Well after countless months of running good ole’ Postifx by itself in a POP configuration and having no external mail access available to staff/volunteers I began looking for something more…I found it in Zimbra http://www.zimbra.com/. Zimbra is an open source (they also have a Network Edition that bundles professional paid support) collaboration suite comprised of specialized versions of many open source products brought together with a powerful, easy-to-use GUI. Setup and install was easy….basically start with a clean Linux OS and install the base Zimbra utilities…most of this is via Command Line. Once that is done however everything exists in a beautiful web-based interface. Having used both Exchange and now Zimbra I can honestly say that Zimbra is giving Microsoft a run for its money….the best part is Zimbra costs NO MONEY! We’ve been using it almost a week now with no problems…and the staff really appreciate being able to retrieve their emails/documents/calendars remotely via the web. If your sick of Exchange and its associated costs, I would recommend you give Zimbra a look…it integrates nicely with Outlook (even has a .pst conversion utility), has a great webmail component, easy administration and best of all is open source.
Also on a side note….I have gotten very good responses regarding the Michigan I.T. Roundtable. This looks like its going to be a good first meeting. AGAIN I WANT TO INVITE ANYONE WHO CAN MAKE IT, PLEASE DO!
I always hate picking dates; never know if it works for everyone or anyone…but I finally met with our scheduling person, closed my eyes and picked a date. The official date I chose was June 30, 2007 from 9 a.m. - 12p.m. here @ New Community Church. With that said…I would like to offer a formal invite to any in Michigan or surrounding states that could make it; please do! I am still firming up numerous details but I have the date set, I hope you can make it! If you haven’t been in prior email with me and would like to attend, please drop me an email travis@nccwm.org and I’ll put you on the list. General info below:
MICHIGAN CHURCH I.T. ROUNDTABLE
JUNE 30, 2007
9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
New Community Church
Directions to New Community Church
My current plans call for about 3 hours worth of Roundtable, would be open to any suggestions whether this is too long/short. Will provide the usual morning doughnuts/coffee/etc. as well as all the free wifi you can eat! Please pass this information on to anyone else who you may know that would be interested! Any questions/comments please leave them on my blog or email travis@nccwm.org LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!
Church I.T. Survey
Church I.T. Suggested Questions
Church I.T. Outline
It had been on my “to-do” list for quite a while and I finally got around to making it a priority after multiple requests from various departments and volunteers…in the next couple weeks New Community will have facility wide wireless (or at least in the major areas used by people). I am building the whole wireless system off of good ole’ trusty Linksys Wifi-Routers running DD-WRT firmware. The wireless system will be on its own separate network segment and will only be able to access the internet. Currently I will only be allowing Ports 80/443 on it since it will be a “public” service; as well as setting up content filtering. I am also setting up a captive portal that will require user authentication before they can access the net. Client isolation will also be enabled. I do have some fun new toys to go with the Linksys….the PoE kits I ordered also.
After reading numerous posts on many different blogs I have taken the “best of the best” and worked it into generic documents that should be usable to anyone embarking on their own local church I.T. group. Comments/suggestions are GREATLY appreciated. Thanks to Jason Powell and Tony Dye where I “borrowed” most of the information (including the logo!). The first is a generic outline of the purpose of the group and some guidelines. The second is a list of questions I came up with as possible “conversation starters”. The third is a survey to help identify the best topics for discussion. Let me know what you all think!
Church I.T. Survey
Church I.T. Outline
Church I.T. Suggested Questions
Okay with all the talk among everyone on the forums (itdiscuss) and blogs I would like to push forward with a local group here in Michigan. Initially I would like to focus on the Western Michigan area but open it up to anyone in MI/surrounding areas who would like to attend. A couple big questions I have:
- What would this group look like in terms of goals/objectives?
- What would weekly/monthly meetings look like?
- Would this include some sort of website/communication portal so members could communicate?
- What “value-adds” could be done to make the group really beneificial. Possible data hosting exchanges, equipment sharing, etc?
If any of you have some thoughts I’d really be open to anything. Initially I will contact the I.T. people I have been in discussion with and research some local churches and invite any I.T. staff they may have. Anyone reading my blog that’s in Michigan that would want to attend?
I still would like to figure out a way to build a national I.T. group that would have annual meetings; local groups would supplement the rest of the year perhaps on a monthly basis.
WITH THAT SAID…
I would like to extend a formal invitation to any churches/I.T. personnel in Michigan who would like to become part of this group. No official meeting dates or anything have been decided; kind of a grass-roots effort to see if interest exists and what such a group/meeting would look like.
In response to Chris’ response….I am located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Well my blog has been pretty dead the last few months…been extremely busy @ work, trying to finish up some large projects. My newest project is to begin digitizing tons of CDs, Tapes, etc. This has prompted the need to begin examining larger storage options. What I am wondering is, does anyone have a recommendation for a 1TB or larger device in the $2000-3000 range that is rackmountable and includes easy/automated backup? I have looked at stuff from Infrant, Buffalo, Snap and others. Do you have any specific recommendations, maybe you currently use it or are you a vendor with a good product? Please let me know!
