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Which OS?? SBS2003, WHS, or linux

mcveigh

mcveigh

Diamond Member
OK an old friend of mine has a windows 2K server that's about 6 years old. in the network; 13 computers all Win2K/XP except for 1 Mac.

right now there are 2 folders shared from the server and about 9 computers access the server.
that's it's main job.

the computers are not part of a domain. just the workgroup

it also:
1) controls the anti-virus on the workstations
2) has a tape drive for backups.
3) is the print server for a couple of printers.

I would rather go linux but...... some of his printer vendors come out and upgrade the printer software from the server.

I don't know if WHS would let it be a print server, or how it would handle having more than 10 computers on the network. Only 9 would need to read files from the server though.

I'm thinking my best choice will be SBS2003 mainly because the 3rd party printer people will have to work on it also. Can anyone see a reason to goto another OS?

I really want a small server with 2 RAID1 SATA hard drives. and then an external backup drive.

So far from Dell I can't get anything with onboard raid, they want you to buy add in cards and this thing doesn't need them. I'd also like e-SATA ports

Anyone know a good vendor (on site support) with hardware like the above?

thanks!

 
With 13 client PCs, plus printers, on the network, WHS is probably not a good idea. It's likely you'll run into problems with the ten-connection limit.

I've purchased "stripped" Dell servers in the past, with no RAID controller, and a single drive, and added my own controller and/or drives. You could even run Windows Software RAID 1. Just be sure you keep ongoing backups of the Server's data and OS. Add a Hotswap-compliant SATA controller card and use portable (internal or external) SATA drives for backups.

Frankly, though, if they are going to need onsite manufacturer support of the server, you probably want to get the controller and drives from the server manufacturer. A large percentage of server service issues are drive/controller related.

SBS works great for companies this size.
 
Thanks for the input. The owner doesn't have a problem spending money...I do.
While it's overkill I think SBS will be his best bet.
 
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