Hi guys, I m going to setup a cyber cafe will 50 stations. I am wondering if I buy a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard edition would be sufficient. Does this standard edition includes with 75 users or devices license? This mean I just need to buy once and do not need to buy more CAL ? Appreciate if someone could advice me on this. Tahnks & Regards, Mark

usually when you buy the hardware and license together it's a server license and 5 cals. You then need to purchase the appropriate additional amount of cals. I don't believe most cyber cafes use SBS but just a server with a cyber cafe software loaded. for example http://www.antamedia.com/caffe/?gcl... McCain: steal from the poor/middle class and give to the rich. Obama: steal from the rich and give to the poor/middle class. Go Obama!

what do you mean by just a server with cybercafe software loaded? I don't intend to buy a branded server. I will just build my own server and load Windows SBS R2 2003 inside. In addition, since I need to pay so much licensing, can I just setup a PC with Linux OS then this act as a proxy and connect to Windows server. All my 50 stations will connect to a switch and this switch will eventually connect to the Linux PC. In this way, the Windows SBS just connect to a device, which is the Linux PC. Will this cause any licensing issue?

Why would you think you need a linux and sbs server? Have you done any research in running a cyber cafe? Usual setup is a server that via the cyber cafe software loaded on it provides POS [point of sale] so you can charge for the internet access Workstation/User account control - so you get paid for the internet access used Bandwidth control - so you can spread the wealth of internet access between the 50 units so one user doesn't bring the rest to a crawl. I wasn't suggesting a branded server I was suggesting a start in your search for affordable cyber cafe software SBS comes with Exchange and lots of things you don't need for running a cyber cafe which was why there was a suggestion of just running server and cafe software. If you are going to run Linux what function do you see the SBS doing for you? Have you considered the state of your business if you have 50 customers and your single server goes down? There is a lot to consider here. For example how are you going to keep the pcs infection free? Running AV on the gateway server can slow down internet access and can be expensive to keep uptodate. Will you allow users to run hacker programs that may compromise your business network/steal your financial information? How are you going to protect your credit card users? Get my drift? McCain: steal from the poor/middle class and give to the rich. Obama: steal from the rich and give to the poor/middle class. Go Obama!

hello wanderer, I m going to use truecafe.net as my cybercafe software. this software need windows to run. When you said just run a server and a cybercafe software, does it mean that I just need to buy a server from, says, Dell, which contain only windows server OS and nothing else? I reason I put linux as a proxy bcoz I do not want to pay so much Windows CAL. Can I ask you a question? See, all my station are connected to a switch and this switch will connect to Windows Server. Does this mean that 1 CAL (device) will be enough? Only Administrator will login to the Server locally, no other will login. regards, Mark

The web site of that software was a bit shy on technical information. I couldn't even see what server/wkstations they support. Site I pointed you to had more features and info from what I could tell. They do support terminal services and thin clients which is a cool feature. Given that information I would say you need a cal for every node. The node need to connect to the server. You can buy or build the server hardware. You can then buy the OS install service [like you get if you buy a dell server] or install your own purchased copy of server. Do you have any server or network experience? How this is usually setup is you have a router providing the internet access. The server has two network cards. Router connects to one and the switch connects to the other. This gives the server based software the ability to capture and control access from nodes to internet. I would highly recommend you consider clustering two servers or using VMware to have two servers on one robust [raided drives, max memory, spare mainboard and raid controllers on the shelf]. 50 nodes = 50 to 100 customers and that's a lot of folks to piss off if your server goes down. Thin clients have more cost up front [terminal server licenses] but you wouldn't need Deep Freeze or other pc stabilize/protect software. You did notice those features were not supplied by the software you chose? Example of Oxymoron: Person who is pro choice and anti sex education. Education is key to prevention. Prevent conception you prevent abortion. Abstinence training clearly isn't working.