We would like to see every small business run with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server, but in reality that's not always practical. Although it is an affordable and extensive solution for small businesses, not every office needs that much horsepower. We learned this first hand with a few recent deployments of a less-traditional - yet surprisingly effective  - solution from Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.

It's called the HP MediaSmart Server, and it runs Microsoft Windows Home Server.  It's intent is to backup, share, and organize data from PCs in a home; yet it makes a phenomenal addition to a small office. Priced under $600 this great little device provides phenomenally simple and powerful tools for 1) remotely accessing all computers at connected to it 2) backing up all the computers to a central location 3) sharing files 4) providing remote access to files only for both network ANG guest users... along with a bunch of other neat features to make the package even more inviting.   It's license supports up to 10 users, a reasonable solution especially in a workgroup running Windows XP Professional or Vista Business.  In our case, we would recommend to anyone less than five.

It's name is Home Server, and that's what it was designed to do. Yet, after much consideration, we realized that some offices simply need a good file sharing features, and the other functions this little device provides are of huge benefit.  This is why Computer Doctors of Maine, Inc., rolled out the first of these devices to interested customers and we could not be happer with the result. 

The HP Media Smart Server is of great use to a small office with no infrastrucutre, but in our deployment scenarios we did encourage our customers to invest into one more device to make the whole system complete - an advanced internet gateway.  We've explained the extensive benefits of a solid router in a seperate article; and no longer volunteer to deploy networks without such appliances. Our most deployed product is the SonicWall TZ190 TotalSecure, but we preffer the Calyptix AccessEnforcer.   Both provide similar levels of protection, but vary slightly in price making the SonicWall less costly. 

Together, a combined deployment of a HPMediaSmart Server and a SonicWall TZ190 is an estimated $1750.00.  The SonicWall maintenance is $295 per year, after the first year.  The estimated costs for the HPMediaSmart and AccessEnforcer are the same, except the Calyptix maintenance is $495. However, together they add value to small office infrastructure by simplifying file sharing, remote access, security, and most important - data protection. 

For more info on the HP MediaSmart Server you can visit: http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/mediasmart-server/

For more info on the Microsoft Windows Home Server you can visit: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx