Help with NOS

In your shoes, Here's the general plan I'd start with:

Install a new server & dedicate it to the check imaging software. Mucho RAM (relatively inexpensive), mucho disk space (also inexpensive). Instal the disk space as RAID 5, and for performance, opt for more smaller disks (i.e. 5x 36gb vice 3x 72gb). A rule of thumb is that more spindles can increase performance. Not always true, but often it is.

Ther eare lots of NAS solutions -- I suspect the nature of the data collected by the check imaging software is that it can moved to an 'archive' location after a few months.

For file/print/user management, I'd give Netware serious consideration. The current server (1Ghz CPU/1GB ram) will likely be sufficient for this, even with 200users. And, the NetWare licensing model allows you to add as many servers as you wish for free (you only license users). This lets you strategically place servers in branch offices so you can maximize the efficiency of your WAN links.

NetWare 6also has some compelling technolgies, such as iFolder and iPrint, available integration with Microsoft Active directory, IP-only networking, and so forth.

I'm a Windows guy, so I'll give you a Windows answer.

NOS: SBS would definitely NOT be recommended for your situation. Besides the 50 user limitation, SBS cannot be joined to other domains. Back Office is no longer available as a product. Therefore you options come down to Win2K Server and Win2K Advanced Server. The primary advantages of Advanced Server are number of processor (8 vs. 4) and amount of memory (8 GB vs. 4 GB) supported, as well as clustering and load balancing capabilities. Unless these feature are important to you, save some money and go with Win2k Server (standard).

With 40 plus printers hanging off a single server (in addition to everything else it's being asked to do), I can understand why you might be having print problems. I would suggest a dedicated print server for your workload. Operating system is not as important as memory and available disk space in a print server. Your current server (with a lot of disk space) should function well as a dedicated print server. I would go with Win2K Server from the standpoint of manageability (and compatibility).

NAS solution: There are so many on the market, it's hard to offer a recommendation. The primary things to look will be price (vs. available budget), expandability, and reliability. A NAS solution is not a necessity if you have a sufficiently powerful server with a large enough RAID array. One primary advantage of a NAS is that all the I/O processing takes place on the NAS device, relieving the primary server of some workload.
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With your current and projected system configurations one or more dedicated print servers will be a given. This is out of SBS's scope.

I would go with 2000 advanced server. Depending on the physical layout of the wan a secondary server might be in order. You could even utilize a load share if needed.

NAS would serve you well. The suggestion for Computer Associates is a good one. IBM has their hands in this also.

A system monitoring package in this situation is just about a given. You can be kept aware of bottlenecks and system problems before they become critical. There are several of these on the market. Computer Associates again comes to mind. I think Cisco has something that can fall into this catagory for their systems also.

Back up is the age old albatros. It is usually the last thing to be thought of until the system dies. Mirrored Raid with hotswap and rebuild capability helps for minor equipment failures but a good tape backup is mandatory. As slow as it is, it still provides the best bang for the buck. Don't cut any corners here. make sure the software is stable. Check the MTBF ratings for the tape machines. (Mean Time Before Failure)

The worst mess I ever got into was with a customer that did religousbackups but when a system crash occured they couldn't get a reliable restore. There was a bug in the software.

Good Luck Lee

Having done work for banks myself, budget is ALWAYS the leading priority.

The check imaging software does not require authentication, so a W2K stand-alone server would do just fine.

The determining factor for the existing server is going to be warranty. If it is nearing the end of warranty then replace it. If warranty is okay for another 2-3 years, then look at capacity.

What is eating up all of the storage space? If it is primarily check archives, then definitely look at a near-line storage solution such as an optical jukebox. There is absolutely no reason to keep thousands of archived checks in online storage.

As for file/print, I always chuckle when the "Microsoft guys" recommend a separate server for each function (one even suggests two or more print servers for only 40 printers!).

For this environment I would definitely recommend NetWare. NDPS/iPrint can handle hundreds of printers on one server and the server will still have plenty of horsepower left over for general user data storage and directory services.

If they are willing to spend the money, retire the existing server and install two new ones. If they want to keep the existing server, be sure to convert the storage system to RAID. This is not an option. RAID 5 should be your baseline for servers.

As the others have said, tape backups are the way to go. I like the HP DLT tape libraries, but they may be out of the bank's price range.

P.S. Take this opportunity to help your client establishstandards for their network. Standardize on hardware vendors (e.g. Cisco switches and routers; Compaq servers), minimum server specifications, security requirements, equipment refresh (3 or 4 years) and so on. It looks like they are planning to grow, so without such standards in place they will soon have a mess on their hands.

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