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I am branching off from my pediatric hospital practice and will be starting private practice. We have been using AC for a year, currently V3.7 with UpDox. I love AC and I was the one who got the hospital onboard in the first place. I plan to continue using AC in our office but I am wondering how to best do the office now that I have control of what technology goes in there. I already have 3 tablets for the office (2 providers) and a desktop for me with windows ultimate. I have 8 office staff total (2 front, 1 Billing, 3 Nurses and the providers.)
My question is how to best start this thing from scratch? Should I get a server or just a speedy desktop, do I do VPN or get a server and do remote? Is it worth spending the money on all those server licenses? What works best with version 4? Should I do Vista Business or XP pro? I still plan to use updox for paperless management. Any advice would be helpful, and Bert I will definitely try out that Peds med database, I hear it is awesome.
Thanks in advance

Ron
Peds Perry, FL

Well, not to brag, but it is awesome, lol.

OK, this question has been asked quite a lot, and there are a lot of threads on the subject. While it isn't quite as difficult to answer as who was the best rock band in the past 30 years, it is close.

There is no doubt you can run AC on a speedy computer. The only real difference is a server is faster in some of the motherboard components and is more redundant. The OS will allow you to set up a domain, something you can't do with a non-server OS. I wouldn't necessarily say that because you are using a non-server that you have to run peer-to-peer. A server OS comes with licenses, for instance SBS 2003 will come with five, giving you four for your users or computers (I would definitely do per PC). And the others could be covered by five more.

I personally always say go with a real server and set up a domain. I have my favorite analogy now. If your roof suddenly began leaking and water was falling in all your exam rooms and on your fax machines and copiers, etc., would you buy a new roof simply to protect AC? So, why does everyone look at their computer setup only for AC. Your network is for AC, your billing, your scheduler, your files, your email (with Exchange), your companyweb, intranet (Sharepoint) if you go with SBS and remote capabilities. Yes, you can remote into a regular computer, but a server with robust terminal services, etc. gives you a lot more secure options. Right now it may not be a big deal, but the ability to protect folders and files is very helpful. The ability to control who logs in to the server and when and passwords, etc. is great.

The question should always be do I need a network domain for my office, which will allow me to grow in a secure and organized fashion or do I want to go less expensive and go with a non-server workgroup? For me, half the fun, is working and tinkering with Small Business Server.

The VPN versus server and remote doesn't make sense as you can do remote without a server and VPN with. For most remoting, LogMeIn or RDP is fine. With SBS you can use Remote Web Workplace which is too awesome to describe. So is Sharepoint. Sharepoint itself will save your office hours a month and allow organization of your office that you simply can NOT do with any other software.

As for Vista Business vs XP Pro, that is a tough decision that someone asked awhile back. I use XP, but I am rather excited about Win 7. I would find it hard to purchase Vista Business and then having to switch due to Win 7's improved OS.

Thanks for the reply. So you think SBS 2003 is "good enough" as opposed to 2008? Why would you recommend PC instead of user? Just curious.

Not to argue with Bert, actually I agree with him.

The problem with SBS is that there is a higher learning curve, and AC SQL backbone had some issues with SBS which I am not sure were corrected. It certainly does work and well.

Doing peer to peer is less expensive and seemed to work smoother in my practice. You can certainly upgrade to SBS.

SBS will give you more growth potential.

I think I read somewhere that they may allow free upgrades to Windows 7 for PCs bought after July 1. Windows 7 seems to be vista done right.

SBS 2003 vs 2008 both work, 2008 has more features and is more user friendly. If you've either the technical knowledge or help, both are good. I have not seen much difference in price on websites and ebay although 2003 has been discontinued.

I think I should get paid by Microsoft. I agree somewhat with Wendell. I am not so sure that 2008 is more user friendly. It has less wizards but has tons of "eye candy" and, even though I will have to change kicking and screaming one day just as I will have to go to Win7, I will stick with the "XP version" of SBS and go with 2003. For one thing if you use 2008, you will be using the latest technology, which means more bugs AND a lot less people who can help you. For instance, I would be like...well go here, do this...oh wait..you have 2008. Maybe not a good reason not to use it, but.

Now 2008 is 64 bit. That is good, because you can use tons more memory than 4GB limit of 32-bit, but it is bad because of driver and application compatibility. AC may run on it, I believe it does. But does your PM software run on it? Does your scheduler if it separate? What about every app you run?

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/35276

Are you really ready for 2008? I'm not. And, to this day, in my not so humble opinion, SBS 2003 is the greatest server for small business and novices to experts than any OS ever made. (OK, no Linux people please, lol).

Why users vs PCs. Depends, users are good if you have a few users who use more than one piece of hardware. Generally, users is best. I may have said differently elsewhere. PCs is best for a call center where you have six people using the same computer intermittently on the same license. Small Business Servers have difficulty counting licenses anyway.

Is SBS 2003 good enough? I don't think I will answer that question. Is a Porsche 911 good enough? Is a Ferrari good enough? Well, I guess I did. There is no other OS which will give you a server OS, Exchange Server, Sharepoint, a world class firewall and SQL 2005 in one package for $700.

Try this link: http://www.sbstestdrive.com/

If you want my biggest piece of advice, hire a consultant at least for the setup. For instance, these people can run Ehternet cable or set up a wireless network ten times faster than you can on your own. And, they know Microsoft. All of them are Microsoft Small Business Specialists and many are Microsoft Certified Professionals. If they are SBS MVPs, even better. These 12 are all within 60 miles of Perry, Florida. You may even want a support contract with them. Imagine having an email sent to one of them each morning and they log into your server and fix the issue before you get to work.

http://www.2mnetworking.com/

http://www.mainline.com/_web/home/index.html

http://www.brandtinfo.com/

http://www.ctusa1.com/

http://www.aegiscomputer.com/

http://rapidatainc.com/default.aspx

http://www.homeandofficenetworking.com/

http://cce-tech-srv.com/default.aspx

http://www.epyon-tech.com/

http://www.gatorworks.com/

http://www.ntsinteractives.com/

http://www.benchmarknetworks.com/

IF YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO INSTALL AND SET UP ON YOUR OWN:

http://www.trainsignal.com/Small-Business-Server-2003-Training-P19.aspx

Incredible videos.

Hi Bert:

>>> There is no other OS which will give you a server OS, Exchange Server, Sharepoint, a world class firewall and SQL 2005 in one package for $700.

At eBay there's a seller with a great report card selling SBS 2003, with 5 licenses, for $230! Not a bad deal among others...

-- URL for SBS search
--URL for $230 deal

Cool huh?

Al

Thank you all for your responses, I wasn't meaning to "put down" SBS 2003, I hope we can move past this Bert!

You have all been very helpful.

I have 2 IT "interviews" for next week.

Just curious Bert, what kind of server do you have?


Thanks for the tip on ebay Al, very nice!

I thank you all.

I don't think we have anything to move past. It was just funny. Like asking if Carnegie Hall is good enough for your five-year-old's dance recital. LOL

I have had SBS 2003 since its inception. It's probably the best for Small Businesses. I have 2008 on VM. Just haven't made the move. If you have never done a setup before, I would go 2003.

eBay is cool. My prices are retail.