Decisions: Server O/S and CAL options

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kerris-S
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Kerris-S

Hi everyone, I want an O/S for a school, and was originally thinking
WinServer2003, but in researching I was reminded of Win Small Business
Server. Which would be better? We're going to start with 1 server appliance,
we'll use RAID for redundancy, coupled with frequent, scheduled backups, and
delay investing in a BDC for the moment. Our server will host data for 20
school owned workstations, and at least 40 student owned mobile computers.
So far, I've come up with WinServer2K3 O/S, and per-Server CAL's for 60
connections. Am I on the right path?
Students are by no means permanent users, they enroll, complete their
program, and graduate, so we need to not have a CAL assigned specifically to
any one user. We're also on a pretty small budget, and want to do this
legitimately, and cost effectively.
I would greatly appreciate a more experienced opinion on this. Thanks
 
Windows 2003 or 2008 Server with 100 cals will be your cheapest option. 60 cal to 100 cal is a bit cheaper and anyway you can always use the extra ones later on or contact MS or a MS reseller and ask if you can also have the Home program with it. This way you can recoup some of the costs by selling a few cals when needed
 
Linux would certainly save you a packet in CALs on a network of this size,
though it's by no means as easy to set-up. I prefer Debian, though Ubuntu
gives you a bit more hand-holding, plus you have paid support options.

http://www.debian.org

My office here is on two Debian Etch servers, and one thing I can say is
that they are rock-solid stable. I don't change accounts around very much as
it's a small IT firm, but user-management is definitely harder than on
Windows.

If going the MS route I would agree that Server 2003 is the safe option.
2008 is too new and untested.

Small Business Server is not really designed for networks of this size, plus
it is extremely restrictive in how you may set it up. On a site this size I
wouldn't envisage running email, database, etc all on the same server, yet
with SBS you MUST do so, and this creates maintainability problems.

CALs are not assigned to users, BTW. You can create 10,000 accounts if you
like, only the logged-on ones use a CAL. (Or more than one if they log-on
under multiple credentials, which sometimes arises)

As to how you set the LAN up, a lot depends on how the desktops will be
managed. I can envisage that users will probably want to be able to use
computers interchangeably, but that roaming profiles might incure too great a
performance hit unless kept very small. You will probably want a way of
quickly reloading a PC if it gets trashed/compromised, and this would suggest
disk-imaging with Acronis or the like.

The other issue I see is that the student-owned computers present three
issues; One, the owners almost certainly won't want them joined to a domain,
two, they may present a security issue if not properly maintained, and three,
they probably run XP Home, which can't join a domain anyway.

This might be of some help with connecting XP Home users:
http://mylogon.net
 
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