Shared email

[Leslie Isaacs]

Hello All

I have a peer-to-peer network of 5 PCs (one of which is used purely as a
fileserver) running Windows 2K Professional , and Offfice 97 Professional.

Currently only one of the PCs has email set up, with Outlook. I would like
to change this so that all the 4 workstations can be used to send and
receive email, with access to all the same (shared) Outlook folders. How do
I set this up?

I originally posted this on a Windows2K newsgroup, and received the
followinmg reply from Pegasus (MVP):

You need to run MS Exchange on your server. The "Small Business Server"
package would probably fill your bill very nicely.

Under Outlook 98 (and possibly Outlook 2000) you could use the
"Net Folders" facility to share Outlook folders. I believe that it was
not very robust. If you need further details, repost in an Outlook
newsgroup.

I would be grateful if anyone here could confirm whether I really do need MS
Exchange 'Small Business Server', and what problems there may be using the
"Net Folders" facility to share Outlook folders.

Hope someone can help.

Many thanks
Leslie Isaacs

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Hello All

I have a peer-to-peer network of 5 PCs (one of which is used purely
as a fileserver) running Windows 2K Professional , and Offfice 97
Professional.

Currently only one of the PCs has email set up, with Outlook. I would
like to change this so that all the 4 workstations can be used to
send and receive email, with access to all the same (shared) Outlook
folders. How do I set this up?

I originally posted this on a Windows2K newsgroup, and received the
followinmg reply from Pegasus (MVP):

You need to run MS Exchange on your server. The "Small Business
Server" package would probably fill your bill very nicely.

Under Outlook 98 (and possibly Outlook 2000) you could use the
"Net Folders" facility to share Outlook folders. I believe that it was
not very robust. If you need further details, repost in an Outlook
newsgroup.

I would be grateful if anyone here could confirm whether I really do
need MS Exchange 'Small Business Server', and what problems there may
be using the "Net Folders" facility to share Outlook folders.

Hope someone can help.

Many thanks
Leslie Isaacs

Exchange (bundled with SBS, which is a good product for the price) would
make all this a lot easier. However, it requires a domain, not a workgroup -
a dedicated server to run it (good robust hardware only, please), and a good
degree of technical skill to set up properly - and some skill to keep
running, although not much if it's set up right. There are loads of
consultants who specialize in SBS installs so if you decide to go that
route. SBS is a great product - more info here: www.microsoft.com/sbs and it
does a lot more than what you're requesting - good stuff.

If you don't want/can't use Exchange, there are not many options available.
Some are here: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/share.htm

Please note that Office97 is old, unsupported, and buggy. If at all
possible, get everyone on Office 2003 - requires W2k/XP as a workstation OS,
though. NetFolders is not available for OL97, and does not work in OL2002
and beyond. It was also very buggy.