Microsoft Small Business Server SBS 2003: A Clear and Concise Administrator's Reference and How-To [Paperback]

Stephanie Knecht-Thurmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2005

Microsoft Small Business Server is a comprehensive and powerful one machine server solution with a broad range of services. Whether you are an experienced sysadmin or an experienced user stepping up to servers for the first time, you'll need to navigate a quick and efficient route through both the software itself and the giant body of official documentation. This book is the perfect companion to keep with you as you set up the system initially, maintain it day to day, and troubleshoot the various issues that arise. The book is comprehensive in its coverage of all the features of SBS 2003, but lean and effective in its style. All the common admin tasks are outlined and step-by-step instructions are given. Everything that you need to get the job done and move on is included in the book. This unique task-based approach makes the book ideal as a step-by-step introduction for the IT specialist moving into network adminstration for the first time and as a results focused reference for the seasoned admin with a specific job to do. The book is lean and focused in style, but the scope is comprehensive. It is probably not suitable for a beginner with no previous OS experience.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

KickStartNews.com, Sep 2005 The book accomplishes what it sets out to do and touches on every aspect of SBS 2003. It amounts to a general guide to each and every part of SBS 2003 for experienced IS/IT staff and network administrators. It will definitely help IS/IT staff or an administrator familiar with Windows Server 2003 get SBS 2003 up and running very quickly. Thorough coverage of Exchange in particular which won't leave you guessing as Microsoft's documentation does. Clear guidance for upgrading from other Windows server products. The roots of SBS 2003 and Windows Server 2003 are clearly explained and provide insight into the differences and similarities between the two server versions. Microsoft's own SBS 2003 documentation remains a powerful technical reference manual, but "Windows Small Business Server 2003: A Clear and Concise Administrator's Reference and How-To" provides the much narrower focus required by experienced admin and IT staff who already know most of the technical details surrounding each function, configuration change and feature. Despite my complaint about the rather thin index, what's there coupled with the solid table of contents will still help experienced staff find what they need. Chapter 7 devotes 30 pages entirely to SQL Server 2000 and database management in SBS 2003, a welcome emphasis for what I believe to be a rather large number of IT people who struggle with SQL. Generally effective coverage of security, firewall and VPN setup and configuration. The book is well written, using concise language in a clear and easy to read style and structure. Recommended

About the Author

Stephanie Knecht-Thurmann was born in 1975 in Itzehoe. She graduated in 1994, and went on to study classical philology (Latin and Ancient Greek) and German at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel. In 2001 she started working for a systems house in Hanover, where she was responsible for the technical documentation of complex IT systems for systems management in heterogeneous architectures. She earned various certifications, such as for Novadigm-RADIA. She also gained experience in the Microsoft Windows environment, especially Windows 2000 Server, Small Business Server, and their successors. Stephanie Knecht-Thurmann started on her own with Knecht Consult in 2002 in Barsinghausen. Since then she has been advising companies on deployment of Microsoft products in mission-critical areas (consultation for a newspaper publisher in Vancouver, Canada, and Internet-based projects for several companies in Tashkent, Uzbekistan). Apart from this, she has also been active in the publishing field with books in German on these subjects. In 2003 her book Active Directory was published by Addison-Wesley with great success; in 2004 the book Small Business Server 2003 appeared under the same label. Other publications are already in progress.

Product Details

• Paperback: 520 pages
• Publisher: Packt Publishing (August 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904811493
• ISBN-13: 978-1904811497
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,022,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not really an SBS book - more like a few bits about servers in an SBS book, October 16, 2005

By 

Wayne R. Small "Wayne Small" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Microsoft Small Business Server SBS 2003: A Clear and Concise Administrator's Reference and How-To (Paperback)

I should preface my review by stating openly that I was a contributing author to the SMB Nation Press book Windows 2003 Small Business Server Advanced Best Practices - I wrote Chapter 8 which was all about the Remote Web Workplace facilities of SBS2003.

I was approached by the publishing company of this book to display it on my (...). Prior to that I had not heard of the publisher or the author. They graciously sent me two copies - one for me to review and the other for our local SBS Group as a giveaway. Now that I've had a chance to review the book I thought it best to post my review.

The book claims to be the "perfect companion to keep with you as you setup Windows Small Business Server 2003, maintain it and troubleshoot the issues that arise". That in itself is a grand claim to fame, so I expected the book to give me an overview of the features and then dive into the maintenance and troubleshooting facets of an SBS2003 environment.

My impression of the book overall is that it is a combination of chapters that may have been written for a more enterprise level book and they've downsized it to meet the SBS market by throwing in a few SBS comments here and there. Now that may sound very harsh, but it's the feeling I could not help get out of my mind. In many places they mention things that would never be used in your average or even more advanced SBS network. To give an example, in the Exchange section they talk about Administrative Groups when in reality this is only of any use if you have multiple exchange servers in the SBS2003 domain. They even recommend against installing Exchange 2003 Service Pack 1 which I do not understand. They also suggest using the /3GB switch with more than 2GB of RAM, which is not recommended by Microsoft on any machine on which you run as a domain controller AND and Exchange server.

In one area they talk about SBS2003 being able to have additional domain controllers (which you can and I have a number of running sites like this) and then in the section on Active Directory they say categorically that you can't have additional domain controllers in SBS networks (page 21).

I found the SQL section quite good as it gave a good understanding of the basics of what SQL server is about, the various parts of the database, management console etc - good to get up and running, but then the chapter ends too quickly. There is also good coverage on Group Policy in later chapters and even some tips on how you can export and import GPO's from one domain to another (although I've not tried it myself) which would be really handy if your doing a number of setups for your clients and wish to use the same GPO's across multiple SBS2003 installations.

Now with all I've said you would think that I would not recommend this book at all. To be honest, there is some good information in there, but it's not SBSised enough for me to warrant the title of and SBS2003 book. In my opinion the information is more suited to the midsize Windows 2003 network.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful Installation and Configuration Guide for Modestly Experienced Administrator, July 14, 2007

By 

David Gurgel (Roseland, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Microsoft Small Business Server SBS 2003: A Clear and Concise Administrator's Reference and How-To (Paperback)

We purchased six Small Business Server books as we moved from Windows 2000 to Small Business Server (SBS) to simplify the infrastructure of our small, technology company. I gave Jonathan Hassell's SBS book (also reviewed by me) to an inexperienced administrator for a first test installation of SBS because the Hassell book most quickly covered all of the bases of the standard version. However, I switched to this book by Knecht-Thurmann when I did the final installation since ISA (part of the premium edition) had only brief mention in the Hassell book and because this book with 495 pages compared to Hassell's 245 covers features in enough depth to be used as a reference as well as an installation guide. Knecht-Thurmann also addressed migration in some depth.

The book was translated from German, and I believe that perhaps explains two glaring errors that I noted. As noted by another reviewer, page 21 says that the SBS server "is restricted to being the only domain controller in an SBS domain." While only a single domain can be part of the Active Directory of an SBS enterprise, multiple domain controllers within the one domain (but only one running SBS) are permitted. Such arrangements are clearly and repeatedly discussed elsewhere in the book. Secondly, page 66 shows "SBA2003.smallbusiness.local" for the VPN server. The author meant to say "SBS2003.smallbusiness.de." The correct, Internet-routable, domain name is used in the text immediately under the screen shot that has the error. (Use of ".local," which is not routable on the Internet, in the internal domain name is a secure and preferred practice, but the external name must be reachable from the Internet and contain a suffix such as .com, .net, or here for this German author, .de.) By the way, the translation was excellent in general.

A third choice for an installation guide is Tony Campbell's Pro Windows Small Business Server 2003. Campbell's book (no review by me yet) is also part of my library and, like the Hassell book, is published by Apress. It compares well to the Knecht-Thurmann book in length and coverage.

In summary, get the Hassell book if you want speed. Avoid the Hassell (sorry, couldn't resist) and get Campbell or Knecht-Thurmann if you are experienced or otherwise need more depth. Knecht-Thurmann will do nicely, but I'll give the nod to Campbell, since he emphasized splitting OS, SBS (and other) applications, and data over three logical drives. This has been a standard installation technique with us for some time and is particularly important with SBS, which can (but does not have to) cram all of your enterprise's servers into one box. (My copy of Campbell was briefly misplaced, so I got along fine with Knecht-Thurmann.)

4.0 out of 5 stars Good if you know something about computers, May 6, 2007

By 

Greg Fox (Wichita KS) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Microsoft Small Business Server SBS 2003: A Clear and Concise Administrator's Reference and How-To (Paperback)

I like it. I'm no Rocket Scientist, but I set up peer to peer by myself. Once my contracted IT guy set up the system, I've had to use this book to guide me thru things (like a terminal server being upgraded from Server 2000, to Server 2003). MS sites are leading me to the place, but this book gives me the step by step. It's also helping me with permissions, and understanding how the system interacts.