Windows 2003 Server Setup

[Sl33py]

Hi
I am doing support for a company with a Windows 2003 Domain. The server needs to be upgraded.
I have never done a Server installation from scratch so I need some help please. They use the server to log on and do access their files. That is it.

They have roaming profiles enabled at the moment but don’t need to be able to log on to different PC.
Is there a benefit in using roaming profiles I am not aware off?

There are 15 PC on the Network. What hardware spec should I look at?
Is there a step by step guide one can follow for a basic server setup?

Is it true that Win 7 does not have the 10 network connection limit? Maybe I should then just get
Win 7 Pro PC and create a share for each user and put security on that folder for them?

 

[Conradl]

Answers in bold:

They have roaming profiles enabled at the moment but don’t need to be able to log on to different PC.
Is there a benefit in using roaming profiles I am not aware off? -

Depends on what you know? Roaming profiles are only useful if users log onto different machines and require the same settings as they move around. If you want to host all data in a central location to facilitate backups, then rather use consider using redirected folders.

There are 15 PC on the Network. What hardware spec should I look at?

Go small, Server 2008 Standard, 2-4 gigs of RAM and a dual core processor is fine for a file server. Consider a slightly lower spec'd HP server, a 1xx series, rather than a higher spec clone.

Is there a step by step guide one can follow for a basic server setup?

Depends on the setup, its really easy to set up the server. What services do you need? If its just file server/AD server:

Build new server
DCPROMO to DC
Install and configure DNS
Create file share
Configure permissions/groups
Map drives to users

Is it true that Win 7 does not have the 10 network connection limit? Maybe I should then just get
Win 7 Pro PC and create a share for each user and put security on that folder for them?

No. The half open connection limit was removed, but there is still a limit to prevent the machine from being used as a server.