need exchange server advice

[mbaldi]

we have 3 offices. when the remote domain went down our local network went down. the other 2 offices didnt cause they have an exchange server. so i guess it was assigning ips or something. i really have no clue but now we have to get one here.

so now i gotta pick one of these out, from dell. we get all our stuff there so dont suggest something else i dont want to deal with convincing to buy else where. i have no clue what to get. right now our file server has a 100gb drive for the os and programs, 100gb for our backups, and a 300gb for our working files. 100gb is more then we need for os and programs so i will probably be looking at smaller faster drive for that. 300gb working file drive im thinking maybe bigger and raid or something? backups should be bigger i think as well doesnt need to be fast as it happens in middle of night when no one is here.

we have 3 people pulling files but have room in the office for up to 7. files range in size from small txt files to 500gb images. mostly just 1 mb to 60 mb files though.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: mbaldi
...i really have no clue....

While I and others can attempt to give you advice, a 3-office networking setup is fairly advanced stuff. If there is no one qualified in networking and server technology, then I suggest you borrow a qualified consultant for a bit. Otherwise, you are likely to spend a lot of money without getting what you really need for effectiveness, reliability, and data security.

And, no, you likely don't need another Exchange Server.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

It sounds like your other offices were using MS Small Business server which does DC functionality as well as Exchange server for I "believe" up to 50 users. But as rebate said, this is not an easy thing to setup if you dont have prior experience, hell its difficult enough if you DO have experience. You should really hire a consultant for a few days.