Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!


Wich Windows should i use and where tobuy licenses?
New on LowEndTalk? Please Register and read our Community Rules.

All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.

Wich Windows should i use and where tobuy licenses?

dedicadosdedicados Member
edited November 2014 in Requests

Hello, i have a small bussines running an inventory system, are 7 pcs/users and right now im using Win2003.

Main database and software is on Windows Server, im running 100mbps on all, and im planning to change to 1Gbps ethernet, to make it faster.

My software is in Fox, ( yes its old ) due complexity i havent migrated to mysql or something else yet.

Wich OS do you recommend me and do you know where can i get better price for licenses?

Thank you.

Comments

  • said: Wich OS do you recommend me

    If you're only talking about Windows server, Windows 2008 RC2 is pretty okay but Windows 2012 R2 is better.

    If you're not only talking about Windows server, I would highly recommend RHEL 7.

    The benefits of a Linux server really outweighs a Windows server. You should migrate your server from Windows to Linux.

    said: and do you know where can i get better price for licenses?

    As for that, I'm unsure about how better you want the pricing to be. They are usually almost the same with just some price variance.

    Thanked by 1dedicados
  • mikhomikho Member, Host Rep

    @VenexCloud_Huiren said:
    Windows 2008 RC2 is pretty okay but Windows 2012 R2 is better.

    I hope that 2008 RC2 was a typo :)

    @dedicados
    You need to look into what Versions are supported by your software before upgrading.
    Will save you license money if done correct.
    If 2012 works with your software I can't see any reasons not to buy that. When it comes to buying licenses I always recommend going for a local dealer.

    Thanked by 1dedicados
  • As @MikHo says, check compatibility of your inventory system with windows 2012 and 2008 in a seperate machine/VPS. Windows gives 90/180 day trial for their server software to evaluate compatibility and performance issues that may arise.. Personally, I will choose 2008, instead of 2012 for legacy applications.

    Where to buy? I would check if your biz can avail the free bizspark/dreamspark licenses. or if your DC has any SPLA license at spl prices.

    Thanked by 1dedicados
  • You don't need to upgrade the network to gigabit ethernet if you install a terminal server environement on the server (also called remote desktop services role). Users will open the Windows remote desktop client application to get their new desktop on the server. If you need a option with less impact on the end-user experience, you can configure the server to just open the application window on the regular user PC desktop.

    This is becoming the most common setup for small business here, because it does boost performance significantly with no need to upgrade network cables and switches, no need to recode older client-server applications, and no need to use powerful PCs. All the computations will be done on the server itself. This is extremely noticeable with some older accounting/wharehouse/customer service applications, because the round trip network delay becomes essentially zero. I experienced up to 20x performance boosts on some (badly coded) Filemaker 4 and Access applications, on same server hardware.

    The functionality is standard on Windows server operating systems since Windows 2000. Temporary trial mode is enabled as soon as the role is added to the Windows control panel. A special license key (CAL) needs to be installed to keep the feature working after the end of the free trial period. Just google around and you will find all the details.

    If your application is still maintained, check the application vendor before committing any resource to the project. If you coded the application yourself or if the application is legacy, you need to do some tests. Clone the real environement (client and server) to a virtual machine with a free cloning tool (I use vmware converter standalone), then use vmware player to check upgrade scenarios on a lab environement (this means: your laptop). My starting point for very old applications is Windows server 2008 32 bit edition; it runs Windows 3 and DOS applications even. The starting point for new applications is Windows 2012R2, because the remote desktop protocol has been greatly enhanced compared to previous Windows server versions. Be aware that modern applications can detect the terminal server environement and this may trip the copy protection scheme. If the application has a hardware copy protection dongle, additional steps needs to be taken. I believe that the latest Windows version officially supported by Fox is Windows 2000, but I remember seeing it once on Windows 2008 (haven't installed myself).

    The cheapest Windows server licenses for small business are the OEM licenses sold with new server hardware.

  • netomxnetomx Moderator, Veteran

    Fox? Man, you're old :/

    Thanked by 1vRozenSch00n
  • dBaseIII+ , FoxBase, Clipper Summer86, was the king back then, especially for inventory apps :P

  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran

    said: Hello, i have a small bussines running an inventory system, are 7 pcs/users and right now im using Win2003.

    Main database and software is on Windows Server, im running 100mbps on all, and im planning to change to 1Gbps ethernet, to make it faster.

    I hope that's based on some evidence that you're maxing out the network. Honestly, I'm skeptical 7 users maxing out 100mbps for an inventory system...more likely, the server needs more CPU, RAM, or I/O.

    My software is in Fox, ( yes its old ) due complexity i havent migrated to mysql or something else yet.

    Ah, Fox. Visual FoxPro 9 is still supported through 2015. I'd pick out your server with the intent of it also supporting SQL Server (probably your easiest upgrade path). How big is your data set? You might be able to get away with SQL Server Express if its small...for SQL Server Express 2012, limits are: 10GB max DB size, 1 CPU (but unlimited cores), DB will only use 1GB RAM at most.

    Thanked by 1dedicados
  • The network may well be the culprit here. I saw some client/server systems where the client was pulling out whole tables (megabytes of data) with a naive query on the server, then it locally filtered the tiny bit that needed to be shown to the user; after any change the whole multi-megabyte package was pushed back again on the server. This type of software starts fast and becomes exponentially slower with time, when the data increases. A thin client solution will confine all the data transfer inside the server memory and the performance will rise substantially.

    Thanked by 1dedicados
  • Thanks to all, about having a local server or a dedicated server on any datacenter, i prefeer to have it local.

    I will try all your suggestions.

    =D

  • @dedicados said:
    Thanks to all, about having a local server or a dedicated server on any datacenter, i prefeer to have it local.

    I will try all your suggestions.

    =D

    That was really contradictory and confusing xD

Sign In or Register to comment.