Networking Question

[tKnilans]

My wife was offered a job at a soon to be opened accounting firm. Her future boss heard that I have some computer knowledge and wants me to give him advice or possibly create his network. He wants to network all the workstations into a single computer for data storage and retrieval. I know a bit about networks and how to make computers talk to each other but I know very little about the hardware required. I would imagine he will need a dedicated server to handle the load. I believe there will be at least 5 or 6 work stations in the network. Can anyone point me in the right direction as to the hardware needed to do this successfully and securely? Money isn't a problem as the guy is loaded from what my wife tells me so I don't think he's worried so much about the price. Also which would be the best server software to use in this system? I would greatly appreciate any input any of you true computer experts may be able to give. Thanks in advance!

[Stormcrow]

Hmm, I've dabbled a bit in networking...nothing too serious just some home setups and the like. Sounds like the business itself isn't going to require anything extensive, like 10 rackmounts of Blade servers all running Solaris 10. Unless the guy is hiring you as well for IT support, from my standpoint going with an OEM built server may be a better choice then building it yourself. That way you won't get him ringing you up at 10PM cause the system crashed or anything of the like. As for setting up the OS, huge firms run Solaris with a dedicated staff but you'd have to learn an entirely new operating system to get that going. Another kudos to the OEM server is that it usually comes bundled with Windows Server, the newest being 2008 which was just released. If your familiar with networking through Windows, then it shouldn't be too difficult running that. Various Linux distros offer enterprise and server editions as well, so you could try those if you have the experience.
I would also guess being an accounting firm you would need to set up a separate server with which to schedule regular backups for all those important numbers and figures (usually with data being stored in the hard drives and written to tape), but that should just be a file server like the one connected to the workstations so it wouldn't had much more of a hassle.

[drew and not u]

If all they need is basic data storage, you could just get a NAS (Network Attached Storage) box, basically an external HD with a built in network adapter. This would be the cheapest, simplest solution, requiring minimal setup and maintenance. Do you have any more detail as far as what their storage needs entail / what exactly they want the system to do?

[stinger608]

Originally Posted by drew and not u

If all they need is basic data storage, you could just get a NAS (Network Attached Storage) box, basically an external HD with a built in network adapter. This would be the cheapest, simplest solution, requiring minimal setup and maintenance. Do you have any more detail as far as what their storage needs entail / what exactly they want the system to do?

I believe what He means, is that the work stations will access a main program from a central dedicated file server.

[Dread]

The only problem with most (if not all) NAS boxes is they are 'dumb' storage devices. If he doesn't mind all of his employees having access to everyone else's storage a NAS may be what he is looking for. If he wants a bit more security using group policies etc I'd seriously consider an OEM solution as mentioned above with Windows Server 2007/2008 SBE. Windows Server 200* is very similiar in use as Windows XP Pro (looks almost identical), but under the hood the Server edition is much, much more robust.

Setting up a network is pretty straight forward, integrating it with a server device, domain controller (DC) or backup DC and setting individual and group policies is not for the novice if you want it done correctly.

Dell and IBM actually have some good pre-built boxes that can be pre-installed with WS 2007/8 that have more than enough horses under the hood to handle 10-500 account domains easily, and for decent prices.
Setting it up, and maintaining it would require some solid experience though.

[Reloadron]

I pretty much run with Dred's post.

Years ago I set up a simple peer to peer network for a small dentist office running 3 machines. They ran Windows 2K Professional. Just some minor mapping of network drives for dental practice specific software.


The business grew to 5 machines running Windows XP Professional and things were still cool with a simple peer to peer.

Then the business grew more. When things went from 5 to 8 machines it was time to end the peer to peer and graduate to a server.

I would look to Dell for simple (and reasonable) server solutions.

Additionally, you have other considerations. You need to consider printer(s) and print sharing. You also need to take a good look at intended software applications they intend to run and if mapping drives is necessary for the software. Frequently a business like accounting will run with taylored software and seat licenses. You have a good number of things to consider even with a small business network.

I would start with a sharp pencil and paper and map out a plan with cost.

Ron

[Hitman]

There are companies that will come and install and maintain your small business network for you. They manage it remotely and you call them if there is an issue and they send a tech out. That would be pretty costly for a 6 peer network.

In this case I would suggest an OEM Preconfigured server like already suggested, running Small Business Server. Dell, HP, IBM all offers these types of servers. Actually a server running Windows Home Server would accomplish everything his is wanting to do, and would be cost effective. The key here isn't a super fast computer; instead focus on Hard Drive space and memory.

Adding to what Ron said, Dell offers a "Network in a Box" packaged solution, that will allow the network to grow. I havn't checked into it in awhile but I think it comes with a server and 4 or 5 workstations. They even come out and configure everything for you.

[screwballl]

It all depends on what he will be using it for. I myself am a big Linux supporter and nothing MS has out there can tough the reliability of Linux. I work for an ISP and there are a few server computers that are having hardware problems ling before linux ever has any problem. they have been spending some money recently upgrading hardware and network switches and routers because they are failing... yet Linux install itself keeps chugging along...

[Dread]

Originally Posted by screwballl

It all depends on what he will be using it for. I myself am a big Linux supporter and nothing MS has out there can tough the reliability of Linux. I work for an ISP and there are a few server computers that are having hardware problems ling before linux ever has any problem. they have been spending some money recently upgrading hardware and network switches and routers because they are failing... yet Linux install itself keeps chugging along...

I kind of get the impression that neither him, or the guy who is in need are well versed in linux and want as much of a turnkey solution as possible. Linux doesn't fit that need. Reliability wise, I agree 100%, but lets face the real world here, most people can't install linux to save their own lives let alone set up a server version on their own.

[screwballl]

true.... if all they need is a simple server to share files from then an NAS or a box with WHS may be all thats needed. Again it all depends on exactly what they are needing from a server.