I am thinking about installing SBS...any suggestions?
Installing Microsoft Small Business Server is not too difficult of a task. Fortunately there are a number of wizards that help you install the product like any product there are a few things to consider:
FYI note, SBS will set itself up to be a Domain Controller with Active Directory. This process is wizard driven, but one of the wizards when you are setting your server up. This means that the SBS is going to maintain all user accounts, permissions, etc. Another note is that SBS will not allow any other services to run on other servers; so if you wanted to install a second server as a member server with ISA, you cannot. For more information on the limitations of SBS click here. You also cannot upgrade from a SBS to Windows Server 2003 Standard or Enterprise. To upgrade one would have to rebuild the domain, formatting the drive, installing the new product and reestablishing all the services that were running under the SBS. So if you are going to run SBS… make sure you will not need to change your network model for some time, otherwise look at other options now to save time and money later.
- Server Applications that you want installed
- Hardware Drivers
- Location of files
- Network / Internet Connectivity
- Exchange – used for corporate email. All email would be forwarded from your web hosting company to your Exchange Server for processing. The Exchange Server is then responsible for sorting the emails to the correct internal email box.
- SQL Server – a database software, you might find that you need a powerful database application to run your business. Perhaps you need to better organize your inventory
- ISA Server, used as a firewall and for Internet Security. All outbound internet traffic would go thorough your SBS server to ensure that your network is always protected
- Fax Sharing, all office personnel can send and receive faxes via the SBS fax server.
- Windows SharePoint Services, allowing an easy to manage document and information sharing Intranet Web Site
- IIS – Web site hosting, allowing you to host your own web site
- Groups
- Users Shared Folders – individual users directories are contained here with permissions for each user to only view their folder
- Examples:
- Ron
- Bob
- Mary
- Ted
- HR – Human Resource Files, permissions for only HR people to view, modify, change, write
- Executive Files - Directory setup for the company executives; permissions for only executives to view, modify, change, write
- Information Technology Files – All files and directories needed by the IT department
- Corporate Shared Files – Files needed by all corporate individuals
- Examples
- On-Call Schedule
- Staff Meeting Notes
- Policy & Procedures
- Staff Roster
- Public Company Information
- Holiday Schedule
- etc
- Sales
- Marketing
- Department A
- Department B
- Department C
FYI note, SBS will set itself up to be a Domain Controller with Active Directory. This process is wizard driven, but one of the wizards when you are setting your server up. This means that the SBS is going to maintain all user accounts, permissions, etc. Another note is that SBS will not allow any other services to run on other servers; so if you wanted to install a second server as a member server with ISA, you cannot. For more information on the limitations of SBS click here. You also cannot upgrade from a SBS to Windows Server 2003 Standard or Enterprise. To upgrade one would have to rebuild the domain, formatting the drive, installing the new product and reestablishing all the services that were running under the SBS. So if you are going to run SBS… make sure you will not need to change your network model for some time, otherwise look at other options now to save time and money later.
