scalable server infrastructures), or when their software is run in combination with other packages or services. Best of all, such advise is normally free, so you're wise to use it to your advantage.

Data handling and storage needs How much data you must currently accommodate, and how that data grows over the useful life of your server infrastructure, will determine how much storage space you'll need. Sometimes, a bit of inspired guessing is required to quantify how much space you need right now, and how much more you'll need in the future. However, examining your past history can help you approximate your storage requirements going forward.

For example, if a server role calls for you to provide storage for lots of product documentation, help files, and technical data, you can add the amount of space these things require and divide that number by how many months it took to create that collection. This calculation produces an approximate value for monthly storage growth. You can then use this number to calculate how much additional storage you'll need over a 24- to 36-month period (a typical planning horizon for servers, which seldom last more than three years nowadays).

For more complex solutions like a database-driven Web site, or other data-driven services or applications, talk to your programmers or consultants to figure out how much data the system is likely to generate over a 24- to 36-month period. Don't forget to include the space requirements for operating systems, applications, and other files as well when considering drive space requirements. It's also healthy to leave some empty space on drives to help facilitate disk defragmenting and compression, so it's wise to plan for 130-140% of your project amounts to leave some room for the data to "breathe," as it were, and avoid overloads. Here again, you can also work with resellers or sales associates to help you pull all these numbers together.

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Because you're planning an infrastructure, there's another level of analysis you might choose to perform -- one based on storage requirements for multiple servers by role or by network. By aggregating storage needs for multiple server roles, you may discover economies of scale by implementing a special storage-area network (SAN) or network-attached storage (NAS). Because both of these implementations permit you to centralize and manage storage for multiple servers in a single location, they can simplify your individual server designs and let you consolidate your storage space for truly large volumes of data. SAN or NAS essentially depend on using additional special-purpose storage handling servers in tandem with your other role-based servers, so it's safe to think of this as just an additional extension of your existing scalable server infrastructure!

Users and performance For each server role, you need to have a reasonable estimate for the number of users who'll be interacting with the server at any given moment (hint: plan around time of peak demand for best results) and how well the server needs to support those users. Both of these factors have an impact on server horsepower requirements, which in turn affect the type and number of processors chosen, and the amount of RAM installed. Systems with under 25-30 simultaneous users have only modest horsepower requirements, those between 30 and 100 have moderate or intermediate requirements, and those with 100 or more have increasingly significant requirements as numbers go up. When even the most powerful single server can't do the job, clustering or load balancing (server multiplication strategies) provide the pathway to graceful further scaling.

As we've indicated, you must set values for typical and peak user loads -- the number of simultaneous, active users -- for each individual server role you specify. Here again, it's important to think not only of current loads, but to factor in growth requirements. Think about how many users you need to support in six months, a year, or two years from now. Make sure your server is ready to support an increasing number of users over time.

Special requirements Depending on a server's role -- and the number of simultaneous users or the levels of response time or service it must support -- special considerations sometimes come into play when designing server infrastructures. The easiest example to present is one where a large number of simultaneous users -- let's say 250 to 300 -- must be supported for a combination database/Web infrastructure on the Internet.

In such circumstances, large amounts of network bandwidth may be required (45 Mbps or higher) as well as sophisticated load-balancing hardware (such as a Cisco 7500 or 9000 class router with load-balancing software and "IP fronting" capability that lets it transparently map a single public IP address to any number of servers providing the same kinds of services and functions). When such special requirements occur, it's even more important to bring in qualified, experienced professional help to help you plan out your solutions. Here, too, you'll find that vendors who offer such solutions are quite willing to help with planning and specification -- not only because such solutions are usually fairly expensive, but also because they often require special expertise that only vendors and high-end resellers will typically possess.

Locating qualified help Depending on the complexity of the server roles you implement, you may have to evaluate these different requirements yourself, or the IT professionals who help build your solution may do it for you. If you assemble such a solution yourself, assess your needs as completely as possible, but also be sure to solicit feedback from a reseller, consultant, or some other expert to review your work.

Such experts need not construct the whole solution for you to give you the benefit of their expertise -- for example, you might decide to use such help only in selecting specific server models, picking the number of processors to install, and making a go/no-go decision on implementing a SAN or NAS. But don't overlook the benefit that spending a few hundred dollars

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up front on expert advice can deliver. It could save you many thousands of dollars in uninformed or ill-advised server and hardware selections.

Do it The following success stories describe two real-world scenarios to illustrate how different organizations might evaluate their particular solution needs and find the right servers to create an appropriate, scalable server infrastructure.

ABC Corp: Web, database, and e-commerce servers with a departmental server on the side Our earlier example laid out the bare essentials of the ABC Corp requirements. Let's investigate further. ABC's business is handled in part by an internal sales force for big distributors and customers, and in part by a group of outside manufacturer's reps who sell to smaller distributors and assembly shops that use ABC's widgets. Whether they're internal salespeople or manufacturer's reps, such people want to be able to check available stock, place orders, and track orders, delivers, billing, and payments for their customers. Individual customers can also place and track orders online, obtain pricing information, and interact with ABC's technical support staff on engineering and implementation issues.

Server roles include the following additional information:

• Web server: in keeping with ABC's adoption of Windows 2000 and Back Office components, the Web server in use will be IIS 6.0. This imposes minimum processor requirements of at least 133 MHz, 128 MB RAM, and 1.0 GB disk space; recommended specifications are at least 1 GHz, 256 MB RAM, and 2.0 GB disk space. The Web server documents and files require an additional 5 GB of disk space. Practical specs based on available technology easily and affordably beat all stated requirements, and should include at least 1 GHz processor (2 GHz or better, 2 or more processors recommended), 1 GM RAM, and 100 GB disk space.

• Database server: SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition is mandated by company policy, with the same minimum and recommended requirements stated for IIS in the preceding item. Additional disk space requirements exist here, with more intense processing requirements, indicating that 2 or more processors are recommended, plus 2 GB of RAM, with at least 200 GB of disk space, preferably in a high-speed RAID configuration for best disk access and performance.

• E-commerce server: The manufacturer's recommendations include 1 GHz processor or better (2 or more processors recommended), 1 GB RAM or better, and 20 GB of disk space. Here again, practical considerations make such value easy to meet or exceed.

• Departmental server: This server must support all 50 ABC Corp employees simultaneously, plus as many as 20 contractors or temp workers. Basic Windows 2000 Server requirements apply directly here; a single 1 GHz processor or better will do, with 512 MB RAM or better and 150 GB or more disk space.

Employees also want to share two printers, a high-density color proof printer for brochures and four-color printed materials, and a 40-page-per-minute high-volume laser printer for normal black-and-white printing. Security considerations include a need to manage access to widget information on a per-project basis, as well as FTP services to transfer files between the departmental and the Web server as needed. Employee disk space requirements currently hover around 50 GB, with 48 GB generated in the past year, or an average of 4 GB per month. Planning 24 months into the future, ABC decides to provide 150 GB (rounded up from the actual total of 144 GB).

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ABC puts all this information together and consults with a local reseller to choose the right servers. Working with a reseller representative, ABC uses the HP ActiveAnswer ProLiant Sizer for Ecommerce Solutions, the ProLiant Sizer for Citrix MetaFrame XP and Microsoft Windows 2000 Terminal Services to input system requirements and determine a ProLiant server recommendation. E-commerce and database applications require more processing power, which is why the results specify two high-end processors, disk space requirements are more or less pro forma based on the preceding inventory and analysis.

In fact, requirements for the Web, database, and e-commerce servers are all similar enough that ABC decides to standardize on a single server model: the HP ProLiant DL560, which are rack mounted systems designed for a server multiplication strategy. Each DL560 can handle up to 4 Xeon 2.0 GHz processors, up to 12 GB RAM, and up to 287 GB of storage.

As ordered, these machines will include 2 processors, 2 GB RAM, and 200 GB of disk storage, which meets or exceeds specified server maximums for all three roles. The departmental server will be a ProLiant ML310, in a tower configuration designed for incremental growth through internal expansion. with a single 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 processor, 1 GB of RAM, and 200 GB of disk storage. Both types of systems offer ample room for growth: 2 more processors, 10 GB RAM, and an additional 87 GB of disk storage on the DL560s, and 3 GB RAM, and 200-plus GB of disk storage on the ML310.

ABC chose the DL560s because of their compact form factor and easy expansion, since the company's growth strategy is likely to involve buying and adding more servers if they meet high-end growth targets. They chose the ML310 because it meets current in-house processing and projected growth needs without overbuying that platform. Because both servers come with Windows 2000 Server pre-installed, setup and installation proceeds much more quickly than from-scratch installations permit. The departmental server is up and running the day it arrives; other servers are up and running within three days (thanks to help from ABC's cadre of competent consultants, who pitched in and helped out).

Another success story: HealthCom's medical records system Although HealthCom has only 22 employees, it has unbelievably large amounts of data to manage. The company handles MRIs, CAT, and PET scans for 4 large hospitals in its metropolitan area and provides medical records storage, management, retrieval and delivery for the same four large hospitals, as well as for half a dozen additional smaller hospitals and professional medical practices.

HealthCom uses an impressive laundry list of applications and services, but wants to make records and images available to authorized physicians and medical personnel on the Web as well. The cornerstone of the implementation is a medical records database, which manages a staggering 420 GB of data. About half of this data consists of high-density scanned images, and the other half represents medical records. The image database is growing at 6 GB per month, and medical records at about 2 GB per month.

HealthCom wants to plan only 24 months ahead, so it projects storage requirements at 800 GB at that time: 380 for current holdings, 192 GB for growth, and 200 GB for software, employee use, and other data collections it uses. HealthCom has retained a special medical systems consultant to help it design its next generation of systems. 562 GB or more is needed for databases, 100 GB for the departmental server, and 100 GB for the Web server.

HealthCom expects it will need to support up to 200 simultaneous Web users, who will also access the database system. In-house needs are relatively modest: planning for 10% growth over the next two years, and access for up to 6 each consultants and temporary workers, the internal (departmental) server needs to handle only 40 users (38.62 rounded up). Because in-house users can also access the database server, other internal requirements include only file and print sharing, access controls, and access to several minor shared applications for time tracking and account management.

The server role analysis for HealthCom leads to the following roles:

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• Web server: In keeping with HealthCom's adoption of NetWare, basic NetWare 6.0 Server requirements also cover this platform's Web server needs.

• Database server: Oracle Server 8 has been chosen for backward compatibility with the HealthCom's Oracle database. Stated requirements at the level of processing required indicates that 2 or more highly powerful processors are required, along with 2.0 GB of RAM or better. Disk space requirements mandate 562 GB of storage or better.

• Departmental server: This server must support a total of 40 simultaneous users. Basic NetWare 6.0 Server requirements apply directly here; a single 1 GHz processor or better will do, with 512 MB RAM or better and 100 GB of disk space.

Employees also want to share three printers, a single high-density color proof printer for brochures and four-color printed materials, and two 20-page-per-minute high-volume laser printers for normal black-and-white printing. Security considerations include a need to manage access to widget information on a per-project basis, and FTP services to transfer files between the departmental and the Web server as needed. Employee disk space requirements currently hover around 40 GB, with 24 GB generated in the past year, or an average of 2 GB per month. Planning 24 months into the future, HealthCom decides to provide 100 GB (rounded up from the actual total of 88 GB).

The key to this exercise, given HealthCom's use of NetWare 6.0, is the ProLiant Sizer for Novell iFolder, designed to accommodate heavy database, transaction processing, as well as Web and departmental server use. Configuring the tool for the various server roles

• Web server: ProLiant ML330 with a single 933 MHz Pentium 3 processor, 512 MB RAM (quadruple the sizing tool's recommendation), two smart arrays: one for the system drive (36 GB), and one for the data drives (150 GB).

• Database server: ProLiant ML350, with 2 866 MHz Xeon processors with 256 KB cache, 1 GB RAM (as per Oracle recommendations; sizer indicates only 256 MB required), a smart array with two 36 GB drives, and an MA6000 external storage array with 16 36 GB drives (total storage 648 MB, 72 GB for the system, 576 for databases).

• Departmental server: Requirements here are virtually identical to the Web server, so the sizing tool makes the same recommendation: ProLiant ML330 with a single 933 MHz Pentium 3 processor, 512 MB RAM (quadruple the sizing tool's recommendation), two smart arrays: one for the system drive (36 GB), and 5 for the data drives (150 GB).

Working with the sizing tool requires some knowledge of server components and capabilities, including choices for network interface cards, disk arrays, number of memory slots to occupy, and so forth. For those in doubt about such choices, we urge you to consult user's guide included with the tool. If you don't have access to a qualified reseller or consultant, this will help you work your way through the various choices you'll encounter.

The ProLiant ML330 is a good choice for the Web and departmental servers, since it can be expanded as follows:

• Up to two 1.4 GHz Intel Pentium III processors (one additional, both faster than the starting point)

• Up to a total of 4 GB RAM (3.5 GB more than the starting point)

• Up to 400 GB storage (300 GB more than the starting point)

This leaves plenty of room for growth in processing power for both Web and departmental needs. The ProLiant ML350 is a far more capable platform in all dimensions, with the following expansion capabilities:

• Up to two 2.4 GHz Intel Xeon processors (one additional, both faster than the starting point)

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• Up to 12 GB RAM (11 GB more than the starting point)

• Up to 1174 GB storage (526 additional GB, nearly double the starting point)

Clearly, the ProLiant ML350 still leaves lots of room for further growth, even for a demanding application.

Use it As you've discovered in other sections of this guide, creating a viable server infrastructure takes some effort in terms of analysis, planning, and design. But it's not an impossible task by any means, nor do you need a big professional IT staff to make it work. HP offers the tools and resources you need to match your requirements to the right collection of servers, even if you don't know the difference between SCSI and IDE, or between an internal and an external drive array. If you can define your needs in terms of features, software, data, users, and special requirements, we can do the rest.

ActiveAnswers ActiveAnswers is a complete tool set that you can use to turn your basic solution requirements into server specifics for each role in your server infrastructure. You'll find various tools called "sizers" and "configurators" to help you customize servers for specific kinds of roles and solutions. The tools you will find include the following:

• Solution Sizers help you determine the solution that best fits your needs or roles. You will find sizers for e-commerce solutions, SQL server and Oracle database solutions, Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino solutions, and more.

• System Configurator helps you weigh your available options for a particular server, adding and removing components to see how they affect prices and capabilities. If you want a good estimate for how much a particular server will cost, look to the configurator.

• Mobile Solutions Wizard helps you identify the components you need to implement a complete wireless solution. This wizard takes you beyond servers to access points and other tools you need to establish and secure a robust wireless network.

Some of these tools require a bit of IT knowledge to use effectively, but that doesn't mean they aren't useful for non-IT business professionals. If nothing else, the questions that the sizers and configurators ask you will help you get a good idea of what issues you'll need to resolve with an IT professional, consultant, or reseller associate. These questions can be as educational as they are useful, and provide insight into the different criteria that drive server choices and configurations.

Before you begin to work with any of the tools, take a few moments to answer this list of questions about your solution. All of the work you did in the planning phase can be boiled down to this laundry list of requirements:

• How fast does the server need to process data? This helps determine processor speeds.

• How many processors does a server's role mandate? Computer-intensive roles like databases or ERP benefit from two or more processors; likewise, minor performance boosts may be realized when adding processors to an existing server.

• How much memory (RAM) does the server's role require? A good rule of thumb is to double vendor -recommended minimums, or to meet or exceed "typical" values.

• How much hard disk space does data require, now and in the future? Always buy at least twice as much space as current needs dictate to leave room for growth.

• Do you want rack mount servers (which take up less floor space) or towers (which offer more room for expansion)? An incremental growth strategy virtually dictates buying

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towers; a server multiplication strategy works equally well with rack mount or tower servers.

• How many network interface cards will you need for the server? A need for multiple network interfaces can also sometimes dictate towers rather than rack mount servers.

• How many users must be able to access a set of role-based servers simultaneously? The higher the number, the more powerful a server must be, or the more servers you must have to equalize the resulting processing load.

• Do you plan to attach additional backup and storage drives -- for example, tape or optical drives -- to your system?

• What type of RAID (redundant array of inexpensive disks) does your server role mandate?

• What kind of server management tools do you need? What kinds of accessibility and performance monitoring tools do your server roles require? Server management tools help keep your servers properly configured and up and running. Accessibility and performance monitoring tools help you make sure your services are available to your customers and users, and measure how well they're working.

• Will you need help in getting your servers set up?

• What kinds of maintenance and support will your servers require?

With the answers to these questions in hand, you can move quickly and smoothly with the tools, instead of stopping every few minutes to do a new bit of research.

Resellers and sales associates If you aren't comfortable sizing your own server, or you would feel more comfortable working with an experienced professional, certified HP resellers and sales associates are available to help you make choices that meet your needs and won't break your budget. To get in touch with either a reseller or the HP sales associated in your area, call 1-800-282-6672, or visit one of HP's online reseller partners or your local reseller. Follow the links to the right for quick access to both.

Buy it ProLiant ML330 For growing businesses running sophisticated small applications and branch offices of larger organizations that need a platform for single-function solutions, the ProLiant ML330 G3 is a 2P Xeon-based ProLiant that delivers ProLiant reliability together with best-in-class data protection and management to simplify ownership.

ProLiant ML350 Engineered for maximum reliability, the ProLiant ML350 G3 delivers essential availability features, including 6 hot-plug drive bays and an optional hot-plug redundant power supply that minimizes expensive downtime for increased peace of mind. The ProLiant ML350's simple-to-service, 5U form factor is highly expandable: 6 hot-plug drive bays, five expansion slots, and up to 8GB of memory allow for flexible configurations and headroom for the future.

ProLiant DL560 The new ProLiant DL560 is a groundbreaking, ultra-dense 4-way server designed for environments that require high levels of computing power while maintaining maximum cooling and power efficiency. The DL560 delivers enterprise-class performance based upon award-winning ProLiant engineering and industry standard technology, and its compact 2U form factor means the server uses at least 50% less rack space than most enterprise servers on the market.

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