We provide a wide variety of servers, built to your requirements by Scan 3XS Systems. This guide takes you through all the major components of a server build and highlights areas to consider. It also covers server accessories and some wider infrastructure points too, as these may all place a part in the performance and suitability of your server.
Tower servers are designed for a small office where there may not be a dedicated rack cabinet or server room.
Rack servers fit inside 19in rack cabinets, located alongside other servers and network equipment.
Although these are rack mounted chassis too, they differ as the chassis will contain multiple dense servers designed for very specific compute tasks.
Servers differ from desktop PC and workstations in that they are designed to operate 24/7. This ‘always on’ capability is delivered by server-grade or enterprise-class components that are designed to cope with the continuous demands made of servers. This higher-grade specification of server components also delivers better residency and reliability, so it is never wise to build a server using consumer components.
Scan 3XS Systems servers are built using server-grade components from the same market leading component manufacturers used by multinational brands such as Cisco, Dell, Fujitsu and HPE, however 3XS offers greater customisation during the configuration process.
The CPU is one of the most critical components to consider when building a new server. The choice of CPU or CPUs will govern the server’s performance when it comes to compute tasks, multitasking or virtual machine (VM) capability - derived by the number of cores, system memory and amount of cache. In high performance servers aimed at HPC or AI workloads, the CPU should be considered alongside accelerators and network cards that act to offload tasks away from the CPU(s). There are two main server CPU families to choose from - AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon.
The AMD EPYC series of processors set the new standard for the modern datacentre. Featuring leadership architecture, performance, and security, AMD EPYC processors help customers turbocharge application performance, transform datacentre operations and help secure critical data. You can learn about the specific models in our AMD EPYC CPU BUYERS GUIDE.
The Intel Xeon 6 processor family introduces an innovative modular architecture that allows datacentre architects to configure and deploy servers that are purpose-built for your unique needs and workloads across private, public and hybrid clouds. Intel Xeon 6 processors have either Performance-cores (P-cores) for maximum performance or Efficient-cores (E-cores) for maximum efficiency in power- and space-constrained environments. You can learn about the specific models in our INTEL XEON CPU BUYERS GUIDE.
When it comes to servers, the best approach is to use fewer, larger capacity DIMMs, as they will use less power and you still have room for expansion in the future. There are a number of DIMM types available - the best choice will be dependent on your workloads.
UDIMM or Unbuffered DIMMs address and control signals directly reach the DRAM chips without going through a buffer and without any timing adjustment. UDIMMs are lower in capacity and frequency and cannot maximise server performance because they only operate in unbuffered mode and thus cannot support the maximum RAM capacity.
All of the above types of DIMM are available with a feature known as Error Correction Code or ECC. ECC memory allows the system to recreate the correct data in real time in case of an error, using a form of parity, which is a method of using a single bit of data to detect errors in larger groups of data. ECC memory looks different to non-ECC memory as it has an extra chip that performs the ECC calculations. ECC memory must be matched otherwise the error correcting capability will be lost. ECC memory is not always registered or buffered, however, all registered memory is ECC memory.
As mentioned earlier, GPUs accelerate visual and compute workloads. Both of these tasks perform thousands of calculations in parallel, something that GPUs do much more efficiently than CPUs.
The leading server accelerators cards are from the NVIDIA Datacentre GPU range, available in either SXM or PCIe formats - all featuring CUDA cores for general purpose high performance computing, Tensor cores for AI workloads and RT cores for ray tracing. You can learn more by reading our NVIDIA DATACENTRE GPU BUYERS GUIDE.
The type and capacity of any internal storage required in a server will very much depend on what the intended use of the server. There are two types of drives - HDDs and SSDs, the former features spinning disk platters on which the data is stored, whereas the latter has no moving parts and stores data on NAND flash memory. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages depending on the cost effectiveness or performance required, as summarised in the table below.
| HDD | SSD | Comparison | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Hundreds of MB/sec | Thousands of MB/sec | SSDs are much faster |
| Access Times | 5-8ms | 0.1ms | SSDs have almost no latency |
| Reliability | 2-5% failure rate | 0.5% failure rate | SSDs much more reliable |
| Resilience | Susceptible to vibrations | No moving parts | SSDs are much more resilient |
| Energy Use | 6-15W | 2-5W | SSDs much more energy efficient |
| Form factors | 2.5” / 3.5” | 2.5” / 3.5” / U.2 / U.3 / M.2 / PCIe card | SSDs offer more flexibility including compact M.2 drives for the OS |
| Capacity | Up to 26TB | Up to 30TB | Similar in maximum capacities |
| Use case | Less used or archived data | Regularly accessed data | Use both for tiered storage environments |
| Cost | £-££ | ££ - ££££ | SSD more expensive, especially at high capacities |
Whichever type of internal storage drive you choose, you should ensure they are datacentre- or enterprise-class drives designed for 24/7 use. You can learn more about both types of drives and RAID data security by reading our DATACENTRE SSD AND HDD BUYERS GUIDE.
Network connectivity in a server can range from a single 1Gb/s (Gigabits per second) network interface card (NIC) to multiple high-throughput, low-latency 800Gbps Ethernet and InfiniBand Smart NICs, SuperNICs and DPUs, that offload many tasks from the CPU. Which type of network card to choose depends on what your server will be used for, as summarised in the tabs below.
Although only a small component in an overall system build, the NIC can contribute to a huge uplift in performance. Basic server NICs start with throughput speeds of 1Gb/s through a single port, scaling to 40Gb/s at the top end, featuring two or four ports. All processing of data is performed either by the CPU(s) and GPU(s) installed in the server, and thus introduces latency as data is transferred around the server. To reduce this latency and increase throughput speeds a Smart NIC is required.
You can learn more about networking protocols, types of card and other networking considerations by reading our NETWORK CARDS BUYERS GUIDE.
Servers will usually run on either a Windows Server or Linux-based OS, depending on whether the server is aimed towards more regular processes and storage needs or HPC workloads such as scientific simulations and or AI.
Windows Server 2025 is the latest operating system for servers from Microsoft. To cover small office servers right up to datacentre deployments, it is available in three versions - Windows Server Essentials, Windows Server Standard and Windows Server Datacenter.
Discover more about each version and the required licensing by reading our WINDOWS SERVER BUYERS GUIDE.
There are many distributions of Linux available, however the most frequently used is Ubuntu. It is based on Debian and is utilised by many organisations as it is renowned for its dependability, smooth operation, and efficiency. Alternatively, Red Hat offers a variety of open source software that DevOps engineers and businesses prefer.
As previously mentioned it is not uncommon for storage capacity to expand outside the confines of the server chassis. This may be in addition to the internal storage the server has to offer, or if significant fast flash storage is required, then a network storage system may be the best approach. 3XS servers can be configured as dedicated storage devices or to compliment a wide variety of storage systems from a number of leading brands.
Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems are the simplest way to add extra storage capacity. Usually connected over Ethernet, we offer various NAS options from both QNAP and Synology in 4- to 16-drive bay versions, allowing you to scale efficiently and cost-effectively. You can learn more about NAS solutions in our dedicated NAS BUYERS GUIDE.
In addition to the server(s) and storage, any business or organisation will need a wide infrastructure including network switches, UPS and racking to house everything.
Network switches are devices that connect multiple PCs, workstations, servers or storage devices to enable them to communicate within an organisation and share and access the Internet connection to the wider world. Switches are available in the same networking standards as server NICs and storage appliances - Ethernet and InfiniBand - and with various throughput capabilities and feature sets. It is essential to get the ones that best support your hardware devices across the network. You can learn more about choice of switches in our dedicated NETWORK SWITCHES BUYER GUIDE.
Although all our 3XS Systems servers come with a comprehensive 3-year warranty, more complex server configurations can be further supported with a number of professional services, including installation, network health checks, infrastructure consultancy, and cyber security and data sciences services.
We can also arrange hosting of your servers and wider infrastructure via our range of DATACENTRE HOSTING PARTNERS, including full logistics and transportation services across the UK and Europe.
We hope you’ve found our server buyers guide, giving you the additional knowledge to get the most out of our intuitive server configurators. Click below to see our great ranges of servers designed for many popular workloads.
If you would still like some advice on configuring your ideal server, don’t hesitate to contact our friendly advisors on 01204 474747 or by contacting [email protected] .
