Windows Server 2003 Small Business Edition

[XxPrOdiGyxX]

I have a friend who's uncle wants us to install and configure his network. Both of us have no experience in networking or configuring networks. My technical is background is as a software developer and about a year as a part-time computer technician. The uncle wants us to configure a network for 15 workstations and get exchange, active directory, and sharepoint working. Is this a extremely difficult proposition or is it doable with some self-study?

Update: My friend and I decided to deploy this network ourselves after talking with a couple people with experience. SBS edition is probably far easier than the standard Server 2003 bu it wasn't as easy as I hoped but we finished everything that was necessary within about 3 days. Now, how much do we quote them without going overboard? I know his uncle is willing to pay but I'm not sure how much to charge him. When he got an estimate from an actual company he was quoted somewhere in the range of $10-12,000. I'd say we worked a total of about 24-30 hours.

This is what we ended up doing:
- Backups on all workstations
- Migration of data
- Install and configure the server
- Configure Exchange
- Set up active directory
- Set up a file server
- Set up VPN
- Misc. application installations (i.e. Quickbooks Enterprise Edition, etc.)

 

[RebateMonger]

Read Harry Brelsford's initial SBS 2003 book: SBS 2003 Best Practices. DO NOT get the "advanced book". It's way beyond what you want right now.

You likely get faster results by hiring an SBS-Certified consultant to help you with the install. He/she can help you with things like Domain design, routing, setting up public DNS records. You can do the legwork and learn how it's done.

If/when you later have questions, you'll have a professional who's familiar with your network already. He/she can also help you pick important things like backup methods and make hardware choices. I find that folks who specify their own servers tend to overbuy and get inappropriate hardware.

 

[kevnich2]

My recommendation, hire someone who can handle this. If you do it and mess things up (very likely), you'll be held responsible. Like rebatemonger says, at the very minimum, hire someone who knows what they're doing to "assist" you while you look on as to what is going on and learn a little.

 

[440sixpack]

Rebatemonger gives solid advice - I have that book, and it is pretty good (although not updated to the R2 release, but close enough to work with). It is feasible doing it yourself, I did it for my business with no previous client/server experience, but there were some pitfalls and false starts, and since I am the co-owner of the business, my job is not on the line if I screw something up.

That said, it is a very small network (5 users) and I am sure there are things I have setup incorrectly and I try to avoid looking in the event logs where there are lots or red x's I don't have time to investigate. If email and file sharing works, we're in good shape, but going much beyond that I am still in the dark and do a lot of googling when problems crop up.

With all that in mind, the recommendation to have a pro do it is probably still the best - unless you're going to be around to provide support (and it will be needed, I barely touch our server but things still get flaky sometimes), it's critical to have someone who can get the network back up when it's down. These days, most businesses rely pretty heavily on their IT systems, so cost versus potential risk really should be evaluated.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: 440sixpack
That said, it is a very small network (5 users) and I am sure there are things I have setup incorrectly and I try to avoid looking in the event logs where there are lots or red x's I don't have time to investigate.

That's one of the advantages of having somebody with experience to help with the initial setup. There's no reason to have any ongoing "red x's" in the Event Logs. But learning what they mean and how to fix them takes a lot of experience. It's easier to acquire that experience if you manage a lot of servers.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I absolutely agree with RebateMonger. I got a copy of Server 2003 through my school's MSDNA subscription. I could not figure things out for the life of me until a co-worker came over who had does Server installs before. A few pointers here and there, and it was up and running.

 

[440sixpack]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: 440sixpack
That said, it is a very small network (5 users) and I am sure there are things I have setup incorrectly and I try to avoid looking in the event logs where there are lots or red x's I don't have time to investigate.

That's one of the advantages of having somebody with experience to help with the initial setup. There's no reason to have any ongoing "red x's" in the Event Logs. But learning what they mean and how to fix them takes a lot of experience. It's easier to acquire that experience if you manage a lot of servers.

Exactly. Everything worked fine after the initial setup, but as time has gone on, these errors pop up for no reason I can discern. If there was a pro I could call, probably a lot of these could be easily solved; but as it is I look into the ones that seem pretty straightforward, but others that might refer me to using eseutil /r I shudder and avoid due to potential hazards.

So point being OP, I'd go with the recommendation of using a pro.

 

[XxPrOdiGyxX]

thanks, i guess i will get an outside consultant to help.

 

[XxPrOdiGyxX]

My friend and I decided to deploy this network ourselves after talking with a couple people with experience. SBS edition is probably far easier than the standard Server 2003 bu it wasn't as easy as I hoped but we finished everything that was necessary within about 3 days. Now, how much do we quote them without going overboard? I know his uncle is willing to pay but I'm not sure how much to charge him. When he got an estimate from an actual company he was quoted somewhere in the range of $10-12,000. I'd say we worked a total of about 24-30 hours.

This is what we ended up doing:
- Backups on all workstations
- Migration of data
- Install and configure the server
- Configure Exchange
- Set up active directory
- Set up a file server
- Set up VPN
- Misc. application installations (i.e. Quickbooks Enterprise Edition, etc.)

 

[mcmilljb]

Any where between $1.00-$10k...

Honestly you should have agreed to a fee schedule with your uncle. You shouldn't do work before agreeing to terms on how much you will be compensated. Also you should keep a detailed schedule of hours worked so you can prove that you worked those hours.

 

[RebateMonger]

If it's been done correctly, it'd be around $2500 labor for SBS-experienced IT consultants. But a lot depends on "small" things that can come up and make the setup much more time-consuming.

If it HASN'T been done correctly...well, I've had to spend hours fixing SBS when non-SBS-trained folks have done the install incorrectly.

 

[XxPrOdiGyxX]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
If it's been done correctly, it'd be around $2500 labor for SBS-experienced IT consultants. But a lot depends on "small" things that can come up and make the setup much more time-consuming.

If it HASN'T been done correctly...well, I've had to spend hours fixing SBS when non-SBS-trained folks have done the install incorrectly.

Dang, so the other company would have severely overcharged them. Well, I'm hoping it was done correctly. I thoroughly tested all the functionality they wanted from the server....but I guess I won't know until it goes completely live and everyone starts working on it. Thanks for the estimate.