Within a small start-up I was a mere IT, lab rat, facilities “handyman”. Now I am facilities/IT and move coordinator of a start up company that just received funding. We are going from a ad-hoc Windows 2000, XP, 2003 / Linux peer to peer 15 person environment to Windows XP, 2003 / Linux Domain 35 – 65 people by year end environment. This is to include, all new equipment, software as well as a newly designed server room with Windows 2003, SBS and exchange.
In essence I wanted to pick your brain on what insight there is out there on planning for a new network and setting it up in this above indicated configuration or any pointers to sites that may provide play by play in essence setup. Any pro’s vs. cons in using a contractor set it all up considering the 4 week time frame I have to have the new environment up and working A+. Any gotcha’s you may be aware of that individuals may have come across? Did you decide to do it yourself and if so what was some time saving but solid hints to set in place? Have anyone read the SBS book recommended by Microsoft and did it help?
Any and all help to this overwhelmed IT /facilities guy would be MOST appreciated.