My LtdCo Server Needs

[SpontaneousOrder]

What about something like 'cloud' based Confluence?

[garethevans1986]

We use Soonr for folder syncing - no problems so far.

I think a server is overkill for your requirements, have a look at Soonr and see how you get on.

GE

[lilelvis2000]

Well there is that annoyance..but I think its more that O365 uses sharepoint for file storage than OneDrive For Business itself. Have you tried it with OneDrive - not OneDrive For Business?

Might be some plain storage offerings out there rather than complete online app suites. Would probably suit me and the OP better.

[stek]

Why note use either Google or MS online offerings? There are only three of you so wonder why you would stump for a server. Which you then have to setup for remote access (so you can work from home) and if it falls over..well.

It's very hard these days to justify having your own hardware these days IMHO.

Tried to upload a large file to OneDrive that I have with O365, 2gb file size limit.

Somethings never change...

[lilelvis2000]

Why note use either Google or MS online offerings? There are only three of you so wonder why you would stump for a server. Which you then have to setup for remote access (so you can work from home) and if it falls over..well.

It's very hard these days to justify having your own hardware these days IMHO.

[TheFaQQer]

This ++
They are currently on offer with cashback

++

I have 5x 4TB drives in mine running FreeNAS

[d000hg]

Isn't this one exact kind of setup MS is pitching Office 365 at, companies too small to justify an IT person who don't want to have to cobble together some system?

[VectraMan]

Or build one you can pick up the HP Proliant N54L pretty cheaply

I know people here love their HP servers, but it's still a proper server, so you need to sort out a proper server OS, set it up, and it'll use proper server OS amounts of power. Which for file sharing seems a bit ridiculous, at least for non über-geeks.

[FiveTimes]

Or build one you can pick up the HP Proliant N54L pretty cheaply

This ++
They are currently on offer with cashback

[GillsMan]

Or build one you can pick up the HP Proliant N54L pretty cheaply

Yeah, that is pretty cheap, thanks for the tip!

[GillsMan]

Buy a NAS, saving a whole load of money, effort and electricity in the process.

Moving into a serviced office, so saving electricity not a priority, but money and effort would be good to save, particularly effort! Will look at NAS solutions, thanks!

[The Spartan]

Buy a NAS, saving a whole load of money, effort and electricity in the process.

Or build one you can pick up the HP Proliant N54L pretty cheaply

[VectraMan]

Buy a NAS, saving a whole load of money, effort and electricity in the process.

[GillsMan]

Hi all,

My business is taking the next big leap. We're about to move into an office, and expand from two to three staff. I'd appreciate any help/guidance that people are able to share.

Current Setup:

We are two staff who both WFH. In my LtdCo folder, I have a Client folder which contains files for all clients we're working on. These files will be Office documents, as well as e-learning files, including .psd, .cp and other file types that might not as common as .docx, etc. We use SugarSync to ensure the files we're working on are synced and backed up. I can also control which folders my other employee has access to. It's pretty good, but it's not perfect, as sometimes folders won't synchronise, and we don't know why, and sometimes we have to wait for folders to sync before we can work on them.

Future State:

We are going to be moving into an office in just over a month, and will be hiring a third person who will need access to these same files. I'm thinking of some sort of file server to help control access to folders (e.g. I don't want the newbie having access to folders containing contractual/financial information). I obviously want to reduce costs, but at the same time I want something that's robust while easy to maintain. I was advised not to use a domain controller, as apparently they can be a bit of a nightmare to maintain.

I have used Windows Server 2003 in the past, so should be able to upskill enough to set up and manage a server, but I really wanted to reach out to some experts to see what they thought might be the best solutions for me. I've done plenty of Googling and found some decent enough articles, but I'm still not sure of what is the best solution for me.

Any advice?