Nevertheless, the wealth of options might be overwhelming for very
small offices that need only simple collaboration and e-mail. These
businesses might be better off with the Net Integration or SUSE
offering reviewed in this story.
Included in SBS 2003 are several features not available in its
predecessor, SBS 2000. The most impressive of these let workers
remotely access their office desktops, synchronize their mobile
devices, and use a built-in version of Microsoft SharePoint.
What You're Really Getting
Beneath its interface, SBS 2003 is a complex set of different servers,
services, and applications. While installation and configuration
wizards help achieve a quick setup, the underlying architecture
contains many components: The core operating system is driven by
Windows Server 2003 including IIS (Internet Information Services);
e-mail runs on Exchange Server 2003, and collaborative functions
are handled by SharePoint Services. Outlook 2003, Microsoft SQL
Server, and FrontPage are also included in the package.
Our only concern—and a minor one—is that even with all the wizards
and tremendous improvements in usability, end users might be overwhelmed
by the plethora of features. But once SBS 2003 users get a handle
on how to navigate the system and its features, they'll find much
to boost their productivity.
Let's start with the most basic, most crucial of communications
components— e-mail. Outlook has received a complete redesign of
its Web access interface. The way Outlook 2003 communicates with
its Exchange back-end counterpart has also been improved. Microsoft
has introduced technology called cached mode, in which the
mail folder content is downloaded into a cache on the local computer,
freeing the Outlook application from constant server interaction
when users read their mail.
Most significant among the groupware changes to SBS are the added
remote-access and collaboration capabilities provided by Microsoft
SharePoint, an intranet-based collaboration tool. When an end user
logs on to the local network's intranet site (created by SharePoint),
the software sets up an individual home page for that user, who
then has instant access to a variety of collaborative tools such
as document archiving, document sharing, and revision management.
Project files and presentations can be managed in dedicated workspaces
as well.
The Remote Web Workplace feature in SharePoint is an automatically
created Web portal that provides remote access to the end user's
office PC (including applications such as e-mail) and to company
intranet Web pages. When the user chooses to log on to the desktop
remotely, the system creates a Terminal Services connection within
Internet Explorer. Since the process utilizes an ActiveX control,
there is no need for a locally installed Terminal Services client
application. We found this connection method extremely convenient,
providing end users and administrators with the exact look and feel
of their office desktops.
Other impressive features in SBS 2003 include mobile connectivity
to Windows Mobile 2003–based devices, application distribution,
and various interface redesigns. (For more on
Mobile
2003
, see First Looks, December 30.)
Installation and Management
While the SBS 2003 system installation is comparatively easy, we
still recommend that you consult a knowledgeable IT administrator
to ensure proper setup, even if you purchase your server through
a system vendor and receive it preinstalled.
Those already familiar with setting up SBS will recognize the new
To Do List page as the first significant change in the latest version
of the product. This page, which offers a compilation of wizards,
appears after the initial installation is complete and the administration
console is launched. It guides whoever is setting up SBS 2003 through
all the necessary steps of server installation and configuration.
The E-mail and Internet Connection Wizard walks administrators
through various network topologies, which can also be found on the
setup poster that ships with the OS.
After setting up e-mail and Internet connections, the administrator
can decide which services to make available to users from the Internet.
The choices include OWA (Outlook Web Access), SharePoint services,
and the new Remote Web Workplace, to name just a few. Although Microsoft
Exchange does not include spam filtering, administrators can configure
the server to strip certain file types from incoming e-mail.
Adding users to your network is another process that has been greatly
improved, with four predefined templates included—-user, mobile
user, power user, and administrator. Additional templates can be
created if necessary. Use of these templates largely automates the
configuration of security and rights settings, remote-access settings,
and automated application installation (this last feature lets administrators
deploy such programs as Outlook or Internet Explorer directly to
client workstations over the network).
We were pleasantly surprised to see SBS 2003 arrive complete with
a backup strategy as part of the initial To Do List. Though we do
not recommend backing up to a share on the same hard drive—as SBS
2003 is configured by default—some backup is still better than none.
We suggest that your organization invest in a dedicated drive for
backup, or even better, a tape solution that allows data storage
off-site.
Another administrative component unparalleled in this roundup is
monitoring and reporting. Performance and usage reports that highlight
critical failures can be sent automatically to the administrator
(or a designee) via e-mail or viewed on the server, including the
Remote Web Workplace (just in case your Exchange server is the failing
component). These reports, however, demand a higher level of IT
expertise to decipher.
Without question, Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003
presents the greatest breadth of features. The only real question
is whether you will need them all. Regardless, if you want a system
offering all the features to be found on any enterprise network
and an upgrade path that will accompany your own business's growth,
then SBS 2003 is the right choice for you.
