When planning for Small Business Server installation, you need to take into account whether your current hardware will support Small Business Server 2000. To begin, you should check that all your hardware is on the Microsoft Windows 2000 Compatibility List.
Then you should verify that your server computer meets these minimum hardware requirements. Also, to offer the best possible performance, consider the hardware recommendations and best practices.
Minimum Hardware Requirements
- Pentium II 300-MHz processor or compatible processor
- 128 MB RAM
- 4 GB available hard disk space
- CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
- 1 network adapter card
- Video graphics adapter capable of 256 colours and 800 X 600 pixels
Recommended Hardware
- Pentium III 500-MHz or compatible processor
- 512 MB RAM
- 2 mirrored 4 GB (or larger) hard disks
- 2 modems: one for Shared Fax Service, and one for remote access, Shared Modem Service, and ISA dial-up
Hardware Best Practices
Hardware is the most common cause of performance problems in a Small Business Server network. You can optimise the performance of Small Business Server components-especially Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server and Microsoft SQL Server 2000-by considering the following:
- RAM-Additional physical memory is often the key to improved performance, especially for Exchange 2000 Server. To maximise server performance, be sure to increase system RAM.
- RAID Hardware-Using multiple fast SCSI drives (7200 RPM or faster) and individual SCSI disk controllers can improve I/O processing as well as read/write times. If you are running SQL Server 2000 and/or have heavy file sharing and printing on your Small Business Server network, consider using RAID hardware.
- Paging File-Spread your paging file across multiple disks improves virtual memory access.
Considering Your Current Environment
