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Need advice on small office software setup
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Need advice on small office software setup

nqservicesnqservices Member
edited July 2017 in General

Hi,

My professional status has changed and now I have started working alone on a new local office that I rent so I’m looking for advice and experience sharing on the best way to setup my new office network!

My equipment is listed bellow and my main objective is to have my data sync and available between all my devices.

1 x Server 1 x PC - Windows 10 Pro 1 x Laptop – Windows 10 Pro 2 x External USB 3.0 Drives for Backups

My main doubt is what to run on the server that will best meet my needs? At the moment, I have looked at “Windows Server 2016 Essentials” and “Freenas”.

Note: At the moment it's just me that will use. But in a near future we will be a 3 person team.

What are you guy’s running? Any advice?

Thanks

Comments

  • Consider a Synology NAS, back it up to crashplan ($10/month).

    A small NAS (2 drive mirror) has a definate cost advantage and is user friendly for the most part (100% GUI) ,way less complicated than a DIY solution.

    You could use Seafile on the server but the free version is limited to 3 users and you will have to manage it. When things break it will hurt productivity...

    You didn't give enough information though, how much horsepower do you need?

  • Why don't you try with owncloud that can sync your data to your own cloud storage server.

  • I would do the server with raid 1 (or another one) and use windows with filezilla server.

  • that is... not really a network question, more software.

    The laptop, unless you spend insane amounts of money, will only do Gbit ethernet and ~800Mbit wifi.

    If there is budget get a 1-4x10G + 24x1G switch and a 10G NIC for the server, connect 2 wifi routers by Gbit each on there (one 2.4G, one 5G) and if needed lay a cheap/flexible cable for the laptop (however, bonding 2.4+5 might get you over Gbit total, so fairly useless). New PCs go by Gbit on the switch, servers by 10G or bonded Gbit.

    48x1G + 2x10G SFP+ w/ dual PSU - ~115$ (US) | ~160$ (EU)
    2x10G SFP+ NIC - ~65$ (US) | 90$ (EU)

    We run - varies in each flat/office a bit but not too much - N internet connections after their modems (if any) by 100M-1G to a router which does 1-2x 10G (if also NAS) or 1-2x 1G (only router) to a switch that does Gbit to wifi routers and direct clients plus 10G to other rooms where we can fan out with a Gbit switch and 10G uplink. VLANs are used but depending on setup/access/security requirements not too much needed.

  • RazzaRazza Member

    Mark_O_Polo said: You could use Seafile on the server but the free version is limited to 3 users

    The 3 free users limit only apply if you use the pro edition of Seafiles, you can have unlimited user for free using the community edition.

    Thanked by 1Mark_O_Polo
  • magicvpnmagicvpn Member
    edited July 2017

    William said: 48x1G + 2x10G SFP+ w/ dual PSU - ~115$ (US) | ~160$ (EU) 2x10G SFP+ NIC - ~65$ (US) | 90$ (EU)

    European dollars :P

    William said: ~65$ (US) | 90$ (EU)

    If you mean 90$ (EU) is 90€ then 90€ to $ is 100+$
    Or 65$ is 50+€

  • nqservicesnqservices Member
    edited July 2017

    Thanks all for your advices. I don't need many resourses, so 1Gbit network will do just fine. Also owncloud/next cloud/seafile could be an option. Will look more into them.

    I already have both a 1 gigabit router + 24port gigabit switch + 1 access point, so no thinking on buying any more network equipment... unless absolutely needed.

    And yes, this is more a software question rather than network. Anyone as more advices or experience to share?

    I'm really looking for simple and reliable solution that I can just setup and "almost forget".

  • magicvpn said: If you mean 90$ (EU) is 90€ then 90€ to $ is 100+$ Or 65$ is 50+€

    You.. what? This prices are all USD, i just added the shipping/import to EU to the EU value.

  • @William said:

    magicvpn said: If you mean 90$ (EU) is 90€ then 90€ to $ is 100+$ Or 65$ is 50+€

    You.. what? This prices are all USD, i just added the shipping/import to EU to the EU value.

    I thought you listed the price for € and $

  • After looking around, I'm considering to use Seafile or NextCloud. Price of Seafile license does not matter because I will not need more than 3 users so it's free.

    From what I read it seems NextCloud does not modify the data, so if NextCloud server is down / fails, I can simple remove the drives and connect them to any other Windows computer. For my own use, it's nice not to have data changed!

    Seafile seems to change the data to an encrypted proprietary format. Can someone confirm this?

    In terms of the rest of features they both seem similar. Is there anyone with experience with both? Any other advice? Thanks

  • I have used the Seafile community version (unlimited user version) for the last 4 months. So far it has worked very well, very fast transfers, and 100% stable in my environment. You choose which libraries you wish to encrypt. But, I don't know how the unencrypted libraries are stored in the database or how easy it would be to retrieve. I use the encryption option and have never had an issue.

    From what I've read, Seafile is much faster than Next or OwnCloud. It's what made me initially try it out. I can only personally verify that Seafile is fast.

    For "Set and Forget", I would still consider a NAS. The software on them in my experience is just superior for most business production environments. Yes I know they are linux backends, but they are designed for office managers not sysadmins. On the NAS side, the vendor will typically test everything before rolling out patches and this makes them inherently more stable as a result... You can still SSH in and go to town, but you honestly will probably never have a reason to.

    The diy alternatives are all great, but you will have to sysadmin. Stability could be an issue. I like patching/tinkering as much as the next person, but not in office environments with deadlines and employee productivity to worry about. It all depends on your priority and abilities.

    Anyways have an automated offsite backup strategy which ever route you go.

  • BlaZeBlaZe Member, Host Rep

    @magicvpn said:
    I thought you listed the price for € and $

    You never, ever, never ! question the Networking Senpai (@William)!

  • sarahsarah Member

    You can also try syncthing

  • I guess I will try Sealfile and see if will meet my needs. Also to anyone using Seafile, what is your offsite backup strategy in case Seafile server "dies"? Thanks

  • pcanpcan Member

    I've setup a few small business networks. The server OS choice is usually driven by the business software they have choosen (accounting software, wharehouse software, etc). If the software must run on a Windows server, then Windows could also do the fileserver role. You may use a regular Windows 10 with a few tweaks, no need to buy the server version for 3 users only. The standard Windows offline folder feature will do the sync trick pretty easily if the main data repository is a SMB share. If the software runs on Centos/Redhat, then a samba fileshare is the answer. Seafile or Owncloud are mainly useful if the data must be accessed from mobile devices or from outside the LAN trough Internet.

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