MS exchange server - rent/dedicated/managed?

You can say also that upstream bandwidth is variable on buisness broadband packages also, reliability is another issue.

This is a problem that perplexes buisnesses lol
 
Both BT and VM give static addresses per their top buisness broadbands, but we still talking about 1mb upload speed
 
JGBR said:
VM or BT show 1mb, not sure enough to run Exchange and OWA safely.
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Plenty of our smaller clients manage with a ~1mb upload and they vary from 10-100 users.
File transfers are another matter but the users are well versed in this.

I know of a large national business that runs its remote offices with 512k leased lines and they cope no problem.

Im still yet to be convinced by hosted exchange :)
 
So the debate so far is

1) The cost threshold of hosted exchange v doing it yourself (in some form) IE over 30 users
2) Self host/run on a buisness broadband connection
3) Rent a dedicated server and "do it yourself"

The connection would only handle email and nothing else? attachments being the issue presumably.
 
I think for a small business outsourcing Exchange service is not a bad thing.

Once you take into account; cost of hardware, cost of business line, cost of Server + Exchange liscenses not to mention your time in setting it up, administering and supporting I think it really might be worth paying for.

Cobweb (as an example for you) would be just under £1000 a year for everything done for you. Have you worked out the costs of doing it yourself?

I think that is going to be the next best thing to do. Work out costs .vs. benefits/disadvantages and go from there!
 
I think the costs over 3 years would be extremely similar, after that point it would be marginally cheaper (£3000? £4000? over the 2 years before the box needs replacing) to host it in-house.

If it's for a small business, I would say there's a strong case for 'wait and see' by going with renting services.

If in a few months (or years) it becomes apparent that there are definite benefits and cost savings to be made from doing it another way, you can move down that path. It's also important to take into account what usage patterns will be, attachment sizes, email filing etc.
 
Many people would argue that they would like the exchange server at home due to possible sensitivities in those emails.
 
JGBR said:
Many people would argue that they would like the exchange server at home due to possible sensitivities in those emails.
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Then surely you have to take into account the cost of a decent firewall (Checkpoint, Cisco, Juniper) to protect that email server. And if the information in the emails is that sensitive/important you really shouldn't be using OWA anyway, you should be making the user VPN in (to your dedicated hardware FW) and then connect to the exchange server?
 
Have you got the resources/time to setup and support a dedicated Exchange server and do you have any experience in it? If they are heavy users and heavily reliant on email I would be a bit weary of setting up dedicated Exchange without plenty of experience/knowledge or some form of dedicated on-site IT support. Also, if you are hosting your own it would be worth working in a backup line for whatever line you decide to use for connectivity should your ADSL/Leased line go down.
 
I understand what your saying

I am just concerned a dedicated server is not as secure as my own one but seems a lot cheaper.
 
JGBR said:
Yes and this comes back to the point of outsource or insource
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Yup, and budget will nearly always cause a compromise between what you would like to do and what you can (afford to) do.

I think with 25 mailboxes there is a strong argument for hosted exchange. At the end of the day what you pay for the mailbox gives you access to (hopefully) a whole bunch of staff making sure routers/firewalls and the exchange server and underlying OS stay patched and secure. Multiple connections to multiple ISP's (assuming the provider isn't an ISP), secure timely backups of the mailboxes and round the clock support in case of problems.

At which point £1-1.5kpa starts to look a bit of a bargain, as you wouldn't need to upgrade your internet connection at the site (unless you are regularly chucking 5-10Mb emails around) no expenditure on hardware or software (for the exchange server) and no need to pay someone to look after it all.
 
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