10 Important Reasons to Use Windows Small Business Server 2008

Windows Small Business Server 2008 is an integrated server solution that helps you protect your business data, increase productivity, and present a more professional image to customers. Windows Small Business Server 2008 delivers enterprise-class technologies for data backup and restore,e-mail, remote access, file and printer sharing, internal Web sites, and support for mobile devices--in one fully integrated solution.

1. Get a comprehensive, all-in-one solution.

Windows Small Business Server 2008 takes the guesswork out of selecting software for your network. It brings together the Microsoft product technologies that businesses need most into a single solution. These technologies are integrated into one product, making it easy for PSS Enterprises to install and manage.

2. Stay connected to your customers, vendors, and suppliers.

With access to contacts, appointments, and files from any Internet-connected PC or mobile device, you can be responsive to customers, vendors, and suppliers even when you're not in the office.

* Access the facts you need, in real time.
* Respond to customer inquiries more quickly and accurately.
* Stay connected while on the road with remote access capabilities from a Windows Mobile phone.

3. Protect your business and prevent data loss.

Windows Small Business Server 2008 helps protect your vital business information from loss by backing up the data on your network, and enabling you to recover accidentally deleted files. SBS 2008 also enables you to recover data on your network in the event of disaster. With easy-to-use interfaces, you or your IT consultant gain better control of your data, PCs, and network.

4. Access business information and resources

From virtually anywhere at any time. Be productive whether you're out of the office, at home, or on the road. Windows Small Business Server 2008 gives you secure access to business contacts, calendars, e-mail, files, your desktop, and even shared resources from any Internet connected PC, from virtually anywhere at any time.

5. Increase your business capacity.

Streamline business processes and improve day-to-day efficiency with Windows Small Business Server 2008. It helps automate daily processes by providing a central repository for storing and sharing information more easily--and helps simplify communications with familiar Microsoft technologies.

6. Stay safe with anti-spam and antivirus protection.

Windows Small Business Server 2008 offers anti-spam and antivirus technologies to help protect your business information and your intellectual property from malicious attacks, viruses, and spam.

7. Keep your network healthy and up-to-date.

Windows Small Business Server 2008 provides you with the latest updates to minimize downtime and help ensure network health by keeping your PCs and servers current. Easy-to-read "green check" reports give you a quick view of Microsoft software updates, PC and server status, antivirus status, and backup progress.

8. Take advantage of powerful technologies designed and priced for small business.

Windows Small Business Server 2008 includes multiple technologies optimized specifically for small businesses at an affordable price. It enables you to share resources and equipment, such as Internet access, printers, and fax machines, so you get the most value from your technology investment.

9. Get the flexibility and scalability you need.

As your business needs change, Windows Small Business Server 2008 enables you to grow. You can easily add users, servers, and applications. It supports your critical line of business applications and is designed to integrate with your existing Microsoft technology.Here you can easily use the windows server 2008 if found any problem then you can use online server support services. In market there are lots of good name who provide online server support services like Microsoft, geek squad, iYogi etc..

10. Create a bigger presence in the market.

Differentiate your business and present a more professional image to prospects and customers. Windows Small Business Server 2008 offers e-mail marketing capabilities, business Web sites, and tools for creating your own Web site.

Source & Inspiration: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1273789

Microsoft's Patch Vital For Windows Server 2000 Users

Microsoft has released an Internet Explorer patch marked 'critical' for download to fix vulnerability issues that is said to have affected around 2 million users.

The browser's flaw allows a Trojan to take over a victim's computer; it then routes it to infected websites.

The Excel vulnerability affects various versions of Microsoft Office, including Microsoft Office for Mac 2004 and 2008. The IE patch could allow information disclosure or remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page.

Of the "critical" patches, Vulnerability in Active Directory Could Allow Remote Code Execution garnering the most attention. Failure to apply the software could allow remote code execution if an attacker gains access to an affected network.

"This vulnerability only affects Microsoft Windows 2000 servers configured to be domain controllers," Microsoft said in its bulletin. "If a Microsoft Windows 2000 server has not been promoted to a domain controller, it will not be listening to Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) or LDAP over SSL (LDAPS) queries, and will not be exposed to this vulnerability."

"It's especially critical for an IT shop that has Windows server 2000 domains and domain controllers," Schultze said. "You might not have them for long as any disgruntled employee can rename the files and take control of those assets without this patch."

Schultze said that Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-063 and MS08-065, while labeled "important," is more than likely critical for a company's security. Both vulnerabilities allow for remote code execution, a favored target of hackers. MS08-063 in particular is dangerous because it impacts the Microsoft Server Message Block (SMB) protocol.

"That's the file- and printer-sharing protocol," Schultze said. "It's the protocol you use to log in and send something to the printer. So, if I go to my S drive and rename those files and give it a specifically long file name, then the moment that I do that, I can own that file server without human interaction. ... It's the first time in a long time we have seen these server-side vulnerabilities."

MS08-065 is a hole in Microsoft's Message Queuing Service (MSMQ) on Windows 2000 systems. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution on Microsoft Windows 2000 systems with the MSMQ service enabled.

Schultze also noted that five of the 11 bulletins posted by Microsoft are addressing vulnerabilities found in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. "This really shows us that these operating systems are impacted by legacy code that goes back to Windows 1998 or earlier," he said.

Customers are also being warned about an e-mail sent out by hackers who are posing as a Microsoft security executive.

Source: .informationweek.com/news/security/app-security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211200526

Steps to install Small Business Server 2003 in an existing Active Directory domain

To install a SBS 2003 computer in an existing Active Directory domain, follow these steps:

1. On a Windows 2000 domain, you must prepare Active Directory before you install the SBS 2003 computer in the domain. For more information about how to install a Windows Server 2003 domain controller into an existing Windows 2000 forest, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278875/ ) Dcpromo.exe and Winnt32.exe log errors when you create a Windows Server 2003 domain controller in a Windows 2000 domain or forest or when you upgrade a Windows 2000 domain controller that resides in a Windows 2000 forest to Windows Server 2003
2. Start the installation of SBS 2003 by inserting CD 1 into the CD or DVD drive.
3. When the operating system is installed and the computer restarts and continues with the integrated Setup program, click Cancel to stop the integrated Setup program.
   
4. On the SBS 2003 computer, configure a static IP address on the network card and make sure to configure DNS to include the existing server that hosts the Active Directory zone.
   
5. Note Do not create a new forest and do not create a child domain.
   1. Click Start, click Run, type dcpromo, and then click OK.
   2. Click Next two times.
   3. Click Additional Domain Controller for an existing domain, and then click Next.
   4. Enter the credentials for the domain administrator account, and then click Next.
   5. In the Domain name area, type the FQDN for the Active Directory domain namespace that you want to join, and then click Next. For example, type contoso.local. If you are not sure of the FQDN, you can click Browse to select the correct domain.
   6. Click Next to accept the default locations for the Database and Log folders.
   7. Click Next to accept the default locations for the shared system volume.
      
   8. Type the Directory Services Restore Mode administrator password, and then click Next.
      
   9. On the Summary screen, click Next to start the Dcpromo.exe program. This process may take several minutes.
   10. Click Finish to complete the Dcpromo.exe program, and then click Restart Now.
   11. Log on to the computer after it restarts and confirm that the computer has been successfully promoted to a domain controller. To do this, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
   12. At the command prompt, type gettype, and then press ENTER. The output should read as follows:
       
       

       Host Name: ServerNameName: Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server
       Version: 5.2 Build 3790
       Role: Domain Controller
       Components: Not Installed

6. Install the DNS server service. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then click Add/Remove Programs.
   2. Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
   3. In the Windows Components list, double-click Networking Services.
   4. Click to select the Domain Name System (DNS) check box, and then click OK.
   5. Click Next, and then click Finish.
      
   
   
7. Promote the SBS 2003 computer to a global catalog server. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and Services.
   2. Expand Sites, expand Default-First-Site-Name, expand Servers, expand your SBS 2003 computer, right-click NTDS Settings, and then click Properties.
   3. Click the General tab, click to select the Global catalog check box to assign the role of global catalog to this computer, and then click OK.
   4. Open Event Viewer to the Directory Services event log and wait for event 1119 or 1869 with a description that states that this domain controller is now a global catalog.
   5. Restart the computer.
      
      Note Do not restart the computer or remove any other global catalog servers until you receive event 1119 or 1869. If you do this, it will cause adverse effects as there will be no global catalog servers available to process requests.
8. After the new computer is successfully promoted to a global catalog server, remove any other global catalog servers in the domain. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and Services.
   2. In the console pane, expand Sites, and then expand Default-First-Site-Name.
   3. Expand Servers, expand any computers other than your SBS 2003 computer, right-click NTDS Settings, and then click Properties.
      
      Note You may have to repeat this step more than one time if more than one computer is listed, other than the SBS 2003 computer.
   4. On the General tab, click to clear the Global catalog check box to assign the role of global catalog to this computer, and then click OK.
      
      Note If the Global catalog check box is not selected, go to step 8.
   5. Restart any computers where you removed the global catalog server role.
      
      Note Wait for the account and the schema information to replicate to the new global catalog server.
9. Transfer the FSMO roles to the SBS 2003 computer. To do this, follow these steps for each FSMO role:
   1. Transfer the Relative ID (RID) Master role. To do this:
      1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
      2. Right-click your organization name, click All Tasks, and then click Operations Masters.
      3. In the Operations Masters dialog box, click the RID tab.
      4. In the Operations Masters dialog box, click Change.
      5. Click Yes to confirm that you want to transfer the role, and then click OK.
   2. Transfer the PDC Emulator role. To do this:
      1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
      2. Right-click your organization name, click All Tasks, and then click Operations Masters.
      3. In the Operations Masters dialog box, click the PDC tab.
      4. In the Operations Masters dialog box, click Change.
      5. Click Yes to confirm that you want to transfer the role, and then click OK.
   3. Transfer the Infrastructure Master role. To do this:
      1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
      2. Right-click your organization name, click All Tasks, and then click Operations Masters.
      3. In the Operations Masters dialog box, click the Infrastructure tab.
      4. In the Operations Masters dialog box, click Change.
      5. Click Yes to confirm that you want to transfer the role, and then click OK.
   4. Transfer the Domain Naming Master role. To do this:
      1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Domains and Trusts.
      2. Right-click Active Directory Domains and Trusts, and then click Operations Master.
      3. In the Change Operations Master dialog box, click Change .
      4. Click Yes to confirm that you want to transfer the role, and then click OK.
      5. Click Close to close the dialog box.
   5. Transfer the Schema Master role. To do this:
      1. You can use the Schema Master tool to transfer the role. However, the Schmmgmt.dll file must be registered to use the Schema Master tool as an MMC snap-in. To register Schmmgmt.dll, click Start, click Run, type regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll, and then click OK.
         
         Note You receive a message that confirms that the registration was successful.
      2. Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
      3. Click File, and then click Add/Remove Snap-in.
      4. In the Description area, click Add.
      5. Click Active Directory Schema, click Add, and then click Close.
      6. Click OK.
      7. Right-click Active Directory Schema, and then click Change Domain Controller.
      8. In the Select DC area, click Specify Name, type the name of the SBS 2003 computer, and then click OK.
      9. Right-click Active Directory Schema, and then click Operations Master.
      10. In the Change Schema Master dialog box, click Change.
      11. Click Yes, click OK, and then click Close.
      For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
      (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324801/ ) How to view and transfer FSMO roles in Windows Server 2003
10. Move the site licensing server to the SBS 2003 computer. To do this:
    1. On the SBS 2003 computer, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and Services.
    2. Expand Sites, and then click Default-First-Site-Name.
    3. Right-click Licensing Site Settings, and then click Properties.
    4. Click Change, type the name of the new SBS 2003 computer in the Enter the object name to select area, and then click OK.
    5. Click OK to close the Licensing Site Settings Properties dialog box.
       
       For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/273475/ ) Licensing in Windows 2000 and differences with Windows NT 4.0
    
    
11. Wait for the new Active Directory objects to replicate to the SBS 2003 computer. The time this takes depends on the Active Directory size and on network performance. You can view the Directory Service event log to verify that replication has completed successfully. The SBS 2003 integrated Setup program may not continue if replication has not completed or if replication has failed.
    
    To test replication, you can create a new test user on a domain controller and after several minutes confirm the object has been replicated to the SBS 2003 computer. You can also force replication from a domain controller. To do this:
    1. On the SBS 2003 computer, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and Services.
    2. In the left pane, expand Default-First-Site-Name, expand Servers, and then expand the domain controller that you want to replicate from.
    3. Click NTDS Settings. One or more objects are listed in the right pane. One of those objects is a link to the domain controller you want to replicate from. To see the "friendly" name of the object, right-click the object and view the name. Right-click the domain controller object, and then click Replicate Now. The replication is performed immediately.
12. Change the DNS settings on all domain controllers to point to the new SBS 2003 computer as the primary DNS server. To do this, follow these steps.
    
    Note Follow these steps on all domain controllers in the Active Directory, including the SBS 2003 computer.
    1. Click Start, point to Control Panel, point to Network Connections, right-click the internal network connection, and then click Properties.
    2. Click to select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties.
    3. Change the preferred DNS server. Type the IP address of the SBS 2003 computer as the preferred DNS server. Also, make this change on the SBS 2003 computer.
       
       Note The alternative DNS server can point to the previous preferred DNS server as long as it is a server that hosts the Active Directory zone.
13. On the SBS 2003 computer, insert the SBS 2003 CD 1 into the CD or DVD drive and continue with the integrated Setup of SBS 2003 and its components.
14. If you already have Microsoft Exchange Server installed in the organization, the integrated Setup installs Exchange Server into the existing organization. If you already have an Exchange 2003 Server or an Exchange 2000 Server in your organization, and you plan to retire that Exchange Server, you can move the mailboxes and public folders to the new Exchange 2003 Server before you retire the old Exchange Server. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
    822931 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822931/ ) How to remove the first Exchange 2003 Server computer from the administrative group
    
    To move the mailboxes and public folders, follow these steps:
    1. On the existing Exchange Server in the organization, open Exchange System Manager. To do this, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
    2. At the top of the tree in the left pane, right-click the Organization Name (Exchange) icon, and then click Properties.
    3. Click to select the Display administrative groups check box, click to select the Display routing groups check box, and then click OK.
    4. Expand the Recipients container, and then click Recipient Update Services.
    5. Double-click each entry, and then enter the name of the new Exchange Server that is running on the SBS 2003 computer in the Exchange server area.
    6. Expand Administrative Groups, expand Administrative Group Name, expand Routing Groups, and then expand First Routing Group.
    7. Click Connectors, right-click your SMTP connector if it is present, change the server that is listed in the Local bridgeheads area to the new SBS 2003 computer, and then click OK.
    8. In the left pane, under First Routing Group, click Members.
    9. In the right pane, right-click the new SBS 2003 computer, and then click Set as Master.
    10. In the left pane, expand Administrative Groups, expand Administrative Group Name, expand Servers, and then expand the Exchange Server that existed before you added the new Exchange Server on the SBS 2003 computer.
    11. Expand First Storage Group, expand Mailbox Store, and then click Mailboxes.
    12. Select all the mailboxes, right-click the mailboxes, and then click Exchange Tasks.
    13. In the Exchange Task Wizard, click Move Mailbox, and then click Next.
    14. Click to select the new SBS 2003 computer in the Server list, and then click Next.
    15. Specify how you want the Move Mailbox procedure to handle corrupted messages, and then click Next two times to re-home all the mailboxes to the new SBS 2003 computer.
        
        Note This procedure also re-homes the public folders to the new SBS 2003 computer.
    16. Click Finish.
    17. As soon as replication is successful, remove Exchange Server from the computer that is to be retired. If the computer that is to be retired is also a domain controller, run the Dcpromo.exe program to remove this computer from the domain before you physically retire it.
        
        Note You must instruct all Exchange Server users to point to the new Exchange Server.
15. Run the Dcpromo.exe program on the SBS 2003 computer to join the existing domain.

For More Info: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884453/en-us

Data Recovery Options in Windows 2000 Server

If your Windows 2000 Server crashes, you may not have to take the long way back to data recovery. Jim Boyce explores several options that may be able to solve a server problem in a fraction of the time.

Backup in Windows 2000 Server is the first and the strongest line of defense against data loss.

But server crashes happen anyway, and when they do, you don't want to spend hours restoring your server for an error that could be fixed in five minutes. Here are some tools and methods you can use to restore a crashed server as quickly as possible.

If the computer won't boot, try to start it in Safe Mode. With Safe Mode, the operating system loads only the basic set of drivers and services needed to boot. Once you're in Safe Mode, you can check the logs to get an idea about what's preventing a normal boot.

If Safe Mode isn't working, you can use Last Known Good configuration. When Windows 2000 boots successfully, the operating system creates a copy of the registry keys under HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet, which are involved in that boot process.

If neither of these methods work, take a look at the Recovery Console. Recovery Console is a command prompt mode from where you can copy and replace missing or corrupted files. The Recovery Console mode can also help you fix master boot record problems.

Before you return to the backup method, try the Emergency Repair Disk, which stores a backup copy of the Boot.ini file and some critical registry keys. This may be very useful if administrators have made regular updates.

Source: zdnetasia.com/techguide/windows/0,39044904,39380334,00.htm

SonicWALL Announces Security Solutions for Windows Essential Business Server

SonicWALL, Inc. a secure network infrastructure company, announced the availability of its Email Security and Network Security Appliance(NSA) Series for Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Small Business Sever (SBS) and Windows Essential Business Server (EBS). The SonicWALL technologies, which complement SBS and EBS, deliver a comprehensive security package that ensures SMBs have access to enterprise class-products at affordable prices.

“Microsoft aims to provide its customers a selection of products that offer them the best solutions available in the industry and Windows Essential Server Solutions continues this momentum.” said Russ Madlener, director, Windows Server Group at Microsoft Corp.. “We are pleased SonicWALL is building out additional functionality and ensuring that our mutual customers have a robust IT deployment to meet their specific needs.”

Email Security

SonicWALL’s Email Security offerings help companies of all sizes protect themselves from spam, viruses, phishing and other harmful threats in email attacks by combining the powerful protection of threat management, content filtering, policy management and compliance infrastructure functionality. The new solution brings this high-performance and easy-to-use protection against all forms of email security threats to the millions of SBS users. Available as a hardened appliance or as Windows software, SonicWALL Email Security protects inbound and outbound e-mail for organizations of less than 25 to over 100,000 users. SonicWALL Email Security for Windows Small Business Server is the latest offering in the line, specifically optimized for the Microsoft server environment to meet the needs of small businesses with an easy-to-install, easy-to-manage solution.

Network Security Appliance Series

The SonicWALL Network Security Appliance (NSA) Series applies next-generation Unified Threat Management (UTM) to enable complete protection at the network perimeter without compromising performance levels to SBS and EBS and its users. The NSA appliances incorporate SonicWALL’s patented Reassembly Free Deep Packet Inspection (RFDPI) and multi-core processing to block threats, such as hackers, viruses and spyware as well as controlling user access to the server.

“SonicWALL has worked hard to create a large portfolio of products that protect firms of all sizes from a vast array of security threats.” said Patrick Sweeney, Vice President at SonicWALL. “Taking these technologies and integrating them with Windows Small Business Server and Essential Business Server is key to our SMB customers.”

Source:pcmag-mideast.com/NewsDetail.aspx?id=2321

Microsoft Rolls Out New Small Business Server Options

Microsoft has announced new server software that it said provides small and medium businesses with enterprise-quality capabilities while helping them to save money, increase productivity and grow their businesses.

While designed specifically for small and midsized companies, Windows Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 2008) and Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (EBS 2008) include Microsoft's high-end server technologies delivered in a way that smaller companies can make the most of them.

“Around the world, small and midsize businesses are the engine that drives economic growth and opportunity,” Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, said in a company statement. “To help these businesses succeed, Microsoft has focused on creating integrated, affordable server solutions that are optimized to meet the needs of companies with limited IT resources. Small Business Server and Essential Business Server deliver a comprehensive set of capabilities that will help small and midsize business thrive and grow.”

Designed for small companies with up to 75 people/computers, SBS 2008 server software integrates a variety of Windows functions to help small businesses better secure data and increase employee productivity regardless of location.

Based on Windows Server 2008 Standard technology, SBS 2008 incorporates:-

• Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition for messaging and collaboration
• SharePoint Services 3.0 for online collaboration workspace and productivity tools
• Forefront Security for Exchange Server to handle e-mail security
• Windows Server Update Services 3.0 for network updates and protection
• Windows Live OneCare for Server to manage viruses, hackers and other digital threats
• Microsoft Office Live Small Business to help take your business online
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard for Small Business, a database available in the Premium edition

The server software offers a range of features including anytime/anywhere access to your PC and its data, including e-mail, files, business applications, and more. It's also designed to let your employees share Internet access, printers, fax machines and other network resources. Click here for SBS 2008 pricing information.

Microsoft designed EBS 2008 for midsized companies with up to 300 people or computers. It's meant to simplify and automate common IT tasks, and a unified administration console gives IT managers more control over an integrated network infrastructure.

Windows Essential Business Server 2008 also incorporates the applications found in SBS 2008, and Microsoft said it provides the following features:

• Significant costs savings compared to buying stand-alone products.
• Remote access, anti-spam, antivirus protection and improved messaging technologies improve productivity both in and away from the office
• An integrated setup saves time and reduces installation steps from days to hours Simplified licensing with a single server license and Client Access for all included products.

Steven VanRoekel, senior director of the Windows Server product group, noted that both server products help small and mid-sized companies compete in tough economic times.

"Small companies have the same needs and face the same challenges as big business, but they lack the staff, resources and time to manage IT environments," VanRoekel said. "The new EBS 2008 and SBS 2008 products are an integrated, affordable, enterprise-quality solution that can help small and midsized companies become more productive, cut costs and be more competitive." Click here for EBS 2008 pricing information

Via: itmanagement.earthweb.com/entdev/article.php/3785346/Microsoft+Rolls+Out+New+Small+Business+Server+Options.htm

Options for passing a driver into the Windows Server 2008 install program

Windows Server 2008 makes this process a little more flexible. Here are various ways that a driver can be passed into the setup program.

• IDE floppy disk: I'm going old school here, but the Windows Server 2008 setup can read from the floppy drive during the installation process.

• USB floppy drive: The Windows setup can read from a USB drive, or the computer's BIOS will enumerate the floppy drive as an A:\ drive. It's somewhat of a cover song of the old school approach.

• USB flash drive: The Windows Server 2008 install will recognise USB storage devices, and you can have the driver located on the removable media.

• Map a network drive: This is a little more advanced, but if you boot the server from a Vista PE bootable environment, map a network drive, and then run the setup.exe program interactively from a network location that you copied from the Windows Server 2008 DVD, you can browse to another network resource for a driver for the mass storage controller. This is especially beneficial if the Vista PE boot environment can be booted from a CD instead of a DVD, which is helpful for servers without a DVD drive. (

• Place the driver on an existing file system: If you can boot the server currently, make a drive partition of NTFS or FAT, you can put the driver on that drive and ensure it is available to the Windows Server 2008 install. Don't make it available on the C:\ drive, but some location at the end of the drive. If you need to resize your drives after installation, no worries -- Windows Server 2008 makes that quite easy as well with new sizing tools .

• Additional optical drives: If your server has a DVD and a CD drive, you can make a simple disk that has the driver files contained there and browse to that location during the Windows Server 2008 install.
  

The list goes on, but this will cover most of the common scenarios for interactive Windows Server 2008 installations.

Source:builderau.com.au/

Four Windows Server 2008 Storage Improvements

With the release of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft is making a number of improvements to the server's underlying storage mechanisms.

Here are four of these improvements and what they mean for the typical IT organisation.

SMB 2.0

First shipped with Windows Vista, SMB 2.0, alternatively known as the Common Internet File System (CIFS), is also included in Windows Server 2008 and sports a number of improvements over its predecessor.

To work with older systems, Windows Server 2008 supports both SMB 1.0 and SMB 2.0 and automatically uses the version most appropriate for communication. SMB 2.0 is used only between Windows Server 2008 systems and with Windows Vista systems. SMB communication with all other operating systems uses SMB 1.0.

BitLocker Drive Encryption

Included in Windows Server 2008 is Microsoft's BitLocker Drive Encryption software. BitLocker is also included in Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate editions but, for Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has made improvements to the technology (which are likely to be extended to Vista when Service Pack 1 is released).

Under Vista, BitLocker can be used to encrypt the contents of the operating system volume. If you have multiple volumes of data on your desktop computer, however, BitLocker — at present — cannot be used to protect anything except the operating system volume. In Windows Server 2008, this limitation has been removed and all server volumes can be protected via BitLocker.

Full-disk encryption is usually considered primarily for mobile computers that can be easily stolen, but this technology should also be considered for use in branch offices or areas in which physical security cannot be guaranteed.

Self-healing NTFS

It's a bad day when you have to reboot a file server just to run chkdsk.exe to correct a minor corruption in NTFS. You have to schedule downtime for a server, maybe come in after hours or, in a worst-case scenario, interrupt your users while you perform this task during the day. But no more: with Windows Server 2008 comes an online NTFS corruption repair tool. While it is not a silver bullet for volume repair, it does correct many problems without having to reboot the server to run chkdsk.exe. Self-healing NTFS is enabled by default in Windows Server 2008 installations.

Symbolic links

Earlier, I mentioned that SMB 2.0 supports symbolic links. The fact that SMB 2.0 has this feature is great but it would be utterly useless without the same feature being included in the operating system. As such, symbolic links have been added to Windows Server 2008 — a feature that is long overdue. A symbolic link is simply an object in the file system that points to another object in the file system. A symbolic link appears as a normal file or directory object and can be used by an application as if it were the actual object.

Unix and Linux users have been able to use symbolic links for a very, very long time, and this feature can make it much easier to administer a system and share data.

Source:resources.zdnet.co.uk/articles/0,1000001991,39292799,00.htm

Latest Gmail Outage Raises Concerns for Small Business

Sometimes, your greatest assets can become costly liabilities. Google's remarkable success and rapid growth over the past few years may have set the bar too high for customer expectations of their applications, particularly Gmail.

A recent outage on the popular email server, which is in a SAAS format (Software as a Service), caused thousands of headaches when users went an entire day without functional Gmail. Google's credibility took a hit from the damaging reports.

Messaging expert Michael Osterman told CIO.com that email outages aren't uncommon, regardless of the format, and Google simply receives more of the media's negative spotlight when it fails to deliver quailty service to its users.

The Google Mail outages are given more attention, and it will give SaaS a black eye. But if you look at Google's records, Gmail is still well over 99 percent available.

Google's unique predicament reminds me of a coach or an executive who surpasses expectations earlier than expected, and as a result, they receive unfair criticism when adversity arrives. A specific example who comes to mind is former New YorK City mayor, Rudy Giuliani. In his book, Leadership, he elaborated on the the daunting challenges for maintaining approval and appeasing 14 million people with different pleas.

To control the chaos during his eight years is mayor, he followed a simple but profound principle: "Under-promise and over-deliver", and he urged his supporting staff to do the same.The logic behind Rudy's mindset was: You can't be all things to all people, all of the time, so don't make any promises you can't keep.

In an ironic twist of fate, Rudy failed to adhere to his own principle during his run in the Republican Presidential Primary. He over-promised and didn't deliver Florida, a state where he devoted the majority of his energy and attention.
The bottom line: Once you've established star power, whether it's in business,politics,sports or entertainment, you'll be held to a higher, and sometimes unrealistic standard.

Via: marketingshift.com

Small Business VOIP - Ensure Business Safety while using Wireless VoIP Signals

For every businessman, there is a necessity of storing data in the office. This data includes information on business policies and confidential information. As the data is very critical to the business organization, it is essential to keep the data safe and protect it from falling into the wrong hands. If the data is leaked, it could cause enormous amount of problems to the company sometimes to the tune of having to lose the business altogether.

For this reason, small businesses need to protect the data they have very safely. Almost everyone uses computers to store data these days. So, there should be a software installed that will protect all information about the business safely. The software that will help you do this includes anti-hacking, anti-spyware, antivirus, etc.

Another commonly used technological tool is the telephone through which you might be sharing information. So, even this mode has to be made secure to avoid anyone from listening in to what you are saying.

VoIP has gained a lot of importance these days due to the newer trends in technology. VoIP is an important tool that helps a business become better, fruitful and competent. VoIP is like any other telephone but has better features. VoIP gives the benefit of making long distance calls at much lower rates in comparison to your regular telephone. It also provides other features that are generally not available on regular telephones and if present, will be quite expensive. You get enjoy additional features such as audio and video conferencing, call waiting, text messaging, three-way calling and much more all free of cost.

For these additional benefits provided, many businesses are now switching over to VoIP from their regular telephones. A question that comes to one’s mind is how it is possible with VoIP. VoIP is through the internet where data exchanging happens free of cost. VoIP makes use of the same principle to allow the movement of audio signals.

As the audio signals are moving through the internet, it is converted into digital format which makes the sound quality in VoIP phones very crisp and crystal clear, a feature you might not enjoy while making long distance calls from your regular telephone.

With improvements in other technology, VoIP has gained importance. Having a Wi-Fi connection has enabled a user to call anybody using a Wireless VoIP phone. For this reason, Wi-Fi phones have now sprung up and are becoming popular by the day. Moreover, it is much easier to handle calls through a phone rather than having to hook up your computer to an internet connection in order to make and receive calls through VoIP.

But, again the doubts about security arises as you are handling calls through wireless technology. You would not desire any unscrupulous elements from listening into your conversations through the phone. For this reason, it is essential to have a program that secures your conversation. With the help of this program, a user who wants to access your signals should be able to get in only if they are providing an approved username and password. Also, there are new Wi-Fi phones now in the market that has integrated privacy software that prevents anyone from eavesdropping into your conversations.

There are encryption devices also available for securing your conversations. You can even find devices compatible for Wi-Fi technology. When you use these devices along with your Wi-Fi connection, it prevents any unauthorized access into your systems. You can even choose to put up a firewall to further strengthen your Wi-Fi network. All these options are easily obtainable and are very proficient in preventing anyone from getting into your network and listening in.

Look for a VoIP Wi-Fi phone that comes with lot of inbuilt features like privacy software and encryption to improve the security of your network. These may come at a higher price in comparison to your regular VoIP phones but it is money well spent.

Source:gather.com

Windows Server 2008 Installation

The installation of Windows Server 2008 has been simplified and it mirrors the Windows Vista installation in ease of use: several screens, about an hour and I was booting into Windows Server 2008. You can view my gallery of the Windows Server 2008 installation if you are curious as well.

Once the installation of Windows Server 2008 is complete, you’ll notice an Initial Configuration Tasks window. In Windows 2003 Server, you had a similar screen that allowed you to download updates, specify an administrator password, and allow inbound traffic to your server.

In Windows Server 2008, this is taken much further. On this window, you can specify an Administrator password, time zone settings, networking, download updates, configuration of your firewall, and server role customization.

In Windows Server 2008, a role is defined as what primary purpose the server is being created for. For example, if you turn on the Domain controller role, this server will be a Domain Controller. You can have multiple roles as well. You could turn on the Domain Controller role as well as the DHCP serve role. It all depends on the requirements of your infrastructure.

Windows Server 2008 offers you a vast amount of roles but you have the flexibility to choose only the roles that apply to your organization. Examples of roles include: Active Directory (AD) Certificate Services, AD Domain Services, Application Server, DHCP server, DNS Server, Fax Server, Web Server, Terminal Server, and a host of others.

By choosing only the applicable roles, you have a slim, streamlined Windows server running which increases security and decreases risk.

Source:techrepublic.com.com/datacenter/?p=122&tag=btxcsim

Dublin Technology Available to Windows Server

In conjunction with the rollout of its next-generation .Net Framework 4.0 release, Microsoft is readying a new distributed application server, code-named “Dublin.”

Dublin — a first Community Technology Preview (CTP) build of which Microsoft will release during its Professional Developers Conference (PDC) — ultimately will be built into an unspecified future release of Windows Server. Before that happens, Microsoft will make the Dublin technology available to Windows Server customers as a separate download.

Steven Martin, Senior Director of Product Management with Microsoft’s Connected Services Division, chatted with me yesterday about Dublin, as well a bit about some of the new related functionality Microsoft is prepping as part of its .Net 4.0 release, on October 1.

“The lines between Web servers and application servers are continuing to blur,” Martin told me. “Web applications are becoming more stateful, and we’re seeing developers build more composite apps.”

Microsoft developers who’ve been working with the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) technologies that are part of the current release of the .Net Framework have expressed a need to have a single, end-to-end view of all of their data, pulled from multiple back-ends,” Martin said. As a result of these trends, Microsoft decided to extend the application server capabilities currently built into Windows Server, he said.

“Developers using WF and WCF today have to build a separate host for their applications. Dublin will eliminate that requirement and give developers more scalabiity and support for long-running transactions,” among other features, Martin said.

Earlier this year, during a presentation at its TechEd conference, consultant David Chappell said he believed Microsoft was building a separate process server that would be a key part of its Oslo modeling strategy. My bet — although I couldn’t get Microsoft officials to say this — is Dublin is that mystery server.

Microsoft’s Dynamics team is going to be the first group at Microsoft to build appliations using Dublin, Martin said. One of the next versions of Dynamics CRM, as well as of Dynamics AX ERP, will run on top of Dublin and leverage the .Net 4.0 technologies, he said. (Martin wouldn’t specify which releases specifically or when they’d ship.) Several third-party software vendors have committed to using Dublin and .Net 4.0, too, including AmberPoint, Epicor and Telerik.

Microsoft officials still won’t provide a ship target for .Net 4.0, Visual Studio 2010 or any of the other elements that comprise its Oslo platform. Microsoft is slated to discuss Oslo in depth at the PDC in late October.

Source:blogs.zdnet.com

Microsoft Philippines Announces Availability of SQL Server 2008

Microsoft Philippines recently announced the release of Microsoft SQL Server 2008, the new version of the company’s acclaimed data management and business intelligence platform. This version of SQL Server provides powerful new capabilities such as support for policy-based management, auditing, large-scale data warehousing, geospatial data, and advanced reporting and analysis services. SQL Server 2008 provides the trusted, productive and intelligent platform necessary for business-critical applications.

“Microsoft developed this release of SQL Server with the customer in mind,” said Liezl Milan, product manager for SQL Server, Microsoft Philippines. “SQL Server 2008 is the only major database and complete solution that allows companies to gain greater insight from their business information and achieve faster results for a competitive advantage.”

With its enhanced functionalities, Microsoft is optimistic that the new database management platform will enable them to expand its roster of enterprise customers.

Recently, Amkor Technology Philippines, one of the top providers of semiconductor assembly and test services, upgraded its system to SQL Server 2008. “We constantly look for ways to augment our company’s operations to improve our services to our customers. The main challenge we had was the storage of large amounts of information that we regularly receive from our factory machines. We needed a solution that could better handle data management and is capable of storing a huge volume of data. One of our biggest reasons for upgrading to SQL Server 2008 is for us to effectively process and store enormous amount of data without compromising performance,” said Hans Cruz, Information & Communications Services Manager, Amkor Technology.

“We selected SQL Server 2008 because we can entrust it with our critical business applications. Compared to our previous system, SQL Server 2008 brought about a very significant effect to our company in terms speed and ease of use. We are now able to process information faster and more accurately,” Cruz added.

TRUSTED, PRODUCTIVE, INTELLIGENT PLATFORM

With customers in mind, SQL Server 2008 was developed to provide businesses and organizations with a trusted, productive and intelligent data platform that enables them to run their most demanding mission critical applications. One of the improved features in the latest version includes Resource Governor, which allows businesses to define limits and priorities for easier management of concurrent workloads.

Source:hardwarezone.com

IBM Soups Up RFID-Ready Server

BM's more sophisticated WebSphere Premises Server offering reflects a shift in attitude toward radio frequency identification technology. Instead of stewing over whether it's even possible to implement RFID at a reasonable cost, companies are now accepting it as a given -- and exploring how they can get the most out of their investments.

IBM Latest News about IBM is unveiling upgrades to its WebSphere Premises Server at Impact, its SOA (service-oriented architecture) event taking place in Las Vegas this week.

The buffed-up SOA software -- Version 6.1 -- and IBM's RFID Information Center will be the two main product spotlights at the event, Scott Burroughs, director of sensors and actuators, told CRM Buyer.

The cumulative effect of the improvements is that users will find it far easier to gather, analyze and act upon data from radio frequency identification tags and other sensors, he explained.

Where's the Value?

Acting upon data has become the key focus among users now that most firms that have implemented the technology have become familiar with its capabilities, Burroughs said.

"Users are shifting their focus," he said, "from the notion of 'Does the technology work?' to 'How do I exploit this technology to generate business value?'"

Getting new data from these technologies is no longer enough for users if it doesn't solve the business problem. "Companies want to know how they can act on this new visibility that they have into their supply chains," noted Burroughs.
Location Awareness, Multiple Sensors

IBM has added a new location awareness feature to the server Rackspace now offers green hosting solutions at the same cost without sacrificing performance. Make the eco-friendly choice. and says the technology in this version is better able to combine data from sensors that have multiple purposes.

In particular, the ability to detect relevant events for a business -- say a shipment of perishables that has been placed in a storage unit that is not temperature controlled -- is much easier with this application, Burroughs said, as such process rules no longer require custom coding.

"We used to have to build SOA integration capabilities. Now we have just made it part of the product through a new set of interfaces," he pointed out.

Changes to the server include the following:

* The ability to manage multiple sensor technologies in one application: passive RFID for object identification; active RFID for location information; and other types of sensors for such condition information as temperature, vibration and humidity;
* Real-time location tracking services that support the use of active RFID technologies to monitor for incidents in refineries, plants and office New HP LaserJet P4014n Printer Starting at $699 after $100 instant savings. buildings; and
* An event-processing engine that can establish business rules that act upon events the sensors report.

Eleven RFID device manufacturers have been validated on WebSphere Premises Server 6.1: Alien Technology, CAEN, Eurotech, FEIG Electronic, Impinj, Intermec, Motorola, Reva, Sirit, Tagsys and Wavetrend.

Source:technewsworld.com/story/62481.html

Windows Small Business Server Support Services

Although the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference held here July 7-10 was the company’s opportunity to introduce the technologies to its partners, Microsoft will officially launch SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 Nov. 12, said Steven VanRoekel, senior director of Windows Server Solutions at Microsoft.

“We’re showcasing the Windows Server Solutions family” here, VanRoekel told eWEEK in a July 9 meeting at the conference. “SBS 2008 and Essential Business Server are tailored for midsized companies and we anticipate we’ll see a lot of companies deploying it, and it will be growing into more opportunity for us to sell into more situations where in the past we only had SBS."

SBS 2008, previously known by the code name Cougar, is ideal for organizations with up to 50 PCs, helping them protect business data, expand business productivity and present a professional image to customers, he said.

EBS 2008 is designed for midsize organizations with up to 250 desktops, Microsoft officials said.

Windows business server combines the technologies of Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007, Forefront Security for Exchange Server, System Center Essentials 2007, the next version of Internet Security and Acceleration Server and, in the Premium Edition, SQL Server 2008 technology, Microsoft officials said.

Windows Essential Business Server enables organizations to scale up, VanRoekel said.

“The theme is about making complex consumer technology more consumable,” he said. “We go from Windows Home Server, which is five questions during install, to SBS, which is a little more sophisticated, to Essential Business Server, which is 600 pages of documentation."

“We’ve been using Small Business Server 2008 in production since December,” said John Endter, president of Microsoft partner E Squared C. “I recently did three Windows Small Business Server 2003 installs and [am] working with ’08 now; it’s no fun to go back and install 2003. Luckily, the owner of these systems plans to upgrade to ’08 when it ships.”

Endter said the “Essential Business Server takes the Small Business Server concept up one level. Some of our customers have asked for the functionality of Small Business Server, and EBS offers that to the midmarket.”

He also said the licensing terms of Small Business Server 2008 make it flexible for small businesses to use and grow their solutions.

“We have some customers who six months into the deal want to expand, and we offer the ability to grow and scale,” Endter said.

“We made it easy to move and made the price more attractive," VanRoekel said.

Meanwhile, Endter said among the things in Essential Business Server 2008 that his customers had been asking for is the remote Web workplaces capability. “Before this they had to build that on their own,” he said.

Another highly desired feature that is now part of EBS 2008 is “centralized management,” he said. In addition, “Small Business Server has been good for us, and seeing that the midmarket is a great opportunity for us, we expect to do well with the Essential Business Server."

Meanwhile, Microsoft will be releasing SDKs (software development kits) for both SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 within the next few weeks, the company said. Both products have been under evaluation as pre-release versions.
Source: www.eweek.com

Microsoft Home Server

The Small Business Technology blog talks about Microsoft Home Server. While this server is designed for the home, it also will work for the small business that only has a couple of computers.

Home Server fills a niche that previously was not being served. Microsoft does offer Small Business Server and while it is designed for companies with under 75 employees, it is more sophisticated than most starts up need or may need for many years.

One of the nice features in Home Server is that it will monitor the health of your pc and insure that such important items as your security software is up to date. In addition you can set it up to automatically back up files for your pc's every day so that you do not lose any important data.

Another nice feature is that you can remotely access your information. For example say you are on a business trip, you can access reports, invoices, order forms or any other data you might need without having to download everything to your mobile device or laptop.

For small start ups this may be a good tool to deal with your small network until your needs become greater.

source: bizplanhacks.com

Server Support

Established 2004, Server support is dynamic team with a complete package of skilled engineers and consultants from all aspects of the IT industry. We are a leading UK Microsoft Certified Partner offering consultancy services, support and disaster recovery of Microsoft Server technologies. We understand that every business is different and our approach is in such a way that to understand your system first then we will deliver the most suitable package for your organization in all respects. We operate on-site across the UK & over the Internet using secure remote client. We pride ourselves on offering impartial, objective, independent, cost-effective advice. We can help you realise the maximum benefit of your investment in Information Technology.

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This can be extremely advantageous.

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We can make a quick assessment of the technical problem and remotely access the server, desktop computer or other devices in order to quickly correct the problem.

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