1. Standard or Premium?
The question of whether to purchase the Premium Add-On for Windows
SBS 2011 should be based solely on your need for a second server to run
LOB applications. The functionality of the primary server remains
identical, so if you do not have any applications that require SQL
Server, you are better off with just the standard Windows SBS 2011
product.
The price of the Premium
Add-On package is less than if you purchased its two products and the
appropriate licenses separately. However, it is possible to install
additional servers on a Windows SBS 2011 network that you have licensed
separately.
Whichever route you
choose, it is important to know that purchasing Windows SBS 2011 does
not lock you into a single-server network configuration for the rest of
the product’s lifetime.
2. Why Use Windows SBS 2011?
When it comes to networking
their computers, small businesses can suffer from a variety of
shortcomings. The chief problem, not surprisingly, is a limited budget.
Business owners accustomed to purchasing workstation software products
for a few hundred dollars might be shocked at the four-figure prices of
server software plus the additional cost of licensing the client users.
Another big problem for the
small business owner is information technology (IT) staffing. Many small
businesses cannot justify the expense of full-time IT employees, which
leaves them two alternatives: train someone in the organization to
manage the network part-time or hire a freelance consultant as needed.
Windows SBS 2011 addresses both of these problems in various ways, as explained in the following sections.
2.1. Pricing
One of the biggest benefits
of Windows SBS 2011, as compared with the Microsoft standalone server
products that it replaces, is its cost. Purchasing server operating
systems and server applications can be a complicated business. You must
consider the hardware requirements, operating system requirements,
software interoperability, and other factors for each component. Without
careful evaluation, you can end up purchasing products that do not work
together or paying too much for more software than you need.
Windows SBS 2011 eliminates
many of these worries by bundling together most, if not all, of the
server products that a small business needs into a single package, with
one set of hardware requirements and one price. Table 1 lists the suggested retail prices for Windows SBS 2011 and its CAL packs, as of May 2011.
Table 1. Windows Small Business Server 2011 Retail Pricing
PRODUCT | RETAIL PRICE |
---|
Windows SBS 2011 (including a 5-pack of SBS 2011 CAL suite) | US $1,096 |
Windows SBS 2011 Premium Add-On (including a 5-pack of SBS 2011 CAL suite for Premium Users/Devices) | US $1,604 |
Windows SBS 2011 CAL Suite 5-pack | US $361 |
Windows SBS 2011 CAL Suite 20-pack | US $1,447 |
Windows SBS 2011 CAL Suite for Premium Users/Devices 5-pack | US $457 |
Windows SBS 2011 CAL Suite for Premium Users/Devices 20-pack | US $1,831 |
Using these prices, the total
product cost for a sample network consisting of one Windows SBS 2011
server and 25 client workstations would be US $2,543 (that is, US $1,096
for the Windows SBS 2011 product plus US $1,447 for 20 additional
CALs). If you were to purchase the server software products separately,
the total cost, based on the current retail prices, would add up as
shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Cost of Products Equivalent to Windows SBS Purchased Separately
PRODUCT | RETAIL PRICE |
---|
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with 5 CALs | US $1029 |
Windows Server 2008 CAL 20-pack | US $799 |
Exchange Server 2010 Standard | US $699 |
(25) Exchange Server 2010 CALs | US $67 x 25 = US $1,675 |
Total | US $4,202 |
Note:
SharePoint Foundation
2010 and Windows Server Update Services 3.0 are free products, and
therefore add no cost to the equation. Because this is an example of a
one-server network using Windows SBS 2011, SQL Server 2008 R2 is also
not part of the calculations.
Of course, there are
additional costs involved in setting up a small-business network,
including the client operating systems, the hardware, and various
networking expenses. However, a savings of US $1,659 on the server
software and client licenses is remarkable, especially when you consider
that you are receiving the benefits of the unified installation and
administration tools as a bonus.
2.2. System Requirements
The literature for
every software product on the market includes a list of the system
hardware that you need to run the software. Before you purchase a
software product, you must make sure that your computer has a processor
of the appropriate type and speed; sufficient memory and hard disk
space; and the proper peripherals, as specified by the software
manufacturer. However, for a single server running a variety of
applications and services, determining exactly what hardware you need
can be a problem.
In its system
requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft specifies minimum
and recommended processor speeds, amounts of memory, and hard disk
sizes. However, the actual requirements of a server can vary greatly.
For example, a computer running Windows Server 2008 R2 that functions
only as a file server requires far less memory and disk space than one
that is configured to be a domain controller. And when you install
additional roles on the server, even more memory is required. Without
actual testing, it would be difficult for a small-business purchaser to
estimate exactly what hardware is required for a complex Windows Server
2008 R2 configuration such as the one created by Windows SBS 2011.
Complicating the matter
even further are the hardware requirements for all the additional
applications that you might want to install on a server. Products such
as SharePoint Foundation 2010 and Windows Server Update Services 3.0
have their own requirements, which you must consider cumulatively, along
with the hardware needed for the operating system. Exchange Server 2010
is even more of a problem because the hardware resources that it
requires depend on the role that the individual server plays in an
enterprise Exchange Server deployment.
With Windows SBS 2011, the
system requirements for the product account for all the components,
including Exchange Server 2010, as installed in the default
configuration. You don’t have to consider the roles that will be
installed on the server or the additional components included with the
product.
2.3. Installation
The actual process of installing
the software for a server is where the question of who will administer
the small-business network becomes significant. The process of
installing the Microsoft server components individually can be puzzling
to an inexperienced administrator.
The Windows Server 2008 R2
setup itself is relatively straightforward. Microsoft has streamlined
the operating system installation process so that virtually any user
familiar with the Windows interface can do it. However, once the
operating system installation is completed, the administrator must add
more than a dozen roles and features and, in some cases, configure them
as well. Following that is the installation of Exchange Server and the
other server components, some of which you must download from
Microsoft’s website and some of which have software prerequisites that
you must install first. Overall, the server installation process is
quite complicated when you use the individual software components; it
requires a good working knowledge of the Windows Server 2008 R2 tools
and components and some background in networking.
With Windows
SBS 2011, the installation process for all the server components is
performed by a single setup program. The beginning of the process is no
different from a standard Windows Server 2008 R2 installation, but once
the operating system is installed, the setup program prompts the user
for some basic business information and then proceeds to install and
configure all the necessary roles and features, as well as the
additional server applications included with the product. This
integrated setup routine makes it possible for virtually anyone to
install Windows SBS 2011.
Note:
The comprehensive,
integrated setup routine in Windows SBS 2011 is possible only because
the designers of the product have made a great many installation and
configuration decisions for the administrator to create a
well-integrated, multifunction server platform. One of the big
advantages of Windows Server 2008 R2 is the flexibility provided by the
roles and features that administrators can install as needed. On a
medium-size or large enterprise network, administrators typically use
multiple servers to perform different roles. It is therefore not
possible to anticipate the roles and features each server needs. Having
Windows SBS 2011 is like having a knowledgeable, trustworthy
administrator by your side to answer the hard questions for you.
2.4. Administration
Once the installation of
Windows SBS 2011 is complete, the server restarts and the user (after
logging on) sees the Windows SBS Console. The Home page of this console
contains a list of tasks the administrator should perform to get
started, and the various other pages contain the most frequently used
controls for the product’s various components.
By integrating the
most important controls into a single interface and eliminating the more
advanced, less frequently used ones, Windows SBS 2011 makes it far
easier for the beginning administrator to manage a small-business
network.
3. What Can’t Windows SBS 2011 Do?
There are limitations
to what Windows SBS 2011 can do compared with the standalone products
that comprise it. As mentioned previously, one of the main advantages of
Windows SBS is its integrated installation and administration tools,
and these tools exist only because the product’s developers have made
many important installation and configuration decisions for you. The
Windows SBS server environment is carefully designed to provide most, if
not all, of the services that a small business needs.
Because this configuration is so carefully wrought, Windows SBS 2011 has some limitations that Windows Server 2008 R2 does not, such as the following:
Only 75 users
Windows SBS 2008 is limited to a maximum of 75 client users, while
there is no limit to the number of clients that a computer running
Windows Server 2008 R2 can support.
Only 64-bit processors The Windows SBS 2011 primary server can run only on a computer with a 64-bit processor.
Only one network interface
A Windows SBS primary server can have only one network interface, which
means that you cannot configure the computer to function as a router,
as you can with Windows Server 2008 R2, or use other technologies
requiring two network adapters, such as DirectAccess.
No Remote Desktop Services
The primary server in a Windows SBS 2011 installation cannot function
as a Remote Desktop server for any purpose other than administration.
Although you can install the Remote Desktop Services role on the
computer, attempts to activate the Remote Desktop Licensing server
results in errors. You can, however, configure the secondary server in a
Windows SBS 2011 Premium Add-On installation to function as a Remote
Desktop server.
No upgrade from earlier versions If you are running an earlier version of Windows SBS, you can migrate your data to a new Windows SBS 2011 server, but you cannot perform an in-place upgrade.
4. What’s New in Windows SBS 2011?
The most obvious differences
between Windows SBS 2011 and the previous version, Windows SBS 2008, are
the latest versions of the software components. Table 3 lists the versions of the software components included in the two products.
Table 3. Software Components Upgraded in Windows SBS 2011
WINDOWS SBS 2008 | WINDOWS SBS 2011 |
---|
Windows Server 2008 Standard | Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard |
Exchange Server 2007 Standard | Exchange Server 2010 Standard with SP1 |
SQL Server 2008 Standard (Premium Add-On only) | SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard (Premium Add-On only) |
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 | SharePoint Foundation 2010 |
Windows Server Update Services 3 | Windows Server Update Services 3.0 |
4.1. New System Requirements
Windows SBS 2011 requires a computer with a 64-bit, quad-core
processor, running at 2 gigahertz (GHz) or faster. Microsoft has also
increased the physical memory requirement to 8 gigabytes (GB), up from 4
GB for Windows SBS 2008. Windows SBS 2011 runs reasonably well with 4
GB of memory, but it runs much better with the minimum recommended 8 GB
of memory (although, as always, more is better).
Microsoft has also increased
the disk space requirement. Windows SBS 2011 does not install on a disk
with less than 80 GB of free space, up from 40 GB in Windows SBS 2008.