Determining how many and what size servers you need depends completely on the task(s) that it will be asked to perform, and how complex those tasks are. Factors such as the amount of RAM, disk space, number of users, and number of processors the tasks will require will affect the size server you need.

While it can be fine for one server to handle multiple tasks for a small office, you may need to split these tasks among multiple servers as the load increases. If you're expecting to add more employees, computers or Net traffic over the next two or three years, choose a scaleable machine can easily handle additional hard disks, memory or processors.

There are some basic rules of thumb for designing your server, which usually depend on the software you're using. Check the software vendors' web sites for the latest specifications.