Jimmym

OK we are looking at upgrading our office technology. Currently we have

4 x PCs
2 x MACs (old)
2 x Printers
1 x Photocopy, Print, Fax
1 x HUGE color printer (hooked up to macs)
1 x Server (old and crappy basically used as a print server and data storage)

OK so what to do and why upgrade.
The software on the Macs is old and out of date. Thanks to indesign we can now switch to PCs all round, the software and hardware upgrade is cheaper and we only need one design system. All the other systems are for basic office work etc.

We currently have a website too but are looking at bringing this all inhouse (design, hosting etc)

So I am open to ideas. What can we do? replace server with just HDD storage? Go wireless? any ideas are welcome.

Higgins

Computer wise, i would have one powerful design machine with the rest being conservative office computers. Will post build suggestions when i get them compiled.

Website wise, i would definitely recommend renting server space to ensure speed/reliability for you and your clients. Besides hosting on an outside server, you can do anything you want inhouse such as design/coding.

With the file server, you could get a NAS (network attached storage) which is just a little file server that you connect to the network and manage from a computer hooked into the network.
Windows Vista has a backup wizard which includes complete or partial backup plans. You could schedule a complete system backup or just work documents directly to the NAS which would be accessible from any computer on the network via username/password.

I'll be back later with build suggestions and such.

EDIT: Any idea on budget?

EDIT EDIT:
Design PC $1,019: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=11893046
Office PC's $526: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=11893086

Note: I would highly recommend waiting until Windows 7 comes out to upgrade because it is leaps and bounds above Vista.

After looking into the NAS, i think your best bet would be to grab a few of these and setup one of your current machines as a file server, or simply keep the one you have.
Reviews on NAS under $500 were usually reports of slow transfers and buggy software.

Good Luck
~Higgins

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[Steam : teh_higgins]

Blinx

I strongly recommend you not go wireless unless you want a lot of headaches and possible chance of putting your data at risk. For home environments I suppose it might be okay but I would never recommend going wireless for a business. Just my .

Higgins

x2

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[Steam : teh_higgins]

Jimmym

The current set up is over 5 yrs old and it is sorta like a simple home network. Small business really as I said 4 PCs and 1 design Mac...only 2 of the PCs working full time. Is a wireless going to be that much of a headache. Also only 2 HDD in the server.

Is Linux a possibility for the server?

Higgins

Alright, so your current setup is old.

What do you want to do as a whole? Replace everything? Upgrade? What? You're kind of repeating yourself.

When dealing with business matters, having wireless opens up your data to anyone with the knowhow and will power to get into your network. A wired network, especially when dealing with a file server, would be your best bet.

Linux would be fine, but did you read my post at all? I talked about networking and automatically backing up to the server.

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[Steam : teh_higgins]

Jimmym

Yes I did read your first post.

As far as upgrade/replace we are looking at all costing options Our system does need to be looked at, but in todays financial market I believe all options must be considered Obviously the design terminal must be replaced, so thats fine. Might be able to get away with existing server with a little upgrade and switching to linux. Office terminals, while sometimes being a lilttle slow can perform all office tasks with no headaches.

My reason for detailing/repeating only 2 HDD on the server and that only 2 PCs are used full time is that it really only reflects a home network rather than a large office setup. I have been told that NAS only really becomes a headache when dealing with LARGE office setups.

As far as wirelss security goes...is a key not enough or are those super long passwords easy enough to crack or is there another way. My main reason for thinking wireless was the ease in set up?

Another thing is if their is another person downloading something large on the internet my speed slows dramatically...is there a order of preference as far as a network goes? It only ever seems t be my PC that experiences the slow down,,would wireless avoid this. (I understand that there will be some internet slow down when another system is downloading a large file(s), but I can go to an identical machine on a system near by and their internet will be operating alot faster than mine)

Higgins

Ok awesome.

How does that rig i posted look for a replacement for the design terminal?
Is that overbudget, underbudget, or not what you are looking for?

I have little experience with networking with Linux, but i do know that it would be much faster with file operations.

The wireless would only be a plus if you're dealing with lots of laptops. You could buy a router and still run the desktops on a wired connection with no problems. There would be no benefit to running desktops on a wireless connection, especially with file downloads affecting other computer's connection speed as it is.

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[Steam : teh_higgins]

Jimmym

yeah..did look at the system. It was aong the lines of what we need. as long as it can comfortably run indesign with no problems and that one looks like it could do it wasily.

My concern with linux is how easily it talks with Mac and PC..although it will only be used as a storage and print server,

zmyth770

Okay heres my thaught on everything :

I would suggest going to linux, But get Ubuntu server edition ( more information at : http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whati.../serveredition) It runs faster than any windows and is really easy to install, Aswell as the fact it wont slow down over time and barely uses any HDD space.

Then depending on How much HDD space you already have in your Server i would recomend upgrading it by 2-4TB if you can afford to, Possibly even a small SSD.

As for wireless, please trust me and dont do it, Its so unreliable for a business, Your ping will raise by around 10-40% due to the air obstructions, Slower download speed and upload by around 10% and so on, If anything, keep Wired Via Ethernet cables and Upgrade your internet to a faster package if thats possible, Im personally on a 15MB dl speed at the moment and only paying for 7mb thanks to shaw power boost which costs an extra $3 a month.

Try maxxing out all of your Ram slots if this is not already done, this is a good way For added performance on all Pc's.

Hope this was a little more informative than other posts

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