Smaller Non-Profit server

I am the office manager for a non-profit choir and we are looking into purchasing a small business server for our four employees, including myself. I don't have much experience with servers so I am wondering what specs I should be looking for while shopping? We will be running PeachTree, all MS Office software, Total Info database software, and a small group of other items on the server itself because you can hear our donated computers aging, even while they are turned off.

I know that I want at least 2.5Ghz in a processor, but I'm not sure what size HD I should look for and I plan on enabling remote access to our network and I don't know what type of networking card I should aim for? Also, with only two of us full-time, should we still aim for a RAID config. or stick with one larger HD?

(Recommendations on places to purchase would be welcome. Thank you!)

For about 4 years, I ran a small network of 4 computers (plus the server) on a normal PC (P2-400), running NT. I used it primarily for sharing a contact file (Goldmine database with 400,000 contacts), and for sharing a printer. It was very low-budget, but I gotta tell you, it worked FLAWLESSLY, and was quick enough to not bother upgrading. My point is this - - - you don't necessarily have to have "state of the art" to keep you completely satified.

We upgraded to XP the day XP came out, and of course, we upgraded to a real server at that time. Then we started to have problems. Murphy's Law, right?

A 2.5GHz server has more than enough processing power for 4 users. The key is to figure out what software will run the show AND you gotta make sure someone knows how to maintain that server. Perhaps even more important than what you buy is in knowing that someone on staff knows how to update it, maintain it, and get it running again when the inevitable happens. Unfortunately, it isn't as easy to find a "server guy" to find a "pc guy."

You can purchase lower-end servers for about $700 these days, through Dell, NewEgg, etc...

For 4 employees you may not need the expense and management requirements of a server. If you need to share data and have access to email using a Network Harddrive from iDrive (www.idrive.com) and hosted email from Mailstreet or Intermedia can save you the upfront expense of a server. With the money you save you can put it into new computers for the office. As a member of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society I can empathize with your requirements.

Matt