How big a file server do I need?

[wilbrian@bwcky.com]

I have a five user system. The users save a lot of data attaching emails and pictures to Contact records. Recently they've begun complaining of the system running slowly. The file server is about 3 years old running Server 2003 but as a Workgroup. Some users have new Windows 7 workstations (Core 2 Quad Q8300 4GB RAM 64bit) but still slow. Should we be considering a new, more powerful server? Will it make a difference in performance? What other things might help?

[pbuchtmann]

If you update to Server 2008 and put between 4 - 8 Gb of RAM should be sufficient. You might even consider

a) Faster hard drives

b) 64 bit operating system

These should assist with faster access and fast drives being the best choice of good investment.

[wilbrian@bwcky.com]

Thank you for the feedback.  Our existing file server is Intel Xeon E5310 1.60GHz with 1 GB RAM.  If I install a new file server with a lot more horsepower like 2x Intel Xeon Quad Core 2.26GHz, 12GB DDR3 ECC, 4x 750GB Hot-swap RAID Edition HDD will my users see a lot faster response on their workstations?