Re: Microsoft Commercial Internet System

John Lange ( (no email) )
Tue, 3 Jun 1997 10:28:48 -0500

Bravo, my comments below.....

John C. Lange, Sr. PALACE dot NET, INC.
microjl@palacenet.net MICRO-TECH Computers!
608.742.1601 & 6980 2800 New Pinery Road, Suite 10
http://www.palacenet.net/ Portage, WI 53901
http://www.microt.com/

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> From: Jeff Woods <jeff@delta.com>
> To: ntisp@emerald.iea.com
> Subject: Re: Microsoft Commercial Internet System
> Date: Tuesday, June 03, 1997 9:39 AM
>
> At 08:07 PM 6/2/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
> >We're about ready to start up a new ISP using NT Server and were
> >considering MCIS as our software package.
>
> Sucker. ;-)
>
> >MS is currently pricing the
> >entire suite(mail, news, chat, replication/personalization, membership)
at
> >$3,995 and includes 2000 CAL's for mail and membership if purchased
before
> >June 30. Not cheap, but compared to what I have found for similar
> >individual products it doesn't seem out of line - if it works.
>
> I've heard that performance is horrendous. I think you'd be better off,
> both performance and price-wise, to go with:
>
> News: OUTSOURCE to supernews.com for $100 a month. No hardware, nor
> headaches. Excellent service. No bandwidth wasted on news.

Alternative: dNews from http://www.netwinsite.com is a terific product. If
you plan on heavy usage, plan on a dual P200 or PPro200 with 64 - 128 MB
Ram. You are talking about maintaining a 10 GB database here, "Don't" run
any other process on this machine. Don't run any other mission critical
apps on this machine, You may have to take it down from time to time.

>
> Mail: Many alternatives NOT based on per-user, but unlimited accounts:
> www.rockliffe.com $595 (?)
> www.ntmail.co.uk $995 give or take, depending on options

My Choice ....
> www.ipswich.com $495
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> www.software.com DON'T USE -- they want $5 per user!
>
> Chat: You don't need your own chat server. Seriously. A waste.

Really!!!

>
> Membership: RADIUSNT and/or Emerald from IEA. www.emerald.iea.com.

Great Product .......

>
> FTP: Serv-U from Catsoft. $25. Unlimited. Bargain of the century.

And it works very well with Emerald

>
> Web: IIS already comes with NT Server, free. Just buy NT Server or get

> a copy as part of a special offer at any MS Seminar, or as a
dealer.

Has holes & problems but alternative support & addons available. We use
Website Pro. Has great features, much power & relativily easy to maintain.
IIS & Website will produce the best log files to track your web usage.

>
> You'll spend about the same, and be able to mix and match to get the
> servers you want, and you know work best.
>

All in all I would get several servers. If you plan on getting LARGE
follow below & even spit it up with a server for each function. If you are
not going to get any bigger than 500 - 1000 users, substitute the following
with P166 or Dual systems.

Web, Mail Server, RadiusNT & Primary DNS
1 - PPro 200 or Dual - 128MB ram (or more) - Qty 1 - 2 GB (for boot drive)
Qty 1 - 4GB UltraWide SCSI - Good Quality Ethernet card (Like Intel, 3Com,
SMC, PCI 10/100) to support multiple ip address's for virtual domains.

SQL Server, Secondary RadiusNT & DNS
1 - PPro 200 or Dual - 128MB ram (or more) - Qty 1 - 2 GB (for boot drive)
Qty 1 - 4GB UltraWide SCSI - Good Quality Ethernet card (Like Intel, 3Com,
SMC, PCI 10/100)

News Server
1 - PPro 200 or Dual - 128MB ram (or more) - Qty 1 - 2 GB (for boot drive)
Qty 2 - 4.5 GB UltraWide SCSI - Good Quality Ethernet card (Like Intel,
3Com, SMC, PCI 10/100)

Good Router, CSU/DSU, Network Hub, USR Total Control or Livingston
Portmaster NAS & USR Sportster Modems (keep 'em cool, buy fans)

This project can be as much or little problem as you like. Quality
equipment & software will prove itself.

If you would like more help on this subject, or consulting & hardware.
Contact me direct.

john@microt.com

JOhn :}
>
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