[WinMac] Needs/abilities analysis, ASIP, Exchange

Thomas A. Kase(tkase[at]us-style.com)
Tue, 23 Mar 1999 21:44:45 -0500

{To save space I haven't quoted Tim's and Grant's posts.}

I liked Tim Scoff's comments about getting the right server for the right
job.
I.e. getting your needs *and* abilities down before you buy a system. The
word 'budget' might be important for some as well.

Tim lost me though when he went from describing a way-serious server in
one breath, and in the next saying that a server should also be able to
function
as a workstation. Are we talking servers or workstations?

I think that one of the reasons we see the outright dismissals of one solution
over another on this list (no names) is the fact that one size does *not* fit
all and many of us are in a state of denial regarding this.

Some of us appear able to afford servers in the $100K+ range and have no
qualms about massive staff overhead needs, $$$ service contracts etc.
Others have far smaller budgets and other run-time requirements. What's
right for a bank is obviously not the right solution for us.

So what do we use? We use a *combination* of (in alphabetical order) Mac,
Unix (FreeBSD) and WinNT for our business needs. We are fortunate
enough to have competent staff in-house to be able to handle more than one
flavor and realistic enough not to force one soultion on all problems.

Our high-end mail server (for our clients only) runs Qmail on FreeBSD.
A *much* more stable solution (and lots faster) than what can be done on
NT - with a similar budget, possible even at all. With all the security
holes
inherent in both UNIX and NT based systems, we only allow LAN access
to retrieve email. Look into Qmail - a great product at a great price. UNIX
only though.

With the inherent security advantages of Mac ASIP email servers (impossible
to hack), we are now considering one of those for our internal email - with
dialup ability.

Unlike Grant, I am pretty convinced that I've seen, if not Digiboards, so at
least multiple modem PCI cards for Macs as well - can't remember where
off-hand, will look into it. Come to think of it, maybe a bunch of USB
modems would work? BTW, when can I get USB for NT? Dan?

Grant, I have heard nothing but *glowing* praise and rave reviews from
*actual* users of the latest version of ASIP - 6.1. Since you are going
for an
MCSE you might want to secure your future livelihood, and to make sure
your employer needs more IT staff every year, I can assure you that going
with Exchange as an end-all be-all system will not let you down. Go get
another pager right away. ;-)

Seriously, using Exchange in Intranet-only mode is fine, once you start to
use it for everything but the kitchen sink (including external email) you
*will* have trouble. Not to mention that MS ties all its components
together to the point that you are very vulnerable to any holes in the
system - since all is tied together so tightly. See this URL:
http://www.currents.net/magazine/national/1706/cov41706.html
Great story!

BTW, several combos of IIS and several versions of IE do NOT work happily
together. Just another example of why a mixed environment is better.

We use NT mostly for accounting, generic programming workstations and for
group file servers - for the time being. We're hiring more UNIX staff and
designers so NT is getting squeezed from both sides. We'll see.

Our creative workstations are largely Macs, for one thing Windows cannot
handle multiple languages under one OS - unless you have a wonderful
memory for ALT+4-digit key combos, and languages is our forte - especially
double-byte ones like Japanese. (We run a mix of Japanese and English OSs
and applications.)

We are also looking at adding Macs as internal file servers thanks to
NT's weak
Services For Mac "feature".

Frankly, most of our problems revolve around double-byte issues in printing
and cross-language situations. On top of that we have cross-platform as well
but those are typically easier to resolve. If anyone else on the list
has a setup
or situation similar to ours - feel free to contact me any time.

Well, I've rambled on long enough, thanks for your time!

Thomas Kase

COO
US-Style.com Inc.

50 Washington Street, mailbox #13
South Norwalk, CT 06854

phone 203.866.4454

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