Re: To Exchange or not to Exchange

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Gotta say, Cris, you're pretty perceptive. You got it right about the
consultant, one of them anyway. He worked for Intel for a number of
years setting up their network stuff. I guess that's a little bigger
than SBS.

I would appreciate a link about the MVP doc for setting up Trend CSM.
And yes, as I said earlier, I had no problem with Exchange in SBS2000
until the failed RAID controller crashed the OS, during backup I
suspicion. (Had to do a recovery, which my consultant emailed me the
needed MS KB article.) This is largely why I was surprised at his
suggestion that admin was costly.

I setup Exchange myself using Harry Brelsfords book and just followed
the wizards. However, I actually only used it for the stores. We used
pop3 to download directly to each Outlook client. Yeah, I know, a
terrible practice, but that is what I did, just confessing. So I hired
consultants to help me get it right. That was part of my objective.

In spite of this "war" that it seems I set off, this thread has been a
great read. Quite illuminating in many respects.

*** Exactly what wizards need to be used to avoid the "crippled box" for
later adding features? *** I don't think the consultant used either the
"Add user" or "Add computer" wizards, although I could be mistaken. I
have been wondering if I could end up with some "under the covers"
issues by not using the wizards and had actually considered starting a
new post.

Thanks for jumping in, html, and all. :)

David



"Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]"
<crisnospamhanna@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e7EFd6fpFHA.3380@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Being a TOP Poster...oh well. and I'm sure I'll get slammed for HTML
posting too...won't be the first time

I've read every single posting in this "conversation" and just had to
jump in.

You say you are currently using Trend Micro...
The Trend Micro Client/Server/Messaging Suite for SMB addresses most if
not all of Leythos concerns he keeps pointing out...

"Client/Server/Messaging Suite for Small and Medium Business helps
diligently protect desktops, servers, and email servers transparently,
with minimal interference to system operations. Ideal for the
elimination of viruses, Trojans, worms, and other malicious code threats
that attack desktops and servers via email, Web downloads, and file
sharing."
http://www.trendmicro.com/en/products/suites/csm-smb-suite/evaluate/features.htm
Once installed (and one of our MVPs has a doc on his site to walk you
through this properly) I haven't had to touch it at my client sites.

They use SBS native Backup...that saves a few hundred dollars.

>From February of 2005 til May of 2005 I went to work for Microsoft Gold
Partner whose prime focus was Enterprise level clients. But the local
Microsoft Office begged them to take on the Small Business Server
campaign in this area. And so they advertised for someone who knew SBS,
took me about 4 hours to get hired. And in the 3 months I was there
they could not come up with a single new client....because they did not
understand SMALL BUSINESS. They kept trying to use the same approach
and support model as they did for their enterprise customers. It
obviously didn't work.

I contend that the consultants you're working with are in the same boat.
They don't understand small business. As already suggested by some here
already, failure to take advantage of the tight integration through use
of the wizards will likely wind up in a crippled box if you ever do want
to take advantage of the other features.

Every thing that Leythos pointed to as reasons for leaving mail on the
ISP...exist with Exchange. "...so that they can use their web based
email system anywhere.(I think this is called OWA) Since they don't have
a fixed IP (don't have to with any one of the inexpensive dynamic DNS
services out there), since they can't afford spam and smtp based virus
filtering for the exchange store (retail 10 users for Trend C/S/M for
SMB is $460, and you can usually get a much better deal from a
reseller)"

I can't remember the last time I actually had to charge the client for
Exchange Specific maintenance. There are some rare cases where the
store can corrupt, etc, but all in all Exchange just runs itself, as
David already knows from SBS 2000.
--
Cris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
-------------------------------------------------
Please do not email me directly for assistance. Reply only in the
Newsgroups for the benefit of everyone
"David F" <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uAu6NzapFHA.3316@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Assuming we do install Exchange, how much time per month will be needed
to administer just the Exchange related issues?
10 user licenses, rarely more than 3 users on network.
Maybe 10-15 valid incoming non-spam emails per day. Most of these come
to me.
Backup: SBS Backup, Veritas

Btw, Leythos makes some very good points in this post.
Thanks again.


"David F" <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ul$qvwNpFHA.616@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> We've got a small network of 7 clients. Is it worth it to install
> Exchange? We do have a static IP address.
>
> We've finally hired consultants, after having done all installs since
> SBS 4.0 myself. They say don't bother, since the admin for Exchange is
> not worth it for such a small network. The main point is to keep
> things simple, which makes life easier and costs less in the long
> haul.
>
> Otoh, SBS setup puts Exchange up and running with minimal effort. I
> used it on SBS 2000 and had no problems until the raid controller
> began crashing the OS. Actually, I still used pop3 and only used
> Exchange for a data store.
>
> Thanks for your input. David
>

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