Re: Okay let's duke it out... One nic or two?

This is written in responce to Susan's recent post on 1-NIC or 2-NICs in an SBS install.

As an SBS consultant, your biggest responsibility is conveying risk. At the end of the day, it's your customer's decision, your customer's data, and your customer's business that is at risk. So if you're out there accepting risk on behalf of the customer, without informing them of key decisions, you're simply not doing your job.

1 NIC or 2? I think it depends on your customer. Look at their environment, look at the budget, and then try to balance the needs of the customer with the needs of your employer. Customers are brining you in to help navigate confusing decisions on their behalf, and at the same time are trusting you to keep them in the loop on decisions that can have a material impact to their business. Beyond that, your employer is in business to make money. You can't risk loosing customers because you don't want to implement a 1 NIC install that is "less secure". And you typically shouldn't look at new installs from a break-even perspective. In most SBS environments that I've worked in, there's just not allot of money to throw around on high-end hardware. If you can do a 2-NIC install on a better platform great! But if the choice is between a 2-NIC install, and you/your employer making money, you've got to make money first to stay in business.

So bottom line... Actively communicate risk to your customer, balance the needs of your employer with the needs of your customer, and always protect your profit margin. After you take care of those things, then you can worry about the details.