Need help for charity server setup please!

angelavdavis

Hi all,

I'm hoping some of your technies with more up to date technology knowledge than me might be able to help me out.

I am helping a local charity as a volunteer to set up a new network.

They have recently increased their staffing from 3 to 5 staff (plus up to 5 volunteers) and their current IT setup isn't sufficient any more.

I managed to get a grant to purchase 5 new PCs which are currently connected to a very old PC which acts as a file server through simple file sharing. I also purchased a domain for them, set up their web site, got them setup on the domain email (and am weaning them off using their btinternet email so we can eventually shop around for bb suppliers). The only security is via the PCs and the users save their confidential work on their C drives (not secure I appreciate but these are now backed up individually using comodo as below).

In addition, when I discovered they didn't have any backup facility, I set up comodo backup going into dropbox. A free although limited solution for the moment. I can dial into the "server" pc using my copy of logmein so I am not constantly called over when the backup fails for some reason.

We now have funding for a server which I would like to use as a file, print and email server. Currently their email uses outlook connected via pop3 and as some of the PCs are laptops, we can't set out of office messages as (for security purposes) we don't leave the laptops out on the desks at night.

We are able to get charity priced software, but I am lacking in current MS server software knowledge.

I think we need MS Datacentre server (to run 2 instances of MS Server on one machine), Plus MS Server 2003 x2 (£27+Vat), MS Exchange Enterprise (£186+vat). I also assume in addition to the above, I will also need to buy user cals for ms server x2 and exchange?

The PCs are running XP Pro and Vista. The network is a wireless one.

I will then be purchasing a small business sized server PC probably from Dell and using Mozy as an online backup.

Does this sound correct to you guys? Thanks in advance.

rhythmsoup

Have you considered going the Linux route? Its free and depending on what applications you need and what the charity need to do, you could save a whole heap of cash as Linux is free plus all the software is too. Theres a lot of schools and charities who have gone this route to save money.

Heres the Ubuntu website (one of the most popular current "flavours" of linux)

http://www.ubuntu.com/

There are also local commuinity teams who can help people like you, most of whom are volunteers and have experience setting systems up that do what you are doing.

Its really not that hard to get things up and running and definitely worth a shot especially if your charity needs to save money.

John_Gray

angelavdavis wrote: »

I think we need MS Datacentre server (to run 2 instances of MS Server on one machine), Plus MS Server 2003 x2 (£27+Vat), MS Exchange Enterprise (£186+vat). I also assume in addition to the above, I will also need to buy user cals for ms server x2 and exchange?

I'm not sure why you "need MS Datacentre server (to run 2 instances of MS Server on one machine)". Why not run one copy of WS2008R2 with Exchange 2010 Standard (why Enterprise?) on top? Yes, you'll probably need a few more user CALs than the five you get free (with each product) - they're only £1/£2 each.

Alternatively, why not look at Small Business Server 2008 Standard Edition? Lots of stuff in there for one price! (Our charity uses the Premium version, on two servers, but ignore Forefront. Terminal Server/SQL Server on the second.)

The really important thing to note on buying MS software from CTX is that you can only buy once per year, so you must buy all you need first time round, and get it right! So work out if you need Office 2010 too. And so on, and so forth...

tronator

angelavdavis wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm hoping some of your technies with more up to date technology knowledge than me might be able to help me out.

I am helping a local charity as a volunteer to set up a new network.
...

Since it's for a charity, I would go the Linux route as well. But I wouldn't recommend Ubuntu for a server. You should use CentOS (a re-branded and free RedHat Enterprise) instead. Then set up a Samba PDC and that's your Windows network sorted. It might be a problem to use a wireless network with roaming profiles. You should either use network cables or don't run the Samba server as PDC, just create normal network shares on it...

As for your email, if you don't need shared contacts and calendars a standard IMAP server will do. If you need them, you could use Gmail for Business (or however it's called). Or have a look at Zimbra. The free open source edition does all the shared calendar and contact stuff and much much more, but doesn't come with the Outlook connector. The paid version has the Outlook connector and ActiveSync support (nice if you have an iPhone). Maybe they have a discount for charities too. The only downside is that Zimbra needs it's own server, but you could run it in a Virtualbox VM. If you buy a new server anyway, it should be capable of doing it.

S0litaire

If you "Have" to use Microsoft then grab a copy of "Small Business Server" it's very simple to set-up and keep running (but does needs constant attention for updates and housekeeping!)

But if you have the option and access to the skills then Linux + Google Apps for business (they have a charity discount) is probably the best way to go.

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en-GB/nonprofit/index.html

closed

Seems a complicated solution just for out of office messages which can probably be set using the BT webmail settings.

Networked printer, and some form of nas device or just a normal pc with a mapped drive is much easier to maintain.

angelavdavis

John_Gray wrote: »

Alternatively, why not look at Small Business Server 2008 Standard Edition? Lots of stuff in there for one price! (Our charity uses the Premium version, on two servers, but ignore Forefront. Terminal Server/SQL Server on the second.)

Thanks for this John, I discovered Small Business Server after I posted. My only problem is that we will only have one server performing two functions (the existing file server is really on its last legs and not beefy enough to run any sort of server OS). Looking at SBS it looks like it is better suited to organisations with two servers(?)

Understand your point about CTX, I have already put down additional Office licences!

closed, they were using BT webmail but I want to move them away from BT as they are paying through the nose for a poor service from them. I understand where you are coming from about keeping things simple, but their requirements are more sophisticated than their current setup which is as you describe. They need to be able to share diaries and contacts, etc.

s0litaire, rhythmsoup and tronator - thanks for your responses. I can see where you are coming from with linux and will be moving their website across to wordpress in order to cut costs, but I simply don't have time to learn a whole different operating system sadly.

John_Gray

angelavdavis wrote: »

Thanks for this John, I discovered Small Business Server after I posted. My only problem is that we will only have one server performing two functions (the existing file server is really on its last legs and not beefy enough to run any sort of server OS). Looking at SBS it looks like it is better suited to organisations with two servers(?)

Unless I'm much mistaken, the Standard Edition will run adequately well on an appropriately configured server - adequate grunt with a few Xeons, and however much memory you can afford. 16 GB would be nice (we are over-configured with 24 GB, but, hey, who's counting?!). It's a Dell T410, if I remember correctly. The C: drive is RAID-1, the data is RAID-5 (or maybe 6, I forget). The first server acts as File and Print server, and runs Exchange, plus a copy of SQL Server. And we do backup to NAS via BackupAssist ('check out' Single Instance Store), and Rsync to a remote old server at our second site (or will, once I've finally sorted it out!).

It is probably worth you paying for an SBS expert to set up your server whose everyday job this is; once it's set up you can take it over and run it. You will need to get familiar with Active Directory (if you aren't already) and the mysteries of Exchange 2007, and how it doesn't integrate as tightly with AD as did Exchange 2003... Once it's set up you can take it over and run it.

(Yes, I don't have enough life left to learn yet another new server operating system...)