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As part of the first step in a full technology upgrade for Wexford Plantation, we started with the connectivity solution between all of the sites.  With 5 sites in different locations, we needed a solution to get all of these sites remote access to email, files, and their Jonas software.  Teaming up with Sonicwall, a partner of ours, we were able to implement a new high end series at the main office and branch office series (TZ170s) at the remote sites.  With VPN technology we were then able to allow connectivity between all offices to the main office so that users could have remote access as well as storage for backups of their data.

Project time: 1 week

It was decided that a new secured location should be found for the server rack and equipment before the new hardware was installed.  A gated enclosure was built downstairs to protect the servers from unauthorized personnel.  This gate is now under lock and key with only authorized persons having access.

With the security in place, three new servers from Dell were added to increase uptime and productivity.  Tasks were spread out from the single server that was used before to each server with a dedicated task.  These tasks were split up as "file server and custom application", "terminal services for remote access", "Exchange 2003 email server", and "backup / spare server".  At the time of installation the server infrastructure was also upgraded to gigabit internally for better performance.

Installation of the servers was done over the weekend and after hours so that there wasn't any downtime.  The email software (Exchange 2000) was also upgraded during off time to minimize the downtime of email. 

A new backup system was also put in place that allows for the backup of all of the servers in a disaster recovery scenario.  This backup drive backs up all of the servers with a complete backup and uses the Automated System Recovery for Windows 2003 to create bootable disks in case of a failure.

Project time: 1.5 weeks

Part of the initial upgrade was to give one of the larger remote offices their own dedicated server so that larger Excel and Publisher files would be easier to access.  This was initially done with a dedicated workstation until the new server could be put in place, but this did not provide for local directory lookups and logons or full system backups.

The new server was installed over a weekend to minimize downtime in the accounting office.  All data was migrated in a batch and the server was configured with the same name as the old device.  This allowed users to come to work on Monday without realizing they were using a new server.  Once the migration was a success the upgrades were done to provide the necessary Active Directory information on the local server.

Project time: 4 days