Register1.net - your thoughts please
Discussion
I've been tasked with setting up company email (and file backup) and was initially looking to go with MS SBS2003 running on a DELL server. We can get both email and file server this way but its expensive - we are only looking to support 10 email addresses and need access to the email from outside the office. Our current email server software is hidden behind a firewall, which we havent opened up - so isnt accessible from outside the office.
I've emailed Register1.net and it seems the Web Hosting VDS will give us the email capaility that we need, as it supports unlimited accounts. We could also host our web site too.
We could then use a RAID based NAS file array to use for file backup. But we still need to consider off-site backup.
(One thing I'm not fully conversant with is that i have seen companies offering Exchange Hosting packages which appear to be circa $10/month per email account, which appear to make Register1 a bargain. Or am i missing something?)
I was wondering if there is anybody on here running a similar setup who would like to share their experience, maybe through this thread or privately.
I've emailed Register1.net and it seems the Web Hosting VDS will give us the email capaility that we need, as it supports unlimited accounts. We could also host our web site too.
We could then use a RAID based NAS file array to use for file backup. But we still need to consider off-site backup.
(One thing I'm not fully conversant with is that i have seen companies offering Exchange Hosting packages which appear to be circa $10/month per email account, which appear to make Register1 a bargain. Or am i missing something?)
I was wondering if there is anybody on here running a similar setup who would like to share their experience, maybe through this thread or privately.
A couple of our clients have multiple pop3 accounts hosted externally, its not exchange (think calendars, shared address books) but it works well and is transparent to whereever they plug their laptops in. Webmail access to the accounts is handy too from time to time.
Have you got a fileserver allready? Otherwise if your data is scattered to the winds across multiple desktop/laptop machines its going to be difficult to back it all up reliably. Maybe some of the online backup software can do it, but I think it would be harder to keep on top of than a centralised solution, its a bit of an unknown quantity to me TBH.
You could put a fairly boggo fileserver in and copy all the data to it and just use a tape drive or similar, taking backups offsite and doing test restores from time to time. It will possibly involve some user cajoling to get everyone working from the server rather than their local machines, but as long as you set it up right in the first place and make it clear to everyone that 'not on server = not backed up' then thats your get out of jail free card. For laptop users to take files outside with them whilst keeping the files server based for backup purposes you can use 'offline files' in XP pro.
HTH
Neil
Ps - a friend of mine is based near Chorley, I can PM you his number if you like? He could probably do you say dell box running linux for file/print/backup, which would save you the cost of all the Windows CAL's.
Have you got a fileserver allready? Otherwise if your data is scattered to the winds across multiple desktop/laptop machines its going to be difficult to back it all up reliably. Maybe some of the online backup software can do it, but I think it would be harder to keep on top of than a centralised solution, its a bit of an unknown quantity to me TBH.
You could put a fairly boggo fileserver in and copy all the data to it and just use a tape drive or similar, taking backups offsite and doing test restores from time to time. It will possibly involve some user cajoling to get everyone working from the server rather than their local machines, but as long as you set it up right in the first place and make it clear to everyone that 'not on server = not backed up' then thats your get out of jail free card. For laptop users to take files outside with them whilst keeping the files server based for backup purposes you can use 'offline files' in XP pro.
HTH
Neil
Ps - a friend of mine is based near Chorley, I can PM you his number if you like? He could probably do you say dell box running linux for file/print/backup, which would save you the cost of all the Windows CAL's.
Edited by sneakyneil on Thursday 22 February 15:22
BliarOut said:
Register1 is a cracking way to do it for a small company. SBS2K3 will do the job but you have to manage it etc.
Set up the e-mail for IMAP access and job's a good un.
How much data do you want to back up offsite and how frequently?
And I bloomin sell SBS as well!
Set up the e-mail for IMAP access and job's a good un.
How much data do you want to back up offsite and how frequently?
And I bloomin sell SBS as well!
You'l never go hungry selling SBS
All depends on what you want..
We also provide Dedicated servers too, on which you could run your own Exchange server if you desire...
Or if you need a High Availability, High SLA service, my Serverstream.net brand can also assist
Feel free to ask me any queries you might have, or just check out my profile for a look at how our clients feel about us
J
To try and answer the questions raised and give a bit more insight into my company -
At the moment, it’s every man for themselves! Four of us have notebooks, so we can work from home and there are three desktop PC’s in the office. We have one laser printer which has an Ethernet connection.
Currently there is no backup or file server. We use workgroup mail to manage our office email but this isn’t available outside the office. Three of us have Fastmail accounts so that we can work from home, the other two laptops can’t access work email from home. We have two staff in Australia who currently have their own (non-company) email address, but really need to have access to a company email address.
I backup my laptop data at home onto an external drive. The others manage their backups themselves, either onto their own external drive or onto CD-ROM.
We don’t have any shared address books or calendars and this is something I would like to have.
Also, I use the term file server loosely. We all have individual versions of the software (MS-Office etc) we need on our computers. I wanted the file server to be used for storing data that needs backing up in either private or public areas. Most of the files would be kept on the computer local drive and only copied to the ‘file server’ for security as a backup.
I don’t want a system that needs endless tweaking as we aren’t IT specialists, nor do we have the time. Ideally I’d like a system that doesn’t require major changes in the way we work to get the most out of it.
I’ve had a local IT outfit in who have spec’ed a Dell server, 10 user SBS2003, new Anti-Virus and off site-back up. We need to update a couple of the PC’s to XP Pro, so I think we are looking at circa £3.5-4k including their time to configure the system. Then I saw Register1 and started to wonder if this might be an easier (and cheaper) way forward with the NAS drive for file storage.
At the moment, it’s every man for themselves! Four of us have notebooks, so we can work from home and there are three desktop PC’s in the office. We have one laser printer which has an Ethernet connection.
Currently there is no backup or file server. We use workgroup mail to manage our office email but this isn’t available outside the office. Three of us have Fastmail accounts so that we can work from home, the other two laptops can’t access work email from home. We have two staff in Australia who currently have their own (non-company) email address, but really need to have access to a company email address.
I backup my laptop data at home onto an external drive. The others manage their backups themselves, either onto their own external drive or onto CD-ROM.
We don’t have any shared address books or calendars and this is something I would like to have.
Also, I use the term file server loosely. We all have individual versions of the software (MS-Office etc) we need on our computers. I wanted the file server to be used for storing data that needs backing up in either private or public areas. Most of the files would be kept on the computer local drive and only copied to the ‘file server’ for security as a backup.
I don’t want a system that needs endless tweaking as we aren’t IT specialists, nor do we have the time. Ideally I’d like a system that doesn’t require major changes in the way we work to get the most out of it.
I’ve had a local IT outfit in who have spec’ed a Dell server, 10 user SBS2003, new Anti-Virus and off site-back up. We need to update a couple of the PC’s to XP Pro, so I think we are looking at circa £3.5-4k including their time to configure the system. Then I saw Register1 and started to wonder if this might be an easier (and cheaper) way forward with the NAS drive for file storage.
hab1966 said:
Then I saw Register1 and started to wonder if this might be an easier (and cheaper) way forward with the NAS drive for file storage.
The Register1 VDS Pro comes with 2Gb of disk space (upgradable live to 2tb+) and 100Gb monthly data transfer (again live upgradable) so you can always use it as a file store if you liked
We offer a 7 day money back guarantee on the VDS Pro, so why not just try it out and see if it fits
With the 3-4-2 offer (buy for 2 years, get the third year FREE) and the Free domain / domain renewal offer, the costs are from £2.75 a month!
Enjoy
J
Hi Howard
I'm confident we have the right solution for you. Cantarus can deliver online backup to our datacentre for all your invidiual users regardless of location, as long as they have an Internet connection for a fixed and low monthly fee. We can also allow you to host your data on our servers securely (access via SSL-VPN and off-site encrypted daily backup) for access from any Windows machine with an Internet connection. Finally, we can give you full email, calendar, contact, task and note management, including full integration with Outlook (important to most people), webmail and PDA mail. Again this is for a fixed and low monthly fee. There are no setup costs for any of our services.
If you drop me an email or give me a call I'll be happy to take you through our solutions in detail.
Cheers,
roadie.
I'm confident we have the right solution for you. Cantarus can deliver online backup to our datacentre for all your invidiual users regardless of location, as long as they have an Internet connection for a fixed and low monthly fee. We can also allow you to host your data on our servers securely (access via SSL-VPN and off-site encrypted daily backup) for access from any Windows machine with an Internet connection. Finally, we can give you full email, calendar, contact, task and note management, including full integration with Outlook (important to most people), webmail and PDA mail. Again this is for a fixed and low monthly fee. There are no setup costs for any of our services.
If you drop me an email or give me a call I'll be happy to take you through our solutions in detail.
Cheers,
roadie.
from a happy Register1 customer hab1966 said:
I’ve had a local IT outfit in who have spec’ed a Dell server, 10 user SBS2003, new Anti-Virus and off site-back up. We need to update a couple of the PC’s to XP Pro, so I think we are looking at circa £3.5-4k including their time to configure the system. Then I saw Register1 and started to wonder if this might be an easier (and cheaper) way forward with the NAS drive for file storage.
Yes, a NAS could act at a 'file dump' with no access permissions, and use register1 for your email rather than exchange, I think this is what you're thinking?
This would be a cheaper and less complicated option than the full SBS/Exchange setup, with less knowledge/skill required to run it day to day which is an important consideration in a small business like yours, where calling someone in for an hour = £££. That still leaves you short of a nightly backup though, which would be where replacing the NAS with a linux box would come in - backup would be integrated into it in whatever form is appropriate for the ammount of data you've got, ranging from a £25 DVDR to £000's for a big tape drive. There would also be some scope for access permissions. (i.e. read/write/no access to certain files & folders)
One thing though, if people are working with files local on their machine and having to remember to copy them up to the file store for backup then generally speaking, they'l forget for months at a time. Moving from a hotch-potch of machines towards a more formal, managed IT structure will probably mean slight changes in the way people use their machines one way or another.
Ps, unless you only deal with small files or have a very fat internet connection (up and down) I wouldn't store day to day files on the other end of an internet connection, I think you'l find the speed disappointing.
Edited by sneakyneil on Thursday 22 February 17:45
JamieBeeston said:
roadsweeper said:
Hi Howard
I'm confident we have the right solution for you. Cantarus can ..............
Cheers,
roadie.
I'm confident we have the right solution for you. Cantarus can ..............
Cheers,
roadie.
If you ever fancy moving from Manchester / IC Ltd / expanding down to London.. Gimme a shout always happy to do a PH'r a Serverstream deal J
I actually spoken to you about this briefly a while ago as the same thought occured to me.
If we ever need a facility down there (and I think we will in the next 12-18 months) you'll be the first person I speak to. We use Register1.net for our domain registrations (mainly because of the flexibility of setting up unlimtied sub-domains, etc. and the prices) and for hosting a few of our clients websites and have found your support and prices to be excellent. 
sneakyneil said:
Ps, unless you only deal with small files or have a very fat internet connection (up and down) I wouldn't store day to day files on the other end of an internet connection, I think you'l find the speed disappointing.
Those are valid considerations. I use our TeamEnable Data service (data hosted on a central server and accessed via SSL-VPN delivered through dedicated hardware) all day every day as do our other employees as we work from home primarily. I don't copy the files to my local machine, I just map in a drive to the remote server and have it connect automatically on laptop boot. I frequently leave it connected for days at a time and although it isn't as fast as a local connection (obviously) it is more than fast enough on both open and save for all but very large files. For the largest files there is always the option to download to the local machine, but I onyl do this when working on things like Adobe Illustrator files which can easily be 5-10MB in size.
The beauty of the system is minimal setup, no capital investment, no maintenance costs, no technical skill required, ability to access and share files from anywhere and the integrated backup allowing users to retrieve deleted files or previous versions of changed files up to 28 days previously.
roadsweeper said:
JamieBeeston said:
roadsweeper said:
Hi Howard
I'm confident we have the right solution for you. Cantarus can ..............
Cheers,
roadie.
I'm confident we have the right solution for you. Cantarus can ..............
Cheers,
roadie.
If you ever fancy moving from Manchester / IC Ltd / expanding down to London.. Gimme a shout always happy to do a PH'r a Serverstream deal J
I actually spoken to you about this briefly a while ago as the same thought occured to me.
If we ever need a facility down there (and I think we will in the next 12-18 months) you'll be the first person I speak to. We use Register1.net for our domain registrations (mainly because of the flexibility of setting up unlimtied sub-domains, etc. and the prices) and for hosting a few of our clients websites and have found your support and prices to be excellent. 
GL
J
hab1966 said:
I’ve had a local IT outfit in who have spec’ed a Dell server, 10 user SBS2003, new Anti-Virus and off site-back up. We need to update a couple of the PC’s to XP Pro, so I think we are looking at circa £3.5-4k including their time to configure the system. Then I saw Register1 and started to wonder if this might be an easier (and cheaper) way forward with the NAS drive for file storage.
That seems a reasonable price and the sort of figure my company would quote but using HP kit instead of Dell.
hab1966 said:
I don’t want a system that needs endless tweaking as we aren’t IT specialists, nor do we have the time.
If that is the case you should look into outsourcing all IT functions. There are plenty of companies who offer remote server and desktop management / support and is a very cost effective solution.
hab1966 said:
We use workgroup mail to manage our office email but this isn’t available outside the office.
Just picking you up on this without addressing your other concerns, do you mean WorkgroupMail from Softalk? If so, you can access your WorkgroupMail emails (as well as calendars and contacts) remotely using Softalk Organizer (£99 / 5 users).
Edited by .Flyer on Thursday 22 February 19:38
.Flyer said:
hab1966 said:
We use workgroup mail to manage our office email but this isn’t available outside the office.
Just picking you up on this without addressing your other concerns, do you mean WorkgroupMail from Softalk? If so, you can access your WorkgroupMail emails (as well as calendars and contacts) remotely using Softalk Organizer (£99 / 5 users).
Edited by .Flyer on Thursday 22 February 19:38
Yes, its the Softalk package, but we've had a few issues with the software and im not sure about staying with it.
roadsweeper said:
sneakyneil said:
Ps, unless you only deal with small files or have a very fat internet connection (up and down) I wouldn't store day to day files on the other end of an internet connection, I think you'l find the speed disappointing.
Those are valid considerations. I use our TeamEnable Data service (data hosted on a central server and accessed via SSL-VPN delivered through dedicated hardware) all day every day as do our other employees as we work from home primarily. I don't copy the files to my local machine, I just map in a drive to the remote server and have it connect automatically on laptop boot. I frequently leave it connected for days at a time and although it isn't as fast as a local connection (obviously) it is more than fast enough on both open and save for all but very large files. For the largest files there is always the option to download to the local machine, but I onyl do this when working on things like Adobe Illustrator files which can easily be 5-10MB in size.
I have played with mapped drives over vpn & ADSL myself a bit not so long ago, it wasn't too bad on small word, excel etc. files i.e. <1mb. As you say for bigger stuff like 5-10MB its just a little bit too big. Sage didn't like the latency. Saving is more of an issue because of the low upload speeds on ADSL. It beats not being able to access the files at all but obviousley different people have different levels of patience.
This online backup stuff sounds quite spiffy, could you have say a few machines under one umbrella, with some kind of overview or control pannel to show backup status across them all? ...Do you do reseller accounts
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