THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA"

And no the answer I'm not looking for is 75 users or 75 devices which could mean hundreds of potential users....how many Accountants can use a network built around a SBS server as a foundation?

Well according to engineers at Dell, not 35 beancounters.  It drives me crazy when Dell or any dealer blows past the 'sweet spot' of SBS... the range of about 20 to 40 users and tells folks that SBS cannot handle multi server environments.

Let's review what is the killer apps of SBS and why... if you are in that 'sweet spot' of head count... you really and truly need to question your sanity as to why you are passing this up.

• Monitoring email - the daily in your face to the admin email that keeps me aware of what's going on in your network.  Don't get it anywhere else but SBS.
• Remote Web Workplace - just enough connectivity but not enough connectivity.  Get those boxes on XP inside the office [which I would argue you SHOULD anyway - and dude... the benefits of remote access are just too good to pass up
• The wizards... someone the other day was asking about changing the IP and I said we had a wizard for that among other things... at the end of the conversation... he was joking..what DON'T you have a wizard for?  The point is they make our lives easier...don't fight them ...they are the 'tao' of SBSland.

Now then... let's review what we can add to a SBS server to make it fully workable ..and I would argue the one to choose in a firm that is in that sweet spot ...but still need the multi-server setup.

• Can we add member servers?  Yes.
• Can we add servers to be a Terminal server? Yes.
• Can we add servers to be a dedicated LOB SQL server?  Yes.
• Do we need server CALs for these?  Nope.  Covered by the SBS server EULA.

Right now the biggest drawback to SBS 2003 is honestly the size of our Exchange...16 measly gigs of space...BUT the fabulistic news is that in Exchange 2003 sp2 [due out later this year] this goes up to 75 gigs.

As a general rule of thumb... I would argue about 1-25 people need one server ...yes you read that right ... I said one person....as someone installed a SBS 2003 server for just one person as he wanted OMA/Smart phone sync ability [which ... I must admit...is really cool].  25 to 40 you probably want a second server...or... your line of business application forces you to a second server.  Regardless... I am proof positive that making the SBS as your 'base' and adding servers makes sense.

P.S... need to migrate 'into' SBS? We can do that one too.