sbs2003r2 standard versus premium; sas versus sata??

[Richard Darling]

I'm looking ot replace our sbs 4.5 with SBS 2003 R2; and I would like opinions:

1) Standard versus premium...don't need SQL, so is it worth it getting premium for ISA - I like the proxy logs I'm getting in sbs 4.5 - how do others monitor user Internet access?

2) Hard drives - what has everyone's experience been with using SATA or SAS drives. Also, my current SBS uses RAID 1. Any preference for RAID 1 or RAID 5? I'v liked RDAID one because I can mirror a drive and save for disaster recovery.
Richard

[Igor Karasik · Accepted solution]

Regarding 2:
IMHO, SAS is a better choice: good performance, more stable. SATA advantage is only low price. The choice very depend on number users you have, type of applications and etc.

>>Any preference for RAID 1 or RAID 5
RAID-1 have better performance. I usually
install OS (disk C:) on RAID-1. For data you can use RAID-5 as well if you need more disk space with minimal number of disks. If you heavily use Exchange - I recommend RAID-1 for data too.

[Richard Darling]

Hi Igor,
PC Network overview:
35 - 40 users; file and print sharing, minimal shared fax, Exchange

All apps are on an HP UX L1000, and accessed using telnet; so there really is no load on the PC server for business apps.

[Igor Karasik]

Richard,

For 30-40 users file/print server and Exchange I suggest use SAS drives.
RAID-1 for OS and separate RAID-1 for Exchange databases and users files