Hi
I have a client with SBS 2008.... The SBS 2008 works, but I have the feeling it is not perfectly set up. The original hardware was a single XEON processor, 8GB of RAM, 1TB 7200 HDDx 2 (mirrored) and 2TB 7200 HDDx 2 (mirrored).
The install is SBS, Exchange Data and Redirected Folders on C:(1TB) and Other Shares on E:(2TB)
This has resulted in some users finding accessing data a bit slow, including a Sage central install on the C drive (obviously client on 2 PC's, but data on server)
The client has Windows XP and Vista and 7 PC's... over the next few months all XP and Vista PC's will be retired to be all Windows 7 Pro. ( i don't really want to go to 8 yet, and would prefer all client PC's to be the same OS)
We are looking to upgrade the server as it is now 4 years old to a new server with SBS 2011. I am looking for a bit of advice of what people have found works well.
The client has about 25 laptop users who will require redirected folders so their work is both safely stored on the server and available when they are offline. These users typially are using email, office 2010 documents, and a few Autocad 2013.
There are 2 users with desktops that do not use an offline syncronisation, however they still use typical Office 2010, email and both use Sage Line 50 2010 (data stored on server with an additional install on the server)
On the server the Exchange uses about 60GB of emails between these users and the redirected folder data is about 400GB and the generally shared data is about 750GB(ever increasing with photos and general documents)
Obviously the whole reason of SBS is to have 1 server box that provides User log on control, exchange, file sharing, windows updates, server backup and remote access. (SQL is not needed)
WHat I want to ensure is the server hardware spec is suitable for this role, so can anyone recommend their setup specs for a possible similar situation, and if I should look for anything in particular to ensure a good operation.
Also what is the backup like in SBS 2011 are we still using HDD? (I have noticed the 1.3TB backup to USB on SBS 2008 takes around 12 hours to do a full one)
Any suggestions for antivirus server/client set ups as on SBS 2008 Microsoft pushed out OneCare then decided to give up on it, and the ForeFront side, the Microsoft Support people claimed it was not supported to run on SBS
Also any configuration benefits to look at.... The current server is 2 Drives, the C with the OS and Redirected folders and Exchange then E with the shared folders, is there any advantage (as I have heard) to separate the OS from the data drives (partition or physically, and if so surely it is the data drives that need to perform better??)
Thanks for any help
Tristan