Review: Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Gets Refresh

One of the biggest challenges for vendors targeting SMBs is staying relevant. As the market proliferates with updated appliances, software and hosted services—all of which claim to be the perfect product—what is the best SMB solution? In response to this challenge, Microsoft has slated its uber-successful Small Business Server product line for a refresh. The company anticipates a second-quarter release of Small Business Server 2003 R2 sporting a host of refinements.

CRN Test Center engineers put a prerelease candidate of SBS2003 R2 through testing to see if Microsoft can maintain the forward motion of the product.

On the surface, R2 doesn't appear very different from the Service Pack 1 edition, but key changes have raised the game when it comes to ease of administration.

The biggest difference is the addition of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). This is an important enhancement because administrators now can automate the patching process for both the server and client PCs, a useful capability considering the spate of security patches routinely released by the Redmond, Wash.-based software maker.

WSUS are fully integrated into the SBS management console and offer administrators several methods to apply patches, ranging from total automation to a review-and-schedule scheme. Full patch reporting is offered under WSUS, and administrators quickly can assess the status of any attached PCs or the server itself. Solution providers that remotely support SBS will appreciate the update's reporting capabilities and automated notifications, as both will help them remain engaged with their customers and some fuel service contracts.

Another noticeable enhancement is increased storage space for Microsoft Exchange mailboxes—to 75 Gbytes from 16 Gbytes. This helps address compliance-driven needs for extended e-mail archiving and storage, while also allowing users to retain large multimedia files.

The premium edition of SBS2003 will include the latest version of Microsoft SQL Server—a much-needed upgrade.

The original release was saddled with SQL Server 2000, which had already grown long in the tooth.

R2 brings the workgroup edition of SQL Server 2005 into the mix. The new SQL Server offers an integrated report builder, a graphical database management tool (Management Studio), log shipping (for high availability), integrated database encryption and increased RAM support (now 3 Gbytes). Those enhancements will provide enterprise-class SQL capabilities to smaller businesses and enable them to run the latest SQL applications.

Administrators will appreciate the enhanced simplicity behind R2's management menus and option selection for both WSUS and SQL Server. Those portions of the product have been executed well and hopefully will pave the way for how Microsoft will handle software management in the future.

In the past, SBS2003 was limited to a single server implementation for all of its components. But with the R2 release, added flexibility in the form of extended Client Access Licenses (CALs) allows critical services such as SQL Server and Exchange to be moved over to separate servers.

Solution providers will find little has changed when it comes to installation and setup of the R2 version, which will eliminate the learning curve usually associated with an upgraded product.

On the other hand, the upgrade process might be a bit more complex. Moving from the initial version of SBS2003 will require the application of Service Pack 1 before initiating the upgrade process. SP1 should then be tested thoroughly before moving ahead. Although most SQL applications designed for SQL Server 2000 will work with SQL Server 2003, solution providers should expect some incompatibilities. SQL Server-based applications should be tested thoroughly before making the transition to SQL Server 2003.

Pricing for all flavors of SBS2003 R2 is expected to be the same as for the previous generation of the product, and upgraders should expect upgrade costs to follow the same theme.

Test Center engineers found that although R2 brings some much-needed enhancements to SBS2003, Microsoft could have gone a little further and enhanced other parts of SBS, such as the back-up service and policy management capabilities. Another missing feature is templates to build connectivity with Microsoft's Office Live for Web site hosting and creating Web sharable workspaces.

Those concerns aside, SBS2003 R2 does offer enough of a boost in terms of features to keep SBS relevant until the arrival of the "Cougar" 64-bit Longhorn version, due to hit shelves in 2008.