Cost to add a server?

butch81385 · November 2nd, 2009, 10:47 AM

So my office currently has 7 desktops and 2 laptops on our network for 6 users. We currently access all of our project files from a Platinum NAS drive. What all would be involved and what would the estimated cost be to add a server that would allow vpn or other secured access from outside of the office?

I assume a server is necessary. Would we need a static IP (Comcast Business, but I think we are currently dynamic)? Would in house operations still remain the same (access files from a network drive)?

Any other suggestions that would be better?

I would be doing as much of the tech work as possible, hiring out only if necessary.

My boss was curious if this is even feasible to do... I think it would be great (we could do network licenses for some of our software instead of switching computers or not being able to access from home).

Any help is appreciated.

Steve R Jones · November 2nd, 2009, 11:00 AM

Quote:

add a server that would allow vpn or other secured access from outside of the office?

What would the outside person need to be able to do and how many outside people at one time need access?

**GroundZero3** · November 2nd, 2009, 11:03 AM

Cost of the server all depends on the specs and the os that is being used. (Windows isnt cheap but you can always buy it from another site!)

I suggest Windows Server 2003

If you are gonna be using a VPN a static public address would be suggested (Normally business lines get static ip addresses, you can check with comcast) If you have a dynamic address, you will need to update the vpn settings to reflect the change (You can use a DNS name to connect too, but again if the DNS name doesnt get update its useless) Of course VPN access requires other things to look at such as the bandwidth to your office. If you have a slow connection and a bunch of people VPNing at the same time its gonna be pretty useless

In house operations wouldnt change, you just have another device on the network doing stuff. When you get the server up you can have it do DNS, DHCP, Windows update, AD, group policies, more storage space, hosting applications, etc later down the road if you want too.

As for hardware, a simple raid solution is always a good idea for system uptime. Dell, hp, and iron systems make all decent servers. Servers are so cheap these days for such a small network

butch81385 · November 2nd, 2009, 11:11 AM

On a normal day no one will be accessing through the vpn as everyone will be in house. However, I expect 1 or 2 people max being the typical out of office user when on a job site or home sick (was an issue 2 weeks ago when half of our office was sick, and last week when 4 people were in chicago with just a mirrored copy of our current projects). 99% of the work would be looking at pdf files or working on AutoCAD. Accessed files would be under 4 megs.

Basically I am looking to make it easier to work from home or on the job site when possible.

**GroundZero3** · November 2nd, 2009, 11:17 AM

Also the other reason I dont normally suggest building your own server is you usually get a one year warranty (that you can upgrade if you want and I suggest you do)

Steve R Jones · November 2nd, 2009, 11:54 AM

With some work they could remote into their own machine and bypass the need for a server....

But a plain jane Windows XP allows Two remote connections at a time....Almost any machine will do that.

**GroundZero3** · November 2nd, 2009, 12:00 PM

RDP is another suggestion and very do able, you will need to change all the RDP ports on each box and make sure the internal DHCP servers dont change on any of their desktops.

Of course if someone scans his ip address they will see a bunch of RDP ports open

butch81385 · November 2nd, 2009, 12:01 PM

How much would be involved? I assume that we would have to add passwords to the user accounts (currently it is set to auto-login).

Would be nice if these computers support wake-on-lan (we have a nice mix of random computers).

How slow would that be for using a program like AutoCAD?

**GroundZero3** · November 2nd, 2009, 12:01 PM

Trust me, you dont want to try to run Autocad over a VPN. Running Autocad in a RDP session sounds like it would be painful for the user

RDP can be set with different bandwidth restrictions in mind, of course you will need to set a password up for each machine.

butch81385 · November 2nd, 2009, 12:06 PM

That's what I was thinking. With the original idea of a server, we should be able to transfer (for a fee i'm sure) or current single user licenses to network licenses (6 licenses assignable to any computer). That way you would vpn into the server, get the files you need, get the AutoCAD license, and do the work locally.