Exchange ActiveSync in Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS)

Good day everyone - I am posting up a few pages per day from my book Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices (da purple book) for your pleasure until SBS 2008 ships!

Today in Chapter 8 we explore Exchange ActiveSync - enjoy the ride...

cheers...harrybbb

HArry Brelsford CEO at SMB NAtion www.smbnation.com

Microsoft Small Business Specialist - SBSC - MBA - MCSE - MCP - CNE - MCT - CLSE - CNP

PS - did u know we are holding a big SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 launch party in early October 2008 in Seattle at our SMB Nation 2008 conference!

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Exchange Server ActiveSync
Sync directly and with high levels of security to your Exchange mailboxes from Microsoft Windows powered devices such as Pocket PC 2002, the Pocket PC Phone, and Windows Powered SmartPhone. Stay in direct contact over the air with a server running Exchange 2003 so you can:
• Work both online and offline. Synchronize your e-mail messages, calendar, and contacts based on various settings from your device. Syn¬chronization can be on-demand or scheduled. When coupled with Out¬look Mobile Access, you can gain access to your Tasks list and the Global Address List.
• Get up-to-date notifications. Receive specially formatted short mes¬sage service (SMS) messages from Exchange 2003 that wake up your Windows-powered device and prompt your device to initiate a synch.


This feature, new in Exchange 2003, enables you to set the conditions of these alerts by using your Inbox rules.


• Choose your synchronization method. Select from on-demand or scheduled synchronization. This includes remote access to your e-mail messages, calendar, and contacts list, and when coupled with Outlook Mobile Access, you can gain access to Tasks list and the Global Address List.


Those of you who have had Pocket PCs for a while are familiar with cradling the device at your desktop as you synchronize. You must have Outlook running on the desktop while you use Outlook to synchronize and connect to the Exchange Server, and as soon as you remove that device from the cradle, you’re out of sync. That’s not the case anymore with Exchange ActiveSync. You can still use the cradle, but you can also synchronize directly to Exchange over a wireless connection. Exchange ActiveSync does integrate with the desktop ActiveSync. So any settings you’ve created from your desktop translate over to the device and can be altered there. Any settings from the device translate over to the desktop.

Outlook Web Access (OWA) in Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS)

Call it a case of tomorrow's new today!

I am posting up my Outlook Web Access (OWA) introduction in the SBS 2003 realm today (Friday) because tomorrow (Saturday) I will be jammed with my niece's wedding here in San Francisco. What is interesting about this wedding is that it is an openly gay wedding which is now legal in the State of California and I am thrilled and excitred to see how this all plays out! I will post up a blog on my first experience at this type of wedding.

Back to the business at hand. I am the author of the Window Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices book (purple book) and I live on Bainbridge Island, WA. I am posting up a few pages of this SBS 2003 bok each and every day until SBS 2008 ships on November 12th (worldwide, multiple languages). Today - as I mentioned - we meet OWA.

cheers...harrybbbb

Harry Brelsford, CEO at smb nation, www.smbnation.com

Microsoft Small Business Specialist - SBSC

did u know we have a gr8t fall conference in sEattle in early October?!?! :)

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Outlook Web Access


Meanwhile, back at the BBQ where the steaks are sizzling, another compelling SBS 2003 feature that “sizzles” in front of business decision makers (BDMs) is the massively improved Outlook Web Access (OWA). My infamous SBS customer, Bob in real estate, did back flips when I showed him the new OWA in SBS 2003. Why? For these reasons.


• Look and feel. The new OWA just looks more like “real” Outlook. That has been a major sticking point with Bob and other BDMs. It wasn’t so much like reading an e-mail message in past OWA releases


Visit www.microsoft.com/technet for the latest updates for any Microsoft product.


was that bothersome. Rather, things like calendar entries and contact records were downright rude!


• Feature creature. OWA, when compared to past OWA versions (apples to apples) and not compared to “real” Outlook (apples to oranges), is much richer. An example of improved features is the stronger integra­tion with Outlook and its rules and options (such as Privacy and Junk E-mail Prevention options now accessible via OWA).

• Sir Speedy. This OWA version boogies. Older OWA releases were slow and seconds of delay felt like hours to Type-A businessmen like Bob. It was so bad in the past that I set up Outlook Express with IMAP as per Chapter 6 to workaround the OWA slowness.

• Security improvements. I felt honor-bound to show my customers, such as Bob the BDM, some improvements to security. As an SBSer in the early 21st century, I’m trying to use every opportunity to talk up security (and no, this isn’t make-work or a self-employment act, but advice offered in a sincere way). See the security section below for details, but I’ll share one now: OWA natively runs under HTTPS when you configure the default configuration of SBS.




BEST PRACTICE: So are there any limitations with the new OWA? Yes, there are a few. A bright student in Mumbai/Bombay India SBS 2003 hands-on lab correctly taught me (the instructor) that OWA doesn’t display multiple mailboxes at the same time while real Outlook can. This is bothersome if you’re a BDM that uses multiple e-mail aliases to look larger than life in the business community and you travel extensively and need to use OWA from Internet cafés or your laptop in a hotel room. With OWA and multiple mailboxes, you’d need to log on multiple times (as the different e-mail account) and view each mailbox separately (e.g., jobs@springersltd.com).


Another student at the San Francisco, California, SBS 2003 hands-


on lab (October 2003) correctly pointed out that, when viewing a


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contact record in a public folder in the new OWA, the New Message to Contact toolbar button is disabled. Translation: You can’t send an e-mail to a contact in a public folder with a single click using OWA. Rather, you have to manually copy and paste the SMTP e-mail address into a new message. He seemed really bothered by this (must have been having a bad SBS day).


Beatrice Mulzer from Cocoa Florida informs me that the search folder feature isn’t available in OWA.


I personally noticed that, when entering a contact record in OWA in the SBS 2003 time frame, that the Address, City, State, Zip fields (ACSZ) are divided in the UI for OWA (you have separate fields for ACSZ). But, in real Outlook 2003, ACSZ is entered into a single field and then parsed in the background.

Physical security and SBS 2003 (book excerpt)

hi ho mate! harrybbb here, author of the purple book (Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices) and a fellow Microsoft Small Business Specialist (SBSC). Each day I am posting up some pages from said book for your reading plesure until SBS 2008 ships!
Today we discuss physical security from Chapter 5.
enjoy the read…harrybbbb
Harry Brelsford, ceo at smb nation, www.smbnation.com
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Physical Security and Management Practices
Just when you thought all security was computer-related in the world of SBS, here comes a paradigm shift wherein we’ll discuss the real, physical world! The reason for broader security discussion is to get you to once again leave the bits behind for a minute and put that business hat back on. As an SBSer, you can’t help but be involved in business matters such as physical security and management practices.
Let’s Get Physical!
After reading this section, walk around your office and see if any of the following don’t ring true or otherwise apply to you:
• Is the server physically secure? Or is it placed in the open where a large gorilla (or heck, in this day and age, a guerilla) could swoop it up and ship it to a chop shop.
• Lock down time. Locking down the disk and disc drives (that’s the floppy and CD/DVD variety) can go along way to preventing the intro­duction of malware. Don’t forget USB ports!

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• Assuming the server isn’t sitting out in the open and is placed in a room or closet, are the doors to this area locked? Who has the keys?
• Speaking of key management, how many people have key access to your office space? Any keys still in the hands of disgruntled ex-employees?

Management
• Is there a written security policy for the use of the SBS 2003 network? Refer to Appendix A for SBS resources, such as the Yahoo! Groups that include posted documents such as security policies.
• A traditional bookkeeping matter to think about: Are the company’s business checks secure? There’s nothing like an employee with a gam­bling problem writing a check to stall Bruno, the mob enforcer.
• How do you feel about employee background checks? Remember some of the biggest crooks are the brightest people and have the most engag­ing personalities!
• Beware of psychological warfare. Kevin Mitznick and Frank Abagnale, two renowned white-collar criminals, used a form of social engineer­ing to talk their way into profitable illegal activities—hacking into com­puter systems and stealing money via check fraud respectively. Mitznick would ring an employee of a company and harvest that person’s user name and password to then penetrate the company’s networks. Abagnale used things like wearing pilot uniforms to earn free flights. Both have written well-received books about their exploits and the power of social engineering.

BEST PRACTICE: Perhaps you’ve got a war story about social engineering and psychological warfare yourself that underscores the power of this penetration method and its associated security risks. I’ve got a quick one to share. Traveling home from the WWPC in New Orleans in October 2003, I used my red press pass badge holder (a conference badge holder that hangs around your neck) to
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carry my passport identification and airline ticket. Once I cleared security, I stopped in a restaurant for a bite to eat. When it came time to pay my bill, I received a 10 percent discount because, with my red badge holder, I was mistaken for being an airport employee (in a secure area nonetheless) and granted the employee discount. I took the 10 percent savings and ran and didn’t further cause mayhem in the secure airport terminal with my newfound identity! The point is that you or I could impersonate someone else and gain access and favors we’re not entitled to. And just try having a firewall service setting block that attack!

SBS 2003 SUS, BSA and Patching (chapter 5 book excerpt)

Howdy there - we continue todelve deep into chapter five of the Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices book (SBS 2003; the purple book) and today the security conversation is about Baseline Security Analyzer, Software Update Service and Patching!
cheers...harrybbbb
Harry Brelsford ceo at smb nation www.smbnation.com
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Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
In the world of biotech, a double-blind test is often run to validate research results. While I’m not going to suggest you go out and get a grant from the Springer Spaniels Limited Medical Research Foundation to accomplish this, I am going to suggest you take another update step to cover your backside as an SBSer.
While I’m a big fan of the Automatic Update capability in SBS 2003, I still sleep better when I also download, install, and run the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA). This tool is similar to Automatic Update in that you analyze and apply suggested updates. You can download MBSA from www.microsoft.com/security (a file titled mbsasetup.msi as of this writing). Note you might be asked to install Microsoft XML Parser 3.0 Service Pack 2.5 which can be obtained from www.microsoft.com/msdn.
Software Update Service
A lot of noise is being made in the infrastructure community about Software Update Service (SUS). As of this writing, many of us in the SBS community have been “playing” with the first release and learning it along the way. I’ve found success in using it to update SBS server machines, but neither Burl (a gentleman who works for me) nor I have found out how to efficiently use SUS to support a wide and diverse range of workstations on a network. This is where the promise of SUS version 2.0 resides (and unfortunately was not available at press time for testing).
Notes:
Visit www.microsoft.com/technet for the latest updates for any Microsoft product.
But back up just a second. What is SUS? The SUS experience is shown in Figure 5-7 and described step-wise below.
Figure 5-7
A well-worn Microsoft presentation slide has been recast and is shown in an SBS scenario.
The SUS / SBS process is as follows.
Step #1: Microsoft develops and releases security updates, security rollups, and service packs to its Windows Update site. Step #2: The SBS 2003 server machine you’ve configured with SUS rings the Windows Update site to receive these updates. Step #3: You approve selected updates and apply them on your mothership SBS 2003 server machine.
Step #4: Your customers’ sites have SBS server machines configured via Automatic Update to “phone home” to the mothership server and receive the approved updates. Again, as of this writing, this process works well at the server level and should be improved soon at the client computer level. (Note the Windows XP and
Windows 2000 releases are reasonably well supported here, but the process comes up short with Windows 9x workstations.)
BEST PRACTICE: Did you know this piece of SUS trivia? Upon its initial release in the second half of 2002, SUS wouldn’t work with SBS. That’s right! At that time, SUS wouldn’t work on a domain controller and the SBS server machine is a domain controller. But in late 2002, right around Christmas, Microsoft released SUS Service Pack 1 that fixed this shortcoming and allowed SUS to forever more run on an SBS server machine.
A few more comments on SUS and SBS include:
• Erin Bourke-Dunphy and SMB Nation (www.smbnation.com). Erin, a long-time program manager on the SBS development team, recently joined the team that has ownership of SUS. She graciously spoke at my SMB Nation conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA (September 2003). An interesting point in her excellent presentation was the fact that SUS was being positioned to serve the SMB, not enterprise space. And SBS plays, of course, in the SMB space. Enterprise sites would use System Management Server (SMS) with the SUS Feature Pack. Her speech, which covered a lot of ground and will be presented in its entirety in my advanced SBS 2003 book due out in mid-2004, brought out one point I want to share now: support for additional content. SUS version 2 will support updates for Office 2003 and other Microsoft server-based applications, such as Exchange and SQL Server. As of this writing, SUS is really about updating the networking infrastruc­ture.
• Steve Ballmer and the WWPC. I don’t know if it was irony or what, but if you review the transcripts of proceedings for the SBS 2003 launch at WWPC, you’ll see that SUS essentially was the warm-up band to the launch of SBS 2003. That’s right! Ballmer concluded his speech focus­ing on security topics and after a short question and answer session, followed by a break, SBS 2003 was launched! So SUS and SBS 2003 will always be married in time.

Visit www.microsoft.com/technet for the latest updates for any Microsoft product.
Patching Best Practices
If you’ve been looking for an area in the technology sector that hasn’t fully matured and offers lots of promise for good work, consider patch management. If you run your own SBS network, add “patch management” on your skill set list. Microsoft is giving intense focus on patch management to make its systems more and more secure. This is a welcome trend. One example of this is the “chaining” of updates to reduce reboots, as seen in a slide from a recent Microsoft partner “Go To Market” slide deck (Figure 5-8).
Figure 5-8
In the Windows Server 2003 time frame, which is the underlying network operating system in SBS 2003, SBS server machines experience fewer planned reboots and thus higher reliability because of chaining updates (see upper right).
One leading SBSer in New York City, Michael Klein, looks at patch management as a significant portion of his profitable SBS consulting practice. He can use the remote management capabilities in SBS 2003 to “terminal services” into his customer sites and perform patch management, saving an on-site visit. Another
SBSer, a highly rated instructor on the USA SBS 2003 hands-on lab tour in the fall of 2003 named Quinn Guiteras, has a tale to tell about patch management. He likens a lot of technology consultants, including SBSers, to being rejected firemen (we wanted to be fireman, but didn’t have the body). Some of us in the technology field are into the thrills of putting out network fires, even at the SBS level. But Quinn, a forward thinker, believes that yesterday’s frustrated fireman is today’s Smokey the Bear! That is, with the evolution of patch management, prevention is now the paradigm to embrace and should be the focus of network managers everywhere.
I hope this section on patch management has you convinced that preventative medicine is a preferred best practice.

SBS 2008 to RTM\go gold in early October

Hello from WPC. MS finally revealed the dates today!!!! Here is the press release (below)
cheers….harrybbbb
Harry Brelsford,CEO, SMB Nation, www.smbnation.com
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Partners Gear Up for Big Opportunities with Windows Essential Server Solutions
Q&A: Steven VanRoekel, senior director, Windows Server Solutions Group at Microsoft, announces launch date for Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008, Release Candidate 1 versions, plus new hardware partners and development kits for software vendors.
Related Links
Videos:
•
SAM Interview
Feature Stories:
•
Integrated IT Designed for Midsized Businesses – Nov. 7, 2007
Press Releases:
•
Windows Essential Server Solutions Simplify Big Business IT for Small and Midsize Companies– Feb. 20, 2008
•
Microsoft Announces Public Preview and Pricing for Windows Essential Server Solutions – May 13, 2008
Virtual Pressrooms:
•
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2008 Virtual Pressroom
•
Windows Essential Server Solutions Virtual Press Room
Microsoft Resources:
•
Windows Essential Server Solutions Web Site
HOUSTON – July 7, 2008 – Today at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), Microsoft detailed how IT consultants working with small and midsize businesses will benefit from Windows Essential Server Solutions: Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008.
PressPass spoke with Steven VanRoekel, senior director of the Windows Server Solutions group at Microsoft, to find out what partners and customers can expect from today’s announcements.
PressPass: What are you announcing today?

Steven VanRoekel, senior director, Windows Server Solutions Group, Microsoft
Click for high-res version.
VanRoekel: We’re making several announcements that are especially important for partners as they prepare to use Windows Essential Server Solutions to help their small and midsize customers be more productive and grow.
I am excited to announce that Nov. 12, 2008, is the official launch date for Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008. Activities that day will signal availability of both solutions and kick off launch efforts worldwide. In many ways, though, we consider WPC our launch for partners and we want to help them plan and prepare for the solutions.
We are also announcing that both solutions are reaching the Release Candidate 1 milestone, another step toward final release. Pre-release versions of Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008 are available for download and evaluation now through www.multiplyyourpower.com.
I’m also pleased to announce that Dell and Wortmann AG in Europe are among the companies planning to deliver hardware systems powered by Essential Business Server 2008 and Small Business Server 2008. Software development kits and other resources will be available to software vendors, so their products can be truly integrated with and managed from within the Windows Essential Server Solutions.
PressPass: What exactly are Windows Essential Server Solutions?
VanRoekel: Windows Essential Server Solutions, which include Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008, are our family of integrated, all-in-one IT solutions designed and priced for small and midsize businesses. By combining Microsoft technologies such as Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007, SQL Server 2008 and other Microsoft products and services, these solutions make the benefits of enterprise-class IT accessible, affordable and simpler for smaller organizations.
PressPass: What business opportunities do the solutions present to Microsoft partners?
VanRoekel: According to IDC, there are roughly 35 million small and midsize businesses (SMBs) worldwide, and many see IT as a way to prosper and grow their business. In fact, according to IDC, IT spending worldwide will grow by 5.2 percent annually through 2012, but worldwide SMB IT spending will grow by 7.0 percent during this same period. *
Small and midsize organizations frequently rely on consultants to build and manage their IT. Accordingly, we designed the solutions with partners in mind. Specifically, Windows Essential Server Solutions give partners consistent platforms that help reduce deployment costs, grow managed service revenues, earn higher margins and support more customers more efficiently. And, perhaps most importantly, the solutions help partners develop stronger, mutually beneficial relationships with their clients.
Some partners have told us they believe they will be able to increase their customer base by 25 percent to 50 percent with Small Business Server 2008. Other partners foresee 20 percent to 50 percent growth of their customer base with Essential Business Server 2008, which is a brand-new Microsoft product, because it allows them to more easily deliver products, consulting and deployment services for midsize clients.
Partners have forecast cost savings of 10 percent to 20 percent with the solutions, because they provide a consistent infrastructure partners can easily deploy to more customers. This means cost savings they can pass on to the client that free up budget for new business applications and capabilities, such as collaboration and support for remote or mobile workers. These applications in turn generate higher margins for partners and help them deliver greater value to their customers.
PressPass: How is Microsoft helping IT consultants take advantage of Windows Essential Server Solutions?
VanRoekel:Our partners were front and center as we built the Windows Essential Server Solutions. We collaborated with them throughout the whole product design, development and testing process. Our goal was to ensure they can implement and manage the solutions for customers in an easily repeatable manner. In addition, the Premium Editions of the solutions provide great platforms for the business applications that their customers want. The Remote Web Workplace feature helps partners easily support their customers’ mobile employees. And the solutions’ pricing provides partners with not only more upfront revenue, but also generous cost savings for clients.
We’re also making big investment in training, programs and offers to help partners take advantage of the solutions. In the next year we plan to train more than 25,000 partners through events and online tools, and at the Worldwide Partner Conference we expect to educate more than 2,000 partners. And, of course, Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008 are an important part of the current and future Microsoft Partner Program offerings.
We are also introducing a new online tool, called Solutions Pathway. This tool will allow partners to easily assess customers’ current investments in Microsoft server technologies, and then receive savings of approximately 30 percent or more on upgrades or migrations to the solutions.
Beyond this, we are rolling out a number of special offers, such as rebates of up to $200 (U.S.) for solution provider partners configuring Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 for clients who acquire the software and purchase Software Assurance within a certain time period. Software Assurance will provide the upgrade to Small Business Server 2008 at no additional cost when it is available, with full access to support, tools and training.
PressPass: What opportunities do independent software vendors (ISVs) have with Windows Essential Server Solutions?
VanRoekel: Both Essential Server Solutions products are a great way for our software partners to meet the needs of SMB customers. The more than 160 applications certified to run on Windows Server 2008 will be compatible with Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008. Building on that, we are making software development kits available on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), so software partners will be able to easily integrate their applications with the solutions’ central administration consoles. We estimate this will allow IT consultants and their customers to perform as much as 80 percent of their typical IT management tasks through one console, saving significant time and resources. This week we are introducing the Essential Business Server development center to provide guidance about application compatibility and integration, including how-to’s, downloads, templates and code samples.
At WPC this week, several of our software partners including CA, Citrix Systems, Symantec Corp. and Trend Micro Inc. are demonstrating their applications’ integration with Essential Business Server, which some of our beta testers are already using. We’re also showcasing Essential Business Server’s integration with other Microsoft applications, including Microsoft Dynamics, System Center Data Protection Manager and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. CA, Symantec and Trend Micro plan to integrate their applications with Small Business Server 2008 too.
PressPass: Who are your hardware partners?
VanRoekel: Our hardware partners are excited about the new opportunities presented by the Essential Server Solutions to help our joint customers. There will be a wide variety of systems running or optimized for both products by the end of the year. AMD, Dell, HP, IBM and Intel are all demonstrating systems at the Worldwide Partner Conference this week. Fujitsu Siemens Computers and Wortmann AG in Europe also plan to deliver products built on both of the solutions. HP, IBM and Intel are integrating their hardware management software with Essential Business Server.
PressPass: What is the one thing you would like partners to take away from this interview?
I hope our partners will download and evaluate the Windows Essential Server Solutions and take advantage of the wealth of training and guidance we are providing as we progress toward launch. We are investing in their success, and the success of their customers.

SBS 2003 Guest Column and End of Chapter 3 [book excerpt]

hi - my name is harry brelsford and I am the author of the purple book (Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best PRactices). I am posting up a few pages of this SBS book per day unitl SBS 2008 ships. My laptop battery islow as I am working at the Denver airport about to board my flight to Houston for the Microsoft Worldwide PArtner Conference (WPC).
Today we complete Chapter 3 with a guest column from my main man Frank Ohlhorst!
cheers....harrybbbb
Harry Brelsford, CEO at SMB Nation www.smbnation.com
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Guest Column
Another Take On Internet Connectivity
By Frank J. Ohlhorst
With broadband connectivity becoming commonplace for most any small business, consultants will need to carefully consider the implications of high speed internet access for their customers. SBS2003 does a great deal to leverage those broadband connections ranging from the ability to share the connection with client PCs to hosting web based services to incorporating remote access. But consultants will find that there are some limiting factors when it comes to today’s broadband connections.
The first problem encountered often revolves around the lack of a static IP address assigned from the broadband purveyor. Most cable companies and a good portion of DSL providers supply a dynamic IP address for the broadband connection device (DSL Modem or Cable Modem), that prevents a friendly URL from being assigned to the SBS2003 network in question. In other words, consultants can not offer their customers the ease of using “mysbs2003­network.com” as a solution for connecting to the customer’s network. Simply put, dynamically assigned external IP addresses have the net effect of eliminating many of the advantages offered by SBS2003 for remote users. Luckily, consultants can turn to a Dynamic DNS service to solve that connectivity problem.
Dynamic DNS services are available from several vendors, with key players being Tzolkien’s TZO service (www.tzo.com), Dynamic DNS Network Services’ DynDNS (www.dyndns.org), No-IP.com’s No-IP service (www.no-ip.com), and Deerfield’s DNS2go service (www.dns2go.com). All of those vendors share a common concept and functionality, the service works by running a small client application on the SBS2003 server, which is then used to inform the Dynamic DNS provider with the public IP address of the network. That information is then used to associated a URL with the public IP address and is updated
Visit www.microsoft.com/technet for the latest updates for any Microsoft product.
whenever the IP address is dynamically changed and viola, the site now has a valid URL.
Simplicity is the key for keeping Dynamic DNS working, most of the services on the market rely on a small client application that can be quickly installed and configured, that client application should also be configured to run as a service and auto launch on startup. Some further configuration is often needed, for sites running a firewall or ISA server, it may be necessary to open some ports to allow the Dynamic DNS service to work.
Another option is to not use a Dynamic DNS client at all, how is that possible? Many of the broadband routers coming onto the market are now building Dynamic DNS clients in. Key players there include Linksys, D-link, SMC, Buffalo, Zyxel and several others. That offers the advantage of moving the client software off of any servers or PCs and eliminates the need for opening additional ports, also it brings the advantage of being able to remotely administer the router if desired.
Once the URL dilemma is solved, there may be some other issues to contend with, namely blocked ports. Many ISPs are now blocking incoming and outgoing TCP/IP ports, effectively eliminating the ability for broadband users to host websites, host email servers and the like. That becomes a significant problem for those looking to leverage those very features found in SBS2003.
The solution to that problem can also be found with the Dynamic DNS service providers, some of which support port redirection or forwarding. Simply put, if an ISP blocks port 80 (HTTP web traffic), simply redirect that traffic to another port, say port 81. That feat is accomplished by the dynamic DNS service provider capturing port 80 traffic at their site and redirecting it to a port of your choice.
Port redirection does require some integration work, namely modifying applications to listen for traffic on different ports than normal, for example you would have to “instruct” IIS to look for traffic on port 81, instead of the default of port 80. For those using broadband routers, that whole process can be simplified if the router supports port redirection, then the router can be instructed to listen for traffic on port 81 and then redirect that traffic to port 80 on the server’s internal IP address. The same goes for Email, FTP and other services.
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The moral of the story here is not to let an ISP’s restrictions or lack of features prevent consultants from providing customers with all of the features SBS2003 has to offer. By using a Dynamic DNS service, the two major problems associated with broadband are easily overcome, blocked ports and dynamic IP addresses are no longer a brick wall for leveraging key features of SBS2003, such as remote access, email and hosting.
Summary
Whew! You’ve made it through four demanding chapters and your reward is a functional and operational SBS 2003 network. In this chapter, you greeted the Server Management console and completed much of the To Do List. This included important wizards to connect to the Internet, configure remote connectivity and adding users and computers. This “stuff” was foundation and allows you to confidentially continue forward with the SPRINGERS methodology. And most important of all, you started to completed the To Do List in order, something that is very important in the SBS world. I started earlier by offering you congratulations and I end on the same note. The next chapter is the all-important security topic!
Visit www.microsoft.com/technet for the latest updates for any Microsoft

Attach Client Computer PROCEDURE in SBS 2003 [book excerpt]

Good saturday to u. I am harry brelsford, the author of Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices (the purple book). Each day I am posting up several pages of this tome until SBS 2008 ships.
Today we complete the a--important client computer connection process at the procedural level in SBS 2003!
enjoy the read....harrybbbbb
Harry Brelsford, Microsoft Small Business Specialist (SBSC)
CEO at smb nation, www.smbnation.com
###
Attaching the Client Computer
So now for one of the more interesting updates in the SBS 2003 time frame: adding the client computer. In prior SBS releases, you’d use a client computer setup diskette (e.g., Magic disk) at each workstation to configure it for an SBS network. Word is that the diskette not only went the day of the dinosaur, but somehow didn’t pass Microsoft’s internal security audit of the SBS 2003 product (as part of Microsoft’s internal security code review).
You will now launch your client computer from a power on state (that is, turn on the computer!). Assuming the computer is physically attached to the local area network that houses the SBS server machine (and receives it IP address dynamically), then follow these steps:
1 Log on to the client computer (this would be a local logon).
2 Launch Internet Explorer from your Start menu. Type http:// springers1/connectcomputer in the Address field. It is this URL address that will display a Web page that allows you to connect the client computer.
3 The Network Configuration screen appears as seen in Figure 4-27. Click Connect to the network now.

Notes:
Figure 4-27
The new and very cool client computer setup process commences right here. Read the screen carefully about receiving a security warning notice (which you would approve to continue).
1 The User Account and Password Information page appears in the Small Business Server Network Configuration Wizard. Type Administrator in the User name field and Husky9999! in the Pass­word field. Click Next. This step is necessary to provide domain-level administrator credentials to allow the machine to be joined to the domain (we need a God-like account to configure the machine, which makes sense).
2 On the Assign users to this computer and migrate their profiles page, select Administrator and NormH under Available Users. Click Add and these two user names should appear under Users assigned to this computer as seen in Figure 4-28. Click Next.

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BEST PRACTICE: Three points to surface here.

(A) This step is effectively adding the user as a local administrator in order to install software on the local machine. At the Worldwide Partner Conference hosted by Microsoft in New Orleans in October 2003, CEO Steve Ballmer entertained a question from a concerned attendee that this seemed like a case of very generous security to grant a mere mortal (agreed!).

(B) At a future date, if you want to add more users (such as new users) as being assigned to this machine, you’ll need to do it manually. So one attendee in the October 2003 hands-on lab in New York City (Sharon Tirosh, who is well known on the SBS Yahoo! Group) suggested that you manually add a security group (e.g., from the domain to the local machine) to the local machine and then put the additional users in that security group. Note that you CAN NOT do this security group addition trick from the Assign users to the computer and migrate their profiles page. So, this is not native to SBS 2003, but can be performed under the hood.

(C) Click the More Information in Figure 4-28 and learn more about the ability to migrate profiles from existing workstations. This capability invokes a process that searches the local machine for existing profiles (e.g., a local profile in an existing peer-to-peer network scenario) and displays the found profiles in a drop-down under Current User Settings. You would then select one of the profiles (obviously the profile that is the best fit) to migrate that profile to the domain membership for a user and preserve his settings. In lecture, I typically refer to this as the grandchild capability wherein the business user can arrive Monday (Humor Zone: That’s Tuesday in Australia, as they are one day ahead of the US!) and still see the grandchild’s photo that is the local machine desktop. Hell hath no fury like a user who can’t see her grandkid’s photo after joining an SBS network!

Note: I’ll investigate these above points in greater detail in my advanced SBS 2003 book in mid 2004.
Figure 4-28
Assigning users to the local machine. Note that you aren’t creating domain user account here (this was accomplished earlier on the server machine via the Add User Wizard).
1 On the Computer Name page, select PRESIDENT and click Next.
2 On the Completing the Network Configuration Wizard page, click the here link and proceed to save the configuration on the local machine (much like you’ve created your network notebook on the server machine). Click Finish to start the network configuration process. A reboot will occur immediately to join the machine to the domain.
3 After the first reboot and automatic logon, additional domain joining activity occurs and there is a second reboot.
4 After the second reboot, log on as NormH with the password Purple3300.

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10. Then the client computer configuration process continues when you click Start Now on the Client Setup Wizard.

11. Click Next on the Welcome to the Client Setup Wizard page.

12. The Application Setup Process page appears and the core SBS cli­ent-side applications are installed (Outlook 2003, Shared Fax client, operating system updates). This is shown in Figure 4-29.

Figure 4-29
Observe the setup of the applications.
13. The machine reboots (again!) and you will log on as NormH again (password is Purple3300). The setup process is now complete and you’ve officially added a client computer in our beloved SPRING­ERS methodology.
BEST PRACTICE: If for some reason the client computer applications, such as Outlook 2003, didn’t completely install correctly, there is a manual workaround. Simply navigate to \\SPRINGERS1\ClientApps (this is the UNC path back to the SBS server machine) and launch
the appropriate native setup routine (e.g., setup.exe) for the
applications you want to install on the client machine.

SBS 2003 Workstation Installation Plan

Happy July Day to you! I am Harry Brelsford, the author of Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices (SMB Nation Press) and it my pleasure to post up a few pages of thisbook per day. My goal is post the entire book by the time SBS 2008 ships!
Today we start the SBS 2003 workstation installation plan. In previsous installments of this book, we planned for and installed the SBS 2003 server machine.
Have fun and enjoy the read.
Cheers....harrybbbb
Harry Brelsford, Small Business Specialist (SBSC) and CEO of SMB Nation www.smbnation.com
###
Notes:
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Workstation Installation Plan
The following tasks are necessary to be completed prior to performing the SBS hands-on workstation configuration tasks, such as adding users and setting up the workstations. These tasks include the following:
1. Setting up a staging area. Be sure to find a place to set up the work­stations if you purchase new workstations for your SBS network.
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This workstation staging area is typically a conference room. If you are converting from an existing network, or the users already have their workstations in place, you probably won’t need a workstation setup area.
BEST PRACTICE: If you indeed use a workstation staging area, it is very helpful to have a network hub (connected to the SBS network) in the center of your work area. That way, as you build each workstation, you can complete the workstation setup tasks in a good ol’ blue-collar assembly line-like fashion. It’s very efficient.
2. Building the new workstations. If you have new workstations, physi­cally build the workstation by unpacking all the components from the shipping boxes (monitor, computer, and keyboard). Be sure to reseat each adapter card inside the new workstation in case it came loose during shipping. After connecting all the workstation compo­nents, turn on the power and verify that the workstation is functional. I recommend that you check the workstation BIOS settings similar to how the server BIOS was observed in Chapter 3. (You typically press the Delete key during the power-on phase to see the BIOS settings.)
BEST PRACTICE: Be sure to confirm that the workstations you specified and ordered while you read Chapter 2 are the same as the workstations now in your possession. And does each workstation have a network adapter card as specified and ordered?
Whether the workstation is new or not, take a moment to confirm that your workstation meets the minimum system requirements specified by Microsoft for participating on an SBS network (see Chapter 2 for discussion on this). In particular, make sure that you have enough hard disk space to accommodate the SBS client applications you intend to install in a few moments. The most popular SBS workstation setup error I’ve witnessed is a shortage of hard disk space on the client workstation. Unfortunately, you aren’t always advised of such space shortage problems until well into the SBS client workstation setup process. The workstation space requirements in SBS have grown to over 300 MB if you install each client component.
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3. Completing the installation of the workstation operating system. New workstations typically have no operating system completely installed. As of this writing, the workstation would likely have a par­tial installation of Windows XP Professional. This is typically the case when you purchase from name-brand manufacturers, such as HP. With true clone workstations (sometimes called “white boxes”), such as the PC that your Uncle Chas built, it might or might not have any operating system (here it varies on a case-by-case basis). Regardless, it is essential that each workstation have a functional operating system, such as Windows XP Professional (my bias). So now is the time to make sure that each of your workstations indeed has a supported operating system installed and ready to run. In fact, the SBS client applications and networking functionality cannot be fully installed on a workstation until a supported workstation operat­ing system is installed. Recall from Chapter 2 that SPRINGERS has standardized on Windows XP Professional for its workstation oper­ating system on a company-wide basis.
BEST PRACTICE: Be sure to check the SBS site at Microsoft (www.microsoft.com/sbs) for which client operating systems are supported by SBS 2003. Because this list changes over time and will not stay current as of this writing, I’m simply directing you to the Web site.
However, I do feel secure sharing with you that the following operating systems are not supported by SBS 2003 in any way, shape, or form: OS/2, CP/M, Apple DOS, and Apple ProDOS. If you have such a workstation, do yourself a favor and strongly consider purchasing an Intel-based workstation running one of the supported operating systems so that you can participate on the SBS network.
And perhaps the “wild card” in this whole workstation equation will be XBOX from Microsoft. Wouldn’t it be cool to have XBOX as a client computer on an SBS 2003 network?
4. Testing the workstation’s network connectivity. Perform a work-station-level green light test: Plug a network cable (that is, CAT5
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10BASE-T cable) into the workstation’s Ethernet network adapter card jack. Make sure the other end of the network cable is connected to an active hub connection (for example, the hub in your worksta­tion staging area). Much like the testing you performed on the server in Chapter 3, make sure that both the hub and workstation network adapter card jack have a green or active light. If you use existing workstations on an existing network, you can also perform this test with little effort. Simply turn on the existing work­station and see whether the network adapter card jack is green or active. Then trot over to the network hub and confirm the same.
5. Completing the workstation installation worksheet. Be sure to revisit the SBS network user list shown in Chapter 2 (see the “User List” section and complete the Workstation Installation Worksheet for each user. The Workstation Installation Worksheet has been completed for Norm Hasborn, SPRINGERS president (see Table 4-1). The entries for the remaining employees are provided in Appendix C.
BEST PRACTICE: Remember that it is far better with SBS to populate each wizard page field, even if that means you enter N/A (Not Applicable or Not Available) because you don’t have valid data to input. That way, you know at a later date that you didn’t overlook any user and computer setup configuration field. Also, SBS user and computer setup configuration information is used in other areas of the SBS network, making it important to complete each and every user and computer setup configuration field.
Notes:


Chapter 4 ☛ SBS 2003 Deployment and Management Tools Visit www.microsoft.com/technet for the latest updates for any Microsoft product. Table 4-1: SBS Workstation Setup Sheet Setup Field Input/Value/Description Where Used User’s Full Name (First, Last) Norm Hasborn Add User Wizard Logon Name NormH Add User Wizard Telephone 206-123-1234 Add User Wizard Password Purple3300 Add User Wizard E-mail alias NormH (default) Add User Wizard Exchange Server SPRINGERS1 (default) Add User Wizard Exchange store Mailbox Store (SPRINGERS1) (default) Add User Wizard Description for User Founder and President Add User Wizard Allowed to change password No Add User Wizard (Y/N)? SBS User Template Power User Add User Wizard Workstation NetBIOS PRESIDENT Set Up ComputerWizard SBS Programs to Install Complete: Set Up ComputerInternet Explorer Wizard Outlook 2003 Shared Fax Client Operating System Windows XP Professional Set Up ComputerWizard Verify available workstation Yes Misc hard disk space based on SBSPrograms to install listedimmediately above (forexample, 300 MB required) Turn off programs at work­Yes/No? Misc station such as anti-virus programs. SBS server-based Shared NORMH Misc. Folders this user will access. USERS COMPANY ACCOUNTING OLD APPLICATIONS Printers HP5 Misc.
4-41



Network Protocols
TCP/IP
Misc.
IP Address (Static or Dynamic)
Dynamic
Misc.
Mapped Drives
S: SPRINGERS1\NORMH T: SPRINGERS1\USERS U: SPRINGERS1\ ACCOUNTING V: SPRINGERS1\OLD W: SPRINGERS1\ APPLICATIONS
Misc
Workstation Shares (shares on workstation)
N/A
Misc.
Additional Applications to install (for example, GreatPlains Dynamics accounting):
Great Plains Dynamics client FRX Report Writer
Misc.
Special configuration issues
Triple-check security. This is the president’s PC.
Misc.
Comments
Complete this one last afterall other workstations.
Misc.
Tested Logon (Y/N)
No
Misc.
Repairs/ReconfigurationNeeded

Misc.

BEST PRACTICE: Remember that the workstation name is typically based on job title or function. Thus, the workstation names associated with the users at SPRINGERS are closely related to the user’s job title. This naming convention is helpful when you have staff turnover, but the jobs remain the same.
Another useful practice, although not used with SPRINGERS, is to name machines after something neutral, such as fruits. A former client, Larry P, did this because he observed that while people change jobs, machines don’t. The same job titles typically keep the same machine. Or sometimes you have people leave and the job is restructured with a new title. You get the point. Hey, if I’m going to have a machine named after a fruit, I want the machine named KUMQUAT01!
Note that for all users, access to the Internet is allowed by default just as it was in SBS 2000 (such wasn’t the case in SBS 4.5).

SBS 2003 Management Tasks and Adding a Printer

Hello!
I am Harry Brelsford, the author of Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices (purple book). Each day - I am posting up several pages from my book for your pleasure and reading!
Today we discuss - management tasks and adding a printer to a Windows SBS 2003 network
Thanks mates!
harrybbbb, sbsc, mcse, mct, cne, clse, cnp and mba
Harry Brelsford CEO at SMB Nation www.smbnation.com
###
Management Tasks
The SBS development team drew a demarcation line between network tasks and management tasks to delineate the type of work you perform on the To Do List. Whereas the tasks performed above tend to be one-time in nature, the tasks that follow in this section, such as adding users and computers, might be repeated. Thus, the SBS development team created a “management” category.
Add a printer
What can I say. Adding a printer is all about adding the physical printer and publishing it to Active Directory. We’ll do so now because you might remember from Table 2-4 in Chapter 2 that SPRINGERS has a HP Color LaserJet 5M laser printer (with the share name of HP5).
1 Assuming you are still logged on as Administrator on the server machine SPRINGERS1, select Add a Printer from the To Do List.
2 Click Next at the Welcome to the Add Printer Wizard.
3 On the Local or Network Printer page, accept the default setting of Local printer attached to this computer. But please deselect Auto­matically detect or install my Plug and Play printer (in the real world, you might very well select that automatic detection option,

but under the SPRINGERS approach, let’s face it, we’re kinda play­ing make-believe here to learn the product). Click Next.

4. Select LPT1: (Recommended Printer Port) in the Use the follow­ing port: field on the Select a Printer Port page. Click Next.

5. On the Install Printer Software page, select HP under Manufac­turer and HP Color LaserJet 5M under Printers. Click Next.

6. On the Name Your Printer page, type HP5 in the Printer name field. Click Next.

7. Accept the default share name of HP5 on the Printer Sharing screen and click Next. This name was obviously extracted from the Name Your Printer page and in all cases has the 15-character NetBIOS naming limit.

8. Type Main Office in the Location field on the Location and Com­ment page and click Next.

9. Select No when asked if you want to print a test page on the Print Test Page. Click Next.

10. Click Finish on the Completing the Add Printer Wizard page. Note that there is no “here” link to add this information to your SBS net­work notebook I’m encouraging you to complete. Why, you ask? Because the Add Printer Wizard is not a native SBS wizard and thus doesn’t incorporate that functionality.

Add Users and Computers
Now for the good stuff. We’re going to add all of the users for SPRINGERS, using the new bulk capability to add users. This is different from SBS 2000 when users were added in a linear, one at a time fashion. Time is a wastin’, so let’s get started by first reviewing the time-tested tasks of preparing the workstation to be added to the network. After that, you’ll perform the actual step-by-step tasks to add users and computers and connect the client computer to the SBS 2003 network.

Connect To The Internet with SBS 2003 (The TO DO LIST) [book excerpt]

howdy y'all - I am harry brelsford, author of Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best PRactices and the CEO of SMB Nation (www.smbnation.com).
I am posting up a few pages per day of my book until SBS 2008 ships!
Today we work further into the Connect to the Internet option on the SBS 2003 To Do List.
cheers....harrybbbb
PS - did I forget to mention we have a three-day conference in Seattle this October featuring SBS 2008? :)
###
Connect to the Internet
Continuing our way down the list, we actually have to “pause” on the list in the case of SPRINGERS, because we have a second network adapter card installed on our server machine that needs to be configured. You’ll recall that two network adapter cards were present back when you installed SBS 2003 in Chapter 3. To configure the network adapter card, before continuing with the Connect to the Internet link, please perform the following tasks.
1 Log on as Administrator on SPRINGERS1 with the password Husky9999! and click the Start button.
2 Click Control Panel, Network Connections and select Network Connection. This is the second network adapter card because the primary local network adapter card is called Server Local Area Con­nection by default. A Network Connection box will appear inform­ing you the card is being enabled.
3 When notified by another Network Connection dialog box that the network adapter card can be configured by the E-mail and Internet Connection Wizard, click Cancel to not launch such a wizard, and allow the network adapter card to be configured manually.

BEST PRACTICE: So exactly what gives in Step #3 immediately above? Here’s the deal. If you click Yes in the prior step, the E-mail and Internet Connection Wizard starts as you would expect. Then, when you get to the fourth screen of said wizard, the darn second network adapter card has been automatically enabled to receive its IP address dynamically. Truth be told by me to you, but it’s unlikely in most cases that you’d want to acquire your IP address dynamically on the wild-side NIC (aka second network adapter card). Rather, you are far more likely to input a static IP address that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) gave to you for use on your SBS 2003 network. And that’s the scoop, mates!
4. This is where the strange get weird. You’ve clicked Cancel, which killed the process underway from the steps above. Please repeat Step #2 again to select the Network Connection from the Network
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Connections option in Control Panel. The Network Connection Status dialog box will appear.
1 Click Properties. Network Connection Properties will appear.
2 Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click Properties.
3 Complete the General tab of the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Prop­erties sheet to reflect the following information (as shown in Figure 4-4). IP address is 207.202.238.215, Subnet Mask address is

255.255.255.0 and the Default Gateway address is 207.202.238.1. Make the Preferred DNS server 209.20.130.35 and make the Alter­nate DNS server 209.20.130.33. Click OK.
Figure 4-4
Correctly configuring the second network adapter card for the SPRINGERS SBS network.
Note on page 4-21 I will explain how the Preferred DNS server field is reset to
192.168.16.2 by the EICW overriding your settings in Step #7 above.
8. Click Close twice (to return to your desktop).
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It’s now time to configure the e-mail and Internet connectivity capabilities in SBS 2003. Perform the following:
1 Click Connect to the Internet from the To Do List in Server Management.
2 The Welcome to the Configure E-mail and Internet Connection Wizard page appears. Take a moment to read about the information that is required to complete this wizard by clicking on the Required Information for Connecting to the Internet link (then close the help screen that appears). Click Next.
3 On the Connection Type screen, select Broadband and click Next as seen in Figure 4-5.

Figure 4-5
Select the Broadband choice on the Connection Type screen.
1 Select A direct broadband connection beneath My server uses: on the Broadband Connection page. Click Next. See Figure 4-6.
2 On the Network Connection page that appears, confirm that the ISP network connection reflects Network Connection with the IP address

of 207.202.238.215. Confirm the Local area network connection re­flects the IP address of 192.168.16.2. This is shown in Figure 4-7. Click Next.
Figure 4-6
You will select a direct broadband connection for SPRINGERS.
Notes:
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Figure 4-7
Take an extra moment to confirm your page looks like this figure. This is where you define the local area network connection (the “inside”) and the outside Internet network connection (the “wild side”).
6. The Direct Broadband Connection page appears. Confirm your screen looks similar to Figure 4-8 and click Next.
Notes:
Figure 4-8
The bottom three fields are editable on the Direct Broadband Connection page.
BEST PRACTICE: So even though my advanced SBS 2003 book won’t be out until mid-2004, a few gurus are reading this book and might ask this question after reviewing the Direct Broadband Connection page in the EICW: “Why do you accept the ISP DNS IP address settings and not point it back to 192.168.16.2 to utilize the DNS service in SBS 2003 as a well-known TechNet article states?” The same question was asked by an angry student whom we’ll call Jeff in Dallas, Texas, at a late-September 2003 SBS 2003 hands-on lab. Turns out Jeff thought he was being duped by the EICW because he wanted to point the wild-side NCI cards back to the DNS of
192.168.16.2. Fair enough. But Jeff, you might be surprised to know that the EICW does this internal referral thingy after running, because it’s the darn EICW that configures the DNS in SBS for forwarding out to the ISP’s DNS servers.
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1 Select Enable firewall on the Firewall page and Click Next.
2 On the Services Configuration page, select E-mail, Virtual Pri­vate Networking (VPN) and Terminal Services, and FTP. This is part of the SPRINGERS methodology and something you might not do for every customer site in the real world. Your screen should look similar to Figure 4-9. Click Next.

BEST PRACTICE: When you select the VPN-related checkbox, you’ll receive a notice that the server is not configured for remote access through VPN. You will further be advised that you’ll need to run the Remote Access Wizard in order to do this. This message is normal, helpful, and actually points to the very next link on the To Do List that you and I will complete for SPRINGERS in the next section.
Figure 4-9
Selecting what services will be accessible via the Internet.
The Web Services Configuration page appears. This is where you’ll select which Web services are externally accessible. In the case of SPRINGERS, we’ll select the radio button titled Allow access to only

the following Web site services from the Internet and select every­thing EXCEPT Business Web site (wwwroot) and click Next. This has effectively selected all of the checkboxes you see in Figure 4-10.
Figure 4-10
Completing the Web Services Configuration page.
BEST PRACTICE: Call it a case of Miami madness or “mean season” malfeasance, but there I was delivering the SBS 2003 hands-on lab in Miami, Florida in early October 2003 and being blamed by a student that an exercise involving Remote Web Workplace didn’t work. How could this be? If you look closely in Figure 4-10, the default settings on the Web Services Configuration page include the Outlook Web Access and the Remote Web Workplace screen. What gives here?
The student didn’t append the URL with /remote. You’ll learn more in Chapters 8 and 10 on this topic.
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And now for the rest of the story. Microsoft and I agree that you do not want to expose your root page to the Internet - EVER - unless you are going to host a Web site. Because the SPRINGERS methodology does not include Web site hosting, you’ve made the correct selections in Figure 4-10.

10. Approve the dialog box that advises you that the site will be acces­sible via the Internet. To do this, click Yes.

Power User Console in Windows Small Business Server 2003 [sbs 2003 book excerpt]

hi - I am harry brlesford and the author of Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices (SBS 2003). My goal is to post a few pages per day of my book for you to read and have the entire thing posted by the time SBS 2008 ships.
Today we discuss the Power USer Console!
cheers....harrybbbb Harry Brelsford, CEO at SMB NAtion, www.smbnation.com
###
Power User Console
And just when you thought they’d taken away the Personal Console from SBS 2000 days, I have news for you. If you really must have your “Personal Console,” which is a dumbed-down version of Server Management called Server Management for Power Users, you can find it at the following location:
%System Drive%\Program Files\Microsoft Windows Small Business Server\
Administration\mysbsconsole.msc Personal console, I mean Server Management for Power Users, is automatically launched when a Power User logs on remotely via Terminal Services to perform server management tasks (this is shown in Figure 4-3). Note the Power User is totally locked into using Server Management for Power Users. If said Power User closes this console, they are immediately logged off the SBS server machine. Period.
Figure 4-3
A power user at SPRINGERS logs on to perform server-related work and uses
Server Management for Power Users.
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Troubleshooting the SBS 2003 Setup - book excerpt

Today we complete chapter 3 of the Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices book with a quick look at troubleshooting the SBS 2003 setup process. As you may recall - I am posting up my book, a few pages per day, unitl SBS 2003 ships!
harrybbbb
Harry Brelsford CEO at smb nation www.smbnation.com
###
Troubleshooting Setup Errors
In your career as an SBS professional, you will possibly have occasion to troubleshoot setup errors. These errors come out of left field, but the Readme.htm document contained on Small Business Server 2003 Setup Disc 1 discusses a surprisingly large number of setup errors and the suggested resolution steps (I discuss this document early in this chapter). Hats off to the SBS development team for shipping this timely resource in time!
You may also want to consult the SBS resources listed in Appendix A to stay current with SBS 2003 setup issues. Heck, don’t hesitate to throw in your own two cents in the discussion group and news list (listserv) mentioned.
And consider simply rerunning the SBS setup, as I discussed earlier, as your first line of attack in curing a problem.
BEST PRACTICE: And don’t forget that a book is outdated the day I type its final words. The technology world changes quickly and you’ll want to visit the Microsoft TechNet page to stay current with all the latest and updated knowledge related to SBS 2003. So no flames, masking as reader replies on Amazon.com, saying that my book doesn’t discuss some future issue you encounter in the Year 2005 with SBS 2003.
Summary
As you reach the end of the SBS server machine setup and installation discussion, remember to go forward keeping a healthy perspective. Often I witness SBS professionals spending hours troubleshooting some setup- or installation-related problem. In many cases, that is not a good use of time. Remember that it often takes less than three hours to do a complete SBS server machine reinstall. Believe me, I’ve done plenty of fresh SBS installs and come out hours ahead. Just a thought!

SBS 2003 To DO List and Advacned Setup Issues (book excerpt from Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices book

hi - I am harry brlesford, author of the Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices book and I am posting up the SBS 2003 book a few pages per day until SBS 2008 ships! Today we discuss the TO DO LIST and a couple of advacned setup issues!!!
harrybbbb
Harry Brelsford, CEO at SMB Nation, www.smbnation.com
###
The To Do List Lives!
After you successfully log on for the first time, the SBS To Do List, on a page titled “Complete the configuration” shown in Figure 3-27 automatically appears. Figure 3-27
To Do List is your starting point for the SBS deployment experience.
BEST PRACTICE: Also at this stage, a “balloon” appears in the lower right advising you to configure the Internet connection for your server. This is the second link on the To Do List titled “Connect to the Internet,” which we’ll do in just a moment. You may close the lower left balloon.
In the Chapter 4 I pick up the SBS deployment process using the SPRINGERS methodology. You will also complete the To Do List and learn about the Server Management console.
Advanced SBS Setup Issues
After you’ve installed SBS several times, you’ll likely recognize many of the following advanced SBS setup issues. It’s also likely you’ll see a thing or two not mentioned here. If so, be sure to share your wisdom with some of the SBS newsgroups and mailing lists listed in Appendix A, “SBS Resources.” Let’s face it—SBS is an evolving culture (oh, and an evolving product too), so you’ll some day, some way, have something to share with the SBS community.
OEM Setup Scenario
Microsoft is perhaps most proud in the SBS 2003 time frame of its improvements to the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Prenstallation Kit (OPK). SBS 2003 can be set up out of the box in about 15 minutes because of an Active Directory improvement that allows for renaming the computer and domain post-SBS installation. Needless to say, this might change how you view SBS 2003’s deployment both as a customer and a consultant. See you in Appendix E where I discuss the OEM approach more (with screenshots!).
BEST PRACTICE: Okay—last mention of my SMB Consulting Best Practices book, but I truly go into the consulting ramifications of the shorter SBS 2003 setup cycle in said text and how to make money at it as an SMB/SBS consultant. ‘Nough said!
One Source for Source Media
Two topics, not part of the detailed SPRINGERS methodology, are nonetheless of interest to the SBSer. First, you can copy all four SBS 2003 CD Discs to a partition on your server (e.g., Drive D) and perform the installation from this location. Why would you do this? Because this prevents you from having to swap the discs during the later steps of the SBS setup process. And just how did I learn this, you ask? Let’s just say necessity is the mother of invention. When developing a training course whereby students would actually perform the installation, I concluded that the SBS 2003 source installation files should be located on a second partition. Why? Because this prevented delays in the class when students forgot to swap discs (e.g., students take a coffee break and the machine simply waits for the next disc). Also, hard disk input/output (I/O) is
significantly faster than CD disc I/O, resulting in a faster, in-class SBS installation experience. (This is important when you’re trying to teach SBS 2003 in a one-day course format, let me tell you!)
Second, if your server is a late-model cream puff, to borrow terms from the automotive industry, you might be able to use the DVD media that ships with SBS 2003. This single DVD disc contains all of the SBS source installation media at a single source. Unfortunately, most of my small business clients don’t drive such cream puffs, but you get the point here: A late model server machine may well have a DVD device installed, saving setup time.
The Exchange Server 2003 Pre-Prep Maneuver
Another hidden hook in the SBS 2003 setup process is to save time in the later steps by “pre-preparing” Active Directory for Exchange Server 2003. You may recall that one of the longest phases in the later part of the SBS 2003 setup process was the amount of time Exchange Server 2003 took to modify the Active Directory schema. This time can be minimized (but not completely eliminated) by running a command after the Windows Configuration routine early in the SBS 2003 setup phase completes. Here are the steps to run this command that modifies the Active Directory schema for Exchange Server 2003 before the SBS Setup Wizard proceeds to install the applications.
1 Place SBS Setup Disc #2 in the CD drive on the SBS server machine.
2 Assuming you are logged on as the Administrator, click Start, Run, Browse.
3 Navigate to the following location: \exchsrvr65\setup\i386\setup.exe. Click Open to close the Browse dialog box.
4 In the Open field of the Run dialog box, append the command with /Forest Prep, so the total command would appear as \exchsrvr65\setup\i386\setup.exe /Forest Prep.
5 Click OK and the command will execute. The Active Directory schema will be prepared for Exchange Server 2003.

So the big question is, why would you do this? Simply stated, you would do this if you wanted to save time during the last part of the SBS setup process. I’ve done this so that when I demonstrate the SBS setup process to clients and
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students, we don’t have to spend up to (or more than) 30 minutes watching Exchange Server 2003 prepare the Active Directory schema. Let me tell you, when you are in front of a crowd, those minutes seem like hours!
Unsupported Devices
Every SBS installation has a right way and a wrong way to do it. There is the easy way and the hard way. There is the “follow the rules way” and the “break the rules” way. Surprisingly, you’re likely to try, suffer, cheer, celebrate, and curse all approaches during your tenure as an SBS guru. So far, I’ve demonstrated only the SPRINGERS methodology for installing SBS (which I believe to be a “best practices” methodology for installing SBS). Now, and I’m addressing the most advanced guru SBSers amongst us, let’s break the rules and understand why you would do so.
Without question, one of the greatest SBS installation challenges today is that of managing your library of current drivers from third-party vendors. By that I mean, when you install and maintain SBS, you have the latest drivers from the vendors of the components attached to your system. This is extremely important because operating systems are built and released at a certain point in time. Although the periodic release of service packs allows the operating system to refresh its library of drivers, in no way can an operating system hope to ship with the latest and most current drivers from all of the third-party vendors. It’s a common and daunting challenge that confronts system engineers everywhere.
What’s the bottom line? If you have unusual or new drivers, you need to specify F6 when installing SBS in the early character-based setup screen (immediately after the character-based setup process commences, which would be while disk 1 is still in the floppy drive if you selected to set up SBS with the four disks instead of booting directly from the CD disc) when you are asked to specify additional controller and adapter cards. And when you communicate that you want to specify drivers, you often have to specify the drivers for existing controller and adapter cards, because the setup’s auto-detection has not been stopped. That is, once you press F6, you’ll likely have to specify all controller and adapter cards, not just the unsupported one you were trying to add.
BEST PRACTICE: So of course there must be a Texas tale to
accompany this section, and here it is. There I was on a sweaty
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summer Saturday afternoon installing SBS (prior version, but example still applies here) at an accounting firm called “CFO2Go” in Bothell, Washington. For some strange reason, the SBS installation kept “hanging” or stopping right when the networking components were being installed. It was all very strange and I tried the setup a couple of times. No luck. I even tried installing the DNS, DHCP, and WINS services manually thinking something was hung up there. Heck, I even tried manually installing Terminal Services in Remote Administration Mode. Lo and behold, it turns out the SCSI card was an older Adaptec brand card that had been misidentified by the underling Windows operating system during setup (this was actually Windows 2000 Server). Once I downloaded the correct and supported Adaptec driver for Windows 2000 Server, it worked just fine and I was able to sail right past my blockage. Clearly this isn’t an SBS 2003 example, but is included here for reference purposes to help you think how you might solve some setup failures (if any should occur) in SBS 2003.

Finishing the Small Business Server 2003 (SBS) installation and a guest column! (book excerpt)

Hi gang - I am harry brelsford, the author of the Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best PRactices book. Each day I am posting up several pages of the book to have it completely posted before SBS 2008 ships or I will eat a floppy disk!
Today we COMPLETE the SBS 2003 installation and read a guest column from Frank Ohlhost!
enjoy...harrybbbb
Harry Brlesford CEO at SMB Nation wwws.smbnaiton.com
I am a Small Business Specialists! (SBSC)
# # #
BEST PRACTICE: If for some reason you’ve had a faulty installation with failed components, the Components Messages screen will be displayed describing the failure. After reading this screen, click Next to continue.
If your SBS installation was unsuccessful, you must stop and troubleshoot the failed components. Typically, a reinstallation of the failed components will cure the problem. However, I’ve had to call Microsoft’s Product Support Services (PSS) in the past to solve the really tough ones!
Specific to SBS 2003, I had a failed installed in a test lab where the second disc wasn’t detected correctly and Exchange didn’t install on the first pass. I reran the SBS 2003 setup and Exchange correctly installed on the second pass. But shortly thereafter, I noticed that the new cool company-related Public Folder (Springer Spaniels Unlimited Archive) and the company contacts (Springer Spaniels Unlimited Contacts) weren’t created because the script to create those apparently doesn’t run on a second pass of the SBS 2003 setup wizard. So I manually created these Public Folder objects (which I discuss much more in Chapter 6) and all was well. The only other setup oddity I’ve experienced to date derives from this same second pass scenario. Apparently, the Shared Fax Service, which did correctly install on “round two” wasn’t completely whole. When I clicked the Configure Fax link from the To Do List, the fax configuration wizard failed because it said the Shared Fax Service wasn’t installed (even though it was installed and running at the time). I share these insights with you so you’ll not fall victim to your own imagination if you encounter setup problems (that is, you’re not imaging what is happening to you because it might have happened to me!).
30. Click OK when notified that setup must restart your computer. The core SBS 2003 setup is now complete. Take a bow!
BEST PRACTICE: Be sure to remove the fourth disc from the disc
drive at this point and store it safely with your other SBS 2003 media.
So assuming otherwise that all went well, let me be the first to say congratulations! You have now completed the base installation of your SBS server machine using the SPRINGERS methodology. Now, more configuration items await you.
BEST PRACTICE: After the computer restarts, SBS performs some background housekeeping duties. Don’t be alarmed. These are one­time configuration events.
SBS is completely installed. When the logon dialog box is displayed, provide your username (Administrator) and password (Husky9999!).
Time Flies (Not!)
The basic SBS setup process from Phase A to the end of Phase D should take anywhere from 90 to 240 minutes, depending on the speed of your computer. I’ve noticed installation time breaks down as follows:
Phase A — Windows 2000 Server Character-Based Setup: 15 percent
Phase B — Windows 2000 Server GUI-Based Setup: 20 percent
Phase C — SBS Installation and Setup: 60 percent
Phase D — SBS Completion and Initial Boot: 5 percent
Guest Column
CRN Test Center Review: Small Business Server 2003
By Frank J. Ohlhorst
With the release of Small Business Server 2003 expected on Oct. 9, Microsoft
has fired a shot across the bow of the SMB server appliance market. The new,
slimmed-down version of SBS 2003 standard edition offers everything most
small businesses would need, and at an attractive price point, making the product
an alternative to low-priced, proprietary server appliances.
Microsoft has gone to great lengths to integrate key back-office applications
into SBS 2003, without overly complicating the product, reducing initial setup
to less than 15 minutes when purchased with OEM server hardware bundles.
Aggressive hardware bundling deals from leading server vendors should bring
the overall cost of a new five-user SBS 2003 standard edition server to less than
$1,500, while the reduction in administrative and setup chores helps to greatly
reduce installation costs.
SBS 2003 standard edition combines Windows Server 2003 with Exchange
2003, Share Point Services, networking, faxing, a network health monitor and
several other components aimed at easing administration and setup. The premium
edition adds ISA Server, SQL Server and a specialized edition of BizTalk 2004. Both versions of SBS 2003 are limited to single-server installations and 75 users.
CRN Test Center engineers put SBS 2003 standard edition through its paces and were impressed with the improvements offered. Starting with an HP Proliant server configured with an OEM install of SBS 2003 standard edition, Test Center engineers were able to set up a basic SBS 2003 network in less than 45 minutes, including configuring Internet access, VPN connectivity and five user accounts.
The basic installation process shows that Microsoft has accepted the fact that many businesses now use broadband connections that leverage broadband routers.
The Test Center used a D-Link DI-624 broadband router connected to a cable modem as the interface to the Internet. SBS 2003’s installation wizard recognized that router using universal plug and play and then offered several scenarios to best integrate the device into the network. Test Center engineers chose to have DHCP assignments remain with the D-Link router and then configured port forwarding on the router to pass specific services on to the SBS 2003 server.
The key advantage offered by that setup is that solution providers can leverage an existing hardware firewall, without overcomplicating the deployment of an SBS 2003 network. Furthermore, solution providers could choose to integrate a broadband security appliance into the mix to perform content filtering, ant-virus filtering and antispam technology. In the past, most of those services were installed directly on the server, impacting performance and further complicating deployments.
Setting up VPN access was just as easy. Test Center engineers simply used the “configure remote access” wizard found on the setup “to do” list to add VPN functionality. That wizard offered to use DHCP assignments from the D-Link router, further simplifying setup. The only caveat concerned setting up appropriate port forwarding on the router to pass PPTP VPN traffic on to the server.
Solution providers looking to support SBS 2003 networks remotely will appreciate not only the ease of VPN setup, but also the inclusion of remote desktop support. That feature can be set up to work with or without VPN
functionality. Furthermore, SBS 2003 offers the ability to establish remote desktop connections to Windows XP professional workstations located on the network. That feature adds the ability to establish a remote workforce or to remotely troubleshoot desktop options. Microsoft could have scored big if that connectivity could have been extended to Windows XP’s Remote Assistance capability, a true remote control application suitable for remote training and support. For those wanting true remote control, products such as PCanywhere or GotomyPC will be required.
One of the limitations often encountered by broadband users is the lack of a static public IP address. That limitation prevents the registration of public domain name that can be assigned to the SBS 2003 server. Test Center engineers overcame that problem by using Tzolkien’s TZO service, a Dynamic DNS provider. That service runs as a small client application on the server and associates a domain name with the assigned public IP address and updates that association whenever an ISP issues a new IP address to a broadband connected device. For those looking to host Web sites, or use services remotely, Dynamic DNS becomes a key add-on element.
Simplicity abounds throughout SBS 2003. Wizards to add users, set up shares, modify security and many other tasks ensure that even a technician with basic knowledge can deploy SBS 2003. The product’s enhanced simplicity does come at a cost for solution providers: a reduction in billable installation and configuration hours, along with a reduction in billable support costs. But, that is also the case with most server appliances on the market at this time.
For most businesses, the combination of the standard edition of SBS 2003 and a broadband router should be adequate and offers probably the best platform for business tasks. Solution providers should only consider the premium edition if there is a distinct need for SQL Server or if it is possible to leverage business-process management chores using BizTalk. All things considered, SBS 2003 hits the nail on the head when it comes to networking small businesses.

SBS 2003 Setup Wizard up to Windows Configuration page (book excerpt)

I am harry brelsford, the author of Windows Small Business SErver 2003 Best Practices (the purple book). I am posting up several pages a day until SBS 2008 ships. Enjoy the read!
harrybbbbb
Harry Brelsford, CEO of SMB NAtion, www.smbnation.com
# # #
17. Complete the Company Information page with the information con­tained in Table 2-4 (prior chapter) for SPRINGERS. Your screen should look similar to Figure 3-14. Click Next.
Figure 3-14
Complete the Company Information screen to match what you see here.
BEST PRACTICE: Complete as many fields as possible on all SBS setup dialog boxes when you set up your own SBS machine. Much of this information, known as metainformation, is used in other places within SBS for the life of the system.
Note that in SBS 2003 the Company Information screen contains telephony information. In SBS 2000, a separate telephony screen would have followed. SBS 2003 has eliminated the Product Information screen at this point, which required you to reenter the registered user name, the company name, and the product key. This is now accomplished in the Windows Server 2003 GUI setup phase.
BEST PRACTICE: You should be aware of the More Information button at the lower part of each page. Click More Information and you are presented a worksheet and a help topic for the screen being displayed. Initially introduced in SBS 2000, this is a big improvement over SBS 4.5, where only a few screens had the More Information button. More important, the More Information buttons help you install SBS 2003 correctly if you are unsure about a setting.
Notes:
18. Be careful on the Internal Domain Information page to overwrite the default naming information to reflect SpringersLTD.local as the internal domain name in the Full DNS name for internal domain field. In the NetBIOS domain name field, type SPRINGERSLTD. Leave the computer name as SPRINGERS1. Your screen should look simi­lar to Figure 3-15. Click Next.
BEST PRACTICE: You may read a doctoral thesis on internal and external domain naming by clicking the More Information button on the Internal Domain Information screen.
Figure 3-15
Carefully complete the fields on the Internet Domain Information screen as you will commit these names in a moment.
19. On the Local Network Adapter Information page, select the net­work adapter card that you want to be the attached to the local area network. This is shown in Figure 3-16. Click Next.
Figure 3-16
Select the network adapter card you want to use for the local area network. The other card is temporarily disabled.
Notes:
20. Accept the default IP address (192.168.16.2) and the Class C
(255.255.255.0) subnet mask on the Local Network Adapter Con­figuration page. This is shown in Figure 3-17. Click Next.
Figure 3-17
Verify your information matches on this Local Network Adapter Configuration page before proceeding.
BEST PRACTICE: Here again I weave in a pocket MBA SBS/SMB consulting best practice that each of your SBS networks should be the same (even if you only have one!). One place to make each network the same is screen in Figure 3-17 where you accept the default IP addressing.


21. Accept the default selection of Log on automatically and type Husky9999! in the Password field on the Logon Information page. Click Next. This allows you to walk away from the two reboots of the SBS 2003 server machine during setup and have the setup process con­tinue automatically.

22. The Windows Configuration page appears alerting you that the next configuration stage may take up to 30-minuntes to complete (Figure 3­18). Click Next.

Figure 3-18
The Windows Configuration approval screen.
BEST PRACTICE: This Windows Configuration stage SBS 2003 replaces the Baseline Scenario stage in SBS 2000. At this stage, you’ve committed the computer name and the domain name on the server
machine. Instead of taking 30 minutes, completing this stage takes closer to 15 minutes. So go get a strong cup of coffee!
Figure 3-19
Observe the progress of critical foundation components being installed for SBS 2003 on the Component Progress screen.
Notes:

SBS 2003 Setup Wizard - excerpt from Windows Small Business SErver 2003 Best Practices

SBS 2003 Setup Wizard - excerpt from Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices book
Posted on June 11, 2008 by harrybrelsford Edit
hello - I am harry brelsford, author of the Windows Small Business SErver 2003 Best PRactices book and I am posting up my book a few pages per day for your consumption. Hope to have it all posted by the time SBS 2008 ship
harrybbbb
Harry Brelsford, CEO of SMB Nation, www.smbnation.com
###
15. Additional computer files are copied and installed and more configu­ration activity occurs. The installation is “finalized” as shown in a bullet point on the left in Figure 3-9.
Figure 3-9
The underlying Windows Server 2003 installation autopilots at this points and completes the operating system installation.
16. You are instructed to press Ctrl-Alt-Delete at the Welcome to Win­dows dialog box. The Log On to Windows dialog box appears. After you log on as Administrator (remember the password is Husky9999!), a dialog box will appear advising you that setup files are being copied to a temporary directory, followed by another dialog box communicat­ing that 40 separate installation components are being loaded. A few minutes later, you are greeted by the initial SBS setup screen that is titled Continuing Microsoft Small Business Server Setup, Click Next (but first read and honor the next two BEST PRACTICES).
Figure 3-10
The SBS 2003 installation continues.
BEST PRACTICE: Depending on the hardware you have installed on your system, such as a USB device, plug-and-play device, or PCI-based device, you might see the Add New Hardware Wizard. If such is the case, complete the wizard and return to the screen in Figure 3-10.
BEST PRACTICE: You now need to configure the second drive area (Drive D) for storing data. In order to do this, click Start, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, expand Storage, and click Disk Management. Right click on the D: volume and select Format. The Format D: dialog box appears. Name the volume DATA in the Volume Label field, confirm NTFS as the default file system, keep the Allocation unit size as Default and select Perform
a quick format. Click OK. Click OK on the warning notice you receive. Take a few deep breathes while the formatting completes and then close the Computer Management window.
An interesting historical note for you: In SBS 2000, you had to format Drive D no later than this point (you could have also formatted it back in the character-based phase at the partition screens). But SBS 2003 is more forgiving! I’ve found that you can configure Drive D as late as after the reboot after the Windows Configuration stage (in several steps) and have it be recognized by the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server Setup wizard. That improvement reflects the fact the setup wizard remains much more dynamic (and less static or fixed) in SBS 2003 compared to the predecessor SBS 2000 version. Jolly good show!
So perhaps you’re feeling unwelcome in SBS 2003 at this point. In the step
above in SBS 2000, you received a “Welcome” notice instead of the word “Continuing.” So perhaps SBS 2003 isn’t as warm and fuzzy during setup, but don’t let that prevent you from marching forward! OK—when you see the belated SBS 2003 “Welcome” message, click Next.
Notes:
BEST PRACTICE: At this point, you might well receive an informational, warning, or a blocking message on the Setup Requirements page (Figure 3-11) indicating your machine doesn’t satisfy some SBS setup requirement. First and foremost, understand that such messages appear depending on machine settings, so one SBS setup on a specific machine might vary from another SBS setup on another machine (the point being you might receive a warning or blocking message on one machine and not the other).
Figure 3-11
Messages are displayed which must be addressed.
As a general rule, a warning message does not stop the SBS setup routine and can be cured immediately. A blocking message is typically more severe and will require more extensive remedial action on your behalf. In Figure 3-11, a network adapter isn’t present and the installation can not continue. This must be fixed.
Just for giggles, I show another Setup Requirements screen I encountered that relates to supported processors in SBS 2003 (Figure 3-12). You will recall that SBS 2003 supports two physical processors and that is the configuration on the HP/Compaq ML-350 at SPRINGERS. But the ML-350 server machine also supports hyper-threading, defined in the next paragraph.
Figure 3-12
A warning message communicates to you that only two processors are supported.
Hyper-threading allows a single processor to act as two processors. When you install SBS 2003 on a machine with two physical processors that support hyper-threading (in effect telling the operating system you have four processors), you’ll receive the error message in 3-12. This is unique to SBS 2003 because it uses the standard version of Windows Server 2003 (which natively supports four processors), but then caps the processor support at two. The hyper-threading issue kinda throws SBS 2003 into a mild tizzy and it generates the two processor warning message.
But, just to add fuel to the fire, even though you received a warning message on a two processor machine using hyper-threading (causing SBS 2003 to believe you have more physical processors), SBS 2003 will actually exploit and use the two physical processors and the two “virtual” processors. I prove this by showing you Figure 3-13 where all “four” processors are active.
Figure 3-13
The Performance tab on Windows Task Manager (select from right-clicking Start task bar) shows four busy processors on the SPRINGERS SBS 2003 server machine.
Finally, SBS 2003 has a warning message if you only have one network adapter card installed. That is because Microsoft, in its endeavor to promote security best practices everywhere, wants you to have two network adapter cards to take advantage of the basic firewall capabilities included in SBS 2003. More on that topic in Chapter 5.
And, of course, if you did not receive a warning or blocking message, you will proceed with the setup.

SBS 2003 Setup Steps - excerpt form Windows Small Business SErver 2003 Best PRactices book

I am harry brelsford, the author of Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices, and my goal is to post up a few pages per day of my book for your enjoyment. I hope to have the entire book posted by the time SBS 2008 ships.
thanks...harrybbbb
Harry Brlesford CEO of SMB Nation www.smbnation.com
# # #

SBS Setup
Ladies and gentleman, it’s time to rock and roll, SBS 2003 style!
1. Insert the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Disc 1 in disc drive and turn on your computer. Boot from the disc (typically pressing any key will do) to do this. The POST stage will complete and the setup character-based setup phase commences (numerous setup files will load for several minutes).
BEST PRACTICE: Immediately after the character-based setup commences at this step, you will note language at the bottom of the screen that asks you to “Press F6 if you need third-party SCSI or RAID driver.”
There are several issues concerning this message. First, if you are using an unsupported SCSI or RAID disk controller, you would indeed press F6 at this point and provide the manufacturer’s driver on a floppy disk. This is straightforward enough. However, I’ve installed SBS 2003 on HP/Compaq systems which had SCSI and RAID controllers without having to hit F6. How can this be, you ask? Easy. The SCSI or RAID controllers were supported by the
underlying Windows Server 2003 operating system with its native drivers (many of which were supplied by leading hardware manufacturers and burned on SBS CD Disc 1). This can also be a function of the OEM setup process used by major hardware manufacturers such as HP/Compaq.
Also note that I assume you have configured the hard disk to be used by the RAID subsystem as I discussed earlier in the chapter. (This is where you add the hard disks to the array using the steps provided by the computer manufacturer during the POST startup in the computer boot phase.)
Note when I installed SBS 2003 on the HP ProLiant ML-350, it had native support for SBS 2003 and pressing F6 was not necessary.
2. On the Welcome to Setup screen press Enter to setup the server for SPRINGERS.
Welcome to Setup. This portion of the Setup program preparesMicrosoft Windows to run on your computer.
To set up Windows now, press ENTER.
To repair a Windows installation using Recovery Console, press R.
To quit Setup without installing Windows, press F3

3. The Windows Licensing Agreement screen appears. After reading this license agreement, press F8 to agree to the license and continue. If you don’t agree to the licensing, the setup will terminate.
BEST PRACTICE: At this point, if you are installing on a machine that has a previous edition of Windows Server 2003 installed on it, you would receive a message that you could quit the installation (by pressing F3,) repair the Windows installation (by pressing R), or hit the escape key (ESC) to not perform a repair and proceed.
In the case of SPRINGERS, you would not be confronted with this screen as I assume you are starting with a new server machine that had not previously had Windows installed on it.
4. Assuming you have a new hard disk, you see the following hard disk partitioning screen. The actual space value (MB) varies depending on how large your hard disk is. In this case with SPRINGERS, the hard disk is a 34 GB RAID array. You will create two partitions based on the configuration information from Chapter 2 (see Table 2-4). The partition for the operating system and core applications will be 10 GB and denoted as Drive C. The data partition (Drive D) will be 20 GB. As you religiously follow the SPRINGER methodology, note how you can vary the partition sizes to reflect your hard disk capac­ity (which might be different from my setup). Also – later on after you’ve completed this book and the SPRINGERS methodology, you’ll want to evaluate that partition sizes work best for you in the real world. I’d always have a 10 GB system partition or larger to accom­modate growth, service pack installations and so on. Meanwhile, back at the SPRINGERS methodology, click C to create a partition (you will first create the 10 GB system partition).
The following list shows existing partitions and unpartitioned space on this computer.
Use UP and DOWN ARROW keys to select an item in the list.
To install Windows on the selected item, press ENTER.
To create a partition in the unpartitioned space, press C.
To delete the selected partition, press D.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 34493 MB Disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on scsi (MBR) Unpartitioned space 34493 MB — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
5. On the screen below, enter 10000 (that is ten thousand) in the Create partition of size (in MB): field. Press Enter.
You have asked Setup to create a new partition on 34493 MB Disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on scsi (MBR).
To create the new partition, enter a size below and pressENTER.
To go back to the previous screen without creating thepartition, press ESC.

The minimum size for the new partition is 8 megabytes (MB). The maximum size for the new partition is 34493 megabytes (MB).Create partition of size (in MB): 10000


6. On the screen below, press C and create a 20 GB partition which will be the DATA partition (basically repeat the step above to do this). Upon returning, select the new C: drive partition and press Enter to install Windows Server and (in several steps) SBS on the newly cre­ated 10GB (approximately) system partition.
7. Select Format the partition using the NTFS file system on the screen that appears and press Enter. The formatting process will com­mence and take several minutes. Setup files are then loaded, a reboot occurs, and the character-based phase of the setup commences.
The partition you have chosen is not unformatted.Setup will now format the partition.
Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to move the highlight to the file system you want and then press ENTER.
If you want to select a different partition for Windows,press ESC.
Format the partition using the NTFS file system(Quick). Format the partition using the FAT file system (Quick).Format the partition using the NTFS file system. Format the partition using the FAT file system.
BEST PRACTICE: Because you are following the beloved SPRINGERS methodology, you will indeed have seen the screen in step #7 above. However, if you were installing SBS in a scenario where you installed to an existing formated hard disk partition, you would not see the screen in step #7 because it would not be necessary to format the partition.
Setup now formats the hard disk partition you have just created. This formatting process takes several minutes. Feel free to get a cup of coffee to pass the time. After the formatting is complete, the computer’s hard disks will be inspected for hard disk errors.
After the initial partition formatting has been completed, numerous Windows Server 2003-related files (.inf, .exe, .dll, .wav, .sys, .fon, .hlp) are copied over to the newly NTFS for­matted partition. A screen will appear briefly, communicating the newly copied files are bein initialized.