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My LtdCo Server Needs

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    My LtdCo Server Needs

    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?

    #2
    Buy a NAS, saving a whole load of money, effort and electricity in the process.
    Will work inside IR35. Or for food.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by VectraMan View Post
      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
      In Scooter we trust

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by VectraMan View Post
        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!

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by The Spartan View Post
          Or build one you can pick up the HP Proliant N54L pretty cheaply
          Yeah, that is pretty cheap, thanks for the tip!

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by The Spartan View Post
            Or build one you can pick up the HP Proliant N54L pretty cheaply
            This ++
            They are currently on offer with cashback

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by The Spartan View Post
              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.
              Will work inside IR35. Or for food.

              Comment


                #8
                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?
                Originally posted by MaryPoppins
                I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
                Originally posted by vetran
                Urine is quite nourishing

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by FiveTimes View Post
                  This ++
                  They are currently on offer with cashback
                  ++

                  I have 5x 4TB drives in mine running FreeNAS
                  Best Forum Advisor 2014
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                  Click here to get 15% off your first year's IPSE membership

                  Comment


                    #10
                    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.
                    McCoy: "Medical men are trained in logic."
                    Spock: "Trained? Judging from you, I would have guessed it was trial and error."

                    Comment

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