Revision as of 08:29, 22 September 2009

Deployment of Small Business Server 2008

THIS IS AN UNDERGOING PROJECT. MOST THINGS, IF NOT ALL, WILL CHANGE DURING THIS WEEK!

IF YOU SEE AN ERROR, CONTACT ME.

Introduction

For this week, I am going to deploy a Small Business Server 2008, that would be suitable for a "standard" business.

Just to give me some kind of aim, I will put up these demands for myself:

The company got 15 computers. They require logins that goes through an exchange server. As any normal company, they also require emails, a website, personal login and a means of getting their files stored remotely on the server. A VPN connection for the workers as well as a means to manage the server remotely could also be mandatory.

Small Business Server 2008

Microsoft have developed this branch of server operating systems to benefit smaller business that does not require big servers. By doing this, they've made a cheaper license that most business can afford with the ability to update.

Limitations and Requirements

Windows Small Business Server 2008 got certain restrictions. This is because Microsoft wanted this to fit, as the name says, a small business so they put in some limitations to make the server operating system cheaper. Most business will not affected by these limitations. A lot of the limitations, like specific amount of space for emails, can be managed by implanting business policies - such as making sure you keep a tidy email account.

These limitations are:

• Only one SBS server in a domain. The domain can only handle more servers if these are of a different operating system, i.e. like linux, Windows Server etc.
• SBS is very picky about domains. It can only handle one and no child domains.
• Must be the root of the Active Directory forest.
• It is limited to 75 users (licenses).
• Earlier versions of SBS were limited to max 4 GB of memory. SBS 2008 requires a minimum of 4 GB and got a maximum limited of 32 GB. This is due to earlier versions being based on the x86 (32 bit) architecture while 2008 is based on x86-64 (64 bit). This change is because of Exchange Server 2007 is running in 64 bit.
• There are two different versions of SBS 2008. Standard Edition and Premium Edition. The difference between the two are: Premium includes a license to another Windows Server as well as MSSQL database.
• I am not certain if this limitation is still active in 2008 - but in Small Business Server 2003 service pack 2, the Exchange server limits you to 75 GB of emails.

If the business suddenly hits one of these limitations and needs to grow even further, it is possible to upgrade to a bigger license.

Installation of Small Server Business 2008

Everybody knows how to press next and fill it out. So I will only fill this out with information that deems necessary to this project.

Partitioning

Normally, a server will have several harddrives in it and will run a certain kind of raid. Some people like to partition their harddrives to make it more "manageable" because they can assign certain drive letters to specific things, like documents for users etc. This is not at all necessary but can be easier to mange for certain people. I have decided not to do it - simply because it is not needed. By doing it this way, you will also force yourself to "read" drive/folder layouts and optimize them properly. This might be a linux thing but I prefer it this way.

In short, it's a matter of preference.

Updating and Virus Protection

Throughout the installation, it asks us whether or not we want to keep it up to date with updates and install it's virus scanner. We might as well, eh? Don't do it if you plan on using another one.

Post-installation

For the love of everything, remove UAC at once. It will make you hate everyone. Do that now.

Network Diagram

This network diagram is suited for a very standard small business.

Note that since I do not have access to a computer with two ethernet interfaces, I have made it so I will not require this on the diagram. This can be a problem for certain businesses, since you cannot set up a proper firewall or monitor internet activity etc., except through a router's very limited monitoring tools and firewall.

It can be done in many ways, but this is a pretty good one for what we got.

Router goes to the internet and goes into a switch, which is connected to another switch and the server. The other switch is connected with all the computers. Remember that this is not how it will look physically. The IPs are guidelines. Obviously we can't have 244ish IPs since SBS only supports up until 75. Just giving it a range, is all.