A tricky client to quote?

[Vyper28]

I'm looking for some advice on a client I have picked up recently. They are a small business with 3, soon to be 4 employees. They have a "server" right now but it's not server hardware. Some guy sold them a core2quad with 2 hard drives and server 2008 installed.

The problem I'm having is they are inquiring about replacing the server, or re purposing it and asking what they need to replace it with. I don't want to sell crap hardware, so if they want a new server I'm looking at a dell to put in its place. However, after my first visit I noticed literally the only thing they use the server for is a domain controller (to log in) and a shared folder.

I was seriously considering just moving them to a good quality raid NAS and removing the server completely. They have their email hosted in the cloud already, so I see no need for the server in this small of an environment. Am I overlooking anything major here? Am I wrong to think that for how little they actually use it for, they really don't even need an in-office server? I don't want to up sell them to something they don't need but I don't want to make the mistake of moving them away from the server before I cover all my bases either.

Advice?

 

[nlinecomputers]

Sounds solid advise to me. The only thing to check is what applications they use. You might have some LOB app that needs such a server. You also want to consider how the data on the NAS is to be backed up. Synology makes some great NAS units that are able to backup files to Amazon S3.

 

[SAG]

I'll bet you $3.42 that Windows is pirated.

If ALL they really are using it for is basic AD authentication for a share or two, and you are sure they'll never need more - then a good quality NAS just might be in there future.

I know QNAP has at least one model out with SAMBA 4 on it (which can replace Active Directory) - but chances are a WORKGROUP setup would work for them.

 

[TAPtech]

I agree with these guys. A server may be a good idea for future expansion, but you won't beat the NAS for simplicity or bang-for-buck for this type of client.

That Workstation errrrr Server I mean, well I bet with some minor tweaking you could turn it into a functioning workstation!

 

[Vyper28]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I think I'm going to suggest that they re purpose this "top of the line server" into a "middle of the road desktop" for the new staff member they are bringing in and have them pick up a NAS drive.

They already have a crashplan pro account, I assume I can just map the NAS to a machine and back it up that way as I doubt any NAS drives have crashplan functionality yet .

 

[sys-eng]

If they need another PC/workstation, then using the server would be fine. You did not say why they wanted to replace it. If it is working OK, then it is probably less expensive than a smart NAS.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

I recently have been using and testing Microsoft's Windows Home Server.

It sounds perfect for your client and has more functionality than Windows server alone or a NAS.

$50 for the software, automatically sets up a share-point like internet connection from the outside for remote management, remote access (using a free dynamic DNS service), backups up all computers on the network similar to Apples Time Machine, has a public folder and personal private folders for each user, no domain but has NT security without the AD and works on just about any workstation hardware.

 

[drewster]

You may also consider a NAS solution like this:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=610
That comes bundles with Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials (25 User)

 

[cyabro]

They already have a crashplan pro account, I assume I can just map the NAS to a machine and back it up that way as I doubt any NAS drives have crashplan functionality yet .

No you can't backup a network drive with Crashplan, not easily anyway.