Installing new 2008 R2 server *need help

[HostileGamer]

Today I will be setting up my first office and my friends law firm. He currently only has 5 users in his office and he's going to be using a program called needles to manage all his cases. We got the server from Dell, http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=bect12b2b&model_id=poweredge-t110-2&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04, it is running a xeon e3 1220v2 proc, 8gbs ram, and 2x 500gb hard drives in a raid 1 array so it shouldn't be a slouch. 

 

The workstations are only running Windows 7 home premium so I won't be able to set up active directory but I can still set up just local clients right? Thats question number one.....how do i set up users on a non active directory environment.

 

The needles software that he's using came with a copy of sybase sql and I'm assuming that all i have to do is follow the checklist that came with it to set up that software and put a copy of needles on all the workstations.

 

 

Basically I'm just posting about this because I know I will hit a snag later when I'm setting things up so I would like to have a thread where I can come get some advice. Off to do this thing :)

[Roger H. Veteran]

Basically you will need AD so those machines will need an upgrade.

You can probably enable the guest account on the server (bad idea) or use the credential manager on each machine to save a user account for that user so when they try to log in it will use those credentials. It will be messy and not easily managed and unless its just gonna be a file server in which case you could have just saved money and got windows 7 and shared some folders.

Also, let me know how it goes with Needles. I need to setup one too, well they wanna try it out and I haven't gotten the energy to try setting it up yet. I'm sure its pretty straight forward but just the time I'm really having these days.

[HostileGamer]

The server is there so eventually he ca grow into it but yes, it's pretty much just going to be a file server with a needles database on it.

On the networking side though I'm just going to run everything through his router. Should I let the router handle DHCP? Or let the server handle it? The only static IP's I'm going to set up are for the 3 laser printers.

[Farchord]

The server is there so eventually he ca grow into it but yes, it's pretty much just going to be a file server with a needles database on it.

On the networking side though I'm just going to run everything through his router. Should I let the router handle DHCP? Or let the server handle it? The only static IP's I'm going to set up are for the 3 laser printers.

 

I would use DHCP, but make sure the static IP addresses you assign the printers are outside of the DHCP assigning range to rule out ip conflicts.

[xrobwx71]

http://www.rackspace.com/knowledge_center/article/installing-active-directory-on-windows-server-2008-r2-enterprise-64-bit

[Aergan]

It would be easier in the long run to upgrade the clients to a version of Windows that supports domain join (e.g. Professional).

[HostileGamer]

Well this is stupid. I have the server up and I selected the DVD ROM drive as my first boot device and when I reboot....the DVD rom doesnt even spin up lol. Called Dell and they want to sell me weekend server support lol. Any ideas?

[sinetheo]

Cancel the server and return it to Dell.

 

This is waaay overkill for 5 users.

 

You have 2 options and no Active Directory is required as why do you need a directory of resources for 5 users? I would go the route of:

1. Buy a Network Attached Storage Drive or NAS instead http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=network%20attached%20storage&sprefix=network+a%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Anetwork%20attached%20storage. for $499 you can get 4 disks running 5 TB of Raid 5 to act as both a file and print server with Linux running Samba to emulate netbios. They all come with a web based GUI to set it up. EASY AS PIE :-)

 

If you really want Windows Server you can buy them for $1299 with Windows Server + software to setup tasks and printers for you. No need to get all enterprisish and if there is ever a problem the owner can call the 1-800 number. Something you can't do if you build your own complex Dell Xeon. Then you can still install the software that is server based. A low powered dual core ATOM running Windows Server on the NAS will save thousands if not tens of thousands in electricity cost too.

 

2. Try cloud. Office 365 + azure. All you need is a good business grade connection with a hardware firewall. The ISP may even provide a business grade one for you if you purchase a business line. Azure will be your cloud file server, app server, and print server. Office 365 will take care of the companies website, email, and office software licenses.

 

[sinetheo]

IN addition I would also like to say a NAS running Windows Server or not you can add users with the web based GUI. Raid 5 is nice too as you can get more speed too by these devices.

 

Azure also (I have not tried this) supports setting up users and permissions as well if you want to rent to a cloud instead.

[xrobwx71]

Well this is stupid. I have the server up and I selected the DVD ROM drive as my first boot device and when I reboot....the DVD rom doesnt even spin up lol. Called Dell and they want to sell me weekend server support lol. Any ideas?

I had the same exact problem with mine (I have almost the same machine). I opened the case and the dvd rom was simply not plugged into the motherboard. I plugged it in and it worked.

[xrobwx71]

Some more sources I used to help me setup.

http://www.howtogeek.com/99723/how-to-set-up-dhcp-in-server-2008-r2/

http://www.howtogeek.com/100812/setup-terminal-services-remote-desktop-server-2008/ <---This one got me up and running.

 

We are running Decor Fusion (Paint Store Point of Sale) on the server and the clients/workstations are remoting in to the server via Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Clients. I did have to buy a 5 pack CAL and install/activate on the server. 

For instance---> http://www.softwarejones.com/919/Microsoft/op-Services-5-User-CALs-OLP/SA.htm?a=GO&gclid=CjkKEQjwqYacBRDO-Mrk6_vr8eQBEiQAWJadfG-wjd4AlUmOFhOMnDIobz1dfkZ_fM1JWUwJSajxlNnw_wcB

I had to find out all this myself and I hope this is some help.

[xendrome]

Well this is stupid. I have the server up and I selected the DVD ROM drive as my first boot device and when I reboot....the DVD rom doesnt even spin up lol. Called Dell and they want to sell me weekend server support lol. Any ideas?

 

Next time pay for something other then 5x10 support. You could have gotten - 1 Year ProSupport and NBD On-site Service [add $112.08]

 

Shouldn't have skimped on the server specs/warranty, this is the most entry level server I think Dell offers, not even worth looking at... Also, stop cheaping out on upgrading the systems OS to Pro. Either do it right yourself, pay someone to do it right, or don't do it at all. You're going to be hating life down the road if you don't do the setup correctly from the beginning.

[HostileGamer]

Got everything up and running. Got Sybase installed on the server and all my workstations. Got the Needles database created and running on the server. My last issue (and probably the biggest) is now to get the workstations to access the database on the server. I see the server on a network map but for some reason they won't connect via sybase sql, the one thing i can think of is that the workstations are running on a home group that was previously set up just for file sharing and printing. Should I kill the home group and set them all up to a workgroup? Thanks

[Roger H. Veteran]

Yeah you will need to connect them to the same workgroup and probably need to enable password sharing on the server if you aren't doing AD. If on AD they will need credentials to access anything on the server.