holcomb_frank
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Important Differences between SBS2008 and SBS2011
I have been supporting older versions of SBS for years, SBS2003 primarily as of late. We recently got a new SBS 2008 server in one of our offices and it was quite different for me on the surface. My biggest challenge was/is the differences in Exchange 2003 vs. Exchange 2007.
We had another server replacement planned for another Office and it was quoted out as an SBS 2008 when the planning was done. Now we find out they are only loading and shipping SBS2011 on the servers. We don't want to have to reload the box, time and expense, once it gets here. I think our concerns are mostly with Exchange 2010 and how it works now. This office may not use Exchange right away for mail, but would like the option of public folders and things they are familiar with from the past. I have not seen this OS or Exchange 2010 yet. Can anyone tell me are there major differences between SBS 2008 and SBS 2011?
We had another server replacement planned for another Office and it was quoted out as an SBS 2008 when the planning was done. Now we find out they are only loading and shipping SBS2011 on the servers. We don't want to have to reload the box, time and expense, once it gets here. I think our concerns are mostly with Exchange 2010 and how it works now. This office may not use Exchange right away for mail, but would like the option of public folders and things they are familiar with from the past. I have not seen this OS or Exchange 2010 yet. Can anyone tell me are there major differences between SBS 2008 and SBS 2011?
A bit too broad to answer in just a few paragraphs. But in short, just as the difference between XP and Vista was immense, and win7 feels like a finely polished update to vista, so too is SBS 2008 a vast change from 2003, and 2011 is more if a refinement.
With that said, exchange is an in-depth product in its own right, so even minor changes can have a significant impact. You'd be best served spending time reading the "what's new" tech net documents for windows 2008 R2, exchange 2010, sharepoint foundation, 2010, and SBS 2011. Only then will you have a complete picture to know how your environment will be impacted.
Finally though, I must also point out that I *never* recommend putting SBS into an environment where exchange will not be used for email. SBS has certain expectations, and trying to break outside of those causes much pain and then SBS gets blamed.
Look at SBS Essentials instead. No exchange. Public folders may be nice, but in MOST cases sharepoint provides a superior solution to the same issues public folders are used to address, and you can run sharepoint on essentials. Best of both worlds.
-Cliff
With that said, exchange is an in-depth product in its own right, so even minor changes can have a significant impact. You'd be best served spending time reading the "what's new" tech net documents for windows 2008 R2, exchange 2010, sharepoint foundation, 2010, and SBS 2011. Only then will you have a complete picture to know how your environment will be impacted.
Finally though, I must also point out that I *never* recommend putting SBS into an environment where exchange will not be used for email. SBS has certain expectations, and trying to break outside of those causes much pain and then SBS gets blamed.
Look at SBS Essentials instead. No exchange. Public folders may be nice, but in MOST cases sharepoint provides a superior solution to the same issues public folders are used to address, and you can run sharepoint on essentials. Best of both worlds.
-Cliff
ASKER
Exchange 2010 is my biggest personal concern i think. But I wanted to mention two things here in regards to exchange and email. In the past what we have done with SBS, even though we are not hosting our own email, we set up exchange accounts so that the users can 1- use public folders and shared calendars, but also 2- because we have their mail stored in their mailbox instead of personal files. Then their mail is on another disk and is backed up every night without any thoughts. And when their systesm are replaced or go down, it's no big deal because their mail, schedules and contacts are all on the server in their mailbox. Of course mail is setup not to mail from their exchange account but from the configured pop account they have. The other thing is believe it or not, everyone still doesn't have a great/fast internet connection. Where we are located, the internet is up and down like a roller coaster and at the bottom of the scale for broadband speeds. There is no way our boss is going to let us try and host mail with this connection. Thats why the cloud is so annoying.....not everyone has awesome internet.
SBS essentials has a VERY good client backup solution built in. Would solve your email backup issue without the heaviness of exchange. And, like I said, for shared contacts and calendars, I prefer sarepoint anyways. I'd really gibe SBSe a look.
-Cliff
-Cliff
ASKER
cgaliher,
It's looking more and more like sbs2011 is going to happen here...... in regards to
"Finally though, I must also point out that I *never* recommend putting SBS into an environment where exchange will not be used for email. SBS has certain expectations, and trying to break outside of those causes much pain and then SBS gets blamed."
Is there anything more specific you can add to that statement.....what kind of issues can we expect if this solution is pushed thru..??
It's looking more and more like sbs2011 is going to happen here...... in regards to
"Finally though, I must also point out that I *never* recommend putting SBS into an environment where exchange will not be used for email. SBS has certain expectations, and trying to break outside of those causes much pain and then SBS gets blamed."
Is there anything more specific you can add to that statement.....what kind of issues can we expect if this solution is pushed thru..??
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Works for me. :)
Philip
Philip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=dUAva3ukzlI
Exchange 2010 likes RAM. Exchange 2007 needed more I/O (disk subsystem performance).
Exchange 2010 requires some familiarity or access to resources on PowerShell.
Management is fairly similar in the SBS Console. Features wise, the codebase for Win2K8 R2 is much superior to the codebase for Win2K8 (difference between Vista and Win7). So, SBS 2011 performs better.
Philip