Preview Notes on SBS 2011

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The SBS 2011 release date (RTM) is supposed to be around Christmas, 2011.  This article is a compilation of my notes -- things I have learned first hand.  The items are in a rather random order, but I think this list covers most of what is new and different, and it might be helpful to readers who contemplate upgrading.

A single group mailbox can now have members who all have access to the mail in a single public folder.  Think:
    info@domain.com
All IIS sites are back inside the default website again.

SharePoint Disaster recovery can be done regardless of whether the Active directory matchers. BUT THE DATABASE IS NOT TIED TO WINDOWS INTERNAL DATABASE ANYMORE either!

10GB database size limit on SQL 2008 R2 (SharePoint). This will be a call generator and SQL RBS may need to be used.  Max usage is 1GB of RAM and MAX processor is 1.
SharePoint disaster recovery method unveiled by MICROSOFT trainer in SBS 7 class. It is in the SharePoint DOC I sent everyone.
There is a registry edit  you can make on the source server to make migration of an unhealthy server possible (disable health checks).  It was the source of 60% of migration failures.
OWA 2010 will allow drag and drop attachments with Silverlight.
Exchange 2010 supports iCAL integration (like Google calendaring)

Reinstalling CAS role is much simpler in SBS 7 than in the past.
A backup can be mounted now
    a.  Mount a VSS snapshot backup
    b.  ntdsutil
    c.  mount  snapshot <name>
WBADMIN to start windows backup
Bind an existing certificate to the default web site
appcmd set site /site.name:Default Web Site/-bindings.[protocol='https',bindinginformation='my old ip:443:']http://forums.iis.net/t/1158284.aspx
SBS 2011 will not allow access to the remote gateway directly.  Leverages Remote Desktop Gateway (TCP port 443).  It is hidden to prevent misconfiguration.
    a.  Go to features and install the remote web service (even though it it already installed)
    b.  dism /online/ enable-feature:gateway-UI
    c.  dism /online/ enable-DISABLE:gateway-UI
How to create a file of any size you want for testing:
fsutil file creatnew test.txt [size in bytes]
32-Bit hosting is becoming a call generator as may 3rd party apps  – install 32 bit directory in IIS – thereby breaking 64 bit browsing completely. Here is the workaround from Microsoft:

Adventure Works needs to migrate their custom website to SBS 2011.  This website only runs on 32-bit application pools.  To complete this task:
    1.  Create a new website on port 80, using a host header of “32bit”
    2.  Create a new app-pool for this website that is 32-bit.
    3.  Create a “hello world” default.aspx.
    4.  Make sure you can browse both the normal SBS sites and the new site.

Edit the Global Modules section of C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\configApplicationHost.Config:
Original:
    <add name="kerbauth" image="C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Bin\kerbauth.dll" />
Modified:
<add name="kerbauth" image="C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Bin\kerbauth.dll" preCondition="bitness64" />
Admin Command prompt:
Appcmd set module dynamiccompressionmodule /lockItem:false Appcmd set module staticcompressionmodule /lockItem:false Appcmd delete module dynamiccompressionmodule /site.name:sitename Appcmd delete module staticcompressionmodule /site.name:sitename
Requires 120 GB Hard drive
Swing Migration not possible  (like in the past). The name cannot be re-used
There is a check box to stop the default downloading of Service packs for WSUS
You can now recreate the OWA virtual Directorys in a simpler way.
    a.  ResetCasService.ps1 script
    b.  Exports are saved in Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14 as a txt file
         <CASFQDN_<VDIR>_log.txt
    c.  It is a right-click operation in the GUI
Disable loopback checking is defaulted to 1 in SBS 2011. Ever get the browser works everywhere but the server?  Here is your answer.
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896861
SBS 2010 will not support a 2003 outlook client by default.

MICROSOFT SAYS ISINTEG IS USELESS!!!!! DON’T USE IT!
2007 Database wizard is going away! They are going back to the old isinteg
MailboxRepairRequest is the new way to request mailbox maintenance
New-PublicFolderDatabaseRepairRequest is for public folders.

Public folders are staying and they look to be permanent now.
There is now a PST folder for Exchange 2010 SP1 ! (You don’t need Outlook anymore to backup)
    a.  New-MailboxExportRequest
    b.  Set-MailboxExportRequest
    c.  Remove-MailboxExportRequest
    d.  Suspend-MailboxExportRequest
    e.  Resume-MailboxExportRequest
    f.  Get-MailboxExportRequest
    g.  Get-MailboxExportRequestStatistics
    h.  MailboxRestoreRequest or Restore-MailBox
SBS Monitoring database (2008) getting too large has been fixed in SBS 2011
    a.  The new logs are only kept for 30 days. The link below fixes the 2008 SBS issue.
    b.  http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2009/07/14/sbs-2008-console-may-take-too-long-to-display-alerts-and-security-statuses-display-not-available-or-crash.aspx
SBS Gadgets are removed from the GPO in SBS 2011.
Gadgets are configurable in RWW C:\Program Files\Windows Small Business Server\Bin\WebApp\RemoteAccess\Customization\Product\custom.xml
You can adjust which computers you can see in RWW by:
    HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SmallBusinessServer\BusinessProductivity
SharePoint on SBS 2011 is SharePoint foundation. AND IS SET UP IN FARM MODE

Subject: Autodiscover info
This article has the registry keys to change the Outlook autodiscover behavior.
 
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948981
 
Here are the values (all DWORD values, all defaults are zero):
 
    HKCU\Software\[Policies\]Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\AutoDiscover
    ExcludeScpLookup
    ExcludeHttpsRootDomain
    ExcludeHttpsAutoDiscoverDomain
    ExcludeHttpRedirect ExcludeSrvRecord
 
For example, to exclude autodiscover.domain.com you would set
     ExcludeHttpsAutoDiscoverDomain to 1
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Comments (16)

Glen KnightLead Techical Consultant
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Commented:

Commented:
Thanks for your input Just read through the Article. Great work will defiantly following this I think as it seems allot easier than the Swing Kit which seems to take days even to read as there is allot of work involved and the Server name thing I suppose isn't 100 % critical, all though the C Name change in DNS may be a good option.

One thing slightly off Topic Im trying to convince some of  our customers who have just been quoted with SBS 2008 to change to 2011 as the price is pretty much the same.  Speaking to Microsoft and looking what's in the product I get the impression that its just an improved version of 2008 which incorporates 2008 R2 which seems to me to be a more stable less buggy and certainly faster OS and I have done a couple of Exchange 2010 Installs and have had no issues at all. I have always found SBS 2008 to be quite slow and alot of silly little issues. I almost look at this as a bit like Microsoft quickly changing Vista to Windows 7 which of course was a Massive improvement. What are your thoughts on the Matter. Do you think SBS 2008 is going to continue to be improved and supported or is it Like with Vista / Windows 7 that there will now concentrate on 2011. Wish do you class as the better product?

Sorry for all the questions just really interested to hear your opinion.

Many thanks

HBP
Glen KnightLead Techical Consultant
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Author of the Year 2010
Top Expert 2010

Commented:
the CNAME record will resolve your names resolution problem.

As for the versions, SBS 2011 includes Exchange 2010 and the better performance received from this against Exchange 2007, Windows 2008 R2, Sharepoint Foundation etc.  I wrote this back in the preview days so the title says SBS 7 but the detail is still correct: https://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Server/SBS_Small_Business_Server/A_3834-SBS-7-A-first-look.html

SBS2011 is by far the better product and if you have not already installed SBS2008 I would be trying to convince my customers to move to 2011 instead if there was a planned upgrade.

Commented:
Thanks again for you help I think SBS2011 is the way we need to be going just awaiting the OEM Media to arrive in the UK as its still stuck In Germany somewhere apparently.
Glen KnightLead Techical Consultant
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Author of the Year 2010
Top Expert 2010

Commented:
Ahh...yes....I know that feeling very well :)

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