All kinds of questions for a small business setup?

[belltt]

Working to setup a small business network for 6 employees (5 Windows XP laptops, 1 MacBook......no IT personnel). I have settled on the ReadyNAS NV+ as the central file server (we will not have a "traditional" server running Windows Server software....just the ReadyNAS).

I've researched each of the following but am posting to get any additional feedback/opinions I have missed:

1. Should I upgrade to the ReadyNAS or is the NV+ adequate?

2. (On our existing file server we have 400 GB of information that will be moved to the ReadyNAS at the start....that grows by 5 GB per month on average) I'm looking at a 3 *500 GB ReadyNAS drive configuration, will that be sufficient for the next 24 to 36 months?

3. Does the workstation backup software that comes with the ReadyNAS work well or should I look to purchase and use a different backup software (I've seen Acronis mentioned a few times in the forums)?

4. Can anyone recommend a solid UPS that works well with ReadyNAS?

5. Does anyone know of any conflicts running PGP Netshare with ReadyNAS (or Utimaco LanCrypt)?

6. Can Aladdin USB tokens be used with ReadyNAS security?

7. Either a SonicWall TZ-190 + SSL-200 VPN or SonicWall NS240 +SSL-200 VPN as our firewall setup....any experience/advice using these devices?

8. Any other things for a Non-IT person to consider with a simple setup like the one I've outlined above?

Thank you in advance for any feedback you can offer

[yoh-dah]

belltt, I'll try to answer what I can. I'll let others address the rest...

1. Should I upgrade to the ReadyNAS or is the NV+ adequate?

The NV+ should work fine in your environment if the file-serving is needed for typical office apps and occasional backups.

2. (On our existing file server we have 400 GB of information that will be moved to the ReadyNAS at the start....that grows by 5 GB per month on average) I'm looking at a 3 *500 GB ReadyNAS drive configuration, will that be sufficient for the next 24 to 36 months?

That'll give you close to 1TB of capacity. If you ever needed more, you can easily expand with X-RAID by adding another disk.

3. Does the workstation backup software that comes with the ReadyNAS work well or should I look to purchase and use a different backup software (I've seen Acronis mentioned a few times in the forums)?

The backup software is easy to setup and use, and it's continuous with versioning support. It should work very well in your environment.

4. Can anyone recommend a solid UPS that works well with ReadyNAS?

APC UPS usually work great. Check out the compatibility list on readynas.com before purchasing.

8. Any other things for a Non-IT person to consider with a simple setup like the one I've outlined above?

Small businesses often fail to address offsite backups. I typically recommend a 2nd ReadyNAS offsite (you can initially backup locally and set it for daily incrementals), or you can opt for ReadyNAS Vault if you prefer a subscription-based online backup. The latter may be more cost-effective if you only have a few specific shares that you wish to replicate and you want to secure your backups in a professionally maintained data center.

[dengar]

On a side note, have you looked at the new NETGEAR security appliances? They might be an option to the SonicWALL if you don't already own one. There's no difference either way to the ReadyNAS.