Re: Scalable

[Stan Hoeppner <stan@hardwarefreak.com>]

Jonathan Tripathy put forth on 2/12/2010 5:05 PM:
> Hi Stan,

Hi.  Try to keep the discussions on list so everyone can assist.

> You've hit a very good question. They don't currently have an office
> email system. Staff are using their personal Hotmail accounts when they
> need to send the odd email. Do you see why I orignally was going to get
> a 256MB RAM VM to allow them to have 50 or so email accounts?

No, I can't.  I can understand your thought process, but it's wrong.  Leaving a
really bad situation for another one that's not quite as bad is not the same as
going to a good situation.  Architect a solution that fits the client's needs,
not a solution that's just a little better than what they have, but overall
still doesn't come close to meeting their needs.

> Just some other company has come in saying that they'll do 600, and even
> though my price is much cheaper, it's now being seen as "too cheap"...

Bid the job right.  Write up a proposal explaining what they need, why they need
it, and how much it's going to cost.

> I was thinking this server:
> 
> http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/dedicatedservers/linux-servers/ds300-linux/

You're still not looking at this from the proper perspective.  You're looking at
ISP rented colo offerings and trying to match one you think might fit the
client's need.  This is called an "ass backwards" approach to system design.

Identify the client's needs, then architect the system, then pick the hardware,
vendors and providers that best fit that need.

You didn't mention what their broadband connection speed is.  We need to know
that to help you properly architect this thing.  The lower that bandwidth, the
greater the need to have the mail server on site and not in a colo.

To be completely honest, from what I've seen from you to this point, it sounds
like everyone in this scenario might be better off just using Google apps.
Charge a decent "conversion" fee, add in some training, and once they're up and
running you don't have to "manage the box", which it seems you're not really up
to anyway.

-- 
Stan