2 offices 2 small business servers? Does that sound right?

[MrMaster]

This question might be because my head doesn't function very well in the morning but if you have 2 offices connected via VPN, can you use just 1 small business server? Why would you have a SBS setup for each office?

 

[RebateMonger]

Assuming you mean Microsoft's SBS 2003 or SBS 2008: No, do not buy two small business servers. SBS must be the root Domain Controller of its Domain and can't trust a different Domain. That means that communication between the two servers and between the two different office Domains will be much more limited than it should be.

Best bet is a single SBS server or an SBS server in one office and a straight Standard Server in the second office. All your PCs and servers will be on the same Domain, which will give optimal communication between all the computers.

 

[Nothinman]

And with SBS that also means users at one site will be accessing their Exchange mailbox over the VPN which will likely be painful.

 

[RebateMonger]

And with SBS that also means users at one site will be accessing their Exchange mailbox over the VPN which will likely be painful.

They can either access Exchange across the VPN or with Outlook's "RDP over HTTPS" Internet protocol. I't's not painful at all. Millions of people use hosted Exchange (or other remote mail servers).

For years, I used a VPN and/or RDP over HTTPS connection to my company's SBS Exchange server located in a firend's closet and that worked fine, too. Sure, if you get lots of emails with 50 MB attachments, the file transfer might take a few minutes, but for most folks, it's not a problem as long as their Internet connections are reliable.

The biggest problem working from a VPN is if you are sharing large files. Sometimes it's better to synchronize files between two servers or between the desktops and a single server.

 

[MrMaster]

Thanks for the responses.

I inherited the IT for 1 of the 2 offices and I have been doing a lot of head scratching lately trying to figure out why it is setup the way it is.

 

[kalrith]

We have a VPN for our satellite office, and they use all of the servers in our office with none in their office.