Server Systems

Server SOFTWARE

The first thing to understand is a server is a running instance of an application (software) capable of accepting requests from the client and giving responses accordingly. Servers can run on any computer including dedicated computers, which individually are also often referred to as "the server". In many cases, a computer can provide several services and have several servers running. The advantage of running servers on a dedicated computer is security. It is now commonly understood in the world of computing that a "server" is the hardware that runs services. These services are incorporated within an operating system (OS). There are a variety of Server OS's available capable of wide range or specific tasks. Net-Gen currently specialise in 2 primary OS Families :Microsoft and Linux (Unix)

Microsoft Windows Server (2008R2, 2012, 2012R2, Hyper V Core)
Linux (Ubuntu 14 LTS / Deban Wheezy)

These primary families have many off-shoots and dependencies that may run as services below them. How they are configured depends on what you want and need from your IT system, At Net-Gen we have the expertise to guide you , install, configure and maintain, not just the primary server OS , but the underlying services your company needs to support a successful IT Infrastructure.

Server HARDWARE

At its most simple the server is just another computer. In reality a modern server is a dedicated piece of hardware that is designed for 24/7 use. It had higher levels of redundancy and resilliance and should be more fault tolerant than its desktop equivalent. Conventionally server computers have higher specification components than desktop PC's, typically larger hard drives, Error checking and correcting memory (ECC), redundant power supplies,, better cooling etc.

At Net-Gen we have vast and comprehensive experience of Server Hardware. Specialising in x86 platform we have over 30 years of experience of server builds, setup and fault finding.

With the advances in computer power we are turning to smaller Servers. Some of the first servers Net-Gen Installed were delivered on Pallets. Today the servers we run (and prefer) are Micro servers. Although using less space and consuming much less energy, they are more than meet the requirements of most SME's. Indeed Net-Gen's own internal infrastructure is based on three HP N54L Microservers.

Servers and VIRTULISATION

In computing, Virtulisation refers to the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, including but not limited to a virtual computer hardware platform, operating system (OS), storage device, or computer network resources.

The current commonest use of this technology is to have a single hardware platform (a server) running an OS that provides a Virtulisation platform. On this platform runs one or more separately configured "Virtual machines" (Clients) These Virtual machine exits as a single transportable computer file that can be run on other servers running an identical Hosting OS

At Net-gen we have experience in deploying, running and maintaining Virtulisation Hosts and clients. Our preferred Hosting platform is Microsoft Hyper V 2012R2 but we are well versed in Virtulisation using older Microsoft Platforms and Oracle (Sun) Virtulisation products. Three of our primary servers are run on 2 virtualised hosts (Hyper V 2012R2) and we also run an off-site Virtulisation platform (also Hyper V 2012R2)to act as a replication/backup/resilliance measure, connected to our main network through a secure VPN.

 

With the advent and emergence of cloud computing many companies are looking at taking their Server services and data stores off-site. Net-Gen have take companies through this process, some with great sucess and some not so great. There is a balance to be found and it is based on many complex and interrelated factors. We have learnt to carry out in depth systems and needs analysis before any proposed migration so that the 'pros and cons' are well understood by any client, so that they may make a fully informed decision.