I can't get too scientific here, but I currently have 100 in-house users running outlook, plus another 50 at any given time accessing their mail over OWA. All of this is being done on the following very modest hardware: Intel P3-1000 Mhz, 512 MB Ram and 10k rpm SCSI disks. I log all of the performance statistics with perfmon and the CPU utilization never rises above 60%, and that includes when the online defragmenter runs at 1:15am.
Your mileage will vary with the types of users you have. Unless you have a compelling security need to run a FE/BE configuration, I don't see the need to get so complex when you have a relatively small number of users. A nice Dual 2.8 GHz Xeon box with 1 GB ram and lots of SCSI discs should be more than ample amount of capability to suit your needs. You haven't told us anything about your usage profile, so I could be totally off. =) Eric Fretz L-3 Communications ComCept Division 2800 Discovery Blvd. Rockwall, TX 75032 tel: 972.772.7501 fax: 972.772.7510 -----Original Message----- From: JohLex [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 3:46 PM To: Exchange Discussions Subject: Hardware requirements for Front end/ Back end server -- EX2003 Dear All, I am getting ready to upgrade an Exch 5.5 system running on NT4 to Exch 2003 on Win 2003 and am trying to decide whther or not to use a front end server. I will have approx. 100 users accessing this server via POP3/IMAP and another 30 or so via OWA. Additionally I will have another 200 mailboxes in house. If somone could point me to a web site where I could find some definitive info on this or share any personal experiences I would be very grateful. Thanks and best regards. _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Web Interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=exchange&text_mode=&lang =english To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe via postal mail, please contact us at: Jupitermedia Corp. Attn: Discussion List Management 475 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 Please include the email address which you have been contacted with. _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Web Interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=exchange&text_mode=&lang=english To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe via postal mail, please contact us at: Jupitermedia Corp. Attn: Discussion List Management 475 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 Please include the email address which you have been contacted with.
