SSD on a Small Business Server. Good idea or bad?


Recommended Posts

The SSD MTBF way surprasses the technological life of the device to be concerned with beating it up. They're just more expensive than needed so i would always recommend large drives for bulk storage.

Are you running SQL server on SBS? if so, it will love SSDs.. otherwise its just a cost measure.

The SSD MTBF way surprasses the technological life of the device to be concerned with beating it up. They're just more expensive than needed so i would always recommend large drives for bulk storage.

Are you running SQL server on SBS? if so, it will love SSDs.. otherwise its just a cost measure.

Yes there will be SQL Server to run my custom software and their Accounting DB.

Why would you need to do this? There is no need for the SSD on a SBS IMHO. Anything that is pushing that level of traffic should be broken out to specialized servers and optimized correctly there before you add SSDs for no reason.

Samsung 830 series has good options for overprovisioning despite being a desktop classed device. I've ran Server 2012 on mine for a week and performance for RDS/published apps was fantastic.

Yep, on my home server running Windows Server 2012, I have 2x Kingston V+200 120GB SSDs running in RAID 1. 1GB/s FTW!

How do you figure? That drive's spec is (read) 300/MBs so a RAID1 best case would give you 600MBs, if your interface and controller aren't the bottleneck which I'll wager they are.

I would go at least RAID10 if its production, I really question if RAID1 write performance will meet the IOPs needed by the SBS databases (unless you followed recommendations and moved SQL to a separate box).

120GB really isn't enough for a living SBS install either.

How do you figure? That drive's spec is (read) 300/MBs so a RAID1 best case would give you 600MBs, if your interface and controller aren't the bottleneck which I'll wager they are.

I would go at least RAID10 if its production, I really question if RAID1 write performance will meet the IOPs needed by the SBS databases (unless you followed recommendations and moved SQL to a separate box).

120GB really isn't enough for a living SBS install either.

The drive spec is over 500MB/s. It's SF-2281. RAID 1 is over 2 ports.

us4HJ.png

My $0.02.

How 'small' is small? Generally most work that a server will do isnt thrashing the HDD - a few file transfers, or a couple of database queries...nothing that you'll really notice scorching improvements from. If you're running some 10gigabit ethernet into your sever, and its serving 100 people...then yeah, fast storage is seriously great. (we have 10GbE at work, but the server is seriously slow so requests struggle/time out often)

The reason i very much DONT suggest SSDs for business is because they brick. If i WAS going to use them for business, I would RAID-1 them so when 1 bricks, there isn't any interruption to the server - swap it out and rebuild. Don't say it wont brick...it MIGHT not...but it can, and its not nice to have a business server come down in burning flames. No matter how you look at it, disaster prevention is infinitely better than disaster recovery. Ive reimaged an SBS server before...its slow and painful, and you do lose (a bit) of data between backups.

TLDR: If you MUST use an SSD - Set up disaster mitigation (RAID-1/10/5/6) as well as disaster recovery(image/backup) - one day you'll need it.

Hope it helps =)

Edit: Thanks mindovermaster...yes, i meant RAID-1. Stay away from RAID-0 like it's the proverbial plague =P

whys that?

Too many reads/writes on the drive could stress it and some drives don't use trim properly when they are in RAID 0. There are some companies like Intel that support it but it requires a series 7 mobo. See here: http://www.techspot.com/news/49811-intel-adds-trim-support-for-ssds-in-raid-0-7-series-motherboard-required.html

I have thought about doing this aswell for some client servers, 2xSSD's in RAID1 for the OS with 2x1TB Drives in RAID1 for the data.

I would be interested if anyone else has done this?

The only thing thats stopping me is when an SSD fails... its gone. But if a hard drive fails, it could be recoverable. Saying that though if you have regular backups this shouldnt be a problem! Just inconvenient.

I've been running two 64GB SSD's in RAID0 for about a year and a half, never had any issues and no performance degradation. I did synthetic and real-world benchmarks on the seperate drives and it's just way faster in RAID0. Nothing wrong with it (aside the fact that you seriously increase your failure rate, but that's not a problem for my personal laptop).

The fact that TRIM doesn't work isn't that big a deal at all. As long as your drive has decent garbage collection the advantages of TRIM aren't that high - not even remotely close to the performance gain from RAID0.

(Why did I start running in RAID0? It's the default config of my laptop. The Sony Vaio Z series always has either a 2x64GB, a 2x128GB, 4x64GB or 4x128GB RAID0 setup. Those 4x-RAID0's are blazing fast!)

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • AI is the beginning, wait until real robots replace more jobs, specifically jobs that require physical work.
    • AI is indeed eliminating jobs, and Oracle just proved it by Hamid Ganji There’s no question that AI has become the hottest trend in workplaces, and every company is trying to adopt AI-driven solutions across its operations. While some industry leaders repeatedly say AI won’t lead to massive layoffs, recent data suggest that AI is actually one of the main reasons some companies are reducing their workforce. According to Oracle’s annual regulatory filing, the company has laid off about 21,000 employees, or 13% of its workforce, amid increasing AI adoption. “The adoption and deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce,” Oracle said in the filing. The software giant now has approximately 141,000 full-time employees, a notable decrease from 162,000 during the same period last year. Restructuring expenses, including severance payments, cost Oracle $1.84 billion in fiscal 2026. Additionally, around 49,000 Oracle employees were based in the U.S., while approximately 92,000 were employed internationally. Like many other companies, Oracle has fully embraced AI and concentrated much of its efforts on the technology. The company is also a key participant in the United States’ $500 billion Stargate Project, which aims to build multiple AI data centers across the country. When it comes to AI adoption and its impact on the workforce, opinions remain divided. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, whose company has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom, recently said in an interview that attributing job cuts to AI is a “lazy” narrative. “The narrative that connects AI to job loss, for many of the CEOs that are doing it – it is just too lazy. AI has just arrived, how is it possible they're already losing jobs?” Huang said. However, statistics and recent reports tell a different story. According to Layoffs.fyi, 196 tech companies have laid off about 119,800 employees so far this year. Reducing staff and replacing roles with AI agents could become one of the most significant trends in the job market in the years ahead.
    • Zoom Workplace 7.1.0.41345 by Razvan Serea Zoom Workplace for Windows is a reliable video conferencing tool that makes it easy to connect and collaborate. With features like messaging, file sharing, and app integrations, it’s designed to streamline teamwork. You’ll get high-quality audio and video, strong security with end-to-end encryption, and an intuitive interface—all of which help remote teams and businesses stay productive and connected. Zoom Workplace key features: High-Definition Video & Audio: Provides clear, reliable communication for virtual meetings. End-to-End Encryption: Ensures secure communication with strong data protection. Multi-Factor Authentication: Adds an extra layer of security for user accounts. Integration with Productivity Apps: Supports seamless integration with Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, and more. File Sharing: Easily share files during meetings for efficient collaboration. Real-Time Messaging: Enables team chat for ongoing communication. Collaborative Whiteboarding: Allows teams to brainstorm and collaborate visually. Webinar Support: Host large webinars with interactive features. Administrative Controls: Manage user permissions, meeting settings, and security features. Cloud Storage: Automatically stores meetings and files in the cloud for easy access. Cross-Platform Support: Available on Windows, macOS, and mobile devices. Meeting features: Virtual Backgrounds: Customize your background for meetings to maintain privacy or enhance professionalism. Touch Up My Appearance: Automatically smoothens skin tone for a more polished video appearance. Breakout Rooms: Divide meetings into smaller sessions for group discussions or workshops. Live Transcription: Automatically generate real-time captions during meetings for accessibility. Zoom Apps: Integrate third-party applications directly into Zoom for enhanced functionality. Meeting Reactions: Participants can use emojis for quick, non-verbal feedback during meetings. Polling: Conduct live polls during meetings to gather instant feedback from participants. Attention Tracking: Monitors participant attention during meetings to ensure engagement. Closed Captioning: Enable manual or automatic captions for a more inclusive experience. Webinar Replay: Record and share webinars with analytics for audience engagement. Download: Zoom 64-bit | 145.0 MB (Free, paid upgrade available) Links: Zoom Website | Zoom ARM64 | Zoom Installers | Release Notes Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • UK funds £60M AI labs to challenge US tech dominance with open-source models by Paul Hill The UK government has awarded £60 million to Oxford University and University College London to help keep the country in the AI race by focusing on open-source, low-hardware alternatives. This is in stark contrast to the expensive, closed-source, and high-hardware-requirement models being created in the United States and elsewhere. The money will be shared among two new academic research labs over six years to help them redesign the fundamental mathematics and architectures of AI to help the UK reduce its reliance on a handful of US tech firms. Commenting on the development, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said: Initially, the government planned to fund just one lab with a £40 million investment, but with this update, two labs will now get access to a larger pool of funds. The labs are expected to invest in the top AI researchers at every career stage, with £2 million per lab being set aside for hiring at least ten doctoral students. The government hopes that this will grow the UK’s talent in the field of AI. The labs are also expected to work closely with the leaders in British AI research, such as the Alan Turing Institute and UKRI’s AI research hubs. This will allow the various teams to collaborate and create new solutions faster than they could alone. This development is pretty interesting for a number of reasons, chiefly that it could create a long-term challenge for US tech firms if these labs successfully scale these open-source architectures that bypass the proprietary ecosystems. It could also give British businesses and public sector organizations access to AI features without paying high licensing fees to foreign providers or needing to invest in specialized server infrastructure.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      nates earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      dorf went up a rank
      Rookie
    • First Post
      mike_rumble earned a badge
      First Post
    • Dedicated
      tuben earned a badge
      Dedicated
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      464
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      182
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      97
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      89
    5. 5
      neufuse
      70
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!