This case scenario started me wondering about the limitations of Small Business Server:
I have a client who came to us initially regading building them an intranet for managing staff training and document sharing etc. but as they use two other software packages (one for POS & one for inventory [they are not linked >< ]) I have advised them to start with looking at their overall I.T. infrastructure.
Bear in mind they don't have a dedicated I.T. staff member and their overall turnover I would guesstimate at a conservative AU $16M /year between 8 stores.
Infrastructure overview (as I understand it):
- One server ( I don't know the specs) hosted at main office running Small Business Server.
- Only one of the stores currently connecting via VPN to that server and the Inventory software running on it.
- Seven other existing stores to eventually connect to the server.
- Currently several hundred employees
- Company wants to double to sixteen stores within next 3 years.
- Probably ~20 (two/three per store) POS machines sending data to the server.
- Probably ~8-10 Desktop machines connecting to the server for Inventory/Backend
I found some links but would like to hear some real world experiences
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/default.mspx
http://www.sbslinks.com/Us_v_them.htm
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/platform-small-business-server-2003,1151.html