What is my best bet?

[JD]

Hi:

We are small company with 4 computers. One of them is a file server running
windows xp pro sp3. All other machines have win xp pro installed as well. We
notice slow down in file accessing time if we don't restart system every two
or three days and also windows xp firewall causing problem. In order speed up
the file access we have to shut down the firewall otherwise to access
QuickBooks file takes long time to open. Once we close the firewall file
opens in 5 seconds with firewall on it takes over a minute to open.

My question is if we upgrade from windows xp to windows 7 64bit or windows
SBS 2003 which will be best choice. Currently, I can buy SBS 2003 on eBay
for $280 and Windows 7 64bit for $250. Not to mention windows 2000 server
very cheap on eBay. We are just using as a file server not any other
services. However, I prefer secure remote connection so can login from home
time to time.

Machine has 4 gig ram DDR2 and dual core 2.1ghz processor, Gigabit LAN.
Thanks for your input.

 

[Leythos]

Hi:

We are small company with 4 computers. One of them is a file server running
windows xp pro sp3. All other machines have win xp pro installed as well. We
notice slow down in file accessing time if we don't restart system every two
or three days and also windows xp firewall causing problem. In order speed up
the file access we have to shut down the firewall otherwise to access
QuickBooks file takes long time to open. Once we close the firewall file
opens in 5 seconds with firewall on it takes over a minute to open.

My question is if we upgrade from windows xp to windows 7 64bit or windows
SBS 2003 which will be best choice. Currently, I can buy SBS 2003 on eBay
for $280 and Windows 7 64bit for $250. Not to mention windows 2000 server
very cheap on eBay. We are just using as a file server not any other
services. However, I prefer secure remote connection so can login from home
time to time.

Machine has 4 gig ram DDR2 and dual core 2.1ghz processor, Gigabit LAN.
Thanks for your input.

Windows 7 as well as Windows XP are NOT SERVER CLASS Operating systems.

SBS 2003 offers a lot more than just File sharing, but, like any real
server, should not be installed by a novice - you're do more damage than
good and just have to wipe the server install and start over.

Any good Windows 2003 server, like SBS 2003, is going to need 4GB of ram
(at least 3) and should have Xeon processors or at least a Single Quad
Core CPU faster than 2Ghz.

If you want to talk SBS 2008, the current version of SBS, you need a x64
server motherboard and at least 8GB RAM to get started.

SBS permits all your users to connect to their work computers using a
Web Browser from any Windows PC, and you get your own email server and
company Intranet website.

SBS 2003 comes with 5 CAL in the standard base install - it's a good
deal, but it's also OLD, 2008 is the current, but it requires a LOT more
hardware.

For hardware redundancy you're going to want a RAID controller with DUAL
drives, mirrored, and some form of backup media - a lot of small
companies are using USB External drives - you want at least 2 of them,
one connected, one in your fire safe.

 

[John John - MVP]

A server system is almost always preferable over a peer to peer network
but for the little network that you have you should be fine with a peer
workgroup. Upgrading to a server or to another client version will not
repair network slowness if the root cause is misconfigured or faulty
hardware or misconfigured workstations. Before you contemplate any
upgrades you should get to the bottom of the slow network problem. Look
in the Event Logs of all your machines and see if anything relevant is
logged.

There are different Windows XP settings that can slow down network
traffic, verify these settings:

http://ss64.com/nt/slow_browsing.html
Slow Network Browsing in XP

Bad or misconfigured hardware could be part of the problem. Verify that
the settings on the network adapters are correctly set, if necessary
update the adapter drivers, maybe something as simple as the adapter
speed and duplexing might have been inadvertently changed to a slow
setting. Verify the cable from your pseudo server. Routers and
switches sometimes fail, try another one and see if things change.

If you sit the machines behind a NAT router you can do away with the
Windows firewall altogether, a software firewall is not needed when you
sit behind a NAT router. For easy secure access from your home to your
office I suggest that you get a pair of business class VPN firewall
appliances and stick one at each end, in my opinion this by far is one
of the easiest and most secure way of doing it. Your appliances will
establish secure connections between each other and connecting to your
office from your home be like connecting to other computers at work,
your home machine will become part of the LAN, the only difference that
you will note is that it will be slower transferring files over the
internet. For reliability and security you need good business class
firewall appliances, you get what you pay for so cost can be a drawback!
Cisco are the best but they are pricey! In my opinion a pair of
Netgear FVS338 is a reasonably priced entry level solution for a small
setup like yours, as far as I'm concerned anything less than that is not
worth the trouble, don't bother with home/consumer grade routers. Just
make sure that you update the firmware before you install the appliances.

John

 

[Leythos]

My question is if we upgrade from windows xp to windows 7 64bit or windows
SBS 2003 which will be best choice. Currently, I can buy SBS 2003 on eBay
for $280 and Windows 7 64bit for $250. Not to mention windows 2000 server
very cheap on eBay. We are just using as a file server not any other
services. However, I prefer secure remote connection so can login from home
time to time.

Heck, I almost forgot - you could purchase a Windows Home server system
for under $1000 and use it instead of SBS if you don't really want
email.

 

[Gordon]

Heck, I almost forgot - you could purchase a Windows Home server system
for under $1000 and use it instead of SBS if you don't really want
email.

Or a Linux server for nothing.....

 

[Leythos]

Or a Linux server for nothing.....

It would be interesting to see a non-Linux type setup SAMBA and then
setup backup schedules with removable media.

 

[JD]

Thanks for all the responses. I am planning to hire network guy to access the
situation.