Setting up a small business server

Tackle_Berry · 23 Oct 2012 at 15:17

Hi, I am looking at replacing a small business server myself that will have 8 other computers networked to it, two of those will be over wi-fi and then another 2 systems that are in a separate branch. The only experience I have with servers is my little HP server running WHS2011 and with 3 systems attached, I have built loads of systems in the past but when it comes to server software my knowledge is limited. This server will be running Small Business Server 2011 and all attached systems will be using outlook to receive emails and appointments and all excel files are stored on the server and shared between systems. What do you guys think about me trying to set this up myself? Is it something that's best left to professionals or do you think I will be able to manage by using online guides and doing my research?

brendy · 23 Oct 2012 at 15:23

Exchange will be your biggest pain in my opinion. The actual server virtually sets itself up.
Mapping drives etc is fairly straight forward as is adding the pcs to the domain so the shares work seamlessly etc.
Does the current server look after email?

Tackle_Berry · 23 Oct 2012 at 15:36

I need to look into it but I think the emails are hosted with the website company. Something I just remembered is that two of the systems use Sage for the accounts. I know nothing about Sage would this be an issue would it go through the server?

NealR · 23 Oct 2012 at 15:39

To be fair, any of the SBS range of OS's are quite straight forward out of the box setups. I can't recall if SBS 2011 has the annoying 'helpful' GUI after install, but certainly if your knowledge is not that great, then this GUI will be your best friend. It will easily guide you into creating new accounts, email address etc.

And remember, Google is your friend

brendy · 23 Oct 2012 at 15:57

If you wish to use sage then Id dare say you should get the SBS 2011 with premium add on as it will require SQL. Then that brings in the whole Premium add on Cals required and the associated costs. Could get very expensive.

5tephen · 23 Oct 2012 at 17:37

If it's just bog standard Sage 50 Accounts then you'll not need SQL, as it's an old flat-file based system. In fact, even for that size of a business, and if you were using any SQL-related database, you'd get away fine with the free SQL Express, no need to up from SBS Std to Premium.

Moving Sage Accounts is dead easy - create a shared folder on the server, move the existing data folder to it (default existing folder is c:\programdata\sage\accounts\20xx\Company.000 in recent versions).
Then open the c:\programdata\sage\accounts\20xx\COMPANY file in Notepad on each client machine, and change the text there to be the Sage shared path of your new server.
Suggestion: Don't create one single share for everything and dump your Sage company in there; create a separate share for it. That way, it (a) stops people navigating to the folder and saving/deleting stuff in there accidentally, and (b) can be secured better - you could create a security group in Active Directory called 'accounts users' and add only the people you want into that group - you then set the share permissions so that only that security group can access it.

I don't have an outright answer to the OP as my initial experience in SBS was SBS2000 and that was watching another guy set it up then I looked after it from there. It was some time after before I commissioned one myself.
Over the years I've inherited a few setups where someone with a bit of know-how has tried it themselves and got about 70% of the way but little things (usually Exchange-related) have held them up. To date I still assist a couple of I.T. companies with SBS installs as there's random quirks that always stump them.
If this is a system in your own workplace then give it a go, you'll always be there for troubleshooting and will have plenty of time for working with it. It'll be a great way to learn, rather than watching someone who only makes the correct decisions every step of the way

First steps - do it over a weekend; log into your router and turn off DHCP on it (the SBS will do this from now on). Install the operating system and one of the first steps will be where the server finds the existing router and gives itself an address based on that.
For jobs where I put a new server in while people have to stay productive, and no domain server exists, I turn off DHCP on the router, then set static IP's on all machines, so they can all work away while I bring up the SBS and restart it without affecting anyone. At switchover, bring everyone onto automatic IP's again, then join them up to the new domain

Tackle_Berry · 23 Oct 2012 at 20:29

Thanks for the help everyone, still can't decide whether to just go for it. Will do some more research and tomorrow I will look into what sage is currently setup. I will need to be able to set it up while they carry on working on the current server so what you mentioned 5tephen will definitely help me out thanks.

knowlesy · 23 Oct 2012 at 23:31

My 2 cents,

as for installing yourself, id do it from scratch and it shouldnt be to bad, personally for 8 pcs (not sure on my how many users) Id just do a standard installation following the Microsoft guide and export peoples emails to a pst and import backup all shared documents to a external drive via robocopy or terra coppy, drop peoples pcs from the original domain and rejoin (dont forget when doing this enable local admin on the machines so you can log in) and update all machines first service packs .net4 at least etc.....

if you come across any issues see this blog SBS Diva another good guide to follow is this however you are just providing for 8 pcs assuming 8 users so adjust everything accordingly, my recommendations a good ups and firewall and an external drive (for backing up) is always recommended and guides always seem to forget. Its a big task but read the guide thoroughly and make sure you can google along the way (so your pc has internet access) and you cant really go wrong

best of luck

tribz · 24 Oct 2012 at 05:27

Also to chip in, your computers need to be the Pro version of Windows to be able to join the domain.

wnb · 24 Oct 2012 at 11:49

Sorry to highjack your thread but I also need to set up a small server for my office at the moment we have 4 pc's and 3 laptops on a network using work group. I currently use a NAS to backup important files. I was thinking of getting an Hewlett Packard ProLiant N40L Micro server would be ideal for a small office. I would like to backup all the pc's and laptops so if I do get a hardware failure I can easily restore the backups.

I have very little experience with Servers so whats the best (user friendly) OS to use? In my other building with have Windows Foundation 2008 on the server and I find that rather complicated to use thankfully I paid someone else to set that up and it has run fine ever since.

Any advice on what to go for would be appreciated.

Hamish · 24 Oct 2012 at 12:53

Ash2097 said:
Hi, I am looking at replacing a small business server myself that will have 8 other computers networked to it, two of those will be over wi-fi and then another 2 systems that are in a separate branch. The only experience I have with servers is my little HP server running WHS2011 and with 3 systems attached, I have built loads of systems in the past but when it comes to server software my knowledge is limited. This server will be running Small Business Server 2011 and all attached systems will be using outlook to receive emails and appointments and all excel files are stored on the server and shared between systems. What do you guys think about me trying to set this up myself? Is it something that's best left to professionals or do you think I will be able to manage by using online guides and doing my research?

my 2p
disclaimer: I'm not a sysadmin, just your regular IT guy.

What I would be doing in your situation is the following:

Get either a Hosted Exchange solution or Google Apps. You will almost certainaly save money in the short and long run... No servers, no licences, no maintenence, no worries.
Then get a mid range NAS (e.g. Synology or QNAP) and stick 2/3 drives in RAID1 or 5. They are easy to use and set up and need hardly any maintenence, and it's easy to set up usergroups and that kind of thing for storing your files.
If you need in future you can also set up SQL databases and websites etc.

There you have it. For <1000 quid you've got a high performance, high reliability linux file server and fully supported email system, with zero maintenance requirements.