Posts Tagged ‘SBS 2008 R2’

SBS Aurora beta now available.

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

The public can now get access to the first public preview of one of the next versions of SBS known as SBS Aurora.  You can get the preview from the Microsoft conenct site here

This beta is very important for the SMB space as it contains a number of new technologies not used before such as the enhanced Drive Extender technology that provides easy methods to extend disk space using disks that are not the same capacity.  You’ll want to be testing out things like this with your common line of business applications to make sure that there’s no issues.  I know that Microsoft have already done a huge amount of testing in that arena, but there is no substitute for public testing. :-)

The SBS team have blogged about it here with more info too.

Get your hands on it today!

Tags: , ,
Posted in Blog | 4 Comments »

SBSv7 and SBS Aurora Videos online

Friday, July 30th, 2010

With the upcoming beta for SBS v7 and SBS Aurora, Microsoft have released a number of videos that give you more of an idea of what is inside each product.  You can check out the videos below.  Make sure you register for the beta program here to be able to play with the new products before they are released.

Still no name on what they will call SBSv7 – so for now I’m calling it SBS 2008 R2 as it seems to fit in the MS naming range the best.  Microsoft will in due course announce the proper names for both of these new products.

 

Becky Ochs talks about Aurora

 

Michael Leworthy talks about Aurora


Get Microsoft Silverlight

 

Beck Ochs talks about SBS v7

 

And to give you an idea about who Becky Ochs is check out her biography here.

 

Once the public beta is out there, I’ll be recording a number of my own videos on these two new products so you can get my real world spin on it :-)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Blog | No Comments »

SBSv7 and SBS Aurora User Consoles

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

One of the cool things behind the new SBS Aurora is the new look console that is extensible in so many ways.  Here’s a few screenshots to give you an idea of what is coming.

SBSv7

You can see this looks pretty much like the current SBS 2008 console which is a fair call given it’s basically a product refresh under the covers.  It has the same extensibility as the SBS 2008 console as well.  You can add alerts and custom options in the Security section of the console and thats about it.

image

 

SBS Aurora

This console looks new – brighter, and more user friendly and that is because it’s not aimed at us IT Professionals – it’s aimed fairly and squarely at the end user.  Microsoft are thinking that the end user will be one of the key people driving this type of console and therefore they want to make it as easy as possible for them to drive.  They also want to make it easy for ISVs, OEM and Software Vendors to add functionality to the console and have made it far more extensible than the SBS 2008 / SBSv7 console is today.

image

 

WHS – Vail

And for the sake of completeness, you can see the upcoming Windows Home Server codename Vail console.  It looks like the Aurora console and in fact both products are built off the same code base.  Therefore the functionality that exists between them is consistent by and large.

image

 

 

NOTE: ALL SCREENSHOTS ARE OF BETA PRODUCT AND MAY CHANGE BEFORE THE PRODUCT IS RELEASED TO MANUFACTURING

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Blog | 3 Comments »

SBSv7 vs SBS Aurora – What’s the difference?

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Microsoft yesterday announced future versions of SBS which included both cloud and non cloud based versions.  What is the key differences between the two?  I’ve assembled this information based on what is on the Microsoft.com website announcements so far.

The names for SBS in this article are for reference only – MS have not yet named the final products.

Function SBS Aurora SBSv7
Maximum Users 25 Users 75 Users
Mail System BPOS Integrated Inhouse Exchange 2010
Server Backup Yes Yes
Client Backup Yes Yes
Remote Access Yes Yes

 

The new versions look pretty darn exciting as they merge in the needs of the clients we have now in the SMB space as well as the needs to update the core product.  SBSv7 and SBS Aurora look great and I’m looking forward to being able to publicly discuss and demo these products in the upcoming weeks.

How can you get involved???  Easy – sign up for the public beta here ASAP.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Blog | 1 Comment »

SBS 2008 R2 – Next Versions announced…

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

No news on the naming of the product yet, but today Microsoft announced details of the next versions of Small Business Server.  The big surprise… there’s TWO versions of the product, not one.  Details here  Both versions will have public beta available by the end of Summer (US time) – go here for the beta.  The two versions of the product however differ greatly from what many think.

Windows Small Business Server Code Name “Aurora” is the big secret here – it combines on premise functionality with cloud computing which many people have asked for.  It supports up to 25 users.  There will be BPOS integration via the console to make it dead easy for you to add users locally and in the cloud.

Windows Small Business Server 7 – is the more traditional onsite solution that is effectively an update of SBS 2008 and allows them to grow to up to 75 users.  It will contain Windows Server 2008 R2, Exchange Server 2010 SP1, SharePoint 2010 Foundation, Windows Server Update Services 3.0 and in the Premium version SQL Server 2008 R2

Exact naming of the products and pricing has not been announced at this point, so stay tuned for more details as they come to hand.  In the meantime – sign up for the beta so you can get your hands on the product quick smart.

Tags: ,
Posted in Blog | 1 Comment »

What’s in a name?

Friday, June 11th, 2010

I posted a poll a little while back about the name for the next version of SBS.  Microsoft will have their ideas, and as yet I’m not privy to what has been chosen.  I thought it was interesting to see what people were thinking on this front. imageMost felt that SBS 2010 was the best name for the product and that was despite Microsoft not having announced a release date for it just yet, but based on peoples expectations that it would be released around 2 years after SBS 2008 was.  What I thought was interesting most though was the percentage of people that said “I don’t care just give it to me now”.

My biggest thought is WHY?  Why do you need it now? What fundamental features are missing from SBS 2008 right now that make THAT MUCH of a difference that you want it now? What is it that you need?

Tell me – I’m keen to know.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Blog | 5 Comments »

SBS 2008 R2 More Information Announced!

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Ok – so the title of the post is VERY misleading – sorry about that.  Now I’ve got your attention, though I wanted to direct you to an interview that Bob Muglia, the head of the Microsoft Server division has done recently.  Now Microsoft have been VERY coy about what is coming down the tubes in terms of the next version of SBS.  There has been a load of false information out there from many respected journalist because Microsoft is indeed keeping them in the dark.  Finally though if you read this interview very carefully, you will glean some facts as to where Microsoft are going with their SMB Server product ranges.  I still have concerns about how Microsoft are focusing on the cloud as the solution to everything… great in mainland USA, but outside here in the real world, the cloud is not yet ready.

Sign up here for my newsletter so you can be among the first to know when Microsoft does indeed announce the next versions of SMB Server products.

BTW – I have no idea if the next version of SBS will be called SBS 2008 R2 or not, but I’ve written a few blog posts on the subject and it is a search term that most people are interested in :-)

Tags: ,
Posted in Blog | 2 Comments »

Misinformation makes for a bad experience…

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

SBS2008R2FAKE Ever heard the hype about a new movie say on a fan site, or from friends that is still in the making and thought… “wow… that’s going to be awesome” and then later when you see the movie, you find that the cool bits you heard about have been cut out for one reason or other… how do you feel?  Most feel very let down.  They feel let down that the end product does not anyway meet the product that was talked about by all the fan sites and passionate supporters.  The movie studio for their part don’t want the information to get out too soon as it will loose traction, but the flip side is that by not releasing the information and letting the fan sites continually speculate about what is and is not in the movie, they run the very real risk of creating a major disappointment for the fans.  Who then do the fans believe?  Should they believe the myriads of fan sites that poor conjecture all over what might be, or should they wait till the release of the movie to see what is delivered?

Ok – so by now you’re wondering what the heck has this to do with IT?  Well it’s the same as software development.  Microsoft are busy working on the next generation of SMB server products, and there is much conjecture over what will be in them.  Some such as Hilton have suggested their thoughts here and Mary Jo Foley has done the same on her site.  The problem however is that what if you base your thoughts on this and start to advise customers based on them.  When Microsoft releases the product, what if the product is not the same as the conjecture thrown around?  Who do you blame?  I’ll bet you’ll blame Microsoft for not delivering on what you THOUGHT was going to be.  Bad move.

Now on the flip side, Microsoft… you have a responsibility to us as IT professionals, and your most vocal advocates, to ensure that the right information is out there.  That includes quelling the misinformation.  By allowing the rumours to grow, you are in fact feeding the problem and guess what… you will suffer in the end.  IT Consultants will blame you for not delivering what they thought you were.  The backlash in today’s market will mean that they might even consider NOT SELLING YOUR PRODUCTS.  That might sound like fear factor, but I’ve got to be honest… in the minds of many resellers, it’s fact.

So I caution both sides… To the resellers, don’t believe everything you read – it may well be very very wrong.  Guide your customers to make the right purchasing decisions for their business NOW based on products you KNOW are available NOW.  To Microsoft, don’t keep us in the dark until the final hour in the belief that you are doing the right thing.  Get the resellers involved in the development of the product so that it really DOES meet the needs of OUR customers.

Wish I could say more, but I’m not sure if anyone is listening anymore.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Blog | No Comments »

What should they call the next version of SBS?

Friday, May 28th, 2010

This is in no way an official poll at all, but I thought it might be fun to see what people thought the next version of SBS should be called.

 

Tags:
Posted in Blog | 5 Comments »

EBS 2008 returns on clustered iPads!!!

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Embargoed until 12:00am, April 1st, 2010

It gives me great pleasure to announce that today, EBS 2008 will be re-released as a new product called iEBS2008.  We now understand the real reason for the announcement a few weeks back was that Microsoft were indeed reengineering EBS 2008 to take advantage of some amazing technology that they were secretly working on in the back rooms in Redmond and Cupertino.

iEBS2008 is designed to run exclusively on the new Apple iPads which are due to be shipped in the next few days.  iEBS2008 has been optimised for Cloud computing and combines this with clusters of iPads to provide a truly resilient solution to the medium business space.  iEBS2008 will automatically combine groups of three iPads automatically and will deploy the Management Server, Messaging Server and Security Server in as little as 15 minutes.  Yes – you heard it here first – the 15 minute install of the old SBS 2003 days is back with a vengeance.  The clustered iPad scenario will allow for fast / easy replacement of a failed unit without need for massive amounts of technical knowledge. It’s also rumoured that iEBS2008 will feature a new management console incorporating Microsoft Surface technology.

The advantage of offering iEBS2008 on the iPad platform becomes immediately clear when you look at the commotion around the entire Apple iPad launch.  Every IT manager instantly wants one.  Microsoft are clearly wanting to ride along with this and they figured out that having anything running on the nice shiny iPad is bound to be successful :-)

Rumours also abound that Microsoft are secretly working on a replacement for SBS 2008, to be known as iSBS2010 or iSBS2008R2 (name not decided as yet).  This new product will work on the smaller cousin of the iPad, the iPhone and the iPod Touch.  Microsoft have been very quiet about this for some time and don’t plan on announcing anything more for some months but it is clear – they are keen to leverage the fast adoption of the Apple products in a case of “if you can’t beat em, join em…”

 

image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes – today is April 1st… hope you remembered that when reading :-)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Blog | 5 Comments »