Newbie to Client-Server, how set up?

[George]

Wondered if could collect some insights into installing a server vs. just
networking a few WinXP PC's via a firewall router/switch, like the popular
Linksys ones. I'd just like a clean setup, fast, hub concept, easy to
expand, not a bunch of things cobled together.



-Is it that servers have more hard drive space and are cheaper?



-Is the idea just to store documents on the server and handle the router and
print servers for everyone? Is the server more like a central traffic cop
and storage system than a functional device?



-Are the applications like MS-Office generally put on the individual PC's?



-With a server, is it easy to add things (printers, PCs, scanners, etc.) to
the network



-What are the costs for a small office setup like... Dell Server ($____),
software (what kind? $____), anything else?



-Is this something an average technically inclined person can set up, is
there a big learning curve, or are we talking lots of gotcha's, lots of
crashes, lots of op system upgrades, constant maintenance, need installation
support and a support contract?



Thanks,
George

 

[Guest]

May I recommend that you read through this information:

http://www.tweak3d.net/articles/howtoserver/

 

[George]

Thanks, great article, am still working on reading it, just wondered if you
(or anyone) could offer a few insights into following...

-It looks like the backup function is the CD along with the RAID setup.
Does this (or can I, or do most people) set the server up to backup the c:
drives on ALL PC's on the network. Just backing up the server is nice, but
would I need the RAID thing. On indivudal PCs, I'd rather not go around PC
to PC doing backups, and my PC's have X gigabytes that sort of need a tape
for even one of them. But can't afford tape UNITS for all of them. What do
you think?

-Can I easily access the server and all the PC's remotely...what I really
need is to navigate and get files I need, or better still, to do some sort
of remote desktop where I could bring up let's say QuickBooks on the office
PC and enter expenses from a hotel laptop, and be done with that before
coming back to the office.

-On leaving it on around the clock...are we talking indefinitely without the
need to reboot? What about hard realities of life like when the power
drops...even if have surge protection as everyone does, and even if I have a
UPS, the batteries only last so long. Will the server (and all the PCs for
that matter) after they eventually go down....eventually come back up once
AC is restored, or can I expect lots of problems and things that I can't fix
from the road because I can't see some error message on the PC that tried to
re-boot, maybe all I see is that the PC is "inaccessible" or something

Thanks,