How To Plan, Install, Manage, Maintain, Secure, Backup and Restore Small Business Server 2003 R2
Part 2 Planning
Please see what the Legal Eagles Make us say Here.Purchase What?
This is your first decision, involving both hardware and software. A system that meets the minimum hardware requirements, as stated on MS web sites and in their documentation is probably not available, since the product was designed in the 2002 - 2003 time frame when CPU’s were slower, RAM was more expensive, and hard drives were both smaller and more expensive.
Hardware
You have endless choices. You can purchase SBS 2003 pre installed by large OEM's on Celeron processors with 512 MB of RAM with single hard drives with one partition. I don't consider this a good idea, but if your budget is limited and it is either this or nothing, you can do it. Better is at least a Pentium class processor 2+ GB RAM and two hard drives in RAID1 (mirrored) with two partitions. In no case use RAID0, as you will double your chances of failure.
Where you go from here is a function of your budget and the applications you will be running on the server. If you have high transaction SQL applications, you may want dual Xeon processors (now available with dual core or quad core), 4 GB of RAM, and 10K or even 15K RPM SAS hard drives. There is more information in the installation section about the choices and uses of hard drives. At a minimum, plan on RAID1 with two partitions.
We can't leave this subject without a brief discussion of security issues. Because hardware firewalls are such a pervasive part of our environment, they get mentioned here. Note that the easiest and least expensive method of protecting a SBS server is to leave it disconnected from the internet and run anti virus software on the workstations or remove the floppy drives, cd drives, and usb ports. That is, to have a self contained environment where no malware can possibly enter the system. Since this is not why we buy SBS, there are alternative ways to keep the server and the rest of the LAN reasonably safe, but for this part of the discussion, suffice it to offer that MS prefers the two nic - two subnet approach where one nic attaches to the internal switch or hub, the second attaches to the external internet via either a router, a firewall, or last choice, directly to the RJ 45 jack provided by the ISP (Internet Service Provider).
Software
As of this writing, MS offers several licensing tracks. Unless you find outdated product, all should be R2.
If not R2, then look for included Service Pack 1, or expect a big headache. I will not expound upon the installation of SP1 here.
From least expensive to most expensive, they are:
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Upgrade from SBS 2003 to SBS 2003 R2
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Upgrade from SBS 2000 to SBS 2003 R2
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OEM
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Open License without Software Assurance
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Open License with Software Assurance
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Retail Package
All of which can be seen in table format at:
Microsoft Part Number and Pricing Guide
Note, also, this matrix from MS regarding Product Upgrades.
In the space allotted for this topic, it is impossible to explain all the nuances of MS licensing. It may be impossible in any amount of space. If I were purchasing for my own use, I would first choose the upgrade, if I were entitled to it, then the Open Licensing with or without SA, depending upon where this purchase fell in the product life cycle, and finally the OEM or the Retail. I do not prefer the OEM over the Open, even though it costs a bit less, because it expires with the computer and cannot be moved to a better machine if necessary.
Further, rejoice in the knowledge that both Microsoft and www.sbsmigration.com have independently arrived at more than slightly different methods for retaining all of your users, rights, shares and permissions when upgrading from, or installing into an existing Windows Domain environment. See the respective sites for complete details.
Lastly, be aware that this is truly an "all in one" package. Almost. If your organization uses special applications, such as Accounting you will need that.
Last but not least, you should purchase and install anti virus and anti spam software. SBS now includes a robust backup and restore routine that makes it possible perform these functions without third party backup software.
Licensing
The base product comes with 5 "licenses" which you can designate as either "user" or "device". You can expand these licenses up to the SBS Maximum of 75 by purchasing 5 or 20 packs of additional licenses.
The system is not rigidly enforced, and you will not be forced to add more licenses, until some point your SBS server will sort of hiccup and things won't work correctly.
User licenses allow for a single user to connect from multiple devices, such as a workstation, a remote laptop, or a Windows Mobile device. Device licenses allow for each device to be used by multiple users, and might be best used in a shift workers environment, where 20 workstations, licensed by the device, could be used by 60 users spread over three shifts.
You can have any combination of user and device licenses up to the maximum of 75. The system does not track them, and you must keep track yourself on a spreadsheet or a yellow pad or some other method that you like if you want to know how many of each is installed.