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CANADIAN DIGITAL SYSTEMS / Andrew Mackenzie Bell,
BA., MCSE, PMP, CCNA, CCDA, RHCT, CISSP, ITIL, CEH
I enjoy delivering value to small firms, and witnessing the beneficial impact
of current, low-cost technology. Many small businesses made their last
technology push to prepare for potential year 2000 issues. Continuing advances
in technology are bringing those investments near the end of their useful lives.
If you are still operating on a Windows NT Server 4.0, you should consider
upgrading to Microsoft's Small Business Server 2003 R2 - the benefits are
persuasive.
Server costs are as low as 20% below what they cost a few years ago. For many small companies of 5-75 people, Microsoft's Small Business Server
suite of server software, installed on an entry-level, server-class
machine from Dell, HP, or IBM, provides the basis for a giant leap forward in
technology. Microsoft Small Business Server includes (but is not limited to)
Windows 2003 Server, Exchange 2003, and Sharepoint - with these products properly
deployed, you can suddenly reap the benefits of the latest tools for
collaborative sharing of documents, calendars, contacts, and data of all types,
using the tools built into WindowsXP and Microsoft Office that are already
installed on your company's desktops and laptops.
Combine that hardware / software infrastructure with internet access from
Sympatico or Rogers, and a VPN-capable router from Linksys, and I can deliver a
very low-cost remote access solution from anywhere on the internet, to your
Microsoft SBS server, that is
secure and fully-featured.
Let me show you how easy it can be. I have recently completed
a project for a small company of 15 people, in 3 locations: Ottawa, Toronto, and
Houston. Here are the project objectives, the solution, and the cost:
Recent Small Office Project
Objectives
- Provide
the ability for both:
- site-to-site
VPN connectivity between the main site in
Toronto
, and
Houston
and
Ottawa
, and
- client-to-site
VPN connectivity for laptop-equipped and internet-connected mobile users
anywhere
- Provide
a more robust server platform for central storage of data than the current
PC in the
Toronto
office.
- Provide
a modern method for granting access to the data, across the LAN, internet, and VPN
connections, using a graphical, browser-based interface.
- Provide
all of the features of Microsoft Outlook, such as shared calendaring and task
assignment, when Outlook is combined with an Exchange server in the
background.
- Provide
an offsite backup solution
- Mitigate
the impact of unexpected power outages
Solution
- The
Linksys RV016 VPN router ships with a 15 VPN client license, which can be
upgraded to a 50 user license. It supports up to 100 VPN tunnels in total.
Additionally, it provides 16 switched 100Mbit ethernet ports and all of the
usual firewall and network services that this type of device provides.
Linksys provide the QuickVPN client software free of charge (note: the
client PCs must be running W2K Pro or WinXP Pro).
- The
Dell Poweredge SC430 server is an appropriate platform for a small office
(note: no monitor was included).
- Microsoft’s
Small Business Server 2003 R2 includes Windows 2003 Server, plus a 5 user
license for Microsoft Sharepoint and Microsoft Exchange servers. An
additional 10 user license has been included (15 total). SBS is considered
an appropriate platform to support organizations of up to 75 employees. Note
that, because of the security implications of running terminal services on a
domain controller, Windows Terminal Services will not run natively on SBS
– a workaround is available with Microsoft’s Virtual server software, if
necessary. This is not considered crucial.
- Sharepoint
is the product of choice for providing data files and directories to groups
of co-workers, and integrates beautifully with Microsoft’s Office suite of
productivity tools. It's interface is intuitive, and administration is
simple.
- SBS
also includes Microsoft Exchange, where all internal mail and calendaring
functions can be hosted. Exchange 2003 is the premier messaging solution in
the world. External mail can still be handled by the existing
ISP, and the Exchange server can be configured to periodically fetch staff
mail from the ISP’s server, and delivered to their individual mailboxes.
- Rather
than tapes, which are relatively slow and expensive, a USB hard-drive (or
two) is recommended for off-site backups. The Windows 2003 built-in backup
utility is adequate.
- A
30 minute UPS from APC, with APC’s Powerchute software for automatic,
controlled shutdown after a certain period of time, has been included in the
equipment list.
- McAfee
Total Protection for Small Business – Advanced is recommended for
anti-virus, anti-spyware, and anti-spam on the server and desktops
Costs
|
Server / Network Upgrade - September 27,
2006 |
|
|
|
|
|
Equipment |
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
Dell PowerEdge SC430 with: |
1,758.00 |
|
Pentium D 820 2.8GHz, 2GB RAM, 2x250GB HDD, etc., NO MONITOR |
|
| 2 |
Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition (5 users) |
599.00 |
| 3 |
10 Additional Client Licenses for Windows 2003 Small Business Server |
1,077.00 |
| 4 |
Quantuty 3 Linksys RV016 10/100 16-Port VPN Router |
507.99 |
| 5 |
Linksys QuickVPN 15 user license for RV016 |
n/c |
| 7 |
APC Battery Backup BX1200-N |
199.99 |
| 8 |
Western Digital External 320GB USB Hard Drive (for backups) |
215.99 |
| 9 |
McAfee Total Protection for Small Business - 1 server + 15 PCs |
1,032.80 |
|
|
|
|
|
5,390.77 |
|
Taxes |
808.62 |
|
Total |
6,199.39 |
|
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|
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|
Time Estimates (hours) |
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
Preparation of this material (including product research, etc) |
7.00 |
| 2 |
Project planning meetings |
7.00 |
| 3 |
Site preparation and physical installation in Toronto |
7.00 |
| 4 |
Install and configure Linksys RV016 and configure VPN client accounts |
7.00 |
| 5 |
SBS Server Setup and UPS software installation |
3.50 |
| 6 |
Any pre-work associated with workstations |
7.00 |
| 7 |
Redirect My Documents Folders |
7.00 |
| 8 |
Join Computers to the domain and migrate user profiles |
7.00 |
| 9 |
Import existing e-mail into Exchange mailboxes |
7.00 |
| 10 |
Import Shared Data to Sharepoint |
7.00 |
| 11 |
Configure backups, test restoral |
3.50 |
| 12 |
Install and Configure McAfee Total Protection for SMB - Advanced |
7.00 |
| 13 |
Contingency |
7.00 |
|
|
|
|
Total Hours |
77.00 |
|
Fee (taxes extra) |
5,775.00 |
|
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Prerequisites / Assumptions |
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
All workstns are running W2K Pro or WInXP Pro, with latest Service Packs |
|
| 2 |
PST files are not in the user's My Documents directory (or are moved) |
|
| 3 |
work can occur during regular business hours |
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| 4 |
all workstns are free of viri, trojans, and malware |
|
| 5 |
user data files on PC are in My Documents folder (see task 6 above) |
|
| 6 |
staff in Ottawa and Houston can (under direction) configure the Linksys
routers |
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(therefore no travel by me is required) |
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