Exchange server as a file server

[ClowneUser]

Hi,

our NAS server has died and we are looking at replacing this, our exchange server ( windows server 2008 r2 and exchange 2010 ) has 1TB of free space so was just wondering if there would be any issues using this server as a file server?

Any comments/advice?

Regards,
Mick.

 

[ShackDaddy]

How many users would be accessing it? And how many mailboxes on the server?

For most small-midsized businesses, using your Exchange 2010 server as a file server will not be a problem. That's what all SBS 2011 servers do. Don't start using it as an application server for other 3rd-party apps though.

Dave Shackelford
ThirdTier.net
TrainSignal.com

 

[teqmod]

It really depends on how heavily used your exchange server is. If you have heavy disk usage by Exchange and more usage by file sharing you may see something. But for a smaller office there should be no issues

 

[ShackDaddy]

Exchange 2010 optimized disk I/O so much (demanding RAM instead) that you should have way fewer issues sharing disk access than you would have with earlier versions of Exchange. If you have less than 100 users, I would go ahead and use it as a file server without thinking twice.

Dave Shackelford
ThirdTier.net
TrainSignal.com

 

[ClowneUser]

Thanks for your replies, there is about 50 mailboxes on the box and possibly 20 people that will need to access the data, so we should be OK I think.

Thanks again for your replies, appreciate your advice.

Regards,
Mick.