Servers Are For Small Business Too

Posted on July 13, 2004
Filed Under Business Computing, Windows |

It may seem that if you are in a small business, having a dedicated network server adds unnecessary complexity and cost. While there are is no magic formula that determines what size of an organization could benefit from a dedicated server, it helps to understand what a server can do for your business.

For the purpose of this column we’ll look at the Microsoft Windows line of server products and in particular Microsoft Small Business Server 2003. There are a multitude of server products out there all with their own strengths and weaknesses. Usually a small business will be using Microsoft Windows on their workstations however, and the choice to incorporate a Windows based Server makes sense as the product is familiar and support for it is relatively easy to come by.

To see the full potential of Microsoft Windows Server, the server should be configured as a Domain Controller. A Windows Domain is a grouping of computers that share common security and user accounts. Don’t let that scare you away! All it means is rather than each computer controlling who can access what, that access is managed by the Domain Controller.

This is a major bonus in that central control of security saves a great deal of time and frustration and actually makes managing the network less complex. In a network where there is no Domain Controller each computer must maintain a list of users who have access to its files or printers or other resources. If there are four computers that share a resource, each of them must have a list of users who can access those resources even if the lists are identical. What’s worse is when a user changes a password on one computer, they also must change it on every computer they have access to.

In contrast a Domain Controller maintains a single list of users that is used by all of the computers on the network. Now if a user changes his or her password, the password only needs to be changed once and all computers on the network use the new password. By using more of the features of a Domain Controller a user can also have the same desktop, settings, documents, and printers no matter what computer they sit at. And that just scratches the surface of the possibilities a Domain opens up.

We’ve seen how a Domain can actually make managing the network less complex with our example of user lists and passwords. Isn’t all of this still going to be costly and won’t it be overkill for a small business?

Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 is designed as the name suggests, for small businesses. The base server comes with five client or five device licenses. You decide whether to use the licenses for clients (users) or devices. Users are of course the number of individuals who will access the Domain and devices are the number of computers, handhelds, or other devices that will have access.

Certainly the addition of the actual server computer is going to add cost to the network but a good consultant will be able to provide alternatives that will keep the cost under control. Further, Small Business Server 2003 includes Microsoft Exchange for email, shared calendars, shared contacts, and collaboration, Microsoft SharePoint Services for teams to share information and improve productivity, a shared network fax service, a firewall, and the Windows Server software itself. The premium version also includes the Microsoft SQL Server database software, FrontPage for web page design, and Microsoft Outlook for email, scheduling, etc.

It would be ill advised to run the stand alone versions of these products on a single server but the Small Business Server versions are optimized to do just that. In addition you gain the ability to implement a central backup routine, centralize antivirus protection, and the capacity to control all of the computers on the network with one server. When we consider the cost associated with data loss due to poor backups or virus outbreaks, it can make a great deal of sense to invest in a server based network at the outset.

Servers and Domains may not be for every organization but they shouldn’t be discounted because of complexity or cost. By centralizing network management, the complexity and risk of data loss can actually be reduced when compared to an ad hoc network.

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