I have a friend who is starting his own law practice. He wants to take a 3-4 year old Gateway desktop computer and set it up as an internal server. He wants to set up his own email service, storage and maintain a basic website. He has asked me if the computer he has is sufficient for the task (I told him I though it was, it has 1GB RAM and 100 GB Hard drive) and what program would best serve his needs. I believe it would be MS Exchange Server. Can anybody confirm or deny that? If you believe it is best are there more than one versions and which would be best if so? If you think there is a better product can you tell me which one and why you think it is better? Many thanks.
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He can use the Old gateway machine to run windows xp and Mailer daemon on it (but he still would have to maintain it himself) I have seen companies happy with Mailer daemon with 5-10 users - does the job.
However on exchange you have mobility features
it all depends on the budget and company's growth expectations.
If your friend wants to cut corners to that extent then he will have cardiac arrest when he sees the price of Exchange :)
- I would suggest for for a busines that size Microsoft Small business server (which includes Exchange)
http://www.micros
Look at the miniumum install specs and your PC does not even come close - if you are "doing things on the cheap" Look at HP Proliant 110 or 115, or a cheap Dell Power edge
Thanks for the input. I hope I didn't misrepresent what he is trying to do. He does not want to cut corners but as I said he is starting out so money is an issue. He does not want to use shared or hosted services because of the nature of his business. He wants to sure he has sole access to the client files and emails. I have texted him to find out his budget and will post it when he responds. Thanks again.
I am sure your friend would be able to get a dell starter server with SBS 2008 on it (that would be new, with warranty etc)
I would suggest is to contact dell and see what they have to offer, they might also offer some kind of installment option and he can go for like 1500 deposit and a very low monthly fee which will cover the cost of the server in a few months.
contact dell http://www.dell.com/conten
If you want to do it right, go with Small Business Server. 2008 is the latest which includes Exchange 2007. Do him a favor and tell him NOT to try to use the 3-4 year old workstation. If he doesn't want to cut corners or get totally frustrated trying to run a server on old workstation hardware with not enough memory or hard drive then the new OS and hardware is the choice. Additionally, I wouldn't buy a server from Dell and expect it to be configured right. I have always had to redo their installs when they attempted to do them for clients of mine. It's ok to buy from Dell, just don't rely on them to preconfigure it properly. Find a local support company who knows SBS and go with their recommendation. Get references or referrals depending on how you find the company. Where area are you in and I'd be happy to see if there is a Small Business Specialist in your area.
Thanks to all - I am in agreement that SB Server looks to be the way to go but cost contraints are a major issue for him. Do you think MS Home Server along with some stand alone email server might work and save him cost? He also mentioned seeing an HP Mediaserver at Best Buy for $800. Any input on that? He sent me the following link which is where he is getting some of his ideas:
http://www.borrowedladder.
If it's just him now, it is almost crazy to set up a network at this point unless he wants to have the infrastructure in when he expands his practice. If he wants to do that, then I stick with my statement of doing it right and using Small Business Server. The cost for a 5-user Small Business Server Standard license is $1,089 plus the cost of the hardware plus the cost to configure and install. If he is ok waiting to add the server until after he has a need for it then this is what I would do.
1. Buy a Drobo (drobo.com) or similar for storing files. Two reasons for this. The drobo has fault tolerance for protection. Additionally it gets him used to story files in a network envirionment.
2. Register a domain name for email and web presence.
3. Sign up for a hosted exchange account. Cost is generally about $10-%15 a month. This will make it easier to migrate to SBS/Exchange later.
4 Sign up for a website at weebly.com. It's free, doesn't require a web designer and with their wizards is easy to use. Tip: Just create a subdomain at weebly then use your registrar's domain control to forward your domain to your subdomain at weebly.com instead of having them register the domain for you.
5. Sign up for online backups at http://www.datadepositbox.
6. Make sure he is running XP Pro or Vista Business on his workstation (stay away from the Home flavors) so that he can use Remote Desktop from outside his business. Forward port 3389 from his router to his PC to enable it.
Your cliient now has Exchange, remote connectivity, a professional web presence and fault tauleant storage with offsite backup for minimal cost. When he's ready to move up and bring Exchange in house, the pain will be minimal. If you wanted to save him more money, Skip step 1 and just store files locally on his PC or use that 3-4 year old PC in a workgroup environment but do not skip step 5. Additionally if you want to save the cost of Hosted Exchange, use Google Apps for free by signing up at http://www.google.com/apps
Good luck!
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by: phrontistePosted on 2009-10-12 at 07:26:37ID: 25551504
For Exchange Server 2007, he would need a 64BIT hardware, if you can check to make sure whether the computer is 64bit or 32bit, (i don't think it will be a 64bit);
If he is not interested in investing into new hardware, I would suggest is to go for hosted exchange email services
http://www.microsoft.com/o
or you can google for other providers of hosted exchange services.
If they are starting up with 5 or more employees and if they want to invest (which would always be a good option) they can go for Small business server 2008 (which comes with exchange and other features) though he would have to invest in new hardware ; normally dell servers with license may cost around 1500 USD and above (I am not sure off the price).
As I said above, go for the hosted exchange services, which will give him powerful email/calendering options - if they are starting with 2 or 3 employees.