Microsoft Says No Client Backup In SBS 2008

Chris Almida, a program manager with the Windows Small Business Server team, made the announcement at SBS Migration's IT Pro 2008 Conference in New Orleans, where many of Microsoft's Small Business Specialist partners are gathered this weekend.

Microsoft decided not to include PC client backup in order to ensure that SBS 2008 ships on time, but the vendor is looking at how and when to add the feature, said Joel Sider, senior product manager for the Windows Server Solutions Group, in an email to ChannelWeb.

Small Business Server 2008, formerly code-named Cougar, is the long awaited follow-up to Small Business Server 2003, which has been a go-to product for thousands of VARs selling into the 50-seat-and-under space.

Client backup has been a popular feature in Windows Home Server, and Microsoft partners have been hoping it would also be part of SBS 2008, says Mark Crall, president of Charlotte Tech Care Team, a Microsoft Small Business Specialist in Charlotte, N.C.

However, partners believe Microsoft's decision was the correct one.

"Client backup would have been a nice-to-have, but I'd rather see SBS 2008 be very stable than have to sacrifice stability for a feature that we may or may not have used," said John Endter, president of E Squared C, a Small Business Specialist based in Minden, Nev.

"For our clients who run SBS 2003, I don't think that's going to hinder their ability to move to SBS 2008. For the most part, we point everyone's files back at the server, so we're backing up files from there," Endter added.

Brad Kowerchuk, president of Bralin Technology Solutions, North Battleford, Saskatchewan, says the importance of client backup varies among Microsoft's channel partner base.

"Some partners try to leverage all of the utilities included in the OS, so for them, this would be a big disappointment," said Kowerchuk. "Other partners rely much more heavily on third party solutions, so this would have less impact for them."