Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Unleashed [Paperback]

Eriq Oliver Neale (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 23, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0672328054 | ISBN-13: 978-0672328053

If you are new to the world of Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Unleashed can provide you with real-world support experience as you get started or explore your upgraded server. Written and reviewed by Small Business Server MVPs, this book provides valuable coverage of Mac platform integration, as well as the integration of ISA 2004, SharePoint, FrontPage, Exchange, and SQL Server. You will develop a number of new skills, including:

• Planning SBS installations.
• Troubleshooting SBS installation problems.
• Adding additional servers to the SBS network.
• Troubleshooting common Exchange problems.
• Working with ISA 2004 in the SBS environment.
• Troubleshooting common IIS problems in SBS.
• Working with SharePoint Team Services and the Companyweb interface.
• Configuring SBS and Macintosh clients for integrating the two platforms.

Make complex networking accessible with Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Unleashed.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Eriq Neale, SBS MVP, spent a year on the SBS support team at Microsoft, giving him troubleshooting insight with the product that the majority of other consultants and authors do not have. This breadth of experience landed Eriq a position as a Support Engineer with Microsoft in 2004. During that year, he worked on the Small Business Server support team, providing support on all three levels of the SBS product: SBS 4.5, SBS 2000, and SBS 2003 Standard and Premium. In addition to supporting Microsoft customers, Eriq also developed a number of internal support documents for SBS technologies and solutions, and provided assistance to team members on Macintosh integration issues.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Microsoft's recent focus on the small business market segment is nowhere more evident than in the development and marketing of the Small Business Server product. For years, while Microsoft pushed the mentality that each of its major product offerings really needed to be installed on separate servers, a small group of developers quietly worked to integrate these enterprise-level technologies into a single-server implementation that worked reliably. But not until the Small Business Server 2003 product did Microsoft really get it right. And with the release of Service Pack 1 for SBS 2003, the product has reached a maturity that equals the demand small businesses have for such a product.

With the announcement of the Small Business Specialist designation in the summer of 2005, Microsoft began a huge marketing push to get existing partners to qualify for the designation as well as to draw new partners into the program. Many larger partners have not had the exposure to the product or the market space and frequently find themselves in a jam when working with the SBS product for the first time. Until now, there has not been a single reliable resource for partners to use to not only get an understanding of the SBS product but also to "go beyond the wizards" and learn the best ways to customize the product.

This book was developed to fit that need. Each chapter in the book covers a technology or implementation issue at several levels. First, the chapter introduces the topic and gives a fairly detailed overview for the reader who has not been exposed to the topic previously. Second, the chapter presents the configuration settings for a default installation, where appropriate, as a reference for the reader. Next, the chapter goes into advanced configuration for the technology, including how-to steps for commonly requested customizations. Finally, the chapter ends with a troubleshooting section that details more than just "rerunning the wizard."

In addition, this book spreads beyond the typical Microsoft publication on a topic by covering aspects of Small Business Server installations that consultants face in the real world. Consultants who have needed to incorporate other operating systems, Macintosh and Linux specifically, into an SBS network now have a set of reference and how-to material that will aid them in quickly including these technologies into the SBS environment.

This text is not the end-all, be-all on the SBS topic, however. Certain topics and issues had to be left out to keep the book at a reasonable size. Technician's toolkits are large enough already without lugging an 80-pound book along with them. For those topics not addressed within these pages, the reader can review the public references found in Appendix A, "SBS Resources," to locate help and reference materials. The SBS community is worldwide, and the majority of community members is more than willing to help out a newcomer when he runs into the first major problem.

Book Overview

• Part I, "Overview of Microsoft Small Business Server 2003," details the history of the product and presents the business case for using SBS in a small office environment.

• Part II, "SBS 2003 Installation," covers the planning and execution of a Small Business Server 2003 new installation.

• Part III, "SBS 2003 Networking," focuses on the networking technologies of SBS, including DHCP, DNS, IIS, remote access, VPN, and Terminal Services.

• Part IV, "Security," takes an in-depth look at security issues facing network administrators at both the server and workstation level.

• Part V, "Exchange," focuses on the email features of SBS at the client and server level and covers Exchange disaster recovery issues as well.

• Part VI, "Web Technologies," looks at two of the most popular innovations of SBS, Remote Web Workplace and Companyweb.

• Part VII, "Client Connectivity," details the management of clients in the SBS network and covers incorporating Macintosh and Linux clients.

• Part VIII, "Administration and Management," takes an in-depth look at the maintenance side of SBS, including the monitoring and reporting tools, backups, group policy, and keeping systems up to date with security patches.

• Part IX, "Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server," looks at ISA 2004 and how it integrates into the SBS environment.

© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 696 pages
• Publisher: Sams (December 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672328054
• ISBN-13: 978-0672328053
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #242,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eriq Oliver Neale is an internationally-recognized Small Business Server expert in addition to being an accomplished author, musician, blogger, teacher, and all-around geek. He started buildign PCs from scratch to help pay his way through college and never looked back. In the 18 years he has worked in IT, he has dealt with DOS, VAX/VMS, Novell, Macintosh, all flavors of Windows, and all manner of communication technologies, including e-mail systems and remote access solutions.

Eriq's writing credits include contributions to The Internet Unleashed 1997, Windows 2000 Server System Administrator's Handbook, E-mail Virus Protection Handbook, and several books in both the 2000 an 2003 MCSE exam preparation series. One of his earliest published works, an article on MIDI (musical instrument digital interface), is still a frequently referenced document on the Internet.

Eriq makes his home in northern Texas with his wife and pets. His consulting practice provides direct support to small businesses locally, and he consults with other small business IT support firms around the globe. When he is not posting in the newsgroups, participatin in e-mail discussion groups, supporting clients domestically and abroad, taping his weekly small business technology radio show, or writing about small business topics in his blogs, Eriq can usually be found in his recording studio, curled up with a good book, or relaxing in front of the television.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great SBS Book For all Levels of Experience, March 6, 2006

By 

Harlan Lax (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Unleashed (Paperback)

There are several good books on Microsoft SBS 2003 but I have to say that this is the best I have read. Eriq Neale (Amy Babinchak, Susan Bradley, Chad Gross, Anne Stanton and many others) are the top names in the SBS community. They are all either MVP's or frequent contributors to the SBS email lists and blogs. When these folks speak you should listen.

The book is a great resource for all levels. It introduces chapters at a basic level for someone who wishes to do their first install but then goes onto discuss Best Practices and even more important Troubleshooting tips.

The book covers all the standard topics but also is one of the only books that covers topics like Macintosh integration Patching and ISA 2004.

If you manage an SBS server or are a consultant getting ready to take the SBS Specialist exam this book is for you.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First 5 chapter review, May 2, 2006

By 

Tilda Fyffe (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Unleashed (Paperback)

I purchased Eriq Neales book, "Small Business Server 2003 Unleashed". ISBN is 0-672-32805-4. So far, I have read the first five chapters in order. I intend to read the entire book in a sequential manner and then hopefully use it for field work. Here are my basic thoughts on those five chapters.

Chapter 1 - This first chapter is a really great place to start for those who do not know the history and intricacies of the four iterations. This chapter covers little known details and some downright bad things in the various versions. I am happy to have read this chapter and learn many things I did not know. Remember the adage, "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it". It appears MS has certainly learned from previous versions and have really gone out of their way to improve this current version. It makes me anxious for the next SBS version.

Chapter 2 - This chapter is all about business and how to justify the cost for a business to implement this solution we call SBS2K3. This chapter uses what I call horse sense and some good tips that could help anyone who is going into any business, not just the IT business. This chapter gives a number of real business types and examples and what the justification for each is. In other words, it shows you how to sell the product to each type of business model in this space. SBS2K3 has numerous features, but not every business needs all the various features. Therefore, this chapter shows you how to use the strengths of various parts of SBS2K3 to help shore up various weaknesses in the type of business you are trying to gain a relationship. This chapter is a very good segue from the first chapter. It will help focus you on satisfying a business need and not just making an unnecessary sale. You might call this chapter an MBA lite!

Chapter 3 - Before you install the product, you must plan it first. Every war is fought one battle at a time. Therefore, to win the war (customer) you must make sure you do not misfire. This chapter tells you step by step how to keep your powder dry and win the day. You will learn about selling the proper number and types of Cal's (Answer - almost always it is user, not always however). You will plan your network, IP's, DHCP, DNS, wireless and other topics. Each chapter also has summaries and best practices to help you with tidbits of wisdom, shortcuts and the like.

Chapter 4 - Finally, we get to install the product. Here is where the rubber meets the road! This chapter assumes a fresh install on a new drive. It admittedly is not the hardcore stuff the migrators may be looking for, but it is a great guide on the install. It quickly moves over the not so detailed stuff and slows down and goes in-depth where it counts, at the GUI portion. It covers the To Do List in two parts and does a fine job of showing you each step and how to perform them. Those of you with a lot of experience however, need not apply. It finishes up with some good old fashioned troubleshooting. Did your installation go nuts on you and leave you crying? Turn here to find out about the logs that can help you get through the tangled mess.

Chapter 5 - This chapter gets very serious and can help you out when it comes to DHCP and DNS specifically. It takes turns discussing what each are, how to set them up and how to use the tools to troubleshoot various issues. One nugget, many errors that seem to be AD related are actually DNS related. DNS and AD are so deeply intertwined, it is easy to troubleshoot what you think is an AD issue when in fact, DNS is the culprit! Have you met a friend named NSLookup? When you are troubleshooting DNS errors, this friend can help you out like few others can and get you thinking and looking in the right direction. Has your DHCP laughed at you and left? Learn how to wrangle that rascal and bring it back for good! This chapter was very good and worth the price of admission.

This is as far as I have gotten in the book. So far, I feel very good, warm and fuzzy inside about my purchase. Are you an SBS'er? Do you dream of being one? If so, head on out right now and buy this book.Eriq and his 9 co-writers I'm sure will appreciate your purchase. Moreover, I think they would love your personal review. I am not sure who wrote what chapter (except Chapter 2 by Anne Stanton), but I know so far, there is a LOT of talent and gifts in this book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good reference, May 10, 2006

By 

J. M. De Moor "Papa Joe Dee" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Unleashed (Paperback)

I agree with the comments of the other reviewers...but did want to add a couple of thoughts. The book is less than 700 pages, certainly not huge by Unleashed standards. Don't let this fool you. For example, chapter 13, covering Exchange Daisaster Recovery actually starts off with an incredibly clear description of the Exchange database structure. It just made the practices suggested in the rest of the chapter much more accessible.

The writing is clear and concise...no wasted sludge here. Is anybody else tired of the new breed of tech books that are full of step-by-step screen shots without explanation yet peppered with sidebars, cutesy anecdotes and puns that you have to wade through to get to the point?

This book helped me solve problems the minute I got it in my hands. I give it my highest recommendation.