How do I set up a...

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

A feature that you don't personally need is not a worthless feature. Nor is a feature you don't personally need 'fluff'. That would be like me saying Linux is a piece of shi!t because I don't have any use for it.

And people do say that about Linux, but that's not what I meant. I guess I assumed that people would take the "IMO" and expand that to also mean "to me" at the end of the sentence. And I do consider most of Exchange's features fluff since they're not needed for any of the core functionality. I can definitely see some uses for most of them, but not really for a home user which is where this thread started out. And some don't make sense at all, for instance why should the server have any ActiveSync features? That's a client-side thing and should stay on the client.

Obligatory :thumbsup:

 

[Rilex]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
And some don't make sense at all, for instance why should the server have any ActiveSync features? That's a client-side thing and should stay on the client.

Okay, so you make it pretty clear you have no exposure to Exchange, at least Exchange 2003, with your ActiveSync comment. I suppose that explains your attitude.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/actsyncfaq.mspx

 

[stash]

Connecting your mobile device to your PC to sync Exchange data is so 2003 dude.

 

[RebateMonger]

SBS 2003 would be a really close match to the OP's requirements. If you can wait a month or two, you may find a Dell or Gateway low-end server, with SBS 2003 Standard Edition pre-installed, for a TOTAL of $600 or so. Considering that XP Professional retails for nearly $300, it's a pretty hot deal. Otherwise, Newegg.com has SBS 2003 Standard Edition for around $450.

Roaming profiles are pretty easy to implement with SBS (and Windows Server), although, with all roaming profiles, you need to keep your desktop small if you don't want to experience long login times. Exchange is a DREAM to use in SBS. Some of my SBS Consultant friends have near-zero knowledge of Exchange's workings and still manage to keep their clients' Exchange Servers running reliably.

As noted, the biggest mistake for many first-time SBS installers is not reading the directions. For someone doing his/her own SBS implementation, I STRONGLY recommend following Harry Brelsford's "SBS 2003 Best Practices" book. Jeez...I should get a kickback from Harry for as many times as I recommend his book.

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
with all roaming profiles, you need to keep your desktop small if you don't want to experience long login times

Windows will cache the roaming profile and only downloads changes from the server. So the OP and throw a bunch of junk on his desktop, and he'll have one long login when he switches computers, but if the files rarely change then subsequent logins will be snappy-ish.

 

[Nothinman]

Okay, so you make it pretty clear you have no exposure to Exchange, at least Exchange 2003, with your ActiveSync comment. I suppose that explains your attitude.

Many things contribute to my attitude, but it's true I didn't know about the ActiveSync stuff in Exchange 2003. And the idea does seem kinda cool but it requires a device that I don't own, and probably never will, and a pretty hefty licensing fee to use.

Connecting your mobile device to your PC to sync Exchange data is so 2003 dude.

Whatever, I'm more interested in a simple, free solution than one that implements whatever the buzzword of the day happens to be.

And I'm going to bow out of this conversation now because this isn't going anywhere and there's virtually no chance of you convincing me that it would be worth my time and money to migrate to it.

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: stash
Connecting your mobile device to your PC to sync Exchange data is so 2003 dude.

My Horde server handles SyncML just fine.

 

[stash]

Whatever, I'm more interested in a simple, free solution than one that implements whatever the buzzword of the day happens to be.

Yeah ticking that checkbox is overly complex And buzzword? I don't know if you've noticed but the mobile world is white hot these days. Treos and Qs and other smartphones (yummy - Samsung i320) are flying out of the stores, mainly because there is a huge demand for wireless email and calendar access.

And IT folks and PHBs love them because they can do the same thing that they were able to do with Blackberry but with more choices, less complexity, and much less cost. If you want to talk about a complex and expensive mobile solution, check out BES.

And I'm going to bow out of this conversation now because this isn't going anywhere and there's virtually no chance of you convincing me that it would be worth my time and money to migrate to it.

Back to your cave

I'm not trying to convince you to use Exchange or whatever. I couldn't give a rat's ass what you use. But you need to realize that your needs don't necessarily represent most people. And if you think EAS doesn't offer some very tangible benefits that are in high demand right now, you need to open your eyes and look around.

 

[stash]

Originally posted by: cleverhandle

Originally posted by: stash
Connecting your mobile device to your PC to sync Exchange data is so 2003 dude.

My Horde server handles SyncML just fine.

That's cool....what's the management story like? Can you set PIN/password and other policies on the devices? Can you do remote wipe? Is the traffic encrypted?

Unless it can do the above, it will never gain a foothold in the corporate world.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Brazen

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
with all roaming profiles, you need to keep your desktop small if you don't want to experience long login times

Windows will cache the roaming profile and only downloads changes from the server. So the OP and throw a bunch of junk on his desktop, and he'll have one long login when he switches computers, but if the files rarely change then subsequent logins will be snappy-ish.

I've never gotten a convincing answer about exactly what is/isn't cached with Roaming Profiles in Windows Server. I always assumed it cached stuff, but I've seen folks arguing over this.

I just came from a 20-person office with Roaming Profiles enabled. An employee logged me into one of the desktop PCs. IT TOOK TEN MINUTES TO LOG ON! She told me that was pretty typical in their office.

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: stash
That's cool....what's the management story like? Can you set PIN/password and other policies on the devices? Can you do remote wipe? Is the traffic encrypted?

Unless it can do the above, it will never gain a foothold in the corporate world.

Yes, and as has been pointed out repeatedly in this thread, the OP is asking about a home server. As Nothinman has already said, Exchange can do lots of cool things that Unix solutions can't (or can't without tremendous hacking). But I don't see how any of those features are useful for a home server.

I'm not dissing SBS as a choice here. Not at all. You can get a 5 license copy for $400 at the Egg. That's not outrageously priced (though it's not exactly cheap either). It's certainly much easier to set up than a stack of Unix components. Personally, I like the flexibility of the Unix solution, the ability to swap out components depending on my needs, and the overall transparency of the system. But that's me. I can see SBS as a great choice for convenience, but I have a hard time seeing what it could do for a home server that Unix could not.

 

[stash]

Yes, and as has been pointed out repeatedly in this thread, the OP is asking about a home server.

I know that This is what we call a tangent.

 

[JackMDS]

Quote:
Yes, and as has been pointed out repeatedly in this thread, the OP is asking about a home server.

LOL.

Nevertheless, this notion does not fit to the...

1. The Linux crowd agenda.

2. The people that need posts to advance their Forum Status.

3. The people that need to prove that they are very knowledgeable even it means side tracking the OP.

4. People like me that like to make general comments.

5. People with Good Intentions, that do not know what they are talking about.

6 People with Bad Intentions that might know, or do not know, what they are talking about.

7. Msc.

:sun:

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: Brazen

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
with all roaming profiles, you need to keep your desktop small if you don't want to experience long login times

Windows will cache the roaming profile and only downloads changes from the server. So the OP and throw a bunch of junk on his desktop, and he'll have one long login when he switches computers, but if the files rarely change then subsequent logins will be snappy-ish.

I've never gotten a convincing answer about exactly what is/isn't cached with Roaming Profiles in Windows Server. I always assumed it cached stuff, but I've seen folks arguing over this.

I just came from a 20-person office with Roaming Profiles enabled. An employee logged me into one of the desktop PCs. IT TOOK TEN MINUTES TO LOG ON! She told me that was pretty typical in their office.

That could have been any number of things. I admin'd an office of probably about 20, that was like in 2002 but anyway, and I set them up with roaming profiles. They were the typical user, putting way to much junk on their desktop, and logins took like 10 seconds or so, just typical login in times, unless someone dumped a whole bunch of new stuff on their desktop, then yeah it would take a while, but that was not the norm, and this small crowd was bright enough to understand this issue.

Anyway, fast forward to 2004 when I started at my current place of employment as the server admin. This is company of about 400 users and when I first got here, logins took like 5 minutes, at least, with NO roaming profiles. A number of things have helped to reduce this time, but the biggest issue was their log in scripts. Apparently the previous guy knew nothing about group policy and put everything in these custom login scripts. Some scripts even undid changes made by other scripts (he apparently forgot what all he put in his scripts as he kept adding junk). So anyway, I trimmed down the scripts and moved most of the scripted settings into GPOs, and now logins are like 10 or 20 seconds.

 

[jlbenedict]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

500 bucks is a "huge" licensing fee?

For a non-profit home server? Hell yea! Especially when I can get arguably better software for free. And I don't remember the specifics but I know that SBS is limited in certain ways compared to 'normal' Windows Server + Exchange.

If its non-profit, OP should get the MS Action Pack. Comes with SBS 2003
MS Action Pack = $299

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
If its non-profit, OP should get the MS Action Pack. Comes with SBS 2003
MS Action Pack = $299

The requirements for purchasing an MS Action Pack have nothing to do with being a Non-Profit. You have to be a Microsoft Partner and have to agree to MS' conditions, which are stated on their web site. Basically, you are supposed to be in the IT business. (Or a CPA, if you join the MS Professional Accountant's program).

You have to continue paying the $300 per year to continue the licensing of the software. If you quit the program, you have to remove all the software and destroy the media. It's a great program for those who are in the IT business, but it's not intended for a home user or a non-IT business.

 

[skyking]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
If its non-profit, OP should get the MS Action Pack. Comes with SBS 2003
MS Action Pack = $299

The requirements for purchasing an MS Action Pack have nothing to do with being a Non-Profit. You have to be a Microsoft Partner and have to agree to MS' conditions, which are stated on their web site. Basically, you are supposed to be in the IT business. (Or a CPA, if you join the MS Professional Accountant's program).

You have to continue paying the $300 per year to continue the licensing of the software. If you quit the program, you have to remove all the software and destroy the media. It's a great program for those who are in the IT business, but it's not intended for a home user or a non-IT business.

Thank you for clearing that up for the lazy (me )