I need help understanding and implementing Server 2003

tazinlwfl · 07-04-2008, 01:09 PM

Hi all!

Havent been here for a while. But now I'm back. I've just been "promoted" to IT Manager...
Its funny beacuse we're a "small" company that is growing very fast, and needed someone in-house that is already familiar enough with technlogy (and our general system) to take on the responsibility of all things IT. I fit the role, I guess...

So, with no formal training (or real experience for that matter) I take on the task to upgrade our network to a truer and more secure office network.

We have 12 Employees and 13 computers, all have Windows XP Pro (except the owner who uses an iMac). The 13th extra computer acts like a server, hosting shared folders that all employees need to access. Its a humble system, IMHO.

We use a 24-port Gigabit router from Netgear (just had to upgrade from 16). We all connect through that to access the internet (and each other)

We are planning to expand further and hire on at least 2 more employees by the end of summer. Business is great and we need the scalability. Thus my suggestion to implement a Windows Server/Exchange system.

How would I go about implementing such a system?

Even before that, I need to understand its benefits to use (in order to present the offer). I sort of understand the Exchange benefits (and an inner-office email system), and I have worked somewhere that already had a active directory system. Here its different though. We have 1/5 of the employees, and only 3 main departments as my last job. We just purchased a database software (I guess its similar to Sage/Timberline) and I think something like a server will be great to use.

So, I have a few questions to ask (and more will definitely come up later)

Can the 13th computer be converted to the Server (meets the general system requirements, its an HP w/ Intel Core 2 Duo and Gbit NIC)?
Can the system stay the way it is set up now? (with all 12+ Computers connected to the router, including the server )
Other than Software (the OS) what else must I purchase to set-up the server? (like I said, we have an established network set up already)
What must be done on each workstation other than switch workgroup?
Will MS Office 2007 work well with Windows Server 2003? (for example, MS Exchange working with Outlook 2007?)
Is there a benefit going with the newer Windows Server 2008? (none of us use Vista, and only one uses Mac)

There is more, but I'd rather get those established first.

I've found some books that I plan on reading ("The Best Damn Windows Server 2003 Book, Period" and "Mastering Windows Server 2003" and "Mastering Microsoft Exchange 2003") and have begun reading tutorials and walktroughs online. One question I answered was one about the "Domain" (I thought that we had to actually purchase a new domain to use...).

I was also thinking about this: We are planning to upgrade to a Windows Virtual server to host our Website. What could having both an office server and a virtual private server do for us? Can a connection be made?

anyone that can help would be in my debt forever.

Thank You!
~Tim

djaburg · 07-08-2008, 03:20 PM

Might I suggest something, if you don't anticipate exceeding 75 users in the near future, look at getting Small Business Server since it's ideally suited to what you want to do and there are more wizards to help you configure things then you'd fine in the standard server. You'd also find that it's much more cost effective to do it that way and a side benefit is that you'd have a direct upgrade path in the event you achieve substantial growth that exceeds the 75 user limit of SBS.

I would recommend NOT taking a standard computer and loading the server OS on it. You'd be better served (no pun intended) using a server specific system that allows you to have AT LEAST mirrored drives for some redundancy and data security. You'll see that you can get a Xeon processor based server pretty cheap that will serve your needs better.

As for specifics of domains and hardware, I'd really attempt to learn a bit more so you don't start down a path recommended to you by others and then realize it's not what YOUR specific situation needs. I own my own computer business and although most clients come to me asking what they should do, I take the time to see what THEY are looking to do by going on site and talking to management and users to see what they need. I've not seen to many times that SBS hasn't worked out, other than a client or two that didn't pay attention to the licensing limitations and tried to work around them...which of course didn't work for them.

Hope that helps.

tazinlwfl · 07-08-2008, 07:07 PM

Thanks!
You know, I was looking at small business, but I guess my search got mixed up with Office SBS (a bit more expensive than Office Standard)

Ideally, we would like to grow to 750 users, because if we need them, that means we're in good shape lol

I have read a lot of the books now, and I am confident I can set up and manage well enough to get started (but these forums are here for a reason)

are there any features that SBS leaves out from the Standard Server 2003?

I have read and watched tutorials on how to tweak Server to allows OS X join in, have you heard anyone use SBS with Macs?

And, I was looking up different licensing methods... Platform licensing (Open Value Full Business, i guess?) covers your MS Office, your OS, and your Server (and user CALs)

have you (or anyone else, for that matter) dealt with that sort of licensing...
CDW (and the like) were no help, and Microsoft's website refuses to give me straight answers...

THANKS!!

-Tim

djaburg · 07-09-2008, 09:09 PM

There are some differences between SBS and full programs, but basically they all revolve around scalability. For example the DB sizes that exchange supports is much smaller than the full product, same with message store size in exchange. Of course there's the obvious limitation on the max number of users. Barring those, virtually all of the capabilities of the server OS remain in tact (barring the desire to have multiple domain controllers on the network).

07-04-2008, 01:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
tazinlwfl Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Palm Beach Gardens, FL Posts: 58 OS: Vista, XP Pro SP2 My System	I need help understanding and implementing Server 2003 Hi all! Havent been here for a while. But now I'm back. I've just been "promoted" to IT Manager... Its funny beacuse we're a "small" company that is growing very fast, and needed someone in-house that is already familiar enough with technlogy (and our general system) to take on the responsibility of all things IT. I fit the role, I guess... So, with no formal training (or real experience for that matter) I take on the task to upgrade our network to a truer and more secure office network. We have 12 Employees and 13 computers, all have Windows XP Pro (except the owner who uses an iMac). The 13th extra computer acts like a server, hosting shared folders that all employees need to access. Its a humble system, IMHO. We use a 24-port Gigabit router from Netgear (just had to upgrade from 16). We all connect through that to access the internet (and each other) We are planning to expand further and hire on at least 2 more employees by the end of summer. Business is great and we need the scalability. Thus my suggestion to implement a Windows Server/Exchange system. How would I go about implementing such a system? Even before that, I need to understand its benefits to use (in order to present the offer). I sort of understand the Exchange benefits (and an inner-office email system), and I have worked somewhere that already had a active directory system. Here its different though. We have 1/5 of the employees, and only 3 main departments as my last job. We just purchased a database software (I guess its similar to Sage/Timberline) and I think something like a server will be great to use. So, I have a few questions to ask (and more will definitely come up later) Can the 13th computer be converted to the Server (meets the general system requirements, its an HP w/ Intel Core 2 Duo and Gbit NIC)? Can the system stay the way it is set up now? (with all 12+ Computers connected to the router, including the server ) Other than Software (the OS) what else must I purchase to set-up the server? (like I said, we have an established network set up already) What must be done on each workstation other than switch workgroup? Will MS Office 2007 work well with Windows Server 2003? (for example, MS Exchange working with Outlook 2007?) Is there a benefit going with the newer Windows Server 2008? (none of us use Vista, and only one uses Mac) There is more, but I'd rather get those established first. I've found some books that I plan on reading ("The Best Damn Windows Server 2003 Book, Period" and "Mastering Windows Server 2003" and "Mastering Microsoft Exchange 2003") and have begun reading tutorials and walktroughs online. One question I answered was one about the "Domain" (I thought that we had to actually purchase a new domain to use...). I was also thinking about this: We are planning to upgrade to a Windows Virtual server to host our Website. What could having both an office server and a virtual private server do for us? Can a connection be made? anyone that can help would be in my debt forever. Thank You! ~Tim

07-08-2008, 03:20 PM	#2 (permalink)
djaburg Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 332 OS: XP SP2	Re: I need help understanding and implementing Server 2003 Might I suggest something, if you don't anticipate exceeding 75 users in the near future, look at getting Small Business Server since it's ideally suited to what you want to do and there are more wizards to help you configure things then you'd fine in the standard server. You'd also find that it's much more cost effective to do it that way and a side benefit is that you'd have a direct upgrade path in the event you achieve substantial growth that exceeds the 75 user limit of SBS. I would recommend NOT taking a standard computer and loading the server OS on it. You'd be better served (no pun intended) using a server specific system that allows you to have AT LEAST mirrored drives for some redundancy and data security. You'll see that you can get a Xeon processor based server pretty cheap that will serve your needs better. As for specifics of domains and hardware, I'd really attempt to learn a bit more so you don't start down a path recommended to you by others and then realize it's not what YOUR specific situation needs. I own my own computer business and although most clients come to me asking what they should do, I take the time to see what THEY are looking to do by going on site and talking to management and users to see what they need. I've not seen to many times that SBS hasn't worked out, other than a client or two that didn't pay attention to the licensing limitations and tried to work around them...which of course didn't work for them. Hope that helps. __________________ Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done. Andy Rooney

07-08-2008, 07:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
tazinlwfl Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Palm Beach Gardens, FL Posts: 58 OS: Vista, XP Pro SP2 My System	Re: I need help understanding and implementing Server 2003 Thanks! You know, I was looking at small business, but I guess my search got mixed up with Office SBS (a bit more expensive than Office Standard) Ideally, we would like to grow to 750 users, because if we need them, that means we're in good shape lol I have read a lot of the books now, and I am confident I can set up and manage well enough to get started (but these forums are here for a reason) are there any features that SBS leaves out from the Standard Server 2003? I have read and watched tutorials on how to tweak Server to allows OS X join in, have you heard anyone use SBS with Macs? And, I was looking up different licensing methods... Platform licensing (Open Value Full Business, i guess?) covers your MS Office, your OS, and your Server (and user CALs) have you (or anyone else, for that matter) dealt with that sort of licensing... CDW (and the like) were no help, and Microsoft's website refuses to give me straight answers... THANKS!! -Tim __________________ Cuil^google

07-09-2008, 09:09 PM	#4 (permalink)
djaburg Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 332 OS: XP SP2	Re: I need help understanding and implementing Server 2003 There are some differences between SBS and full programs, but basically they all revolve around scalability. For example the DB sizes that exchange supports is much smaller than the full product, same with message store size in exchange. Of course there's the obvious limitation on the max number of users. Barring those, virtually all of the capabilities of the server OS remain in tact (barring the desire to have multiple domain controllers on the network). __________________ Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done. Andy Rooney