tomjedrz's questions

I am looking for options to increase the speed between buildings, ideally without having to replace existing fiber.

Current situation:

• Multi-building campus, with Gbps fiber links between buildings.
• Netgear switches with the fiber plugged into netgear GBICs on those switches.
• HP 2510G Layer 3 switch is the "core".
• An unused fiber pair exists between the server room and one other building

To mitigate the risk of building/sprinkler/fire issues causing data loss, we want to move the backup server to another building on our campus. However, the backup server has (2) GbE NICs teamed in order to allow the backups to complete during the nightly window.

I don't think the core HP switch can support any ports higher than 1GbE. My initial thought is to put in a matching HP at the other end, team two Gb fiber ports, and then team two Gb ports for the backup server at the other end.

But I am wondering about other options that may be faster, more resilient, or less expensive.

I had a weblog (discussion list) on a SharePoint server, and I no longer have access to the server. I would like to get the data out, so that I can republish into a WordPress site.

I already have an export of the list in a .CMP file. I do not have access to original server or to a replica or backup of the server.

An ideal solution is something that will allow me to import the .CMP file into WordPress, but that looks like a long putt!

We are starting to do some project and application roadmapping, and am thinking about OpenOffice (and StarOffice) as a replacement for OfficeXP and Office 2000, which is on the bulk of our PCs.

• Roughly 120 users and PCs
• OE Windows XP Pro on virtually all desktops.
• Office 2000, Office XP, properly licensed (knock on wood).
• No Software Assurance
• Windows Server 2003 and Active Directory
• MS Exchange 2003 - not sure yet about Exchange 2008
• Outlook 2003 on top of lower Office installs
• "newish" but aging PC inventory .. very little change in the last 12 months.
• Windows SharePoint Server for the intranet .. it's use is growing

How much should I consider the Open Source alternatives?

What sort of things should I be concerned about?

What hidden issues and second-order consequences should I be aware of?

I am looking forward to hearing pros and cons, and any other comments.

This question was a discussion about whether Active Directory is necessary to run Terminal Services. But a chain of answers and comments (mostly by me) brought up a related question around Domain Controllers.

It is clearly poor practice to have only one Domain Controller in an AD environment. It is also clearly best practice to have each domain controller on a separate (physical or virtual) single function server. However, not everyone can follow best practices all of the time.

Is it OK to use servers filling other roles as domain controllers?

What things should be considered in determining whether to "dual-purpose" a server?

Does the domain controller role change how Windows operates the file system or on the hardware?

Are there difference between versions of Windows Server?