What server do i need ?

[Mosser]

Hi,

I started my own company 11 months ago and have 4 employees that all work from home and we now have a need for a server so that we can centralise our computing efforts

Basically, we need to be able to login to the server remotely (we all work from home on our pc's that are on 4 meg broadband connections) and be able to access and update the customer database, access a central email and an individual email account, share files (templates, pdf documents, coversheets, etc..., we want a private phpbb or similar forum to share our thoughts and put our questions in for other staff to answer when free, we also want to be able to do regular monthly email shots to our customers (about 200 customers so far), and there is probably a whole load of other things that i havent even thought of yet!!

I dont have a huge budget the set this up so buying new equipment is out of the question at the moment, but i have looked on microsofts web site and Windows small business server 2003 looks like it will do most of what we need, but does anyone have any tips or advice or suggestions as to anything else that might be better/cheaper ?

I have seen a quad processor p3 Xeon 700mhz, 3 gig memory, 4 x 18 gig HD, Compaq Proliant DL580 on Ebay that i could use, but would it be powerful enough to run SBS2003 ?

Also, is there some sort of virtual pc software in SBS2003 that would allow 4 users to log into a server and share and use a database and other resources all at the same time ?

Also !!, how would we all connect securely ? would SSL encryption be enough ? or is there some other way ?

Sorry to be asking so many questions, and be aware that i may be way off the mark with what i think is a solution as i really have no experience with a server enviroment, we currently shuffle excel spreadsheets and word documents across MSN messenger to keep everyone up to date and we need a more secure and reliable solution now i think

I have ordered from Microsoft the SBS2003R2 180 day trial cd along with a few other free trial cd's that they had going at the time and i guess this is going to be a seriously steep learning curve for me !!

Thanks

Mosser

 

[phillid2]

I do not think SBS supports 4 processors. I use an old ML530 dual 933 with 1.5GB of ram and 2 arrays of 6-18GB and 6-36GB. All told - about $500 all from e-bay. If do not have too many connections but my customers use it to access files. It is peppy enough for me.

 

[Mosser]

Thanks for that reply, I'm glad you said about the processor limitation as i very nearly bought an 8 processor compaq server today !, glad the price went too high for me in the end

 

[phillid2]

If you are patient enough, you can save a bunch of money. I ended up buying my server for $89 from a local company so I saved a ton on shipping.

 

[Mosser]

Wow!, that is seriously cheap!, I'm in the UK and things tend to be double the price of anything in the USA, but will keep looking out for a bargain, you never know !

 

[tf1]

SBS2003 should meet your requirements: it is reasonably secure and weel featured.

Personally, I would not recommend buying an old server though. SBS hogs a load of resources and a new server will have better processors, faster disks, faster memory, have a three year warranty (presuming you buy a badged server for HP, etc.) and you will be able to purchase SBS 2003 OEM version with the new server. The OEM version is a fraction of the cost of the full retail version and comes with 5 client licences and includes 5 Outlook clients.

Unless you an expert in supporting servers, an old server may be a very poor investment, especially as I am sure that you will soon find it an indispensable work tool and downtime may prove very costly.

I'd recommend a ProLiant ML350 G5 server with RAID1 mirrored disks (3½" SAS drives) and 2GB memory for your needs.


Regards: tf1

 

[phillid2]

I agree about SBS. Works well and it is running on the ML530 great. If my business grows, perhaps a new server but for now, an old server is doing me well.

Don Phillips

http://worthingtonengineering.com