The server is a Linux based server, all administration access is performed across the network using a web browser such as Internet Explorer. Depending on network configuration, access can be made by More Solutions for remote administration if needed.

The server runs on a Linux operating system, thus making it invulnerable to the multitude of Windows security flaws. This allows it to offer protection to Windows machines on its network in a variety of ways. Latest research suggests that a default install of Windows, prior to updating it with the critical updates available from the Microsoft website, is on average compromised within 20 minutes of it being directly connected to the Internet - significantly less time than it typically takes to install the updates needed to protect it! Performing that process behind a firewall (such as this server) is increasingly important!

Figures based on information from the SANS Institute, viewable at isc.sans.org

Users can be created within the server. Each user requires a username and password, the username will become the first part of the email address (before the @). The user can then be added to a user group.

Each user can be setup with a finite amount of space on the server, by default there is no limit but one can be assigned to prevent any one user filling the server with their own personal files. The space is primarily used for incoming email prior to it (optionally) being downloaded to the users PC, but it also allows the user to store files in their home directory on the server.

This means that with certain versions of Windows the 'My Documents' folder can be stored on the server, allowing "hot desking" where the My Documents folder always contains your documents regardless of which PC in the office you are sat in front of.

A number of user groups can be defined, users can then be added to one or more of these groups. This allows easy configuration of access levels, directories of files (on the file server) can be locked down so that only certain groups can access them. This allows accounts personnel to be given access to accounts files, without access being given to the technical personnel. On the other hand, accounts personnel may also be in the technical group and therefore also have access to the technical files on the server.

The file server allows a number of directories to be created, which become network shares and allow access from Windows, Mac's and Linux machines. In order for a user to access these files they will need to log onto the network share with their username and password, if they have not been added to the correct group they will not be given access.

It is possible to backup the settings of the server to a file and store that on a CD. The server data such as the share directories and files can also be backed up to a tape drive (tape drive hardware can be supplied as an option).

The server has two hard drives configured for RAID backup, meaning that should a drive physically fail the server will continue to run using the second drive, and when the failed drive is replaced the data will automatically be duplicated from the good drive onto the new drive before the system returns to normal operation.

The email server can handle multiple domain names, this allows a company with multiple domain names to use the email server. If a company has www.more-solutions.co.uk and www.more-hosting.co.uk then the server can be configured to collect and deliver email for both of these domains. Any emails sent will arrive on the server, the server will then look to see if it is for an internal domain (example - this email will then be delivered to the sales email box without the email going out to the Internet and then back in again). This reduces the Internet traffic and also allows internal emails to be almost instant. As well as handling multiple domains the server can also collect email from up to three POP3 email accounts - useful if you have email accounts with multiple ISP's (Internet Service Providers).

Each username that is configured will be set up so that becomes the email address (this is automatic for all domains configured in the server). If you require a number of additional email address for a particular user then you can configure these. If, for example firstname.secondname is the username, the email address will be but you can also arrange for emails for , and so on to also get routed to the firstname.secondname user.

The email server allows the configuration and personalisation of an 'out of office' message. When enabled this would automatically send a reply to all incoming emails for that user with a customisable message telling the sender that they are out of the office. For example, the message might read "XX is out of the office until YY and they will not be reading their email until they return. Urgent email should in the meantime be resent to ."

The server is also capable of producing a copy of each email that passes through it both incoming and outgoing. This allows emails to be archived for future reference or for an administrator to monitor the emails that are being received.

All emails through the server will be spam checked and assessed, the level of checking can be changed if required. The server will read the email, look at its construction and origin and then check using algorithms which are updated via the Internet every hour. This produces a calculated level of likely spam content, and based on this the email is deleted, marked as SPAM and delivered or delivered as normal.

All emails through the server are virus checked, which should stop most, if not all virus emails being received by you, or sent by you to your customers. The anti-virus software is updated every hour across the Internet to make sure that it is as up to date as possible, the server will also scan the files stored once a week for viruses.

Of-course this anti-virus checking should be used in conjunction with anti-virus software running on each office PC, as email is not the only potential virus source, but this is a very effective starting point. More Solutions can also supply anti-virus software for office PC's if needed, more ....

The server has a web mail website built in, this allows users to check their email via a web browser such as Internet Explorer, rather than needing to use an email package such as Outlook or Outlook Express. The web mail website can be made accessible from outside the office (depending on Internet and network settings). The web mail website looks and functions in a similar way to Hotmail and Yahoo email.

The server can also act as a time server which synchronises its clock with time servers on the Internet. Free issue software can then be installed on each office PC, forcing them to synchronise their clock with the server's, thus making sure all the office PC's have the correct date and time.

The server also has a web server which allows the hosting of a number of websites. More Solutions does not recommend that you host your company website on this machine - although the server is more than capable your internet connection almost certainly isn't! However, you can create an Intranet, which is an internal website and only viewable within the office. It can be used by employees to share customer contact information, stock details etc, office notices, and so on. More Solutions can develop custom Intranets if required.

The server can have multiple printers connected to it and act as a network print server, allowing the office PC's to print across the network to any of the printers connected to the server. The server can be configured to perform load sharing on the printers should the need arise.

The server can handle network DHCP requests, which in practise means that all office PCs can be automatically configured for network access from the server (obtaining a unique network "IP" address and other network settings automatically). Most new PCs are supplied "DHCP enabled" so can simply be plugged straight into the network without further configuration. Existing PCs can also be set to work this way.

It is possible to set up each user with VPN (Virtual Private Network) access, depending on the configuration of the office network and Internet connection. This allows a user to connect via a secure connection across the Internet and access email, network shares etc from outside the office. The server can also handle connections from remote networks allowing a number of remote offices to connect to the server via an Internet/network connection and appear on this network as if it was in the same building. The server can also handle port forwarding to allow the use of software such as VNC, PCAnywhere etc.

Access to the web based server administration pages can be permitted or denied on a user by user basis. The allows the administrator to only allow users access to certain areas of the administration website - for example most users may only need access to the 'out of office' administration page, but other users may need access to create new shared directories on the server. The administration user has access to all configuration pages, and can also shutdown or reboot the server.

All configuration can thus be performed remotely, and there should be no need to physically "visit" the server at all (it doesn't even need a monitor, keyboard or mouse attached).

There is a web page on the server which displays a graphical version of the server's operational state. It shows information such as CPU, memory, hard drive and network usage.

With a large portion of Internet content being of an adult nature it is often a concern in businesses that this type of content in not viewed by staff, (either accidentally or with intent), this is where Dansguardian helps. Dansguardian filters all website content and stops the browser from displaying undesired web pages. The system is fully configurable to suit your needs, from the level of filtering you would require in a Primary School, right through to allow everything.

As most offices have a number of PC's it makes sense that the server should monitor Internet traffic and cache the web pages and files. What this means in practice is, a website viewed 5 minutes ago by one employee can be viewed again but as the site won't have changed the cached version is displayed to the second employee, this reduces Internet traffic and speeds up the viewing of the web page. A good example of web caching is with Microsoft Windows Updates, typically many PC's will need to run a Windows update at the same time, and these can be quite large files. With web caching the update only gets downloaded once and then served out to the PC's as and when they ask for it.

The server has a built in firewall, which can be used to limit incoming and outgoing connections to your network. Typically this might be used to prevent computers outside your network from accessing the files on your computers. Additionally, it can assist in damage limitation if one of your computers gets infected by a virus. May infections include software designed to allow people to gain access to your PC, but since this would also require access through the firewall you have a second (and more reliable) line of defence.