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The difference between using a real dedicated server and a regular workstation as server

Posted by François Blouin, Centre d’ordinateurs S.T.O. 01-04-2020 02:48 PM

The quality of a server’s components is far superior to that of a workstation, the server is designed to run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for several years. A workstation, on the other hand, is designed to run an average of 8 hours a day.

Servers can be outfitted with various redundancy mechanisms such as a double power supply, or different RAID solutions for the hard drive, ensuring the server will still function in the event of a partial failure, allowing for users to continue working as they would otherwise.

Data protection is one of the most important aspects for your organization. By centralizing all your documents on a server, backed by disk redundancy (RAID):

  • You facilitate backups
  • It becomes easier to manage user access to data (restricting access to a few folders or to all of them)

When several users access the same file on a workstation (shared on a network), they read the file on a single drive designed for personal use, so access speed to files is much lower and risk of disk failure much higher.

Several commercial hard drives in a RAID set up will guarantee redundancy, reliability, and speed of access to your files.

Installing Windows Server on a workstation is not ideal. A server with Windows Server will give you better security when it comes to data access, and added protection against viruses.

Intel Xeon processors used in servers are specifically designed for heavy and demanding use from an IT network. Depending on your network needs, you can have a server with multiple processing units allowing you to run specialized applications, to host virtual servers, and to have a greater number of users.

If your business growth is important to you, the choice is simple: a server will help you achieve your growth and security goals. Do not hesitate to ask a Millenium Micro affiliate for more information.

François Blouin, Centre d’ordinateurs S.T.O..