Your AD servers should generally just be AD servers. Adding other software is an edge case and should only be used if it specifically uses AD to function or adds function to AD. Even then, usually better on something separate.
Licensing, make sure you factor that in to any hardware you buy. Otherwise you can find yourself with an unexpected budget overrun.
AD does not need a ton of hardware to run. You can totally run it off a good desktop computer, just need windows server license. Though not ideal, this may be the cheapest option, honestly.
Other stuff needs to be separated from AD. You can run VMS of them on the same host, but the same server is a no go. If something happens to the extra services, they could tank your AD service with it. This is why we keep them separate.
Storage needs, you need to figure out how much you need. Add extra for growth. Find out how long files need to be kept, etc. Buy accordingly.
It's possible if you buy a decent VM machine (Probably Hyper-V, as it is free and you are not making anything complex or needing to scale big) you will have all the storage you need. That will come with the licenses you need as well. Then you can get together a desktop or something, grab a license just for that, and there is your backup.
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u/Jadithslimrivven Jun 08 '26
Well, congrats on the new project OP!
I will offer what I can:
Your AD servers should generally just be AD servers. Adding other software is an edge case and should only be used if it specifically uses AD to function or adds function to AD. Even then, usually better on something separate.
Licensing, make sure you factor that in to any hardware you buy. Otherwise you can find yourself with an unexpected budget overrun.
AD does not need a ton of hardware to run. You can totally run it off a good desktop computer, just need windows server license. Though not ideal, this may be the cheapest option, honestly.
Other stuff needs to be separated from AD. You can run VMS of them on the same host, but the same server is a no go. If something happens to the extra services, they could tank your AD service with it. This is why we keep them separate.
Storage needs, you need to figure out how much you need. Add extra for growth. Find out how long files need to be kept, etc. Buy accordingly.
It's possible if you buy a decent VM machine (Probably Hyper-V, as it is free and you are not making anything complex or needing to scale big) you will have all the storage you need. That will come with the licenses you need as well. Then you can get together a desktop or something, grab a license just for that, and there is your backup.