Do i really need a server?

triggerthat said:
You also might want to keep your mail server seperate from your main server.

Where I used to work, we had 3 servers. Mail / Main Server / Backup Main server. :)
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good idea but I imagine he's going with SBS to keep the cost down so another server proberly isn't viable :D

as SBS comes with Exchange just make sure a good backup proceedure is in place and it will do just fine
 
triggerthat said:
You also might want to keep your mail server seperate from your main server.

Where I used to work, we had 3 servers. Mail / Main Server / Backup Main server. :)
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Thanks for the suggestion the idea is much appreciated, however as quoted by ruffneck, cost is my primary constraint and therefore I wont be able to get multiple servers :(
 
Well you have a main server. It doesn't have to be a hardcore machine as its a small network.

As for the mail server, a standard computer will be fine. That's what we used.

As as for a backup server, again something basic. Am sure you can easily fit all that in, especially if going the ebay route :)
 
At the risk of sounding like a complete n00b can you guys please clarify something for me when using MS Exchange.

At the moment each computer is configured to connected to the ISP mail server in outlook and receives the emails upon connection.

With a mail server in the office the mail server will connect to the ISP's server and retrieve messages and store them until each user requests them from the local server?

Also will this allow emailing internally between colleagues without "going outside" the building?

Sorry for the n00b-level questions but I havent ever configured a mail server before and need to fully understand it before presenting the suggestion solution to the other directors. :D
 
I assume users currently download emails by POP3.

SBS has a POP3 connector that allows you to set up POP3 account on the server to automatically download to the exchange server.

USers then access the exchange mailbox with Outlook, using MAPI (recommended). They don't actually download the mail to their PC, although it can be set up to save a local copy (for laptops etc).

Internal email (as you say) does not travel outside, it just goes directly to the recipients mailbox on the exchange server.
 
oddjob62 said:
I assume users currently download emails by POP3.

SBS has a POP3 connector that allows you to set up POP3 account on the server to automatically download to the exchange server.

USers then access the exchange mailbox with Outlook, using MAPI (recommended). They don't actually download the mail to their PC, although it can be set up to save a local copy (for laptops etc).

Internal email (as you say) does not travel outside, it just goes directly to the recipients mailbox on the exchange server.
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Excellent, thanks for this reply :D
 
markwombat said:
Excellent, thanks for this reply :D
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NP.

One question. Are you going to be in charge of supporting this server? If so i would HIGHLY recommend reading up on it before it arrives and before you start moving data onto it. There are several books that are written specifically for SBS2003. It's not something you want to go into blindly.
 
You also have two ways to go with this , i.e. POP3 connector

Assuming that each user connects into their own mailbox, you can specify user mailboxes in the POP3 connector.
If you get a new user then you have to setup a new mailbox with your isp and a new mailbox in the POP3 connector to map to their Exchange mailbox.

Pros... Easier to setup
Cons ... An effort to maintain if you have a high turnover of staff

OR

you can have a catch all account with your isp and then setup a global mailbox on the POP3 connector.

It will then filter by recipient and sort to the corresponding exchange mailbox.

Pros... Easier to maintain, no more adding accounts with your ISP or to the POP3 connector, just their exchange mailboxes.

Cons... Migration needs to be meticulous.

Mmmmmm choices choices...

you're also limited to picking up mail every 15 minutes but there's a reg hack that reduces this. Linky

You should long term be looking to setup MX records to point to your mail server so that you receive mail directly and instantly through SMTP.
Disadvantage of POP3 connector is that it bypasses the Intelligent message filter so bang goes your free spam filtering in Exchange.

It's sufficient though if you find your ISP to filter effectively.
 
markwombat, sbs2k3 is as you've already decided the way to go. you should be able to pick up a decent server (NEC, Dell, HP) with a gig of ram, raid5 array for storage, tape backup, 3 year on site next business day warranty (a must), sbs standard pre installed with 15 user cals for around £1500-1800+VAT I should think (my best guess btw). there is also a premium version with sql and isa. the best warranties i have dealt with have been with nec to be honest, my support calls with them to deal with hardware failure tend to be minutes rather than the hours i've had to put up with when calling the likes of dell or hp.

backup exec small business edition is nice for backups but it will set you back another £400, you could just as easily use the built in backup with sbs as it does a good enough job of protecting your data in the event of a disaster but it does havea few limitations when it comes to backing up exchange mailboxes.

for av i've found grisoft avg 7.5 network edition with mail server to be the most cost effective solution for av, you'll get a 2 year deal to cover the lot for between £250 and £300. its not too heavy on resources either which is nice.

also consider a decent ups to protect your investment from the odd lightening storm coming at you from the atlantic, a 1000va apc smart ups (usb/serial) for around £200 is also an absolute must and will keep your server running for just under an hour when the lights go out and shut your server down nicely before it runs out of juice.

your mail, thats a no brainer. if you haven't already got one get a .co.uk domain name which will cost you under a tenner to register for two years. a hosting deal with an smtp feed directly to your mail server (with a secondary mx record so that if you reboot your server mail doesn't bounced) should cost £5 around per month. you can use the pop3 connector to carry on collecting from any old isp pop accounts but with an smtp feed any mail sent to you usually arrives at your desktop in a matter of seconds.

also one final gotcha, make sure all the client computers you have are running windows xp professional. xp home will not play with sbs, don't even a little bit.

i notice your in cornwall, if you need anything then don't hesitate to drop me a mail (in trust), i'm not too far over the bridge and look after quite a few sbs boxes in the devon/cornwall area.
 
Thanks so much you guys, its really great to receive this amount of help ona topic. You have all offered me invaluable advice no doubt from your collective years of experience. I will begin now collecting all the bits and pieces of info from this thread and draft out a full spec to present. I'll give you a shout and the thread a revival if i get stuck ;) :p :D


Thanks once again for your help.
 
A HP ML350 with dual processors, 2 x 72Gb drives for the OS and 3 x 146Gb drives for data storage will meets your needs accordingly depending on what your storing.

It will also happily act as a domain controller, file server and email server.

The above will leave you with plenty of room for future expansion, also i would recommend Windows 2003 SBS Server for the OS as it has all the above functionality built it but i would have it proffesionally installed.
 
Instead of getting one of the large companies to do it, there may be a local company to you that could tailor you better service (more personal) and make sure you get everything you need.

Having worked in a school of 2000 pupils (~10 servers), I can't really cast specific views on a server for just 15 people, I can't estimate what kind of demand that would put on it.

The one thing I would say is to make sure there's plenty of room for expansion, more RAM, an extra Gigabit card, hard drive slots.
 
gumbald said:
Having worked in a school of 2000 pupils (~10 servers), I can't really cast specific views on a server for just 15 people, I can't estimate what kind of demand that would put on it.
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Wow, only 10 Servers for 2000+ Users :eek:
 
ruffneck said:
edit Im dumb, they're obviously not on at the same time...

ignore ;)
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Most ever logged in is about 400, and the trouble is they all log in together, nothing we can do about that. Think the two main profile servers have 4xGig fibre connections, dual Xeons and 4+Gb RAM. The others have a wide range of specs, going down to a 1200 Athlon used for spying on what the kids type :)
 
ruffneck said:
Wow, only 10 Servers for 2000+ Users :eek:
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It realy depends on the hardware specification and purpose. The only concern with larger user bases is fault tollerance and load balancing commonly used services. Then we start getting into clustering.

A single server will happily support authentication for 5000 users, not recommended in the slightest but it'l cope.
 
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