Windows Small Business Server and Essential Business Server Documentation : Deployment

It's time! Update that SBS 2000 server to SBS 2008. Here's how!

sbsdocsteam — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:10:00 GMT

Have you been itching to update your SBS 2000 server to the latest and greatest SBS 2008, but afraid to scratch because you find the thought of migrating your data and settings to be intimidating? Well, fear no longer! We have just published a white paper by Microsoft Support Engineer Edwin Joseph that helps guide you through the steps necessary to complete the migration successfully. We know that you've been waiting for this for a while now and we're pleased to make it available at this time. A big thanks to Edwin for pitching in!

You can access the paper from the MVP and Community Corner page in the SBS Technical Library. Or... you can download it right now!

Oh, and when you have the chance, check out Edwin's blog. Lots of tidbits in there about common support issues.

Cheers!

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Coming soon . . . Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Administrator's Companion!

sbsdocsteam — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:45:00 GMT

Microsoft Press just announced their first book on Windows EBS:

Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Administrator's Companion, by J.C. Mackin and Charlie Russel

Publication date is May 13, 2009, so order your copy today, or check soon with your favorite bookseller. List price: $49.99.

According to the Press, "We decided to focus first on the many aspects of Windows EBS that are unique to the product — aspects such as planning for your Windows EBS network and using the Windows EBS Administration Console. In the remaining chapters, we provide an overview of the Windows EBS component technologies so that you can get started administering your network. As a result, Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Administrator’s Companion is an indispensable guide for Windows EBS deployment and administration, as well as a great introduction to this exciting new product if you are simply exploring it as a solution."

Sounds like super content to us, and we look forward to seeing more titles on EBS from MS Press and other publishers!

Meanwhile, be sure to visit the Windows EBS Technical Library for the latest (did we mention free-of-charge?) technical documentation about this server suite for midsize businesses.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

New Documentation: Extend Windows Essential Business Server with the Premium Edition

sbsdocsteam — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:57:00 GMT

Have you wondered how the Windows Essential Business Server Premium Edition might help you? If you have identified a need for SQL Server 2008, or maybe you have line-of-business applications that you would like to run on a separate server, the Premium edition of Windows EBS might be the right solution for you.

To learn more about how the Premium edition can be used to extend the capabilities of Windows EBS, see the new solution paper titled Extend Windows Essential Business Server with the Premium Edition.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Check out our first community-authored solution paper!

sbsdocsteam — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:28:00 GMT

Cue the applause - the very first document was published in the Windows SBS MVP and Community Corner last week!

Andrew Alaniz, a consultant for the Small and Medium Business (SMB) practice at CTS, provided us with a solution paper for backing up and recovering Windows SBS 2003 using Data Protection Manager 2007. We'll be publishing another paper very soon.

Interested in contributing your content? E-mail us at sbsdocfb@microsoft.com.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Documentation Updates: Product Help and Migration Guide chm files

sbsdocsteam — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:29:00 GMT

Hi everyone!

We have just published updates to the Windows SBS Product Help and Migration files that you can use to replace the versions currently installed on your server. These updates include more than forty documentation fixes that were submitted by users and testers since the product was released. You can download these updates and copy them to the c:\program files\windows small business server\bin directory of your Windows SBS 2008 server.

You can quickly access these files from the Downloadable Documentation page of the Windows SBS 2008 Technical Library or directly from the Microsoft Download Center at the following locations.

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Product Help
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122144)

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Migration Help
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122143)

Keep the feedback coming. We're listening!

“This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.”

Hyper-V: A virtually exciting possibility with Windows SBS 2008

sbsdocsteam — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:19:00 GMT

Virtual servers. It's all the buzz. Have you been listening? Virtualization technology has been around a while, but with the release of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, it is much easier to virtualize a Windows Server 2008 network. And since Windows SBS 2008 supports the Hyper-V technology, you might want to consider if a Hyper-V virtualized server is a good solution for you. To help with your investigation, we have just published solution documentation that is intended to provide you with an overview of virtualization in an environment based on the Windows® Small Business Server 2008 software suite. "Using Hyper-V with Windows Small Business Server 2008" is now available in the Deployment section of the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Technical Library. For additional information about Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, check out the Microsoft Web site.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

New Documentation: “Adding a Server Running Windows Server 2008 to a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network”

sbsdocsteam — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:47:00 GMT

If you have been waiting for the release of Windows Server 2008 to add or update a member server, check out this helpful information.

Windows SBS 2003 allows you to add computers running Windows Server 2008 to your network; however, you cannot use the wizards in Windows SBS or the http://ServerName/connectcomputer Web site to do so.

Before you tackle this (not very scary) task, find out what you need to know in “Adding a Server Running Windows Server 2008 to a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network” in the Windows SBS Technical Library. This document describes system requirements and deployment scenarios, and provides step-by-step instructions to get you through the process.

As always, we want to hear from you! Please rate our documentation by responding to the question “Was this information helpful” at the bottom of each page. Do you have more to say? Click Comments (under Page Options), and tell us specifically what you like or do not like about the information. Definitely let us know if we did not document a procedure or solution thoroughly or accurately!

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

New Documentation: “Deploying Windows Mobile 6 with Windows Small Business Server 2003”

sbsdocsteam — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:46:00 GMT

The Windows Mobile team provided us with this great solution document that helps you integrate mobile devices that run Windows Mobile 6 in your business environment. What? You say that you are still running Mobile 5 or Windows Mobile 2002? No worries. You can still find that information at the Windows SBS Technical Library as well.

And Coming Soon…

Next week (February 8^th), we will publish an update to the “Migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 to New Hardware” documentation, which includes additional information about preparing your ISA Server 2004 installation for migration. Beyond that, we expect to publish “Adding a Server Running Windows Server 2008 to a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network” the first week of March.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

New Documentation: Migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 to New Hardware

sbsdocsteam — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 21:10:00 GMT

It's been a long time coming, but we have FINALLY published a guide for "Migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 to New Hardware." Here is a brief abstract from the overview:

"If you decide that your server running the Windows® Small Business Server 2003 (Windows SBS) server software is no longer able to keep up with the demands of your organization, and expansion is not a viable option, you can use this guide to help you migrate the Windows SBS 2003 settings and data to new hardware."

So if you've been holding off on upgrading the 5 year old computer that you are running Windows SBS on, now is the time. This guide will help you get it done.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

How to make Windows SBS 2003 compatible with Windows Vista and Office 2007

sbsdocsteam — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 00:49:00 GMT

Not everyone is going to jump on the bandwagon at the same time, but we know that many of you are itching to take advantage of the great new features in Windows Vista and Office 2007. Well, we are pleased to inform you that an update is now available that (in addition to other things):

Enables you to join client computers that are running Windows Vista (except Windows Vista Home edition) to your Windows SBS 2003 with SP1 or Windows SBS 2003 R2 network.
Updates Client Deployment tools so you can configure new versions of Windows Vista components.
Configures the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client for computers that are running Windows XP or Windows Vista.
Enables client computers that are running Windows Vista to take advantage of the full functionality provided by the Remote Web Workplace.

To ensure compatibility between Windows SBS 2003 with SP1 or Windows SBS 2003 R2 and Windows Vista and Office 2007, you need to install the updates described in the Knowledge Base article “Update for Windows Small Business Server 2003: Windows Vista and Outlook 2007 compatibility (KB 926505)” at the Microsoft Web site.

Microsoft Update will automatically install this update on your server starting in March 2007.

For more information, see "Using Windows Vista and Outlook 2007 in a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network" at the Microsoft Web site.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

New Documentation: Installing WSS 3.0 on a Server Running Windows SBS 2003

sbsdocsteam — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 00:25:00 GMT

I know, I know. This notification is late in coming. But better late than never! Of course, based upon the huge number of downloads thus far, it seems as if most of you have already found this gem. So I'll make this short and sweet.

Are you itching to run Windows SharePoint Services on Windows SBS 2003 or Windows SBS 2003 R2? If so, you'll want to download this document and discover how to go about doing it. For the full scoop, download “Installing Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 on a Server Running Windows SBS 2003” from the Microsoft Download Center.

There. 'Nuff said. Go get it!

The SBS Documentation Team wishes you all a safe and prosperous 2007!

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Documentation Update: Deploying Windows Mobile 5.0 with Windows Small Business Server 2003

sbsdocsteam — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 05:59:00 GMT

A while back, we heard from a few of our loyal customers who mentioned that they could not use the instructions in the subject document to successfully install a certificate on their mobile devices. It turns out that some rather key information was missing from the doc. So allow us to extend a hearty thank you to the vocal minority! We are pleased to pass your knowledge and passion along to everyone who relies upon this document to take advantage of the mobile features of Windows SBS. The updated version of this document includes corrections to Step 4 that make it much more clear how to install a Windows SBS certificate on your Smartphone, Pocket PC, or other device running Windows Mobile 5.0. You can download Deploying Windows Mobile 5.0 with Windows Small Business Server 2003 and other documentation from the SBS Product Documentation Web pages.

Remember; please share your feedback with us! It truly does make a difference.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

New Documentation: Configure Wireless Networking on Windows Small Business Server 2003

sbsdocsteam — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 02:13:00 GMT

I don't know about you, but I've been dying for this doc to become available. I run SBS as my home network, and I'm tired of being chained to the office when I want to get some work done on the weekend. Now, I can follow the instructions in this doc to implement a wireless router on my network. This will make it possible for me to kick back in the easy chair with my laptop and catch up on e-mail, while also keeping close tabs on those hot NFL games. How cool is that?

From what we’ve been hearing, you can probably use this doc as well to help implement wireless access in your workplace! So to get started, download “Configure Wireless Networking on Windows Small Business Server 2003” from the Microsoft Download Center. You’ll be glad you did!

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

How to run Vista RC1 on SBS 2003

sbsdocsteam — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:34:00 GMT

Check it out! Client Deployment guru (and former Doc Team leader) Becky has put together a guide to help you join a Vista RC1 client to a Windows SBS 2003 network.

It is conveniently posted to Sean Daniel's blog for your enjoyment!

And while you're perusing the latest and greatest, don't forget to stop by the

Official SBS blog for more tasty tidbits!

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

We're listening! Deploying Windows Mobile 5.0 on Windows SBS

sbsdocsteam — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 23:52:00 GMT

Jason writes:

"Will there be an edit to the WM5 on SBS documentation in the *very* near future? It's just dead wrong in the Copy certificate to the device section (p 18). The certificate needs to be exported from the server, imported to the device (use a .cer file), instead. your proposed method works in very few cases, whereas an export import should always work."

Thanks Jason! We appreciate your feedback and are investigating the issue. We are planning an update to this doc soon and will incorporate any changes that result from our findings.

How about the rest of you SBS'ers out there? Have you used the doc Deploying Windows Mobile 5.0 with Windows Small Business Server 2003? Did you run into the same problem that Jason did? Let us know. We value your experience, and others will benefit from your feedback.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.