In need of some Network sync advice

[FireFox]

Ok here is the low down of what I need and most properly would need to get in the near future too.

1) A synced diary/calendar system for the office (e.g. Keeping track of everyones appointments and being able to access and update is from any given pc in the office, even possible away from office via some sort of secure link over the internet)
2) An instant communication text or voice program for preferably over the LAN if not via internet.

The main task I’ve been given as the only person that has a bit more IT knowledge then just knowing how to put on a pc, type on it and put it of again is to get some sort of system running were everything on the network is synced with one another. So far I’ve set up a basic system were our template documents are kept on one machine and the rest just having a mapped drive to its location.

This is what I have available:
a) Soon to be 5 “decent” office pc’s all running XP Pro
b) Office 2007
c) All linked via the LAN
d) A shared 384k DSL line (3 gb/month CAP) – I know, crappy country - currently the best bang for bugs offer for small business users

Ok needless to say I’m looking to do this myself and not having to spend any/a fortune of money doing this. As this is rather confidential information the communications should be secure enough. I’m planning on integrating Skype into the setup soon seeing that we’ve now got a 24/7 internet connection but I’m not all that clued up on what features exactly are incorporated in to Skype at the moment except being a VOIP service.

On the looking to the future part I’m looking to make the whole setup accessible for selected office personnel via some sort of secure internet link. This would include the document templates, diary entries and upcoming events.

So is there a why I can do all of this with what I have? I’ve personally been using Outlook 2007 as a task diary service that works quiet well. I know it has a calendar but can it be synced with the rest of the pc’s so that everyone can see the same set of info at any given time and update it as necessary without me having to manually update the rest of the pc’s?

As for the instant text messaging service I’m open to suggestions.

If you need more info just ask I’ll come back to you all.

Thanks in advance

[suicide eddie]

the chat thingys an easy one,

http://www.bluebitter.de/english.htm (blues private chat\"
its not a messenger but is free and secure,may suit your purpose.
skype as your voice app could be suitable (bolting down all the extras)but check the licensing on comercial use.

microsoft has a new free product/service that may suit your needs for your info sharing.

http://workspace.officelive.com/

just been to the msoffice site \"groan\" lots of new stuff to catch up on.

[suicide eddie]

some info (copyed)
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/share.htm

[FireFox]

Thanks for the reply

Been digging round a bit myself in the meantime. The Workspace.officelive would have worked but the problem is the boss aint into the idea of using internet storing of our information, like online calenders ect. plus not everyone in the office is supposed to have internet access. I've bypassed that problem by just manually setting those people IP's so that internet sharing doesn't work. Not the ideal solution if the people have a bit of XP and internet sharing knowledge.

What I've consider is to maybe get my hands a bit more dirty and looking into setting up a decent server for this cause. Got a P3 667mHz for the job.

I just want to know if I am looking into the right direction if I'm planning on loading Windows Server 2003 on there and Exchange Server 2003. I know a lot would suggest a Linux server but my knowledge of Linux yet alone a Server setup is very limited so no bashing at this time please maybe later

Could someone just enlighten me to as how Exchange Server works? I would like to keep everything off line as far as possible and on the LAN but accessible to a selected flew via the internet from our homes if possible.

BTW Can I setup the internet sharing more securely to limit the pc's that have access to the the internet on XP not using this IP jipo? No router if you were wondering only a USB ADSL Modem connected my PC (XP)with Internet sharing enabled and one other PC set to Automatic IP to get connected to the internet.

Thanks

[suicide eddie]

\"plus not everyone in the office is supposed to have internet access. I've bypassed that problem by just manually setting those people IP's so that internet sharing doesn't work. Not the ideal solution if the people have a bit of XP and internet sharing knowledge. \"
not a problem as they,ll be on a user account with resticted privledges i hope

setting up a box as a server and access point can also do the job of handling web access, either through permissions or the firewall. but more than 2 pcs connected to your lan will still should have a router. 4 port routers are fairly cheap, 6+ ports tend to double in price. its what myself and a friend regularly do for clients with their older hardware.

still browsing through for other ideas, fairly slack at work today so its feet on the desk etc

[Krom]

If he was planning on using a router, uplinking a 1-4 port router to his existing network switch would make the most sense. For the city I work for, I have a 1 port linksys router connected into their 24 port switch and it provides internet access and DHCP to the entire office. Most modern routers should also have the option to disable internet access to PCs on the LAN either completely, or on a custom schedule. They can also either completely disable all WAN ports/services to a computer, or only block specific ports, or only allow specific ports.

[JMEaT]

Where I work we have an Exchange 2003 server and use the calandar feature from a shared dept. mailbox.

[ccb056]

Outlook can be configured such that you can have a personal calendar and see other peoples' calendar , send meeting requests, etc.

As for the router, I would recommend a Linksys RV082, I have 2 of these connected via VPN (IPSEC 256bit-AES with SHA1 Auth) and the connection is rock solid. Both networks can access everything on the other network and I haven't had any connectivity issues. You can run both routers behind dynamic IPs assuming you have some sort of dynamic dns service setup (which is a standard feature in all Linksys routers).

It also allows up to 5 PPTP VPN (built in Windows client) and 100 IPSEC tunnels. I would not recommend using the Linksys QuickVPN utility as it is very buggy. The IPSEC tunnels can be used by remote users with the Greenbow client.

The RV082 also has dual wan ports, I havent used these much, and I hear they aren't as intelligent as more professional Cisco solutions (load balancing can be tricky and the backup failover does/did not switch back to primary once primary service is restored)

Linksys RV082 page
Newegg RV082
Dated review at Tom's Hardware
On Ebay these things are a bargain