Server advice needed please.

[Wiggins]

Hi

I have been asked to quote a server for a small business I currently work for. I'm looking at possibly a Poweredge but not entirely sure as they want 3 difference supplier quotes.

It will have 6 pc's & a laptop connected at the most and needs Raid 1 for the server. There is an External Bufallo Linkstation on Raid 1 for backup of important files. I have an engineer coming over to do the installation but he is holiday for 2 weeks and they need the quote in by the end of the week.

I have a few questions:

1 - Will a Dual Port Gigabit Adaptor be adequate enough to add the internet and a 24 Port Switch to the server?

2 - I am toying between either Windows Server 2003 or Small Business Server. I do not need Exchange as there are only a few PC's and they just get their mail from the server that their domain is hosted on. As I am quite new to Server OS, it needs to be simple to use but ample enough to keep the network secure with group plicy editing etc... Which one would suit best?

Thank You

 

[Wiggins]

I looked but with the Server Software, it was not that much cheaper than a poweredge and it gets warranty with it.

 

[Wiggins]

Any particular reason why you want to connect the internet via the server?

Well i'm not entirely sure if it needs to.

What I need is the content of what is seen on the net managed. The setup at the moment is 6 pc's, a 24 port switch and a Netgear home router.

Very basic and needs to be secured more. We have a contract with an online ticket supplier who needs access to data at work in order to keep the staff updated on who has booked online with the new website that has been created. The data is currently held on the reception machine acting as a gateway which I need to move onto the server for better and more secure access.

What other means can I use to filter the content of whats seen on the net? As it is still partly Charity run, the budget needs to be as small as possible.

 

[Wiggins]

can you do it with tomato?

Does that firmware only work on one type of Linksys machine?

 

[Wiggins]

Thank you.

Thats basically the setup I need tbh.

File Server, Print Server, DNS, DHCP, Active Directory and central anti-virus management.

All email here is pop3 so no need for Exchange. I have a Buffalo Linkstation that will act as backup (especially for accounts).

I will be running 2 databases off it also as we run a booking system off a hosted website and need it centralised so tickets.com can access the data needed. 3 out of the 6 pc's currently have XP Home Edition.

I have decided on Windows 2003 RC2. As I have 6 pc's, i'm hoping that they can all logon with a 5cal licence.

I can really cut the cost down as no Dual Port Switch is needed for the server as I will run the ADSL Router through the switch. Are these Firebox's easy to manage?

I'm tempted to look into the Firebox or a different hardware firewall a little more as the place provides free wirless access in the building to customers and security measures for web content and P2P need to be put in place.

 

[Wiggins]

Watchguard firebox firewalls aint cheap mate, but they are good. They can be easy to manage if you know your way around general firewall protocols anyway.
As far as your pcs go, you'll obviously need to upgrade 3 of them from Home to Pro if you want them to join your domain.

I will be having a meeting with the GM tomorrow and If they are not needing any software to run off a server for the time being, I will put it to them for a VPN hardware Firewall and the upgrade to XP Pro for the other machines. I can use one machine as a Gateway for the time being I suppose and just have it's data backed up on the daily basis.

Group Policy set individually on 6 machines will not really take that long, especially if I can get a decent script together.

Thank you for your help.