upgrading server

[aj_anil]

Hi,
i want to upgrade my old server. I have bought a new workstation dell one with Xp. Can i know what all cards are needed to make it a server. I have old server and want to replace it so i also want to back up the data. So plz let me know asap how can i do it?

[jbennet]

a server is just a really reliablepc with a big disk, lots of ram, usually many cpus, a fast network card, and a server OS like windows 2003

Dont use XP as a proper server.

[cfry]

Hi Aj_anil,

Are you saying you need to put the data from your old server onto your new one and you want to know how?

The easiest ways to transfer lots of data are:
1. An external storage device (e.g. USB hard drive)
2. Over the network

It does depend on what data you have to transfer a bit.

What services will your server need to provide (e.g. file sharing, printer sharing, internet sharing, internet filtering etc.)?

As Jbennet mentioned XP isn't a proper server solution (in fact, I'm pretty sure the license actually restricts you to 5 computers or so if you use it like that). If it's a very small network however, it may do the trick.

You might want to consider a second hard drive, which you could use as a mirror of the first (this is called RAID 1). That way, if your hard drive dies, you have an up to date backup.

Post again if you have any questions.

Chris Fry
Canberra, Australia

[jbennet]

yeah xp will do for file/print sharing to simple 5 machines but it is useless as a domain controller etc...

xp home is toally crap as a file server, it has no domain support and no user/password support and no IIS.

Widnows server 2003 is $500-$4000 depending on versions/licences