Multiple Remote Connections with SBS and Access Database

Spec's are:

CPU Processor AMD Opteron (Dual Core) ( 1214 ) 2200 MHz
MOTHERBOARD Motherboard ProLiant ML115 (G1)

Chipset nVidia 3400 Pro

Processors (Max) 1

PCI 32 bit 2 x PCI 33MHz Slots

PCI Express Slot 2 x PCI Express x8 Slots
MEMORY Memory 1024 MB ( 8192 MB) PC2-5300 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Memory Slot 4 x DIMM
STORAGE Hard Drive Interface SATA

Hard Disk 160 GB ( 1 x 160 GB) 7200 RPM
OPTICAL DRIVE Optical Drive Type DVD-ROM/CD-RW
INTERFACES/PORTS VGA Port 1

Mouse Port 1 x PS/2

Keyboard Port 1 x PS/2

USB Ports 8 x USB

Serial Ports 1

RJ-45 Ports 1 x RJ-45
NETWORK Network Card HP NC320i 10/100/1000 MBps Integrated PCI Express
SYSTEM Security Power-on password; Setup password
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Operating Systems Supported Microsoft Windows Server 2003: Standard & Enterprise Edition (32 and 64 bit); Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003; Microsoft Windows 2003 Server, Web Edition; Novell NetWare 6.5 SBS (only after SP6 release); RedHat Enterprise Linux; SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
COMPLIANCE Standards ACPI V2.0 Compliant; PCI 2.3 Compliant; PXE Support; WOL Support; IPMI 2.0 compliance
ELECTRICAL Power Supply 370W

Voltage/Power/Frequency 100 to 240 VAC / / 50 to 60 Hz
ENVIRONMENTAL Environmental Operating Temperature 10 to 35 C - Humidity 10 to 90 %

Noise Level (full operating mode) 38 dbA
PHYSICAL Form Factor Micro ATX Tower (4U)

Dimensions 17.5 cm(W) x 42.6 cm(D) x 36.7 cm(H) - Weight 10.5 kg


As you say, will only be using a very small part of the systems capabilities, so sure this small server will be good enough for the very basic task it will be used for. Im used to working with much laster and more expensive servers using all the above mentioned services, and whilst i know how to use most of them, i wasnt the one to set them up or administer them. But as this is a small company with all employees being based all over the uk, they will never use exchange, or OWA.

The database, once I've finished it, will only be approximately 5mb so they're really wont be much strain on the system.
 
apart from the fact that all the services i mentioned are running as a result of going through the installation routine... so whilst the server might not be doing much in terms of handling user authentication, file, print, email, etc, there will still be lots of background services running... ram is pretty cheap, i would really try and up it to 2gb minimum, 4gb if the budget can stretch... with sata disks things are going to be a little sluggish (particularly reboots), but the main thing i would be concerned about is redundancy since it looks like you've got a single disk in there... i would always recommend running at least a raid1 mirror, so you might want to budget for this. what are you doing about power redundancy? more in terms of supplying 'clean' power to the server, and allowing it to gracefully shutdown in the event of a power loss to the building. do you already have a ups on-site? also, how are you going about the database design in terms of sharing it across multiple concurrent users?
 
Bizarre way going about it.:confused: With the server you have why not run IIS and knock something up in ASP.NET to connect to your Access database so the users don't have to remote in. Even better use SQLExpress which is free.
 
I have suggested that we upgrade the RAM and install an additional hard disk for RAID, but the answer so far has been that its not necessary (for the time being at least). Im planning to install it in the buildings shared server room where im hoping they have a UPS (i've not been on site yet).

We could set something web based up later, at the moment the priority is to get it all up and running. Ive not used SQLExpress or ASP.NET, so not sure it will allow me to enforce all the features i am with Access, things like input mask's, msg boxes etc etc. Will certainly look into it for the future though.
 
Thanks, am going to need it, have a feeling i will soon have loads more questions! And thanks again for the advice, will definately do my best to tackle all issues raised.

One last set of questions which ive been thinking about is can i set it up at home and then move it onsite? Or am i better off just leaving it till i get onsite and set it up there? Reason i ask, i have a feeling it will intefere with DNS settings etc if set up at home first, or will this be easily changable when on-site?
I dont know how to set up the DNS side of things, im guessing i will need to set up a static IP for the server to allow for remote connection, but is this IP set by the DNS?
 
no problem with setting it up at home, just certain parts of it won't work until you get it on-site.

you don't strictly need a static ip address, or to have dns setup...it's just better in the long run if you do it now.

if you don't already have a static ip address then you can request one from your isp. some charge, others don't.

if you want dns to be done properly then you are going to have to register a domain name, if you don't already have one. either way, once it is registered you would then need to setup a host record (for example, www, or vpn, or whatever) within the domain that is configured to point to the static ip address of your internet connection. then obviously on your internet connection you will need to forward the appropriate ports for the services that you want to use to the internal server.

if you don't have a static ip address, and you don't want to have to get one...or if you don't have a domain name, and you don't want to register one...then there are things you can do...namely - dynamic dns. register an account, setup the name you want, and then either (if your router supports it) get this to keep track for you...or alternatively, run a piece of client software on the server to keep track for you.

for a business i would probably recommend going the static ip, register a domain, and setup dns correctly...but i know your stuck on the budget...so the latter would get you out of it if necessary.
 
Right, will be setting this up in the next day or so, and have a few quick questions... in order to set up remote access, what information do i need (apart from the ISP settings)? As they have a domain for their website and email (wont be using exchange) do i need to set up some sort of forwarding from the domain to the server? or just use an IP address? Is it as simple as following the wizard or is it more involved requiring ports to be opened or static routes to be set up on firewalls?

Ive not done this before, so please forgive my ignorance. Thanks in advance!!
 
I know I'm jumping in a little later here but have you considered webifying the front end of the database and hosting it properly?

You can pick up a decent amount of space and bandwidth fairly cheaply these days and a web front end over a MySQL DB would be slick and fast.
 
Well, everything has been bought and created now, all thats to be done is to set it up. Ive discussed the issues with the person Im building it for and he's fine with it, and doesnt expect it to become a problem for the forseeable future.
If these issues start to become a problem, then we'll have no real alternative but to looks for a web based solution, but Im still not 100% convinced we could get the same functionality. Ive built web based systems in java whilst at uni, although wouldnt use java for this instance, but for the budget and time frame, i dont think this would have been viable.
 
Couldn't you use sql express instead of access (i think it's still free) and then knock some user input screens/reports up in .net? It'll scale better than access, if it's designed well enough.

When people say to me use access, i percieve that as knocking up a small 'single' user, local database, i couldn't imagine developing it for the deployment you've described.
 
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Yep, its not ideal, worst comes to worst at least we can use it as a model should there be any issues with its use.

Just trying to get the remote side of things up and running now, found out they can have a static ip and having the buildings IT technician set up the router and firewalls before i try to set up. Im aware ports need to be opened and forwarded to the server which ive sent him the details of. But in terms of setting the server up, is it just a simple case of running through the wizard? Also, do i need to contact their web hosts to forward a web address such as "companyxyz.com/remote" to the static ip address of the server?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, have done a fair bit of searching online for guides, but not found anything comprehensive as of yet.
 
thats good news that you've got a static address.

for sbs there are usually a ton of ports to forward, but since your only going to be using a handful of features your only going to need to forward a few.

if your using just the vpn then you need to forward the ports for a pptp connection which is tcp 1723 and ip protocol 47. if you are using remote web workplace then forward tcp80 and tcp443. if you want to be able to remote control workstations on the network then i think you also need to forward tcp 4125.

you can just connect directly to the ip address, if you want... alternatively if you already have a domain registered (such as example.com) then you can just login to the control panel for the domain (with the registrar) and setup a dns host record called something like 'sbs.example.com' and point this to the static public ip address of your connection. the /remote/ is just the path on the server you are connecting to.

if you don't have a domain, or if you do have one but it is primarily used for a website hosted off-site and you don't want to fiddle with it, then you could register a fresh one just for this if you wanted to. they aren't expensive, and then the same as above applies with regards to setting up the dns.

hope this helps.
 
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Thanks atomiser, great help as always ;)

Think i understand the proceedure now, so hoping that once i've gone through the wizard and the IT technician has set up all the port forwarding, it should all work out. Only thing left to do will be to create the link from the dns host, but that should be doable from home.

Last question, is the wizard quite simple and self explanitory? As I've not run through it yet, im unsure what its going to involve.

Thanks again, your a legend :)
 
your talking about the ceicw? yeah it's straightforward - just asks for the ip address, subnet mask, default gateway, dns servers etc... but be aware that this also configures exchange too... you probably ought to choose the option to disable email since you don't want to use it for this purpose (if ever you want to enable it, you can just simply re-run the wizard at a later date)... it will also ask you what you want to be accessible remotely - here you can choose the remote web workplace, etc. if you did want to use the vpn then this is a separate wizard - which is literally 'yes i want to enable vpn'.
 
Great, thanks! Yep, will be careful not to enable the emails as its a tiny server for the amount of emails they recieve! My friends mailbox alone is 4Gb and he says he's one of the better ones at deleting old messages :eek:

At the moment, i believe it will just be the RWW that we will use (although will be TS into the server from RWW), if the VPN offers a better solution then we can enable that also and see which is most suited to the task.

Thanks!
 
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