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Best way to devide services among servers

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by sostermann 2 views

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We are in the process of upgrading our network. I am trying to plan out the best way to devide the services between potential servers -- striking a good balance between security and cost effectivness.

Our company has about 25 employees - we are running Windows 2003

The services are:

Domain Contoller
DNS
DHCP
File Server(s) 1 light load and 1 heavy load with average 200-400mb files being transfered
Application Server hosting accounting software (will use Terminal Services)
FTP Server
Domino hoting Lotus Notes internal software
Domino hosting a Website

We currently have 3 server (we are going to get rid of one of them)

Server 1 - Win.2003 DC Running DNS/DHCP/File Server
Server 2 - Win.2000 MS Running Domino (web&client) / FTP / File Server
Server 3 - NT4 MS Large File Server (*this is the server we want to phase out)

Given the above scenerio and assuming the Server 2 will probably become the high traffic file server only - what is the best way to devide up the remaining services between the least amount of new server with regard to security?

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

3 replies

by bfilmfan

I never recommend using a domain controller as a file server due to the security risks and additional load placed on the system.

You didn't mention how much memory, speed and number of processors or application demands that will be placed on these servers.

My advice is to purchase a new server that will be able to handle the demands of being a file, print and application server. Remove the file server load from Server 1 and 2 and move it to the new server. It will reduce the strain on your domain controller and mail server and decrease your security exposure.

by sostermann

Thank you for your reply.

Current specs:

Server 1 - 2x 2.8Ghz Xeon / 2GB / SCSI RAID 5
Server 2 - 2x 500Mhz Xeon / 1 GB / SCSI RAID 5

At most 12 users accessing File Server
At most 3 users accessing Application Server
At most 4 users accessing Print Server
At most 15 users accessing Domino through Clients
_____________________________________________

What I am proposing to do is:

Server 1 - DC / DNS / DHCP / PRINT SERVER / RIS SERVER

SERVER 2 - FILE SERVER

NEW SERVER 3 - APPLICATION SERVER WITH REMOTE DESKTOP CONNECTION

NEW SERVER 4 - DOMINO WEB ACCESS / FTP

NEW SERVER 5 - DOMINO CLIENT ACCESS

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Does this sound like a good game plan? Are there any risk/flaws with this scenario?

by jellimonsta

If you want to add additional security, I would look at implementing 802.11x (as I doubt you have budget for a NAC appliance). Also, if you have any way to move DHCP off of the DC, you can use authorized DHCP services (to decrease the chances of rogue DHCP servers). Also, look into EFS (can be a pain, but does increase security).

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