Re: Moving peer-peer to client/server?

Here's what I'm thinking of recommending to them:



I think the first phase for this client is to get all their machines up to
Windows XP Professional with the latest service packs & see if we can't at
least get them stable. If their router has a built-in firewall, I'll enable
it & make sure it's configured properly for their needs. They have one
machine dedicated to serving an audio stream to their web provider to
provide their online streaming audio service, so I suspect that might be an
area to watch, but I don't believe they use anything else other than their
web browsers. If finances allow, they should replace the existing 8-port
router + 4-port switch with a single 16-port router with a built-in firewall
(I'm thinking maybe Linksys, which is what their current 8-port unit is.)



I'll might suggest that they address their data security needs
procedurally -- maybe a round-robin system of shared folders across all the
machines, with each backing up "My Documents" to its designated backup
machine -- I'm guessing I should be able to set up some kind of batch file
and have it fire automatically in the middle of the night. Not perfect, but
better than nothing for now. Thoughts?



Then we can look at where they want to go next. While a Windows 2003 or
SBS2003 Domain would give them better performance, security, and a growth
path, introducing a single point of failure without a server-class machine
is risky.



One alternative is to employ a dedicated file server system. From Dell's
site I was able to configure such a machine with 4 hot-swapable 500Gb
drives, RAID-5, and a 70 Gb Tape backup and 7 tapes for under $4k. This
would address their data security, however, since this would make the tenth
machine on the network, there would be no room for growth. Also, they will
still be running in a workgroup environment, with all the attendant security
and performance implications.



A similar but lower cost solution would be to setup a low-cost desktop
system with Windows 2003, a Gigabyte of memory, and a pair of large drives,
and configure them in software for mirroring. The machine would NOT be set
up as a domain controller, just as a stand-alone server on the workgroup,
and would just work as a file server. If possible, a USB drive (or two)
should be used for backups. Worst case, if the server failed one or both of
the drives could be physically moved to another machine for file access.
Again, not an ideal solution, but better than nothing if it's all finances
can support.



I would recommend that the long-term plan should entail a server-class
machine configured as a domain server, and this can be budgeted into future
fund raisers.



They should also consider replacing the machine with two network cards with
a VNET (details to follow) for communication between the two physical
networks.



Sound reasonable? Suggestions? Comments?


.

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