Posts made by magroover

@DustinB3403 I agree 100%. We have some management who feel they know whats best. I tried my best to deter this.

That actually brings up a point I left off. Do I even attempt to virtualize this? I archive everything 6 months or older.

Hi all.

I haven't deployed in house Exchange since Small Business Server or Exchange 2003. I've been directed to bring our email in house. We have about 20 people here and several remote offices with just 8 remote users.

Currently we are running a Windows Server 2012 edition on a very basic Intel server. Basic mirror raid for the OS and separate mirror raid for file storate. Its just a Xeon 3.1GHz and 16GB RAM.

I am authorized to buy the licenses I need, but the server was a terrible lease and I can't replace the hardware for another 2 years. I think it will be enough to support our 20 in house users and 6 to 8 remote users.

We have no Active Directory deployed. Just Windows Server with no AD used for a file share in house.

My questions are;

a.) What version of Windows Server 2016 should I chose? I see Data Center and a Standard edition. Not sure what the differences are.

Since there is no AD in place I am going to just reload the OS discs and leave the data where it is. A clean install of 2016.

b.) What are the differences between Enterprise and Standard Exchange for a small company like ours? I am guessing Exchange Standard and Windows Server Standard will work for me.

c.) What happened to Small Business Server?

d.) I was planning on using Microsoft Protection Server for $1/user per month. Are there better alternatives?

e.) Is it still standard to deploy your FQDN for Active Directory as a private domain? Examples: yourcompany.local vs yourcompany.com vs local.yourcompany.com.

f.) Should I deploy AD in house or user this Azure AD I have seen discussed. Or is Azure AD even on option for a local Exchange deployment.

EDIT

g.) Do I even attempt to virtualize this. I would have 20gb to 30gb active as I archive everything older than 6 months.