Setting up server for small office

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leonb

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Hi

I need some advice in setting up a server for a small office. Its my wifes business and to cut cost I want to attempt this myself. Is this very complicated. I'm fairly knowledgeable around computers and software programs, but no expert.

The office have about 8 people with laptops connected to a very simple network - mainly only supplying access to the internet (via telkom router).

They main reason they require a server is to be able to sync their work folders to a network drive, to be able to access each others work, and also to have a backup if any computer fail or is stolen.

Access to an exchange server will also be a nice to have. Currently all emails between them goes via the service provider.

Any writeup on this somewher. What harware do I need. What software. Keeping in mind I need to keep costs low.

Regards
 
Take a look at SME Server from contribs.org

It can also act as firewall/router if you want to.

It doesn't need a top-of-the-range PC to function, a box with 1GHz CPU and 512Mb RAM will do just fine.

Software RAID is supported, so you can add two or more HDD's to create a RAID configuration. (If you want to do so, then you'll have to up the CPU specs to make up for the processing power used by the RAID).

As for backups it is suggested that you also look at purchasing an external USB drive to copy the data to said drive for backups. Tape backups is also supported by SME server if you want to do tape backups rather.

Good luck :)
 
you don't need a server to allow them to store files, you could get away with a PC or a NAS device. as there is already a network there, a NAS would be needed
 
Listen to the Librarian.

Keep backups in a different area to server/laptops. If you suffer a break-in, there's no point in having all the stuff in one place...

Can such servers cache internet content? That could save you some bandwidth :)
 
As said - a simple NAS device might just work as well... it all depends on your needs and the such. If you don't need virus scanning, a NAS may do the job.

If you do need virus protection then a server will be the way to go.

As Squid is also installed as part of the package, you can cache internet content and save on bandwidth - plus there is also extra add-ons to enhance squid.

But DO keep backups separate. ;) Always. It might be costing a bit extra, but prevention is better than having the company going bankrupt. ;)
 
Depends on the budget really. MS SBS offers everything you need in a single box, but will cost around R12000 for the software. A branded lightweight server with RAID1 could cost around R8000 with 333 support (HP ML1 series, Dell will have similar products). Backups are best done to tape, or DVD depending on the amount of data. Two external drives will do but is more risky than tape.

If budget is tight, then a clone ( although it is a really bad idea, rather pay extra for the tier1, it is better quality and has a lower chance of failure), with Linux, or better yet a purpose built appliance based on Linux (I assume the post above is something like that).

My advice is to get a professional in to assist you, in providing advice and pointing you in the right direction, it need not cost any money. For example, we do not charge for initial customer contact/advice - I assume neither do other companies.
 
rebel998 said:
External HDD was the best investment I made for a while. Backup and chuck in the safe.:D
Click to expand...

Besides the SME server I would have one of those as well, with an eSATA port.
Instead of running around backing up 8 PC's you only backup the server (as it holds all the data or copies of the data) via eSATA port which is much faster and then you take the drive home and put it in the safe. This way you have backup in sepArate locations.
 
For 8 people, invest in a decent setup with at least a Core2Dou / Core2Quad + 4GB RAM + 750GB HDD space, setup in either RAID1 (mirror), or RAID 10 if you have the budget.

Get a decent Intel Motherboard that can also take a 3xxx type XEON CPU, if you need more CPU power on a budget. This setup will go a long way, and last a few years without upgrading. If the motherboard can tak 4x DDRII, or 6x DDRIII memory modules, then an upgrade later will be cheap enough.

Spend some cash on a decent backup solution. A cost effective, and workable solution is to have an external (either via USB, or e-SATA) HDD that you, or one of the other employees take home every day and bring back the next day. If you can, get 2 of these, cause then you can leave one HDD attached to the server to make the backup @ night, and then just swap the 2 the next morning and take it home. It makes restoring files a little bit easier. You could then also have the backups run every hour or so for more critical data. Take a look @ Ahasy Backup software, they have a free version which will work well in this case.

Then, if you don't want to, or can't afford to use Windows, then look at either SME Server 7.4 from http://www.contribs.org, or EBOX, or even OpenFiler (http://www.openfiler.com/) for a quick & easy NAS device.
 
RAID10 is unfortunately not more reliable than RAID1, you can still only guarantee availability in the event of a single disk failure. While it is possible to loose 2 disks and carry on working, if both disks are mirrors of the stripe, increasing the number of disks also increases the chance of a failure.

WRT to performance, the company I am currently at has 350 users on a file server running RAID10 and the disks are hardly stressed, RAID1 should be fine for 8 users.
 
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well, not really. Research, and experience has shown in many cases that more data is lost rebuilding a RAID 5 set, than rebuilding a RAID 10 set.

RAID 10, or rather 1+0 is basically 2, 3 or 4 RAID1 sets stripped together. The nice thing about it is that is makes adding more space much easier.
 
Sorry man, don't want to derail the thread, but could you please provide a link to the research that shows more data is lost with RAID5 rebuild versus RAID10 (who mentioned RAID5 anyway)?

Also, I would be wary of recommending RAID10 as an easy way to add more space, RAID5 space can be increased by adding a single disk, RAID10/01 requires multiple disks....
 
Thanks for info so far. Please give specifics on MB, CPU, HDD, Ram to build this machine.

Can this server computer also be run as workstation for light application like word processing.
 
leonb said:
Thanks for info so far. Please give specifics on MB, CPU, HDD, Ram to build this machine.

Can this server computer also be run as workstation for light application like word processing.
Click to expand...

Rather give us a budget to work with otherwise we are gonna build you castles in the sky ;)

I would not recommend it. You don't want users working on your server and stuffing the whole thing up. Use it as a dedicated server.
 
ponder said:
Rather give us a budget to work with otherwise we are gonna build you castles in the sky ;)

I would not recommend it. You don't want users working on your server and stuffing the whole thing up. Use it as a dedicated server.
Click to expand...

R5000? Is this possible?
 
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