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| When getting a server up and running, you follow these general steps: |
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Install the hardware, peripherals and cabling. Note: Most traditional tower servers are ready to be plugged in and powered on immediately out of the box. A rack-style server must be racked, provided power, networked and possibly have fiber cables run to the server. Racking a server blade means inserting the blade into the enclosure. Because all cabling has already been run to the enclosure, no further cabling is needed. |
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Install and configure an operating system, define server roles, create users and so on. |
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Connect the server to storage and the network. |
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Install applications and enable services. |
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| Like a network operating system, you need to install client software on workstations that will connect to the server. This process is made easier if you use imaging software and/or scripting to quickly deploy identical configurations to multiple client computers. |
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| Computers must share common media to communicate successfully. Network media may be a physical cable (Ethernet 802.3) or a wireless connection (802.11 a, b, g or n). |
| The devices that enable flow of communications across a network include: |
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Router: A device that specializes in managing the flow of traffic between or among networks. Even the cable or digital subscriber line (DSL) modems that so many small offices and home offices use for internet access usually include router capabilities as well. |
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Switch: A device that enables multiple individual computers or other devices to attach to a network, and manages communications so that pairs of devices can access the network as if it were exclusively and solely theirs to use. |
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Wireless access point: A device that connects wireless devices to form a network. Wireless access points generally have a short range—50 to 150 feet—so it's common to have two or more wireless access points in a wireless environment. |
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| Servers generally include built-in network interfaces; however, many older computers and even newer servers still use add-in network interface cards (NICs) for network connectivity. Wired technologies require at least one cable per interface to make the connection between it and the networking medium in use. For wireless technologies, this means configuring the transmitter/receiver with the information necessary to find the right frequencies, provide the right identification and gain access to a wireless networking. |
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| The applications you decide to run depend on the server's role and the network operating system you use. In general, it's best to use all Microsoft or compatible products for application servers running a Windows Server operating system. If you're running a Linux distribution, you might select open source applications designed expressly for Linux. |
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Email applications |
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| Windows and Linux use different versions of email software, such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Lotus Domino, Linux Sendmail and SUSE Linux OpenExchange Server. These software packages use a server portion and a client portion. |
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Web applications |
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| Commonly used web server applications include Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and Apache. The client software portion is a web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Opera. |
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Database applications |
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| Popular database applications include Oracle products and SQL for Windows-based environments, and MySQL for Linux. |
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| Certain servers, such as logon, application, file, and print servers, are normally accessed internally but not from outside your network for security reasons. However, services such as web and email are generally accessed from outside the network and have different requirements. Using a firewall helps eliminate undesired access by the outside world and is a good first line of defense. |
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| A firewall can be comprised of hardware, software or a combination of the two. Most experts recommend deploying two firewalls for higher security. |
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| You should also create a demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the internet and your internal network. The internet and the internal network can access the DMZ, but neither can access each other directly. Place your web and email servers in the DMZ, and limit internal and external users' access to the servers in this area. |
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| Be sure to purchase and install well-known antivirus and antispam software that runs on your server and client computers. Schedule the software to update itself every day for maximum protection. |
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| Monitoring applications keep track of the health and status of servers and other equipment, such as: |
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Server hardware |
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Operating systems and applications |
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Network devices, such as switches and routers |
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Blade enclosures and components |
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Sensors (to measure temperature, for example) |
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Other devices, such as storage area network (SAN) hardware |
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| All major server vendors have their own monitoring applications, which range from basic (with relatively few options) to comprehensive. HP Systems Insight Manager (SIM) is a centralized, integrated management console for managing and monitoring HP ProLiant servers and HP BladeSystems. Open source alternatives, such as Nagios, are also available. |
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| A simple client/server setup might require only a good uninterruptible power supply (UPS) attached to the server. More complex infrastructure with rack-mounted or blade enclosures have unique power and cooling requirements. Work with your vendor to ensure an adequate thermal assessment is performed and your infrastructure meets your power and cooling needs. |
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