Server setup.

riggs_9mmp said:
just rememer to do a dry run before going into production on a platform you're not used to. feel free to pm frenchi6625 once his ban is lifted. lol.

@ Tsimo: No i have plenty of objections to MS software, although I do still think that XP is the king of the desktops. they are too expensive, simple as that. and bill IS a nitwit, you can't argue. so is alanf.
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WTH happened to him :confused:

He really sounds like he knows his **** no i'll be stuck in the dark
 
1.) Don't use software raid. Use server orientated hardware (server board, reputable raid controller)
2.) SBS can work and prolly will considering you don't need a large license volume and nor huge RAS requirements (load balance, fail-over, etc), but I would highly recommend a strong firewall between the server and the WAN. Redundant PSU (buy a spare hotswop unit) and Raid 5 + hotspare do come to mind if you don't want to worry too much about hardware.
3.) UPS is needed if you like your exchange. A generator is a bonus.
4.) Make a decent active directory group policy that will lock down certain parts of of the domain pc's. (can even change "My doc's" folder to be automagically mapped onto the server)
5.) Please put a little bit of structure into active directory. This makes life easier when implementing policies, restrictions and so forth.
6.) Write down the way things were setup, including passwords and store it in a safe.
7.) Backups! maybe get an RDX (HDD) device, tape or similar to do regular backups (store recent locally and previous off-site, or make duplicates for both... had enough of customers crying cos their stuff did borked) -- The techie you get in will look at you and say something like "Eish! sorry for you!" when things go pear
8.) Maybe install SUS so windows updates are only downloaded once. Get some corporate antivirus as well (email and flash drives are ev0l)
9.) Don't touch the server unless it is really sick. Lock it up in a room, cage, anything that will stop the evil minions from believing that the mysterious box in the corner is a toy. PS, you still want to hear the alarms on the server when a drive/psu is feeling sad and air-conditioning/comfortable environment not only makes people happy, but servers too. :p
 
A few comments if I may:

repitah said:
1.) Don't use software raid. Use server orientated hardware (server board, reputable raid controller) SME does support hardware RAID, but it's software RAID is really fine for the intended purpose.
2.) SBS can work and prolly will considering you don't need a large license volume and nor huge RAS requirements (load balance, fail-over, etc), but I would highly recommend a strong firewall between the server and the WAN. SME is a brilliant firewall. Redundant PSU (buy a spare hotswop unit) and Raid 5 + hotspare do come to mind if you don't want to worry too much about hardware.
3.) UPS is needed if you like your exchange. A generator is a bonus. UPS yes, generator = overkill.
4.) Make a decent active directory group policy that will lock down certain parts of of the domain pc's. (can even change "My doc's" folder to be automagically mapped onto the server) Dude, simplicity is the answer here. SME automatically creates a mapped folder for each user, you can simply change the properties of My Documents to point there. Although then if you're away from the office, your docs will be left behind.
5.) Please put a little bit of structure into active directory. This makes life easier when implementing policies, restrictions and so forth.
6.) Write down the way things were setup, including passwords and store it in a safe. Always a good idea.
7.) Backups! maybe get an RDX (HDD) device, tape or similar to do regular backups (store recent locally and previous off-site, or make duplicates for both... had enough of customers crying cos their stuff did borked) -- The techie you get in will look at you and say something like "Eish! sorry for you!" when things go pear. You can setup and extre SME box to replicate to, but in most cases a USB drive with a scheduled backup (SME does this too) is fine.
8.) Maybe install SUS so windows updates are only downloaded once. Get some corporate antivirus as well (email and flash drives are ev0l) Antivirus on the desktops yes, SUS no. You don't want ALL the Windows updates on your desktops, trust me. Rather download Autopatcher and deploy them manually once a month, and only the really critical ones. Windows updates will slow your machines down over time because of all the rubbish it installs. I've seen this over and over and over. SME has built in virus scanning for the server and email, it does not however have enterprise wide deployable AV like the Trend products. I think there is a contrib that does this though, havn't tried.
9.) Don't touch the server unless it is really sick. Lock it up in a room, cage, anything that will stop the evil minions from believing that the mysterious box in the corner is a toy. PS, you still want to hear the alarms on the server when a drive/psu is feeling sad and air-conditioning/comfortable environment not only makes people happy, but servers too. :p Agreed. your SME also will not need a screen keyboard and mouse, except at install time, so lock it up somewhere - with proper ventilation of course.
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Software raid is nice until it breaks. I'd still go for hardware. if the card breaks, most modern cards can import the previous raid-set with little to no fuss. Less things to go wrong IMO. Hardware raid + BBU (to enable cache) = really nice performance and safety.

I'd still keep a firewall (seperate device/box) between the wan (think an ISP used to provide one on their business adsl, but having your own isn't a bad idea) and the server. A honeypot (additional toy the hackers might enjoy) is nice if you an a retired box lying around.

SME might be really cool to use, but not everybody knows linux. So simplicity would prolly be a win2k3svr + SBS. Windows can pretty much be setup by a semi-trained, half-witted monkey (maybe not wise though). Don't know about SME, but I think it requires more skillz.

Yeah SUS can be annoying, but I'd rather take my chances, unless you want a sysadmin full-time.
 
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I have to support bleeding SBS - it's prolly far more than will ever be needed by an organisation that size - and it's a real pain to setup, maintain and backup.

With the benefit of hindsight I'd go with something like SME or a custom linux/oss setup.
 
once again, the setup of SME is so simple a child could do it, and the whole thing is managed through a web interface. check it out and post some comments. we all know SBS and Win2K3 server, take a look at some other options.
 
SME 7.1 actually looks basic enough (just ran through the screenshots). WebGUI does look easy, making the box appliance like. Nice intro to swervers, plug and plug OS.

I would love to see if it picks up my hardware like SLES10 and openfiler/freenas

Definitely need to play with it in the lab when I get time.
 
please post results here guys, this OS rocks and needs a bit more exposure locally.
 
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