Windows server 2014 Foundation

[chris ashdown]

Has anyone used this server software and had any problems running Sellerdeck plus

Just thinking of upgrading from SBS 2003 which goes unsupported this year

[saucysal]

We used to have SBS 2003, but had to change as the latest Sage software (which we use for processing orders and all book-keeping) no longer worked with xp.

We looked into the various server possibilities, but not the one you refer to. In the end we decided not to use server software at all. It has been a big improvement with no regrets. What we have now is a new super duper computer, with solid state drives etc. Windows 7 Pro. We re-installed Sellerdeck and Sage, Office, etc. and brought in data. Set up network with other computers in office, and now running much faster than before. Only regret is that we didn't do it sooner.

Sarah

[chris ashdown]

Thanks Sarah

Are you totally dependent on solid state drives I know they are very quick but thought they were quite unreliable compared to traditional disks

[saucysal]

We have both. We also backup everything every night on portable drive as a precaution, but so far no problem.

Sarah

[NormanRouxel]

I have 6 SSDs over 4 computers (2 with one SSD for boot drive and another SSD for data - and 2 laptops that I've replaced their HDD's with SSD's). At least 3 years use no on some of these and no problems at all. Just looked at one's statistics via Argus Monitor and I see that it's been powered up for 747 days and has no wear-out at all.

[Mike Hughes]

I'm pretty sure that SSDs are more reliable than HDDs which is hardly surprising given that they have no moving parts.

There were some problems with faulty firmware in the early years but I haven't come across anything major recently. The real thing to watch out for is endurance as they do have a limited number of write cycles but a Samsung EVO 850 250GB SSD subjected to 20GB of write cycles per day will have an expected lifetime of around 50 years.

see: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8747/s...0-evo-review/4

And like Norman, the SSD in my PC has used up 2% of it's expected lifetime. That's after 736 power on cycles and 5775 hours of operation.

[chris ashdown]

You are both obviously sold on them, how fast would you say they were compared with before SSD, i understnd start up is very fast but what about sellerdeck plus changing sites, i guess my setup takes about 30-60 seconds from one site to another

[Mike Hughes]

Just tested on my PC and it takes 10 seconds. That's for the 'exit without backup' option.

[saucysal]

For me everything is very much faster since changing from old server to my new computer (a laptop). It is hard to know what the increase in speed was attributed to as the operating system changed, the capacity changed, the drives changed, the network changed, etc.

I used to log in to the server at work when at home evenings and weekends, but now I take my laptop home, which may seem like a retrograde step as used to do that before the server, but is much better. I can also make use of BTInfinity, very fast broadband, at home, which I couldn't make use of when logging into work where the broadband connection is very slow, and will be until the infracture is upgraded.

The only possible issue is the security of data, but this was easily solved. Just as with the old server, we do a back-up every night to a portable drive. This drive is kept in a safe place different to the laptop.

Sarah