Windows XP or Server 2003

[Laurent]

I'm helping a small daycare redesign its network. There will be 8 computers
in total, and that number will never increase because the daycare is
already at maximum capacity. Computer assignation is as follows:

1 acting as a server
2 for specialized administrative purpose
1 for general office purpose
4 for educational purpose (kid's games in classrooms)

Basic needs: sharing Internet access, sharing files, sharing printer, VPN
acces for one of the administrative computer. No FTP, IIS, or shared email
services are required (all handled by local Internet provider).

Up to now, all these services were supported rather well by one of the two
administrative computer running WinXP Pro with appropriate authorizations
and sharing. For a number a reason, we want now to have a dedicated
computer doing that.

The question is should we run Windows Server 2003 on that server or
continue to run Windows XP Pro ?

On one hand, server licensing fees are an issue because it's a non-
profitable organization. There is nobody working at the daycare that is
computer-savyy. Only external volunteers can maintain the server (after
some basic training). At last, most Windows Server 2003 advanced features
are useless in this so small work environment (like Active Directory, etc.)

On the other hand, security is a strong issue and the daycare would like to
have a number of reliability measure, such like RAID and automated backup.
And although buying Windows Server 2003 is a lot of money for a non-
profitable organization, we might consider doing it if it is really the
best choice.

What would you suggest ?


(P.S. We written a number of times to Microsoft to get financial support as
part of its non-profitable organizations program. Unfortunately, we
received no answer).

 

[Jim]

-----Original Message-----
I'm helping a small daycare redesign its network. There will be 8 computers
in total, and that number will never increase because the daycare is
already at maximum capacity. Computer assignation is as follows:

1 acting as a server
2 for specialized administrative purpose
1 for general office purpose
4 for educational purpose (kid's games in classrooms)

Basic needs: sharing Internet access, sharing files, sharing printer, VPN
acces for one of the administrative computer. No FTP, IIS, or shared email
services are required (all handled by local Internet provider).

Up to now, all these services were supported rather well by one of the two
administrative computer running WinXP Pro with appropriate authorizations
and sharing. For a number a reason, we want now to have a dedicated
computer doing that.

The question is should we run Windows Server 2003 on that server or
continue to run Windows XP Pro ?

On one hand, server licensing fees are an issue because it's a non-
profitable organization. There is nobody working at the daycare that is
computer-savyy. Only external volunteers can maintain the server (after
some basic training). At last, most Windows Server 2003 advanced features
are useless in this so small work environment (like Active Directory, etc.)

On the other hand, security is a strong issue and the daycare would like to
have a number of reliability measure, such like RAID and automated backup.
And although buying Windows Server 2003 is a lot of money for a non-
profitable organization, we might consider doing it if it is really the
best choice.

What would you suggest ?


(P.S. We written a number of times to Microsoft to get financial support as
part of its non-profitable organizations program. Unfortunately, we
received no answer).






.

I would say you could do what you needed with XP but I
would put a server family in. If you are a 501C then you
should qualify for charity pricing and the cost would not
be as great. I know I have bought stuff through CDW
which was refered to me from MS directly and they will
submit the 501C to MS for you. If not try server 2003
SBE the cost of that I think retails around $600 but the
drawback is it has to be a DC which means you have to run
active directory and with volunteers running the system
that do have have experiance in the active directory.
One thing to consider about the AD is you then have group
policies that can make it real nice for security and
administration. For example you could make the server a
SUS server and then have a GP to have all the connect to
that server to get the windows updates so you use less
bandwidth having only one computer download the updates
instead of all the computers in the orginazation. Just
my $0.02.

Jim

 

[Laurent]

in
microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web

I would say you could do what you needed with XP but I
would put a server family in. If you are a 501C then you
should qualify for charity pricing and the cost would not
be as great. I know I have bought stuff through CDW
which was refered to me from MS directly and they will
submit the 501C to MS for you. If not try server 2003
SBE the cost of that I think retails around $600 but the
drawback is it has to be a DC which means you have to run
active directory and with volunteers running the system
that do have have experiance in the active directory.
One thing to consider about the AD is you then have group
policies that can make it real nice for security and
administration. For example you could make the server a
SUS server and then have a GP to have all the connect to
that server to get the windows updates so you use less
bandwidth having only one computer download the updates
instead of all the computers in the orginazation. Just
my $0.02.

Thanks for fast reply. Some precisions.

1. We are located in Quebec, Canada. The 501C status is somewhat different
here. Microsoft has officially a program to help non-profitable
organizations, but it doesn't seem very proactive or even active at all.
This said, the daycare is ready to pay for a Server if it is really the
best option. Thus my question.

2. I'm the only one helping the daycare at present and I have no real-lide
experience running a server and AD. But that shouldn't be very complicated
to learn, isn't it ?

3. Group policy is not necessarily a must for the daycare as far as I can
foresee it. Each "group" being actually one user, permission could also be
set at individual level. Also bandwith is not a problem for Windows Update.
We have unlimited fast Internet download. Updating three or four computers
individually is maybe even easier for newbies than setting permissions on a
server ? Note also that we intend to have a "Ghost" strategy for the four
computers used in classrooms. They have identical setup, only the
IP/computer name are different. So Windows updating one PC actually result
in updating the four by mean of Ghost cloning.

I tend to favor Windows Server solution because it seems the most logical
choice, but because I have no experience in running a server, I wonder if
things will be harder running Server 2003 than they are now with Windows XP
with our limited technical needs and means.

 

[Jetro]

I'd stay in the workgroup as such without the server OS, there is no needs
and or advantages to involve it.
There were the Syngress book "Configuring Windows 2000 Without Active
Directory", ISBN: 1-928994-54-7, the Premier Press book "Microsoft Windows
XP Professional Administrator's Guide", ISBN:1931841969, and a lot of
similars. The CAD 70 investment sounds better than USD 600. Anyway it's
never late to bring the server in.

 

[Jim]

-----Original Message-----
If cost is a big concern and you do not intennd to use

the server as a 'workstation', you could build it with
Linux and not XP [and I hope that I'm not struck off the
access list to this newsgroup].

.

The AD is very basic if and only if you use it to allow
users to log in to the DC. If you want to get into the
AD it is extremely detailed and can take a very long time
to fully understand. You may be better off using the XP
machine, just load it up with as much RAM as you can.

Jim

 

[Laurent]

Thank you all for your feedbacks