Hi Matt,
Good comments, thanks. We do each have our own computers and each person does have their own files on their own computer- in fact each computer config and software is quite specific. Each person does require different configs, and we have not had turn around in almost 5 years. He share maybe 10 files amongst and perhaps 2 files require input from 4 users. I used to work in a much bigger environment and I had rollover for AD so that when it hiccups users at any location can still sign onto the network. We have hosted solution for email, calendaring, contacts and Blackberry sync . I will look into the SBS server. Good suggestion thanks. Does anyone have pure linux environment?
Thanks for the opinions Matt
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by: tigermattPosted on 2009-07-27 at 09:40:14ID: 24953352
If you install a server in a workgroup, you lose the benefits of an Active Directory environment - central management, a central user configuration, the ability for users to roam between machines and Group Policy.
In my opinion any network with more than 1 machine should have an Active Directory deployment.
If your server is configured and deployed properly, it should not go down very often. You should purchase SERVER grade hardware, with a RAID array and maybe redundant power supplies. If the Active Directory environment is deployed per best practices, the server should rarely have to be taken down during production hours.
You can take away Active Directory, but you lose many of the benefits it offers. If you address the root problem - a misconfigured server - you will gain a more stable network and still retain Active Directory.
For 6 users, have you considered an SBS server? This is much easier to maintain and configure, and also includes an Exchange license as standard.
-Matt