f**king hell this thread is laughable. So much irrelevant information.
I am going to dumb this right down ! Based on the size and requirements of the company.
Hardware (i'm being generic here but I deal with IBM and Dell both good)
SBS Server
A midrange processor
4GB RAM
2 x 100+ gig in RAID1 (OS)
2 x 1 or 2 TB drives in RAID1 (DATA)
UPS to prevent data loss.
Software
Use external drives for backup, setup a backup routine. Backup all data on DATA and OS using software built into SBS
Setup a few AD users/groups including Domain Admin, and Admin accounts for Server and client maintenance tasks.
Setup basic GP options (don't over do this, you can lock stuff down over time as you learn)
Setup file share for centralised storage/working area for all users and assign permissions based on user/group (that you setup in AD) e.g. \\server\work
Use GP to redirect Desktop and My Documents to personal user folders on server DATA drive e.g. \\server\users\UserName1 \\server\users\UserName2 etc.
Deploy printers via GP (try to get printers with NIC's built in.. not wireless !!)
Plug router into gigabit switch, connect clients to switch.
That will get you a basic system in place, from there you can expand as you learn. Shouldn't take you more than an hour or two to setup after delivery of the hardware.
You don't need VLAN's, dual gigabit NIC's, External RAID arrays, Expensive backup solutions or any of the other overkill items mentioned in this thread.. Oh and for the record you can get L3 switches to all those spraffing on about L2 switches this and that...:slap: