Topic: Use multiple servers

[Dave Gaukroger]

Hi,

I'm looking to implement SME server for a primary school in desperate need of a tech upgrade. Their budget is incredibly limited so what I would like to do is set up two or three  lower powered servers (PII 233-300, 128Mb-256Mb RAM, 4Gb SCSI HDD) to each handle different functions.

What I envisage is having one server for mail/webmail and perhaps a collaboration blade, another for i-bays and another to handle gateway features if a router is unavailable. We're looking at having 20 users at first (staff) and implementing access for students afterwards, this may be as class groups or individually, depending on performance and the ability of the staff to maintain the server.

I know that a big fat fast server would handle all of this, but unfortunately that's not an option.

Has anyone tried anything along these lines? Any suggestions?

Cheers

Dave

[Nate]

Gateway stuff doesn't put much of any load on the server(you won't need a separate one for that).  I'll bet you will be suprised how well a low powered server will work with multiple users.  SME server is very efficient.  I would run 512 memory.  At most I would run 2 servers.  One as a internal file server and another as the gateway/e-mail server.  At the server speed you are looking at, I don't see much of an advantage running SCSI.  A good IDE drive will work just fine(and save a little money).

[Michael Maggard]

I’ll back that up - 2 servers and a spare/testbed are far better then the problems that could ensue from loosing a production server with no replacement.

SME servers should have no problem routing traffic and indeed with Squid can likely cut down some of the traffic that a “dumb” box would otherwise pass along. On the other hand one can get a “dumb” cable/dsl-router for US$40 these days and treat it like an appliance, make things that much more simple.

I encourage you to ask local businesses if they’ve any boxes they could donate. A buddy of mine at the local medical society got me a nice old Compaq box with a SCSI raid array donated for a non-profit I support, they were tossing them anyway. Lots of businesses retire old hardware that doesn’t meet MS server specs but which would run SME fine.

Having long ago been a technology administrator in an academic setting the biggest thing I gotta warn you about is *passwords*. Lots of confidential information leaks into faculty and staff emails and NEEDS to be kept secure. You really have to drill into their heads the criticality of good secure passwords and make sure they get changed on a regular basis.

Personally I’d be leery of providing the students with school-supplied email accounts (too much liability, privacy issues, parental concerns, etc.) but websites where the faculty can post assignments and the like are well received.

Lastly make provisions for backups and ensure they’re used *regularly*. Things won’t be too good if suddenly a chunk of email gets lost in a crash or a weeks worth of records and freshly written curriculum aren’t recoverable.

[Dave Gaukroger]

Thanks for all of the feedback - emails as well. This is much appreciated.

Cheers

Dave