I want to help out a friend who has an old server running SBS2003. The SBS server is operating as the domain controller for the office (4 PCs running XP), the exchange server, there are some shared drives to storage on the server, there are 3 network printers. I have some knowledge of networking, I know I can get things running, but I want to be sure I make the correct decisions in the first place.I want to keep things simple.
My first recommendation will be to move their email to Microsoft hosted email (Exchange online). The reason - keep things simple. I don't see any need to have exchange on the network, and it makes it easy to give people access to their email remotely, which is something they want. I'd configure each outlook client to connect to the service using the OWA information. They are using Office 2007, and Outlook is configured for cached exchange mode, so my understanding would be there should be an easy migration to the new settings: simply remove the current settings and replace them with the OWA ones, that should be all. Any comments/links/suggestions welcome.
The other thing is what OS to put on the new server. As I see it, the primary responsibility will be Domain Controller & Active Directory, printer shares, network shares. I know absolutely nothing about SBS. Is SBS overkill for these requirements, or
is there a simpler alternative? I'm happy to roll the sleeves up, take delivery of a new server with SBS2011 and work through how to get it set up, but if there is something more straightforward, and cheaper to buy/license, then I would certainly consider
that. I continue to research this but would welcome input from experienced people!
My intention would be to provide as much resilience as possible, RAID10 on the server; with online/remote backups of desktops and server. I might also look at best practise regarding taking snapshot of the server once it is all up & running in case we
experience total hardware failure of some sort.
In the medium term the users will probably move from their XP machines to Windows 7 or 8, so whatever I put in place would need to support XP and also allow for easy migration to newer Windows platforms/Office editions.
I'd greatly appreciate comments & suggestions for what OS to use on the server, and any other recommendations how to approach things. Thanks!