For the example here, CRN Test Center engineers selected the following pseudo business model: a small local government code enforcement and constable's office running a customized parking violations database. The organization's parking violations database runs on Windows NT4 with Oracle as the database engine. The company that created the application no longer exists, and replacement packages run tens of thousands of dollars. The parking violations database is the organization's core application. The organization wants to add group scheduling and remote access, and would like to see an overall increase in speed.
With those needs in mind, Test Center engineers selected Microsoft's Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003.
While SBS 2003 met the organization's new requirements, the issues surrounding the legacy database had to be addressed. To bring compatibility to the legacy application, the engineers chose Microsoft Virtual Server 2005.
Microsoft's primary competitor in the virtual server arena is VMware, with its GSX Server product. While VMware's products offer excellent support across many platforms, Microsoft's Virtual Server 2005 appears better suited for running Microsoft-only solutions, such as Windows Server 2003 hosting Windows NT4 or Windows 2000. That's in part due to the tight integration with the host operating system and in part due to the extended support of Microsoft-based products. GSX Server offers excellent support for foreign operating systems, such as Linux or Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD).
The proposed server solution consisted of a Hewlett-Packard ProLiant ML110 server configured with a 2.8EGHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 256 Mbytes of RAM, and SBS 2003 (five-user) preinstalled. To improve the performance of both SBS 2003 and Virtual Server 2005, the ML110 was upgraded to 4 Gbytes of RAM using PC3200 Simm modules from Kingston Technology.
Discover the benefits of scalable backbone and network services for application and cloud providers.
Network automation is gaining momentum. Here's how you can drive this powerful technology to its full potential.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
