Company Server solution needed - ideas?

[garfonzo]

Hey Folks:

I have a situation which I need a solution to and I think I need to consider a solution that is beyond the typical setup. I thought I would get some feedback here.

I am part of a small company that has a handful of employees that all use computers which run various versions of Windows. The company currently pays for a hosting service which holds all their company data and website. In order to access that data, every computer must remotely log in to the hosting service's Windows server and use all the software and data within that remote session (no files are stored locally on any computer).

This works well for the company since employees often head out of the office with a laptop but still need access to both data and specific software while in the field (this "specific software" is just the MS Office Suite"). They simply log in over a wireless network and, bam, they have all the same software and files.

The company wants to move away from paying for this service and wants me to set something up to provide similar access to their files (ie: not necessarily through a remote log in setup). Their basic needs are:

- Have access to company files and work on them from anywhere (not just within the office) without file duplication or upload/download (like ftp).

They are not in any way tied to the remote login system, but just need to have access to all their files out in the field and are open to any solution (which is great!).

I was thinking of setting up a Ubuntu box with something similar to a mapped network drive, but have the drive available over the internet for employees in the field. I was also thinking of setting up a virtual Windows system in Ubuntu and having remote logins as before. I was even thinking, maybe I should buy a new server and a copy of Windows Small Business Server and replicate what the hosting service was doing.

One relatively minor point is that I am about 1,800 KM (1,110 miles) away from the office that all the employees work from. Thus, I need to set this all up at MY location, and have it available to them (hence the mapped network drive over the internet idea).

I like the idea of doing this all with Ubuntu because it is cheap and I know it. However, if a Windows SBS is the better option, then that is not out of the question.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

[SeijiSensei]

Google Docs, perhaps?

[garfonzo]

Google Docs, perhaps?

Thanks for the reply. However, the company is in its 8th year with most of its data on either MS Word, Excel, or Access. Moving to Google Docs is not really an option.

I'm looking for a data hosting/access solution that I can do on company hardware.

[HermanAB]

Geez, there is no reason to pay anyone for a remote login service. Windows has remote desktop protocol built in. All you need to do is configure it such that each machine runs RDP on a different port, then forward those ports in your company router and get a static IP address for the router (get a server account from your ISP). Then the users simply specify the address and port number when they log in. This is all really trivial to do. There are 65000 ports on each IP address to choose from - that should be enough for anybody...

[wongo888]

If this were my gig I'd do a cost benefit analysis before doing any technical work. You def can pull this off, but why?

By the time you factor in the tech dev, your time and then the hardware and maintenance you're probably well into the thousands if not tens of thousands.

[kgatan]

If you and all your employees are working with documents and MS office id recommend a sharepoint portal which is included in the SBS.
Exchange is also included which is a really nice feature.

I dont think that kind of function is avalible in any open source together with MS office.

Its also quite easy to setup which saves you alot of development.

[garfonzo]

Thanks for all your responses thus far.

What about if all computers had the necessary software (MS Office suite) installed locally and all they needed was to have a central server hosting the files?

This is super simple with Ubuntu in a LAN situation, but what about when the user moves outside the realm of the LAN? How would the user take their laptop out into the field and still access the files?

This would be my preferred situation (Ubuntu server only serving files, no remote access). I have read articles on mapping network drives over the internet, but I do worry about possible security issues.

Any thoughts?

[Vegan]

I can help with Windows Server but I will do that on my IT site. http://www.windows-it.tk

Linux can much as well, SAMBA can be configured for remote access but security requirements make it non-trivial to setup.

[kevinthecomputerguy]

To backup what SeijiSensei said, i havent had any issues with google docs, you can set it up for your domain name here . http://google.com/a (paid) or here http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html (free)

I am able to use it side by side with MS Word and MS Excel, no file type issues yet.

I have also heard great things about acrobat.com, adobe air, and windows cloud, but i couldnt be happier with Google docs. Have you uploaded a .doc or .xls to your google docs account? It opens it no problem, but our needs are very very basic, maybe large scale excel would have problems, but our monthly budget sheet of $2,500, shared with (6) people works without a hitch, and one of the users is offline most of the time, and makes his changes locally, using excel, then uploads it.

*again, very basic plus \ minus stuff. No graphs, no pics

I have also heard great thing about MS Sharepoint.

[garfonzo]

To backup what SeijiSensei said, i havent had any issues with google docs, you can set it up for your domain name here . http://google.com/a (paid) or here http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/group/index.html (free)

I am able to use it side by side with MS Word and MS Excel, no file type issues yet.

I have also heard great things about acrobat.com, adobe air, and windows cloud, but i couldnt be happier with Google docs. Have you uploaded a .doc or .xls to your google docs account? It opens it no problem, but our needs are very very basic, maybe large scale excel would have problems, but our monthly budget sheet of $2,500, shared with (6) people works without a hitch, and one of the users is offline most of the time, and makes his changes locally, using excel, then uploads it.

*again, very basic plus \ minus stuff. No graphs, no pics

I have also heard great thing about MS Sharepoint.

Thanks for the reply. The problem with moving to Google docs is that the Excel files we use are quite complex. Plus, we have Access databases which aren't available in Google Docs.