SBS 2003 redundant - what now?

[PaulWW]

Greetings,

We have been running a SBS2003 for a fair while now. We use the server for exchange, as a file server and to run SQL2005 for Pastel Evolution.

This was all implemented when we had 15 users.

We are currently only two users

Considering that our installation is a bit long in the tooth, our user count has changed and that SBS2003 will be unsupported by Microsoft as from March 2015.

What we need is;

Email
File server/sharing
SQL to run Pastel Evolution

 

[Cray]

http://www.cio.com/article/2379376/small-business/small-business-how-to-run-your-business-without-microsoft-small-business-server.html

Microsoft would like you to purchase Windows Server 2012 Essentials, the product it has positioned as a replacement for SBS. Essentials is quite a different animal altogether, though.

For one thing, it provides out-of-the-box support for just 25 users (and 50 devices.) If you have more than that, you must purchase the full-blown Windows Server 2012 Standard edition.

More importantly, one key attractions of SBS has been removed: Essentials doesn't include Exchange at all. For that functionality, you're expected to subscribe to Microsoft Office 365, use a hosted Exchange service or buy and run your own Exchange server on a separate physical box — all at an additional cost.

 

[Electron1]

Move your email to office 365 as Cray mentioned.
Pastel can be run on a workstation as long as you install sql or consider as a server would be costly for just 2 users, but depends on growth,. Server 2012 R@ running essentials is a good option but may be overkill.

If you are in Joburg and need assistance drop me a PM as I support small businesses.

 

[PaulWW]

Thanks Electron1, I am Cape Town based though.

How moving everything onto Office 365 and running Evolution on the existing server?

 

[Electron1]

Sure you can use existing server for evolution, but you are running at a higher risk as server 2003 is out of support and your hardware is probably getting old. Make sure you have regular and multiple backups of all data including the Pastel backups.
Check that backups are accessible as well, so that if disaster strikes you can actually recover your data.

 

[Cray]

Sure you can use existing server for evolution, but you are running at a higher risk as server 2003 is out of support and your hardware is probably getting old. Make sure you have regular and multiple backups of all data including the Pastel backups.
Check that backups are accessible as well, so that if disaster strikes you can actually recover your data.

An additional problem with Server 2003 being out of support is the possibility of security holes being discovered. Any major issues that might now get discovered on Windows 2003 will not be patched by Microsoft. The OS is 12 years old, time to move on

 

[Sparhawk]

You could also look at an Azure deployment.

http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/

Together with Office 365 all your needs would be sorted. You would need to find a Azure specialist in CPT though, their are a few of them, one i know is a company called NBConsult, based in Tygervalley.

 

[Matthysk]

I would love to get some suggestions on this too.

I'm a software dev but a client of mine was quoted over R 60 000 to replace their SBS 2003 machine (hardware, software and installation). That seems way too high to me.

The machine is basically used as an email server and file server. We might want to deploy a small internal website on it using MySQL and one of the opensource webservers.

Performance requirements are not high and I think consumer hardware is fine.

The quote includes about R 9 500 for labour (8.75 hours).
Over R 20 000 for INTEL CANOE PASS SERVER SYSTEM
R 9 590 for MS SERVER 2012 R2 STANDARD (Essential is obviously enough)
R 2 067 for MS WINDOWS SERVER 2012 5 USER CAL
R 345 MONTHLY for email accounts on office 365

 

[The_Unbeliever]

I would love to get some suggestions on this too.

I'm a software dev but a client of mine was quoted over R 60 000 to replace their SBS 2003 machine (hardware, software and installation). That seems way too high to me.

The machine is basically used as an email server and file server. We might want to deploy a small internal website on it using MySQL and one of the opensource webservers.

Performance requirements are not high and I think consumer hardware is fine.

The quote includes about R 9 500 for labour (8.75 hours).
Over R 20 000 for INTEL CANOE PASS SERVER SYSTEM
R 9 590 for MS SERVER 2012 R2 STANDARD (Essential is obviously enough)
R 2 067 for MS WINDOWS SERVER 2012 5 USER CAL
R 345 MONTHLY for email accounts on office 365

1. Must it be Microsoft?
2. If not, take a look at ClearOS. It have everything you need. MySQL etc. Another distro worth looking at is SME Server. You can use Samba for file/printer sharing if your security requirements are not too strict, or doesn't need to be fine tuned. If you're fine with read/read+write/no access for users, then this will be fine. However, if you need Microsoft SQL, then this won't work for you.

Good luck.

 

[PsYTraNc3]

I would love to get some suggestions on this too.

I'm a software dev but a client of mine was quoted over R 60 000 to replace their SBS 2003 machine (hardware, software and installation). That seems way too high to me.

The machine is basically used as an email server and file server. We might want to deploy a small internal website on it using MySQL and one of the opensource webservers.

Performance requirements are not high and I think consumer hardware is fine.

The quote includes about R 9 500 for labour (8.75 hours).
Over R 20 000 for INTEL CANOE PASS SERVER SYSTEM
R 9 590 for MS SERVER 2012 R2 STANDARD (Essential is obviously enough)
R 2 067 for MS WINDOWS SERVER 2012 5 USER CAL
R 345 MONTHLY for email accounts on office 365

Everything but the office 365 pricing is decent.
You should have an option to pay for the licencing for 365 business premium directly through Microsoft.
They are putting a massive markup on it.

365 Business Premium
Email with 50 GB mailbox
1 TB file storage and sharing
HD video conferencing
Full, installed Office on PC/Mac
Office apps on tablets and phones
R142.50 per user per month

 

[Matthysk]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your feedback.

If it was for me I would use GNU/Linux no question. My client, however, would like to stick to Windows as that is what they know well and what their providers support etc.

Is a rate of almost R 1000 per hour close to the industry standard for windows sys-admins?

The quoted amount for Office 365 is for 5 mailboxes. I'll look at the advertised price from microsoft to compare.

 

[Electron1]

Pastel can be run on a virtual machine hosted in a datacenter. You don't have the capital layout for the server or operating system, and it becomes a monthly operational expense that you pay for the server. The pastel users will need to use Remote Desktop licences to connect to the server and run their pastel sessions locally on the server.
Office 365 includes sharepoint for internal website and document management, but you have to choose your plan carefully. If you have experience with exchange you can manage email yourself or use a partner to assist.
Huge benefits for reliability and availability even during loadshedding as long as you have an internet connection and power (battery for laptop).

Running costs will be higher obviously you don't have old hardware / operating system issues and the server will be monitored 24/7 for you. There is a lot of planning to do a migration like this including backup and maintenance for the virtual server.

I am a windows sys admin and I would love to be charging R1000 an hour. That does seem excessive, It may be that they have included project management and planning that are not reflected in the 8,5 hours.
The 8,5 hours is probably only the windows server migration, not office 365 rollout.