BESX on Exchange Server or Not?

[ilsaccente]

I work in a small law firm and most of the attorneys use a BlackBerry (about 7 of us). We spend lots of time out of the office (Court, meeting, etc), and would like to sync email, update contacts, and update calendars and tasks all over-the-air.

We're currently transitioning to host our own email on our new Small Business Server using Microsoft Exchange. I discussed running BESX with our IT department, and they say RIM does not recommend running BESX on the same machine as our Exchange Server. They want us to spend another $3,000 for a dedicated BESX server.

My question is: For a company as small as we are, would RIM not recommend using BESX on the same machine as our Exchange Server, or is our IT department trying to squeeze some extra money out of the company?

Thanks in advance.

[CanuckBB]

RIM supports BESX on the same server as Exchange for up to 75 users.

If your IT department is not comfortable with that, they can load up Hyper-V and set up a virtual server on the same hardware at no cost.

[swerv]

I run 8 users... SBS 2k3 box with everythin under the hood... sql, site to site VPN, exchange, everything without issue at all. IT also serves our remote users and the office for dhcp/dns/NAT. There blowing smoke up your toe.

[fftaz336]

I am not running SBS, I am running Server 2008. I have Exchange 2007 and BESX with three users, but only have 4GB ram on a 64bit AMD. Nothing more than a desktop with server software on it and I have not had any issues.

[DarienA]

Your IT dept is terrible at reading. BESX is lightweight and designed to be installed on an Exchange server... you don't HAVE to, but yeah you can no problem...

[ilsaccente]

Thank you guys for all of your help. I'm thinking that either this guy is being lazy or doesn't know enough about it.

[chmaro]

It all depends on how much load you guys have on your exchange.

In a perfect world I would run them separately but for 7 users it's not a huge deal. BESx will run on the exchange server providing the resources are there.

[trd2turbo]

you don't HAVE to spend 3,000. Thats just dumb for a low user small business light weight BESX.

I went on craigslist and bought a nice Dell poweredge with server 2k3 for 400 bucks. I only have 15 users so I figured I could take the chance. It has been running 100% like a champ. I am very familiar with how some IT guys claim a $3,000 dollar ticket knowing we can pick up a brand new server for 1,200 and claim it all as a job cost.

Or as said, you can run it on virtual or on top of your SBS. It's not recommended for bigger companies. SMB's are fine.

[adigsmx]

maybe you can help me plz.I am a BB user since 2 yrs now and I have just found out (and saw) what BES can do.I have a small business with 3 blackberry users and I could use an advice with the most cost effective solution so that I can have BESx in my company.I have downloaded this BESx and installed it and now what ? what do I need to do in order to make it work ? I have changed all my 4 subscriptions from regular BB into Blackberry enterprise subscriptions.
thx

[Tiassa]

Originally Posted by adigsmx

maybe you can help me plz.I am a BB user since 2 yrs now and I have just found out (and saw) what BES can do.I have a small business with 3 blackberry users and I could use an advice with the most cost effective solution so that I can have BESx in my company.I have downloaded this BESx and installed it and now what ? what do I need to do in order to make it work ? I have changed all my 4 subscriptions from regular BB into Blackberry enterprise subscriptions.
thx

Which version of Exchanged are you running?

[adigsmx]

latest one, just downloaded 2 days ago from BB server.
BESX_express_5.0.2.exe
and BTW, I don't have exchange mail.I have just normal mail on my website's server.
this was the question, how can I get exchange mail.

[CanuckBB]

You need an Exchange server for BESX to work.

[adigsmx]

Who's gonna offer a subscription for such a server, or what is the solution, what are the prices ?

thx

[CanuckBB]

Exchange needs to be local to BES. You either purchase Exchange from MS and istall it locally, or you move your mail service to a hosted Exchange service.

[adigsmx]

Thx alot for the reply, but I would like please to understand the whole procedure, and in order to do that, I need u not to use short names.
Can someone please explain to me step by step the procedure ?
I have a domani www. xxx.ro, and it is hosted by Hostgator,
I have Blackberry enterprise subscription and I have downloaded BESx.
What should I do next in order to make it work.Sorry for the dumb (you may think) question but this enterprise stuff is really nice and I need to make it work.

thx