Re: Need Recommendations for a Server - Tower or Rack??? CISCO VOIP?? Etc...

Cassie,

Tower or rack is a personal preference. It all depends on your environment.
If space is a premium and you have adequate ventilation in place then a rack
is a good choice. If noise (many rack servers have industrial fans and are
very noisy - especially DELL) is a concern and space is not at a premium
then perhaps a tower. Either one is a good choice depending on your
physical environment.

Our office currently has VoIP installed from Cisco and it runs fine next to
our SBS 2003 standard. I would install the Cat6 wiring for future upgrades.
If you are using IP Phones from Cisco in the 7900 series then there is a
jack on the back that you can plug your computer into so you can utilize the
same wire for both. On some models it is a 10 Mb port (we have some 7905's
with this on it) on some of the higher models (7940 and above) it is a 100
Mb port. If you are wiring a new building then why not put a couple of
drops into each office? This will help future proof your office for
new/extra equipment.

I'm guessing that your quoted system is some iteration of the Cisco
CallManager. This system runs on a Windows server (ours is a Windows 2000
server). If you have voice mail associated with this quote, it will be on
another server running Unity. Most of Cisco's offerings are using the 7700
series chassis which both of these blade servers fit into. Who ever
installs this system for you should be able to join it into your existing
domain. Our VAR used Cisco Certified Engineers to make all of this happen
(no small task).

Hope this helped put some of it in perspective.

Tony

<cassandramiller@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1154594641.736000.134310@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi All,

My office is moving to a new location in four months where I foresee us
growing to a network of 40 workstations. We are already getting VOIP
quotes from Covad, and understand the the future release of Windows
Server and Office will integrate with VOIP. Therefore, we are looking
to make an investment now that will be compatible with tomorrow's
technology. My office primarly uses just Word, Excel, Outlook,
Photoshop documents along with a Filemaker Pro database.

First question is, for our size and needs, should we get a Tower or
Rack? What is a rack and the benefit of having one anyways??? I've
been eyeballing the Dell PowerEdge 1800 (Tower Server) for that matter.
Anyone have experience with it?

Also, is SBS 2003 the proper solution for a network our size? Or
should I be looking at purchasing Microsoft Server Standard along with
Exchange, etc.? I've been told by a Dell rep that we might experience
performance issues with SBS 2003 for a network our size. True????

Lastly, if a tower, should my config be as follows:

Dual Core Xeon Processor
4 GB of RAM
2 NICS (On Board and Gigabit)
DVD-RW
Operating System to reside on
Two 60GB SCSI Drives (Mirrored)
Exchange, Data Files, Database, ClientApps, etc.
Three 300 GB SCS Hard Drives (Raid 5, with One Hot Swap)

Should I use tape backup or hard drive (with Acronis Software running).

I understand Brooktrout has a good analog fax board, but who makes a
good VOIP fax board (if such a thing exists???)

Covad has quoted us Cisco VOIP equipment, but I understand that
Microsoft is aligned with Nortel for their own VOIP solution. Anyone
know if there will be cross platform compatability?

We want to run Cat 6 wiring for gigabit networking. From what Covad
tells us, one Cat 6 jack will connect BOTH the VOIP phone and computer.
However, the only Cisco phones they provide are Cat 5e. Anyone know
of any Cat 6 compatible phones? We want to take advantage of gigabyte
networking.

Anyone have any experience with CISCO's VOIP solution? Does it work
well with Exchange and Outlook as advertised???

Anyone with some insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

**H&K**

~CaSsIe~



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