Windows Small Business Server and Essential Business Server Documentation : Windows Small Business Server

Wanna map drives while logged on through SBS 2008 Remote Web Workplace?

sbsdocsteam — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:13:00 GMT

A common problem that RWW users encounter is that they cannot create drive mappings while they are logged on remotely. The reason for this is that the default setting of Remote Web Workplace on Windows SBS 2008 does not allow this. However, it is easy to update the server to permit this. Our thanks to community member and Microsoft Support Engineer Edwin Joseph for contributing an article that walks you through the necessary steps. If you have been waiting for someone to clear up this enigma, download "How to Enable Windows Small Business Server 2008 Users to use Remote Web Workplace to Map Drives, Print, and Use the Clipboard" from the Microsoft Download Center.

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Happy (Belated) Anniversary to our Blog!

sbsdocsteam — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:42:00 GMT

Can you believe it? The milestone slipped by quietly, but November 15th marked the 5th anniversary of the Windows SBS and EBS Documentation blog. Incredible. True, it may not be the most cutting edge of blogosphere rags, and it is not the most active, but we sincerely hope that you find our occasional bits and bytes helpful and of interest. I can say with certainty that your comments and feedback over the years have helped our small but driven group to continually enhance both the content that we deliver, and also the way that we deliver it. We have learned much from you, and you inspire us to reach our potential as much as we strive to help you achieve yours. Thanks for being a part of our world.

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Migrating from Windows Small Business Server 2003 to Windows Essential Business Server

sbsdocsteam — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:50:00 GMT

The migration process can be complicated and depending on your circumstances, it can be frustrating. To help alleviate this frustration, we updated Migrating from Windows Small Business Server 2003 to Windows Essential Business Server. The following sections have been updated or added:

Prepare the Windows SBS Environment
Install Windows EBS
Migrate Settings and Data
(shared folders and data, Fax Service, DHCP Server, DNS, Exchange Server, trusted certificates,
and Windows SharePoint Services)
Demote and Remove the Server Running Windows SBS 2003 from the Network

You can also download the document from the Microsoft Download Center.

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

Hey you big business IT PRO's out there. Think SMALL!

sbsdocsteam — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:47:00 GMT

Windows Small Business Server - that is!

Are you accustomed to deploying and managing servers in the enterprise space? Do you want to broaden your horizons and tackle the computer networking needs for small businesses and organizations at the heart of the national infrastructure? Then Windows Small Business Server 2008 is just what you are looking for. Why Windows SBS? How does it differ from Windows Server? Well, if you're new to the small business space (and to this blog), we have just published "An Introduction to Windows Small Business Server 2008 for the Enterprise IT Pro." This topic is available in the Windows SBS Technical Library. The topic discusses the design philosophy that Microsoft used to develop Windows SBS 2008, and includes key information about the product features and deployment considerations that you should be of aware of before you take on your first Windows SBS 2008 installation.

The "S" part of the SMB sector represents a huge portion of the IT pie. Is it time for you to take a byte out of it?

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

Free Health Check: New Microsoft IT Environment Health Scanner

sbsdocsteam — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:48:00 GMT

Does your network need a checkup? The team that develops Windows Essential Business Server (Windows EBS) just released a new tool that administrators of small and mid-size networks are sure to want to download: the Microsoft IT Environment Health Scanner. In just a few minutes, the tool runs more than 100 checks to help you assess the overall health of your Active Directory and network infrastructure, including the configuration of Active Directory Domain Services, DHCP, DNS, Exchange Server, network adapters, and domain controllers. If the tool detects problems, it links to Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and other Web content for resolution information. The IT Environment Halth Scanner doesn't change anything on your network -- it just reports the information.

Besides being a great addition to your adminstrative toolkit, the tool is invaluable for finding subtle (or not so subtle) issues in your Active Directory and network environment that can hang up server deployments, infrastructure upgrades and migrations, and the like. For example, we've heard that it has been a big help to some of our partners preparing for a migration from Windows SBS 2003 to Windows SBS 2008.

Note for those of you who are deploying Windows EBS or are considering it: the tool runs almost the same set of checks as the Windows EBS Preparation Wizard, which makes sure that your existing network environment is functioning properly and ready for a Windows EBS deployment. For more information about that, see Preparation and Planning for Windows EBS in the TechNet Library.

Here's to your continued good (network) health!

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

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.

New Documentation: Integrating Windows Small Business Server 2008 with Exchange Online

sbsdocsteam — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:52:00 GMT

Are you curious about how you can take advantage of the online services that are provided by Microsoft? Exchange Online is one of the online services that Microsoft provides. Exchange Online uses the best practices that have been developed with customers and partners. Exchange Online guarantees a high level of availability, which enables you to reduce the workload on your IT staff so they can focus on projects that move your business forward.

To learn more about this exciting new technology, see the new solution paper titled Integrating Windows Small Business Server 2008 with Exchange Online.

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.”

New Documentation: Managing Software Updates in Windows Small Business Server 2008

sbsdocsteam — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:11:00 GMT

Abstract

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Update Services provides centralized update management for computers that are on the Windows SBS 2008 network and that are running one of the Windows operating systems that support Microsoft Update. By using Update Services, you can help protect the Windows SBS 2008 network by keeping Windows-based computers that are on the network up-to-date with the most recent Microsoft software updates. Update Services uses Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) as the underlying technology for managing updates.

Link: Managing Software Updates in Windows Small Business Server 2008

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

Remote Access on a Budget, Virtually

sbsdocsteam — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 02:48:00 GMT

The SBS writing team supports a non-profit office near us that uses SBS. They are avid users of Remote Web Workplace (RWW); using it to connect to their office PCs and work from home. "What a great SBS feature!" Recently, some folks wanted to remote in to PCs in the office but all the PCs were in use. Someone would have to get off a computer to free it up. This was happening too often and getting annoying.

What to do? Well, we discussed using a VPN scenario but the remote users wanted the same desktop experience that office users have with applications, printers, files, etc. The non-profit could purchase several computers for remote users but, besides the cost, these PCs would largely sit unused in the office taking up limited space. So VPN and new PCs weren’t the answer.

How about virtualization? "What’s that?" We took one available computer, beefed up the memory to 2GB, and installed Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 - a free download. We could just have easily used Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 - also a free download. We then created two virtual machines and installed Windows XP on each. We assigned users to separate virtual PCs and made sure the virtual PCs were available from RWW.

Now, remote users can remote in to these virtual machines any time without the need to bump someone from a physical computer. Saving money and still providing good service levels.

If the virtual world is new to you, this is an easy, inexpensive way to break into it. It's also a scalable solution as your remote connection needs expand. If you have sufficient memory and hard drive space, even older computers can be used to provide virtualization services.

Once you've got the remote virtual server/PC set up, you'll then be ready to take the next step, virtualizing your SBS server. See Using Hyper-V with Windows Small Business Server 2008.

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

New articles help you troubleshoot and repair problems with Windows SBS

sbsdocsteam — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:36:00 GMT

So, you've been up and running on your new Windows SBS 2008 network for a while now, but you've run into a glitch. Maybe it's the hardware, maybe a software incompatibility. There's no way it could have been something you did. Whatever the reason, you need to fix something and make it right again. Well, we might be able to help!

We're pleased to announce the publication of our first batch of "Day 100" repair topics in the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Repair Guide at the Windows SBS 2008 Technical Library. Along with other helpful topics, the initial offering includes information that can help you correct problems with the Window SBS Console, with your e-mail anti-spam software, and with your client deployments. We plan to add more topics to this section of the library in the future.

From all of us on the Windows Server Solutions Group User Assistance team, we wish everyone great success in 2009!

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The Case of the Missing TOC!

sbsdocsteam — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:45:00 GMT

Maybe not a best-seller, but I thought this was interesting enough to share.

I had this horrible affliction. I was rummaging around in the Windows SBS Technical Library, and all of a sudden, the Table of Contents disappeared! What happened? What did I do? Did I break something? I search frantically on the Web site to see if there is some setting that I goofed up. Nope. Nothing there. I open my browser settings to determine the same. Ok, that's dumb, but I'm confounded. WHAT THE HECK!!

So, I put up with this condition for days on end, figuring that I would become the gumshoe once again and discover what went wrong once and for all. Yah right. Like, I have way to much time on my hands that I can dedicate to doing something other than playing around with that annoyance. Instead, I turn to Jim Holtzman, trusted co-writer on the SBS Team and plead for advice. In about 5 minutes he directs me to an article on the Exchange Team Blog.

And suddenly, life is a bit rosier. Thanks Jim! And thanks to Alison Hirsch for sharing this nugget of TechNet technomagic.

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