OneSource (Version 4) requires the use of a Window Server 2008 or 2012 or 2016. This server can reside at your place of business, or you can 'rent' the use of a server in the cloud. This kba discusses various options that you may want to consider.
Hosting your own server, on premise
Buying a New Server
- There are various vendors in the market place that build and sell servers. You can run OneSource on any server that has this software installed and configured:
- Windows Server 2008 R2 or greater. (We recommend Windows Server 2012 or 2016)
- Microsoft Office 2010 Professional "Plus" (open business) version or greater. Or, Microsoft Access 2010 (open business) version or greater. (This assumes that you will use MS Access to perform administrative tasks from time to time and then every day users will run OneSource in the free MS Access 'runtime' mode.
- Microsoft Remote Desktop (RDP) license for each user to log into OneSource + 1 additional license for OneSource tech support to use to login and provide support during business hours.
- We prefer Dell servers (as we have found them to be very, very reliable over the past 15+ years). However, you can use any brand that you prefer.
- Please see this FAQ to see a list of our recommend system hardware and software components.
Buying a Used Server, Pre-configured with Windows
- You may be able to find an excellent 'used' Tower or Rack server on sites such as eBay that also include the Windows Server operating system.
- You can buy a quality 'refurbished' server from www.xbyte.com and select the option to purchase the operating system and the option to have them install it for you.
Buying a Used Server with no Windows Operating System
- There are numerous vendors on the market that purchase and resell various types of 'outdated' (3 or more year old) servers from data centers and large corporations that offer a great value--but do NOT offer to sell or install the operating system for you. In these cases you may need to find a local computer guru or computer vendor who will come to your place of business to install the operating system for you. Or, if you are feeling courageous, you can buy a book or follow various Youtube videos that explain how to install the operating system yourself.
- These are the vendors that we have experience purchasing this type of hardware:
Hosting your own server, in the cloud
Finding a Cloud Server Host in the Cloud
There are numerous cloud hosting providers on the market. Based on our research and experience ALL of these options tend to be considerably more expensive, apples to apples and dollar for dollar (for the actual hardware itself) than buying and hosting your own server at your own business location. However its hard to compare apples to apples when you consider that their servers are stored in very secure, PCI compliant locations that offer the ability to rent scale-able server resources by the hour, or by the year. The following are hosts with which we have experience:
- Rackspace: https://www.rackspace.com/
- These guys are one of the oldest and largest.
- Their management console is one of the most user friendly.
- Their support is 'included' and is great.
- However, apples to apples, they seem to be the most expensive.
- Amazon: https://aws.amazon.com/
- This option is less expensive than others, but requires that you purchase support.
- However, their management console is pretty confusing. They offer SO many options (for large data centers) so it can be overwhelming.
- Microsoft: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/
- This option is similar in price and support (and management console confusion) with Amazon. (They too require that you purchase support).
- Others that you may find.
NOTE: All in all, from our experience, we feel like these resources are very expensive--based on the overall cost per month, when considering the actual amount of processors and RAM and the speed of the resources--compared to a new Dell Server T440 or T640 (as of 2018). However, if your needs are temporary, such as if your own server went down and just need something right away, and/or you visualize the need to have a newer server for just x months--then this may be a great option for you.
Running OneSource in the Cloud (Version 4 - MS Access Version)
If you don't want to buy and manage your own file server (to run OneSource) we now offer a Cloud Version of OneSource. This will enable you to connect to OneSource from your PC or Mac using Remote Desktop and run OneSource in a 'RemoteApp' mode. NOTE: This will run OneSource as another 'window' on your desktop. You will NOT login to a Windows Server desktop and you will NOT have access to the server. You are simply using server resources to run OneSource. (Note: As of this writing in Sept 2018) this option will require a few weeks lead time to setup and launch.)
Startup Costs
- $150 per user. This includes the cost to setup and also includes the cost of 1 Remote Desktop Client Access License (CAL) per user.
On-Going Monthly Costs
- $199 / mo for the first 10 (concurrent) users.
- $19 / mo for each additional (concurrent) user.
- $124 / mo for data backup services. (Note: If you are already paying for our daily, human verified backup services then this additional fee will NOT apply).
Running OneSource in the Cloud (Version 5 - SaaS Version, integrated with QuickBooks Online) (Coming in 2019)
OneSource Software Solutions is in the process of re-writing our MS Access (MS SQL Server) application from the ground up to run from a web browser. You will no longer need to host your own Windows Server, or purchase MS Access, SQL Server, or Remote Desktop licenses. This version of OneSource will be hosted on our servers and will include SQL Server as the underlying database and will also include daily backups.
How the OneSource Cloud version will differ from the OneSource Access Version
- OneSource Version 4 (Access Version)
- Requires purchase (or hosting of) a Windows Server.
- Requires purchase of Licenses for Windows Server, Windows Remote Desktop, and Microsoft Office (or Microsoft Access)
- Requires you to log into the Windows Server 'remote desktop session' to use OneSource.
- Requires you to maintain your own server.
- Requires you to maintain your own data backups (unless you purchase our daily, human verified backup services).
- Stored data in an MS Access database (which was subject to frequent issues related to record locking and/or data corruption). (SQL Server version is now available, but the purchase of a separate server and SQL Server licenses is required to run OneSource with SQL Server)
- OneSource Version 5 (Cloud Version)
- No server purchase required.
- No additional 'licenses' needed.
- No server maintenance required.
- No need to worry about data backups.
- No need to log into a server 'session' to run OneSource. You can log in from most web browsers.
- Data is stored in a Microsoft SQL Server (which is much more stable and robust).
Startup Costs
If you are a current OneSource customer there will be NO startup costs to migrate to this version.
On-Going Monthly Costs
- Single Warehouse: $69 per user per month.
- Multi-Warehouses: $89 per user per month.
