Upgrading my crummy server. I got $3k. What should I get?

Ignition
#1

Upgrading from an:
i3-4130 @ 3.4GHz running windows server 2008 R2
2tb HDD
64 GB ram

only runs

Ignition 8.06 – Will be updated to 8.1
~ 20 - 60% CPU
8gb ram committed
Perspective only clients. 20-50 active sessions.
75 OPC devices.
My biggest problem is the page load time for screens with lots of embedded views. I hope 8.1 solves a lot of this.

MySQL 8.0.17
5% CPU
8gb ram committed
120 Selects a sec
25 DB writes a sec

KepWare GE Suite <0.2% CPU

IIS

Print Server with 6 different printers

I am considering the new machine running Linux. I am nervous as I have never used Linux outside of raspbian. It will only run Ignition and the DB will stay on this old computer and Kep. A lot of people around here suggest running the DB on a different machine. Which I’ve never understood. lol

Idk if I can get Linux to work with my printers. That is something I’ve certainly never done before.

#2

Your biggest problem, IMO, is the 2-core processor. Well, and Widnows, of course. :wink:

Here’s my recommendation. You may need a pound or two of salt to go along with it.
Buy a used server. I’m seeing Dell PowerEdge R720 boxes in the $400 - $800 range. Load it up with drives, and put VMware ESXi on it. Going virtual was one of my better decisions.

For your old one, I’d see if the BIOS can support (or be updated to support) an i5-4460 or i7-4790T. Same socket, twice the cores. They’re discontinued, but you can still find them for $200-ish. Do the same ESXi treatment to it.

Again, this is only my opinion, which, when added to two dollars, can get you a coffee.

Here’s a summary of my system.

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image989×698 51.4 KB

#3

Your load isn’t heavy enough to necessitate this. It can make a big difference if your application is DB heavy. Best case is a separate non-virtualized machine.