[Wylug-help] Server Support

[Roger Greenwood]

Hi all,

We are a small manufacturer, I have a windows server, now 3 years old, the
support costs are getting silly, and times are hard. How about I buy a
complete standby server instead of buying insurance, ready to transfer to if
anything breaks? Then in a year or two (or when it breaks) I would
transition to a fully Linux server solution anyway and buy another spare.

My solution would be a single spare server which would need to do the
following:-
File/print server, about 200GB of data, 10 to 20 users (currently win2003R2)
Email server (we currently use FTGate)
Backup (we currently use Symantec backup exec and BESR)
Anti-virus (again Symantec endpoint)

As I am only a part time admin (very part time really), I need it to be
simple to configure and run day-to-day. I am prepared to learn some more and
spend more time on it in the future of course, instead of paying the
insurance for support (which I have never really needed in anger).

I do have various machines at home running SLED10 and Ubuntu, but I have no
experience of server versions and especially integration between
servers/desktops other than in windows, which was all set up by others.

Any suggestions for local (West Yorkshire) suppliers? (I already have 1
quote)

Should I go it alone? My budget is £1000 (half this years current support
cost).

What software should I use to replace the excessively expensive stuff we
have?

What email software would anyone recommend? (Ftgate is excellent by the way,
just not available for Linux).

Thanks,
Roger Greenwood 


Rolla Ltd
Atlas Mill Road,
Brighouse,
HD6 1ES   UK
Registration Number 480927
www.rolla.co.uk
Telephone +44 1484 710226