(newbie) exchange advice

[klop]

hi, we're currently using owa provided by an isp

mailboxes are tiny so we really need to try to fix this this year if possible

 

it would seem from the chats i've had with various staff across the school that we do need to stick with owa (i had considered google mail)

 

hosted offerings are a tad expensive at around £5 per account. We would like around 100 accounts to start with, possibly rising to 200ish once we're very happy with it.

 

so, should we install an exchange server?

we'd bee lookign at exchange 2010 i guess.

 

we'd need to buy a server box for it. i think that's all it would run, just exchange (and anythign relevant that's needed to ensure it works?).

 

currently we've a mix of 2008 & 2003 ADs but we're planning on switching off the 2003s asap.

 

what budget spec server would i be looking at for exchange to run on with approx 100 accounts?

 

how easy is the install?

are there any massive pitfalls to look out for?

everything here seems to run reasonably ok (or at least i know why things aren't!)

 

then, obviously we'd need staff to be able to access their mail via owa whether in school or out.

i assume we go through the lea to open ports?

is offsite access possibly going to cause any unforseen problems?

 

we have a website hosted for us, our mail boxes are currently hosted by someone else so mail and web are already split.

 

as you can probably guess by the above exchange is somethign new to me, or at least the setting up of it. (did have a play a while back)

i guess my biggest concern is pointing mail to our new server, but keeping the website where it is and for staff to be able to access mail (via owa) from offiste

 

hmm.. there may be a couple of staff memebers who will want to stick with outlook

 

and, is it possible to transfer all existing mail that is accessed by owa from our existing providers into the accounts setup on our server?

 

sorry to waffle a lot of newbie questions in one hit!

[EduTech]

hi, we're currently using owa provided by an isp

mailboxes are tiny so we really need to try to fix this this year if possible

 

it would seem from the chats i've had with various staff across the school that we do need to stick with owa (i had considered google mail)

 

hosted offerings are a tad expensive at around £5 per account. We would like around 100 accounts to start with, possibly rising to 200ish once we're very happy with it.

 

so, should we install an exchange server?

we'd bee lookign at exchange 2010 i guess.

 

we'd need to buy a server box for it. i think that's all it would run, just exchange (and anythign relevant that's needed to ensure it works?).

 

currently we've a mix of 2008 & 2003 ADs but we're planning on switching off the 2003s asap.

 

what budget spec server would i be looking at for exchange to run on with approx 100 accounts?

 

how easy is the install?

are there any massive pitfalls to look out for?

everything here seems to run reasonably ok (or at least i know why things aren't!)

 

then, obviously we'd need staff to be able to access their mail via owa whether in school or out.

i assume we go through the lea to open ports?

is offsite access possibly going to cause any unforseen problems?

 

we have a website hosted for us, our mail boxes are currently hosted by someone else so mail and web are already split.

 

as you can probably guess by the above exchange is somethign new to me, or at least the setting up of it. (did have a play a while back)

i guess my biggest concern is pointing mail to our new server, but keeping the website where it is and for staff to be able to access mail (via owa) from offiste

 

hmm.. there may be a couple of staff memebers who will want to stick with outlook

 

and, is it possible to transfer all existing mail that is accessed by owa from our existing providers into the accounts setup on our server?

 

sorry to waffle a lot of newbie questions in one hit!

 

Hi,

 

Before answering all of your above questions i was wondering if you had considered Live @ Edu by Microsoft?

 

http://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu/free-hosted-student-email.aspx

 

Microsoft Live@edu

 

I have been keeping on tab's with this since it's release, i dont use it myself as i have an Exchange 2007/10 Server onsite but i do have an account on the Live @ Edu Network ;-)

 

I have a few contacts who are on the Live @ Edu team so i'd be happy to put you in contact with them so you can get more information on this.

 

 

James.

[Devontechie]

you beat me to it James!

 

I was going to say to have a look at Microsoft Live@edu I've never used it.

 

Steve

[Abaddon]

Be careful with Exchange 2010.. Microsoft seems to recommend more than one server...

 

Processor and Memory Recommendations for Exchange 2010 Exchange Geek's Weblog