Windows Small Business Server Standard 2003

theshadow

Hi there,
Can anyone help me with the following questions:
1. Windows Small Business Server Standard 2003 5 Clients, does this mean the client PC's don't need licenses for their OS or do they still have a valid XP Pro or whatever license.
2. Does this software allow you to manage email for various users? Can users access email on different clients? If the answer to these questions is yes, what are the benefits of Exchange?
Thanks
Mike.

matt-dublin

this means that you have 5 client access licences.
IE any five machone can connect to your server at anyone time ligitimatly

theshadow

Cheers, but do the client machines require a license for the OS running on their machines i.e. XP Pro or 2K Pro

Capt'n Midnight

All PC's need a windows license.

All PC's need a license for Office - the only exception is that Exchange CAL's cover the installation of Outlook on a client.
If you connect to a Terminal server you need a license for the app you run on the server. eg: if an Apple MAC user runs a report using Access on the TS, then you need a TS CAL and a license for MsAccess for the MAC - even though you can't buy MsAccess for the MAC.


Imagine you ran a report in Access on an SQL data base, and now want to email the results to someone else.

You would need a license for Windows, for MsAccess, CAL for SQL , CAL for windows server where the file is stored, CAL for Exchange. - SBS just means the CAL's cover all the apps.


Exchange has a lot of work flow and groupware features that only work witn Outlook and the use of OST files are great for users who move between different offices on a weekly basis. It also does email. I don't consider it an Email server because in it's seventh major incarnation (8 if you include 5 --> 5.5) it still isn't as robust as most other dedicated email server apps. If email is mission critical, it just isn't stable and recoveable enough. If you are only using it fror POP/SMTP or aren't using Outlook to get the full benefit of the features then get something else instead because when (not if) Exchange keels over you need to have had done a lot of tweaking before hand to guarantee recovery. It takes 20 minutes to reinstall / build an MDaemon server (ALT-N) and import the text settings on just about any windows machine and all emails are stored in a raw format so you can drag / drop them in to the queue folder on the new machine. The store service on an Exchange server can take 20 minutes to stop.. I know organisations that use exchange and they have an MDaemon server on standby to queue incoming emails if Exchange keels over.

Outlook is a terrible LDAP client BTW:

theshadow

Thanks. So in summary: For an office with 5 PC + 1 server

5 Clients = 5 * XP Pro licenses + 5 * MS Office licenses
1 Server = 1 Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003(5 Client version) license

SouperComputer

yes, correct depending on what the "server" is serving. You could use XP Home unless you plan setting up a domain.

What services does it need to provide?

Capt'n Midnight

XP home can be easier to connect to domain resources (less ways to get locked out), the down side is that it doesn't run login scripts.

so you just have to stick a batch file in the startup group

eg:
If exist \\server\DataNET.EXE use F: \\server\Data
If exist \\server\Username$ NET.EXE use U: \\server\Username$

Oh and don't forget that OpenOffice is free whereas OEM Office can't be moved to another machine and Word and Excel more or less still use Office 97 file format.

jamesd

If it's a business dont buy XP Home - Get Pro and build a proper domain.

Capt'n Midnight

jamesd wrote:

If it's a business dont buy XP Home - Get Pro and build a proper domain.

It would be without a BDC so scary
and for 5 users it would be overkill.

jamesd

Just keep a good disaster recovery and it'd be the proper way to go and you wont have anyone else coming in and saying If I was doing the job Ive have made domain -
Note: Win 2003 SBS cannot be left in non domain mode or it will shut down every 30 days - Plus there are no such things as BDC's in 2003 anymore


True : 5 users on a domain is overkill

Capt'n Midnight

jamesd wrote:

Note: Win 2003 SBS cannot be left in non domain mode or it will shut down every 30 days

:rolleyes: Oh well no choice - still you are probably going to have to reboot second tuesday of every month anyway
Seriously gotta admire the address of the HQ - "One Microsoft way"

- Plus there are no such things as BDC's in 2003 anymore

There is one about 2.5m away from me. /me looks round for holographic projector. BDC is just easier to type than having a second server to share roles.

All boils down to Budget and Skills. If they don't have the skills in house how much will they budget for managing the thing ?