Excerpt from Windows Small Business Server 2008 Unleashed.
Published by Sams ISBN-10: 0-672-32957-3 ISBN-13: 978-0-672-32957-9

In This Chapter

• Knowing the Client Base

• Planning the Network

• Planning the Storage Layout

Deploying Small Business Server 2008 into a client network is more involved than simply installing the software on a server and plugging it into the network. As such, when planning for an SBS 2008 installation, hardware requirements are not the only factors that need to be addressed. Merely running the SBS 2008 installation process and providing the correct network settings will not guarantee a successful deployment for a business.

There are two general categories of people who install SBS 2008—those who install it for their own use, and those who install on behalf of others. No matter which category you fall into, there are a number of preparatory steps you need to take prior to inserting the installation media and powering on the new server. This chapter covers the basic hardware guidelines for running an effective SBS 2008 server, as well as the other factors that need to be addressed prior to implementation.

Knowing the Client Base

Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules that you can use to determine what resources you need to implement an SBS 2008 server. The implementation needs depend on how the system will be used. An SBS 2008 server for a 20-person company that primarily uses the system for e-mail and file and print services may be configured very differently from a 10-person company that has high-volume line-of-business applications with a large SQL database that integrates with Exchange.

Getting to know the business needs and the day-to-day manner in which the employees operate will help you better plan the implementation of the SBS 2008 network. The following are some basic questions you will likely need to be answered. A more detailed examination of other aspects of the installation follows. Questions that should be asked before attempting an SBS installation include the following:

• How many users are in the organization?

• How many devices are in the organization?

• What is the geographic layout of the organization (one site, multiple sites, and so on)?

• What desktop technologies are being used (Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98, Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, Linux, and so on)?

• What is the connection to the Internet?

• Does the organization have an existing domain name for the web?

• Does the organization have an existing e-mail domain name and provider?

• Does the organization have users who want to work remotely, either from home or while traveling for business?

• Does the organization want to restrict or track access to external web sites?

• How many printers are in the organization? How many of them need to be shared?

• Does the organization have a fax machine? Will the organization be using the fax services of SBS?

• Does the organization have or need a terminal server?

Understanding How the Server Will Be Used

With previous versions of SBS, everything was on one box, so the determination of how to build and configure that box was fairly straightforward. As long as you provided enough CPU power, RAM, and disk space to accommodate the business needs, you would be in pretty good shape.

With the second server option in SBS 2008 Premium, this planning gets a little more complex. In some cases, installing everything on one box may still be feasible, even if SQL is needed for a line-of-business application. In some cases, the ability to split SQL off to its own server gives greater performance for the database and the application that relies on it. In some cases, the business might have a need for deploying Terminal Services on the second server and not use SQL at all. The end result of this more complex set of possibilities is that the approach to determining appropriate resources levels becomes more complex as well.

As a result, this book can offer only general guidelines for the various configuration options for your SBS server. The information contained in this chapter focuses on the core components of SBS, Server 2008, Exchange 2007, Sharepoint Services 3.0, WSUS 3.0, and so on, and not on any third-party applications or resources. If tools other than the core SBS components will be installed on the main SBS server, you need to work with the vendor to determine the appropriate resources required to support those additions on the main server.

Planning for Correct Licensing

As with previous versions of SBS, SBS 2008 has some basic restrictions for how the server can be used in a network. The basic license for SBS requires that the core components reside on the SBS server. This means that Exchange, IIS, and Sharepoint have to remain on the SBS server. Even though the Premium Edition provides a second server operating system, the SBS license prevents the core components from being installed on the second server. SQL is the exception to this rule, as the SQL software bundled with the Premium Edition can be installed on either server.

One common misunderstanding about the SBS product space relates to using more than one server in an SBS network. SBS has always allowed for additional servers to be present in the SBS network, even as Domain Controllers. The only restrictions about additional servers is that the SBS server must have all the core components installed on it, and the SBS server must hold the master roles for Active Directory. As long as those items are met, the SBS network can have as many additional member servers and Domain Controllers as is reasonable for a small network. Many consultants have installed additional servers in SBS networks to keep line-of-business applications off the SBS server, and the inclusion of the second server OS license in the Premium Edition of SBS 2008 recognizes the practicality of this approach.

Access to the SBS 2008 server is granted through a Client Access License, or CAL. Microsoft has used the concept of CALs for many years to govern access to software resources, and the SBS product line has followed in this design. The SBS product uses a different type of CAL from other Windows Server products, however, because it encompasses a number of technologies. For instance, in a "traditional" server setup running Windows Server 2008 and Exchange Server 2007, each user accessing the network would need a Server 2008 CAL and an Exchange 2007 CAL to be properly licensed to access the file and print services on the server, as well as the mail services in Exchange. The SBS CAL, however, covers access to all the bundled technologies, so separate CAL purchases are not needed.

Microsoft has changed one aspect of CAL purchases with SBS 2008 that will be welcomed by sites needing more than five CALs. SBS 2008 still has the initial five CALs bundled with the product, but additional CALs can be purchased singly instead of in 5- or 20-CAL packs, as with previous versions. So, those sites needing 17 CALs total can purchase an additional 12 CALs instead of an additional 15 to meet their CAL requirements.

Standard Versus Premium CALs

One other important difference in SBS 2008 from previous versions of SBS is that there are separate CALs for the Standard and Premium products, specifically in relation to SQL. In SBS 2003, a single SBS CAL covered access to both the Standard and Premium products, meaning that you were essentially buying the license for the premium technologies even if you did not have the Premium version of SBS 2003 in production.

Microsoft has addressed this concern by splitting the CALs along the SQL lines and lowering the cost of the Standard CAL. There is a potential for confusion in the way that Premium CALs have been positioned. If SBS 2008 Premium is deployed in a network, you do not necessarily need to purchase Premium CALs for all users and devices in the network. You only need to purchase a Premium CAL for a user or device that will be accessing the SQL resources. Table 2.1 breaks down the four CAL types with SBS 2008.

TABLE 2.1 SBS 2008 Client Access Licenses

As an example, suppose you have 20 users on your SBS 2008 Premium network. You have the SBS 2008 SQL server installed, and 8 of those users need to access the SQL resources. In this instance, you would need 12 Standard User CALs and 8 Premium User CALs. If you allocate the five included CALs from SBS 2008 as Premium CALs, you would need to purchase only three Premium CALs and 12 Standard CALs.

In another example, you have purchased SBS 2008 Premium to get the second server license and will not be installing or using SQL. In this instance, you would not need to purchase any Premium CALs.

In short, you need to provide a Premium CAL for every person who will be using SQL on the network, and all other users can make use of Standard CALs.