Very Confusing Networking Problem Part 2

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Frozen8950

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 30, 2003
Messages
351
Ok guys..
I installed the wireless network on 3 computers and pulled all the other computers off the network.. now i just have the router and 3 computers on wireless.

I was still getting packet loss unm.. 2%-6% and when i constantly pinged one of the computers from the server and ran in the other room and ran a program from the server.. i was guarenteed to have packet loss..

Now if this is 'normal' then im looking at a server. And im not going to get a cheapo server. Thats why i dont wnat to cross my fingers and just hope it works. I did talk to a few more people and they also thought i was crazy for not sitting this guy down and telling him to get a server.

Im going to go to dell right now and look hopefully you guys will help me with that stuff.

I also told him already that im not experianced with servers. If he wanted to hire someone else thats fine, if he wanted me to do it still i would do it, it might take a bit longer but i would do it right and i wouldnt charge him as much.

he called me this morning and told me to send him some prices on a server
 
Ok i have a question

Win2k3 Sever Small Business is 499
+ 5 CALs (for sbe) 499
998

Win2k3 Server Standard edition 799
+ 5 CALs (for standard) 169
968

So its 998 vs 968.. Like i said before this is a small 9 client dental office. I would get the Small Business edition.. is that a wise choice?
 
since the price is the same i would look more closely at the differences between the 2. is SBE going to give you some whack ass limitations on your network setup? standard sounds less restrictive. besides, you said there were 9 clients . . . when you step up to 9 CALs SBE is going to be more expensive . . no?
 
The SBS cals include exchange cals, etc. not just Win2k3 cals, hence the extra price. Both come with 5, and you need to add 5. SBS2003 is wonderfull and if the limitations dont cramp your business I'd go for it. I've rolled out several and am doing one this weekend, so feel free to ask me a few questions. There's obviously lots of info on the MS site as well. SBS is also excellent for novice admins since it walks you through setting everything up. Put it this way, for the price and monitoring/remote access stuff included, ALL small businesses should do SBS if the limitations dont cramp them. Do they have their own website and e-mail already?
 
They were looking at setting up a small 2-3 page website..
does SBS not allow this?
 
No it will allow you to host your own website and e-mail as well. I was asking because when you run the setup those are some of the things you will need to know. Depending on how you want to look at it, its not a bad idea to have the website hosted by a registrar. That way if your building loses power, server goes down, etc your "public face" will stay up. Same with e-mail, though I usually have e-mail handled locally by SBS exchange and have a secondary mx record deliver to the registrar hosting account in case of the accidents listed before. The only real limitations are 75 users max, you can't trust other domain controllers, etc. Stuff that small small businesses really aren't going to be doing.
 
there are limitations on the version of exchange that come with it as well i believe (size of the IS) which you'd need to look into if you were going to use exchange. however, for an office that small i doubt you'll need to worry about any of them.
 
Frozen8950 said:
Can someone explain to me the difference in this?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=37-116-170&depa=6

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=32-102-511&depa=6

other than the 300 dollars..
Click to expand...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/howtobuy/pricing.mspx#XSLTsection124121120120

Looks like they are probably upgrade/transition cals, which wouldn't apply to you. Then again, I was sent 5 free cals from MS for a new SBS installation and they looked like the retail looking one on newegg (the $179 one). Strange...
 
Is he prepared to buy a "real" server or a beefy workstation with a server OS? Just how inexperienced are you with server hardware and operating systems? Can you configure DNS, AD, and DHCP with relative ease? 2003 server has some pretty nice wizards so you could get away with just buying a 2003 server for dummies type of book and learn as you go. If it's a "real" server then it comes with the necessary documentation to get it running smoove. This is going to be the best learning experience you've ever had :p
 
Im looking at a dell computer right now..

I cant really link you but this is what im looking at

PowerEdge 700 Server

P4 3.2Ghz 800Mhz FSB
1 Gig DDR
Windows Server 2k3 with 5 CALS (SBS)
+ 5 CALs
CERC 6 channerl SATA RAID controller
2 80gig 7200 RPM hard drives for RAID 1
Onboard NIC + 2nd NIC

2,871

Im trying to keep it under 3k and Win2k3 takes up 1k of that..
i dont think this is a bad deal for 2,871

Its just going to run a small dentist office with 9 other computers and where wotn be anything done over the web so no web page or anything like that..
This will just hold files that all the computers will need to access (potentally at the same time)


Update:

Ok so i just called the dentist office and the way i have it set up now is 6 computers are on the old network and 3 of the newer computers are on wireless. They said they havent been getting any errors but its been slow to respond where as before i was getting errors and slow to respond. Anyone think i should debug the hardware more? or just put in the new system remove the wireless and hope the system is ok?
 
I still say go for SBS2003. Cheaper and easier to maintain/control for small businesses, including novice admins.
 
what is the purpose of the two nics?? from what i am hearing it sounds like all your machines are on a 100 mbit network? if this is true from the problems your are listing i would assume that there is an issue and the software is just eating away at that pipeline, i would rec getting a server that is capable of gigabit just in case your problem doesnt go away, that way you would have the ability to hook you server into a gigabit port on a switch while keeping the others on 10/100, i would also have to rec a set of three hard drives, one HD for your os and basic applications, and then two HDS in raid 1 for your data, this way your have dedicated drives for your data

Here is what i came up with from IBM

xseries 225

2.6 Xeon w/ ability to add second processor
2k3 standard
1.5 gb DDR
36.4 GB 10k RPM SCSI for os
2 36.4 GB 10k RPM SCSI for data in RAID 1
onboard gigabit
IBM (Relabeled APC) UPS 1000

total is 3,540

you would have to add your five cals to that but that is not a bad price for a server with those specs and a UPS, if wopuld recomend getting standard, its all i have used and is very reliable, it is also very easy to set up, most items can be done with wizards
 
bignasty said:
what is the purpose of the two nics??
Click to expand...

In a typical SBS setup you would have two NICS, one for the internal network and the other for the internet. In this setup all the clients would use the SBS server to access the internet thru NAT or in the case of SBS03 Premium, ISA Server.
 
I see. I am not very familiar with SBS setup, as i only run standard, is the client noticing internet lags also? or is it just with the software, i also still want to stress the network usage issue, a tax office i do work for uses Intuits version of software called proseries, its amazing software and i love it except for the fact that it eats at the network, when opening a file it will use 80% of a 100 mbit network for about 30 seconds, i am going to be moving this network over to gigabit next season, at least for the server, either that or i am going to be trunking cards, i think i trust the gigabit more though
 
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