I am getting quotes for a tower PC to run Windows Server 2016 Essentials.
I currently have a PC running WS 2012R2 Essentials
While getting quotes, one place suggested I don't use desktop class motherboard & CPU, as WS 2016 might not have drivers to suit. So they quoted with a server MB & CPU.
My current desktop PC had no issue with WS 2012R2
What are your thoughts?
Was the computer retailer just wanting to increase the quote price for server grade parts that I don't need?
I think it should work BUT I Strongly recommend using server grade mobo and components, especially with the ECC memory on if you're running exchange server or other apps that are critical.
It all depends on what you plan on doing with the server
You can check out the requirements here
Can you explain why ECC RAM would be beneficial/recommended?
They may be telling the truth. I found when installing Server 2012 R2 essentials on a custom i5 / Gigabyte a couple of years ago that the Intel Nic driver failed to install at all. After some research I was lucky enough to find someone had stripped the driver from the installation package and altered it work with Server 2012 R2.
At the time they mentioned it was a restriction from Intel that it would not work with SERVER product as they wanted you to use the Server based Mobo. Apart from that everything installed fine.
They were telling the truth.
Both Intel and Microsoft believe servers are luxury tech pieces, so only the people with expendable income should use it.
Which is why the server grade materials have a decent markup in price. Driver compatibility (or lack of drivers) is how they ensure people buy into their ecosystem.
To be honest, if you're sold on the idea of having your own server… it probably is better for you to cough the difference and upgrade. It's a nightmare trying to get perfectly fine hardware to talk with clunky software, and there's just bigger possible issues down the track.
Otherwise, you could bury your head into some reading… and make a server built on Linux.
Thanks. I am going to put it off, as there are no server grade motherboards with USB-C yet
Servers are very slow to adopt new tech. You'll probably be waiting like until next year or so.
You can probably try and source a PCIe card with thunderbolt/USB 3.0 but your mileage may vary with those in terms of compatibility and driver support.
BS. I have an old desktop running Server 2016 no problems. As stated, I'm fairly certain it uses the same driver detection as W10. I think it's highly unlikely you'd have an issue.
There is no need for server grade hardware and the server grade hardware quoted would most likely be equal in performance to the desktop hardware at a higher price point. Hosts/Enterprise use high end server grade hardware that provides a tangible increase over desktop hardware; again at a much higher price point. The main reason they do this is space … plain and simple.
I reckon you should give Linux a crack. It is, after all, the most widely used server OS in the world, and for good reason.
As far as I know drivers that work in windows 10 should work on server 2016. I am no expert though so someone please correct me if I'm wrong.