Hello, Just got a new server here are the specification: Tyan Thunder i7500 (S2720) motherboard (Onboard SCSI,Gigabit nic,100 nic) 2 x 2.0ghz Xeon Processor 4 x 512mb Kingston ECC PC2100 Ram (2GB) Adaptec 2000S Raid Card 6 x Seagate 36GB 10,000RPM SCSI disks (ST336607LW) Dell Quantum SDLT SDLT220 LG DVD-ROM/CD-R/W (DVD ROM 16x, CD 48x 24x 48x) Lian-Li PC-71 Full Server case Floppy Disk Drive Will this specification work well for 4-5 users. What would be the best way for setting up the drives for SBS. Thanks Ben Benjamin Heaven

That sounds like a decent system for 4 to 5 users. As for setting up the drives. If it were me, I'd go with 2 HDD's in a RAID 1 configuration for the operating system. Then I would use the remaining 4 in a RAID 5 configuration for data and applications.

I forgot to mention. Be sure to update your SCSI controller card before you do anything else. A BIOS flash on the motherboard might not be a bad idea too. Configure both RAID's before installing the OS. They will have to synchronise and if there's data on it, it will take a lot longer than blank drives.

I would agree aside from one thing. I wouldn't put those four drives in RAID5. For five users, depending on the storage requirements, I would consider RAID0+1. Exchange performs significantly better in RAID0+1 instead of RAID5. I would imagine SQL would, too. The difference of course is that would only give you 72gigs of storage, but that's probably sufficient. You should also use two NIC's if you're going to use ISA that's in SBS2003 Premium. "If that [soiled bed] sheet is a [holy] manifestation, then I'm working on a miracle in my Jockey's!"

Hello, Yes the motherboard has a gigabit and a 100mb nic built in for ISA. Will i have enough memory for SBS? Thanks Ben Benjamin Heaven

Yes, that's plenty. You may want to contact Microsoft concerning enabling the /3gb switch to help Exchange Information Store Service. I know it's recommended for Windows 2003 Server both standard and enterprise for any Exchange server hosting mailboxes and public folders, but I don't know if it's supported in SBS2003. "It happens."