New Project Server

[mikewp]

Hi,

I've been tasked with building a Microsoft Project Server for my
company. My first attempt was with Project Server 2007 but I had
nothing but problems. The Project databases failed to provision and I
had other SQL errors listed in the event viewer. I decided to try
building a Project Server with 2003 and so far i'ts going better,
however, I'm currently at a roadblock. I need to demo the features of
Project Server (PWA and Project Client integration) but I don't have
any test data. I'm completely new to Project and I'm looking for an
easy way to demo the product. Does anyone have any ideas?

Also, which product is easier to administer and setup, Proj. Server
2003 or 2007? I'd like to go with 2007 but all the tutorials seem to
be written for 2003.

TIA,
Mike

 

[Ben Howard]

Hi Mike,
If you install 2003 on a single server, then you can install the sample
database and this is good enough for demoing.
There is no sample DB with 2007.

An easier way to demo 2007 this would be to check out the project hosts site
- http://www.projecthosts.com/epmservices_overview.asp for a free 7 day tour
- this may fit your needs and can save a lot of hassle.

Finally, as to which is easier to set up and administrate - they are both
similiar. Which you should use depends on exactly what your requirements
are, 2007 is far superior in terms of features and functionality and will be
supported longer.

There was a previous thread discussing documentation, search for Primetime
in this newsgroup.

 

[Bill Busby]

Having administered Project Server 2003 for the past nearly 3 years I can say
without reservation that if I was doing a new implementation of Project
Server I would go with the 2007 version hands down over the 2003. 2007 has
some blemishes and a few warts. I doubt I've found them all but so far I'd
take any of it over the nightmare that 2003 can become with the issues I've
experienced in data integrity and reporting difficulties.

The 2007 setup is vastly different than 2003, mostly due to the integration
with WSS 3.0 but once you understand some of the requirements that aren't
spelled out as clearly as they should be the setup runs much smoother than
2003.

 

[Gary L. Chefetz [MVP]]

Bill:

I'm curious, when you say that, are you considering the additional steps in
configuring Analysis services? IMO, the process is more tedious and more
prone to user mistakes. I burned two chapters covering 150 + pages in our
new book to completely elucidate the installation and post installation
steps through verifying basic operability. My .02.

--

Gary L. Chefetz, MVP
MSProjectExperts
For Project Server Consulting: http://www.msprojectexperts.com
For Project Server FAQS: http://www.projectserverexperts.com

 

[Jonathan Sofer]

2003 is much more stable than 2007 so if you have a choice, I wouldn't
necessarily jump onto 2007 just yet. You might want to wait till SP1 comes
out and hopefully fixes some of the major issues of 2007.

It also depends on what features of the tool you are going to be using that
will determine whether you really need 2007 or can stick with 2003.

That being said, 2003 will be phasing out and 2007 is the future so you can
either deal with the pain, bugs, "features", and nuisances of 2007 now or
deal with the pain of migrating from 2003 to a more stable 2007 later.

Joanthan