Hello again - readers of my blog know that I am posting several pages per day of my purple book (the introductory SBS 2003 book) and make the content WILD for your consumption.
Today we start chapter two. Enjoy and keep checkig back!
harrybbbb
Harry Brelsford
CEO, SMB Nation
www.smbnation.com
Chapter 2 Small Business Server Design and Planning
Welcome to Chapter 2, where you will proceed with specific planning tasks, all of which increasingly work forward to the actual hands-on activity of implementing SBS 2003. You are also introduced to Springer Spaniels Limited, the blessed sample company in this book.
Planning is considered an upstream function in a technology project. It tends to be less hands-on and more general than the actual setup and maintenance tasks that follow, these last two task areas being known as a downstream function. While it is easy to consider planning as an intuitive process that doesn’t require much of a time commitment from the SBSer or business person, such an assumption is a fallacy. Indeed, planning is typically considered to be the best use of time in a technology implementation. In fact, you really can’t escape planning. You can perform it upstream at the start of the technology implementation in an orderly and well-behaved way, or you can perform your planning it downstream—the hard way—when you find your self re-installing SBS multiple times, realizing with each passing installation that you’d like to change the way you did things. Ouch!
Springer Spaniels Limited
First off, let’s take a moment to meet Springer Spaniels Limited (SPRINGERS), the company for which you’ll implement a complete and successful SBS-based networking solution throughout the remainder of the book. You will often hear me refer to the SPRINGERS methodology when I walk you through steps in a setup sequence. Understand that the context of my references to the SPRINGERS methodology is this: While there are numerous ways SBS can be implemented
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(for example, partition sizes can vary after the minimum requirements are met, company names and Internet domain names will most certainly vary, etc.), by following the SPRINGERS methodology, you will find the experience very educational, consistent, and even fun!
There are some very important reasons to work with an imaginary company the first pass through this book. It has been my experience with SBS (and life in general) that you know much more after you’ve done something once. It’s another way of saying that hindsight is 20/20, a well-accepted old saw.
Such is the case with SBS. Typically, you set up SBS based on some assumptions that are made early in the planning process. Such assumptions might include the domain name you create, and so on. But fast-forward in the process, perhaps a few weeks. More than once an SBS administrator has commented to me that, now that she knows what SBS really is, she would have set it up differently. Those observations about getting it right are analogous to creating the chart of accounts when installing accounting software. You make some early decisions that you have to live with the rest of your life.
Now back to SPRINGERS. By using this company for the remainder of the book, you have the chance to learn SBS, warts and all, before installing it for real. These methods also allow you to avoid the scenario mentioned previously, wherein weeks after your “real” SBS install, you might lament that you would have done a few things differently if you had the chance to do it over again. With SPRINGERS, I’m providing you that chance at a very low cost.
By completing the activities in the remaining chapters, you will learn what works for you and what doesn’t. When you go to install SBS for real, with live company data, you will have your feet on much more solid ground. That will result in a successful SBS install for you and your organization.
SPRINGERS, for these purposes, is a small company with 10 users and 30 employees. Please note that not every employee uses a computer (many clean kennels and so forth). The company breeds, raises, and shows prize-winning springer spaniels. SPRINGERS is headquartered on Bainbridge Island, Washington, on a converted apple orchard. The SPRINGERS operations and prize Springer Spaniels named Brisker and Jaeger are to be seen in the photo section in the middle of the book. SPRINGERS has six departments in addition to the executive offices, as shown in Figure 2-1.
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Figure 2-1
Springer Spaniels Limited (SPRINGERS) organizational chart.
As you will see, SPRINGERS benefits from SBS in many ways, including its robust built-in Internet connectivity. How? Since canine breeders everywhere are worried about genetic variety in breeding (that is, they want to avoid inbreeding), the Internet is used to find suitable breeding partners. And I’m not talking about anonymous Internet chat rooms full of lonely Springer Spaniels looking for love in all the wrong places. Rather, SPRINGERS intends to search sophisticated and legitimate breeding databases around the world (if you are not aware, the Springer Spaniel breed is well-respected for its diversity in breeding, which is a kind way of saying the breed hasn’t been ruined by inbreeding).
SPRINGERS also benefits from other easy-to-use SBS features, such as the Server Management console that will be featured in detail in Chapter 4. As the chapters pass in this book, I will divulge more details of SPRINGERS as needed. Periodically, you will enter SPRINGERS information into SBS to complete exercises if you are following this book chapter and verse. It’s the well-planned SPRINGERS methodology that is the foundation and backbone of this book.
Not surprisingly, I do want to tip my hat of acknowledgement to those of you who may not follow the exact steps of the SPRINGERS methodology, as you may be using this book as a quick primer to sharpen your SBS 2003 skills
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before building your own server (or the server of a client if you are a consultant). Right on! And for those of you who aren’t dog lovers and find it hard to get excited about Springer Spaniels, I can appreciate that too. This book isn’t a monument to dogs or the Springer Spaniel breed; rather the dogs and SPRINGERS serve as a convenient metaphor for telling a story and teaching you SBS 2003. So no e-mail from non-dog lovers please!
BEST PRACTICE: Now is a great time to start your own needs analysis for your SBS project. A needs analysis typically involves looking at the ebbs and flows of business activity in your firm, often for the first time. Start by creating your own organizational chart similar to Figure 2-1. From that, you may discover that your company and SBS users are organized in ways that might not have been apparent. I have found that, early in the SBS planning process, many people use the SBS computer project as an opportunity to reorganize their businesses. In fact, an SBS consultant is often a management
consultant as well.
SBS Project Management
You should never undertake an SBS project without sufficient planning. In fact, I typically spend a day or more with an SBS client doing nothing more than planning for the new SBS network. I can’t emphasize enough how important planning is with an SBS implementation. These upfront hours are certainly some of the best you spend.
An SBS project can be divided into five phases. These phases, which will be described in detail, follow:
1 Planning Phase: The logical and physical design of the SBS network occurs here as well as some early expectation management to avoid future disappointments.
2 Server Installation Phase: The SBS server is installed.
3 Workstation Installation Phase: The workstations are installed and configured.
4 Follow-up Phase: Over the course of several weeks, new SBS features are introduced. This mirrors the layout of this book as later
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chapters present additional SBS features as well as general troubleshooting, user support, and network optimization.
5. Celebration Phase: Projects create stress, and an SBS installation is no different. Phase five is an opportunity to not only release some tension but also solicit feedback from SBS network stakeholders. This phase applies to both in-house SBS installations as well as those SBSers serving as consultants.
Planning Phase
For anyone considering SBS, the earliest planning exercises involve identifying and communicating why you want to implement SBS in your organization. That can be accomplished by answering the following questions. You will note that appropriate responses from SPRINGERS have been entered.
Early Planning Questions
I’ve got a secret for you about planning. To be honest, planning is very much about asking questions about the firm’s existing and future situation with respect to technology and then actively listening to the responses given. It’s harder than it looks. You might well find it easy to ask a lot of questions, but are the questions appropriate or effective? Do you have good listening skills and incorporate the client’s feedback into your planning process?
Here are some sample planning questions to get things going:
Q: List the three reasons you plan to use SBS.
A: (1) Ultimately to install our accounting system, Great Plains Dynamics, using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (which is included with SBS 2003 premium edition). (2) To have a secure and robust Internet connection for communications (e-mail) and Web-based research purposes. (3) To lower our information system costs by performing much of the ongoing administration ourselves via the friendly SBS Server Management console.
Q: What is the time frame for implementing SBS?
A: We intend to set up, install, troubleshoot, and train everyone on the network over a 10-week period starting in four weeks when the new computer equipment arrives. (And after you’ve finished reading this book!)
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Q: How have you arranged for training for the new SBS network?
A: The SBS consultant will train those responsible for network administration. The SBS administrators will show the users how to log on, print, and save information. These users will also attend three half-day training sessions on the following topics: Windows XP Pro, Office Systems 2003, and Outlook.
Q: What roadblocks or problems can you identify today that might make the SBS project more difficult to complete?
A: First and foremost would be staff turnover. If our accountant leaves, not only would we have lost the individual we’ve identified as the SBS administrator, but we will have also lost our Great Plains Dynamics talent. To combat this potential problem, we plan to have the receptionist assist with the SBS setup and administration so she can act as a backup SBS administrator in an emergency. A second possible problem is the bank financing for our computer equipment purchase. We anticipate that the lending process will take only two weeks and the equipment will arrive roughly two weeks later. With the SBS deployment being a critical path item, any bank financing to pay for the work would delay the start of the SBS installation.
Existing Network Layout
Early on in the planning process, it is incumbent on SBS consultants and small-business owners alike to know exactly what they have when it comes to computer hardware and software. This baseline measurement allows you to determine what must be ordered, replaced, repaired, and so on. This information is typically gathered by inventorying the network and presenting your findings in a spreadsheet table or a network diagram. My preference has been to use a network diagram because its graphical display facilitates ease of understanding.
These network diagrams are typically drawn by hand, or with a network diagramming software application such as Microsoft’s Visio, resulting in a schematic or drawing of your existing network. More information on Visio is
available at www.microsoft.com. Visio can be purchased for under $500 USD retail or as part of the Microsoft Action Pack ($299 USD). Such a drawing might look similar to the drawing created for SPRINGERS in Figure 2-2.
Figure 2-2
Existing network for SPRINGERS.
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