The arrival of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 (ES2K3) is a significant event in the history of this product. First, it brings to a close the second era of the codebase. Released back in 1996 on the NT 4 wave, ES4 (there was no 1, 2 or 3) brought enterprise-level email, contact management, diary management and so forth to the Windows Server platform in a new and comprehensive BackOffice application.

A disappointingly modest number of improvements, although they’re well integrated into the complete suite.

Superpowered and workgroup friendly with great features, but with a steep learning curve for administrators. Find out what the "other" side of the server world looks like

A versatile single-socket rack server with a wide range of processor choices, plus a good warranty for the price.

Being enterprise software, one usually needs considerable expertise and time to obtain optimal performance and functionality. This is especially true for a product as comprehensive and feature rich as Lotus Domino 6.5 which is fully programmable and can provide workflow, knowledge management, document management, archiving, database and collaboration services via a client-server or browser based thin client model.

This rather unusual system from MCT has a bit of everything.

To be fair, if you were going to deploy Netware 6, you would have a trained Novell engineer (CNE) configure it on a Netware 6-certified box from a major manufacturer. We, nevertheless, decided to wipe our Windows 2000 clone server and start afresh with Netware.

Comparatively pricey, but IBM delivers a quality rack-server package.

Easy to set up and administer; has all the advantages which Linux offers.

The first of the new breed of IBM rack servers, delivering superb design and a wealth of new features.

Useful new features and a total interface overhaul make this the best Office ever.

By sticking with the same intuitive management console, the latest version of Computer Associates' (CA) antivirus software remains notably easy to use, and has increased its coverage by adding new virus-scanning capabilities for PDAs, plug-ins for a variety of gateways, and protection options for Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes/Domino. You also get remote browser access and the option to designate secondary signature servers, which clients will use if the primary distribution server fails.

How much capacity and how many drives do you need? We look at a selection of storage options

Enact comes with the complete box and dice including application software, database, web-server and application server and the server can be run on a basic Windows XP Professional desktop. While the Java-based interface can be a bit buggy and slow at times, it is generally clearly set out and easy enough to use.

This version sees a new maturity, with more server integration and easier-to-use controls online forms.

Emagens entry is a fairly mixed system, with some excellent and some average features

Acer has sacrificed overall power in favour of features with this moderate little system.

If your Website is hosted by an effective ISP you should have access to reams of information about who looked at your Web pages, when they viewed them, how long they were navigating your site for and much more.

It looks like a standard webcam, but the Axis 205 is cleverer than that. Its internal web server and 10/100 Ethernet port mean it can be directly connected to and accessed by anyone on the network.

Easy to use, and with space for a second SATA disk, but it struggles with small files and is overpriced for the features.