Same thing with my SBS clients. Since Exchange is part of SBS server they pay far less than $2500/yr for the Exchange part of the deal for 50 users. I'd guess in the last 3 years I have spent less than 3 hours on Exchange-specific maintenance - everything has been mailbox limits and checking backups.
Dave -----Original Message----- From: Ralph Smith [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:33 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Cloud Computing (Was: DNS Server service shuts down shortly after the DC boots) "$50 a year for a mailbox is pretty freaking attractive to a guy that has to watch every penny" This is where I seem to have a conceptual problem - I'm not trying to argue the point, just gain a better understanding. I've been running a single Exchange 2003 STD on the same box for the last 6 years. The cost of the box: $2000 The cost of Exchange for me (non-profit): $250 CALS @ $3.00 each: $600 Total cost for me over 6 years having an in house server: < $3,000. 6 years of $50 * 200 users: $60,000. Labor - I put in maybe an hour a week on the Exchange Server, and I'm guessing some time would be invested dealing with a hosted Exchange solution also. I don't feel that having the Exchange server in house adds much to my day to day work, and my employer would not be paying me any less if email were outsourced. So how am I saving pennies outsourcing exchange - what makes up the other $57,000? Even substituting Exchange 2010 STD retail pricing of $750, and CALs at about $80 the total would be about $20,000, still a long way from $60,000. Again, not trying to argue, I just feel like I must be missing something major. Ralph Smith > -----Original Message----- > From: Martin Blackstone [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:10 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: RE: Cloud Computing (Was: DNS Server service shuts down shortly > after the DC boots) > > Cloud is such a dirty word isn't it? But software as a service isn't. But > it's almost the same thing right? How many companies have been using > Salesforce or something similar? Welcome to the cloud. Welcome to software > as a service. > If you look at something like Gmail, they actually have a government > facility that is much more secured than what we get. For example that's > where the LAPD lives. The city of LA gave up their entire email > infrastructure to Google last year. > I'm saying get with the cloud before the cloud gets you. Your CFO will > come to you eventually and tell you to get something in there and you > better be ready to deal with it. HOW you deal with it may depend on how > you and your department survives. $50 a year for a mailbox is pretty > freaking attractive to a guy that has to watch every penny and that's the > bottom line when it comes to the top line. Everyone and I mean everyone > says "Our email, our data, our whatever is too sensitive to put in the > cloud", and I would be 95% of us are wrong, and there are some very secure > cloud locations out there. You just have to find them. > > You guys better be ready to get with the program. Our jobs depend on it. > > -----Original Message----- > From: John Hornbuckle [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 4:37 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Cloud Computing (Was: DNS Server service shuts down shortly after > the DC boots) > > For all its flaws, I don't see cloud computing as a passing fad. It's not > likely to go away, so the best we can do is to work to improve it. > > I can tell you that my own organization is a big fan of it. Why? Well, > we're a school district. Our core competency isn't the maintenance of > complex IT system. We don't have the staff with the knowledge to maintain > such systems, and we don't have the money to hire that staff. Our staffing > levels have actually shrunk due to budget cuts, while the number of > various systems and applications we're using is continuing to grow. Every > new app means more storage space, more backup job complexity, more > hardware utilization, more support requirements, more time > troubleshooting, more time upgrading--the list goes on and on. > > So what can we do? Outsource the maintenance of as many systems as > possible to companies who specialize in that type of work (so they can > almost always do it better than us) and who gain economies of scale (so > they can almost always do it cheaper than us). Put the app in the cloud, > and let someone else worry about things like backups, upgrades, and > support. And having it web-based has the added benefit of there being no > client-side software for us to have to worry about. > > Reliability hasn't been a factor for us with our cloud-based apps. Our > Internet connection is pretty reliable. If it goes down, we have alternate > means of connecting to our most critical apps. Security? Well, the best we > can do there is to have a good contract stipulating our requirements and > the consequences of security breaches. I'm the most advanced tech in our > organization, but I'm not a security expert--I'm a technology generalist, > not a specialist. That means these companies can handle security AT LEAST > as well as we can, and often better. > > It's not right for every organization and every application. But for us, > cloud computing offers significant benefits. We're leaning more and more > on it all the time. > > > > John Hornbuckle > MIS Department > Taylor County School District > www.taylor.k12.fl.us > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Kurt Buff [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 11:36 PM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Re: DNS Server service shuts down shortly after the DC boots > > Oh, yeah. > > Somehow, though, it seems to me as if 'the cloud' violates the CIA > triangle of security. > > At the very least, > > a) availability is compromised (if you don't have Internet connectivity, > among other things), > > b) integrity is compromised (new ways of breaking out of VMs to the > underlying host, and you don't know who you're sharing a physical host > with, not to mention issues with network traffic from the various VMs on a > physical host being sniffed.) > > Color me deeply skeptical. > > On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 17:34, Carl Houseman <[email protected]> wrote: > > Seems the 'cloud' is the new buzzword for how we're going to increase > > profits next quarter. The cloud will save us! The cloud will reduce > > our expensive fixed costs! Has Dilbert done something on the cloud > > yet? If > > > > not, it's just a matter of time. > > > > > > > > From: David Lum [mailto:[email protected]] > > Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 5:00 PM > > To: NT System Admin Issues > > Subject: RE: DNS Server service shuts down shortly after the DC boots > > > > > > > > True, but I'll use OpenDNS way before using Google or MS DNS servers... > > > > > > > > The cloud the cloud...everything is cloud around my office with exec's > > ..."SharePoint's broke and we have no expertise here...move it to the cloud! > > Exchange, Live Communications Server, ship -'em all out!" > > > > > > > > From: Carl Houseman [mailto:[email protected]] > > Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 1:26 PM > > To: NT System Admin Issues > > Subject: RE: DNS Server service shuts down shortly after the DC boots > > > > > > > > Not everyone wants to depend on DNS services 'in the cloud' even if > > they're free... > > > > NOTICE: Florida has a broad public records law. 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