THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA"

iTWire - How Linux is keeping Microsoft honest (and why SBS sucks):
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20579/1141/1/0/

So David, love the title of the article, you got my eyeballs looking at it.  Congrats on that.  First and foremost can we put one myth to rest?  SBS 'can' have a second domain controller.  Always has been able to do this.  And with every version that comes out and that old wives tale WILL NOT DIE it pains me that consultants continue to hone in on something that is DEAD WRONG.

I can understand your "suckage" comment when you indicate that you are having to merge servers coming from an SBS network into a larger domain network because they don't do trusts.  But it seems to me that the folks who can handle PowerShell and Linux should be able to handle such tasks.

"A large part of my work is integrating the infrastructures of companies that have joined via mergers and acquisitions."  Yes, that is expected.   "SBS is always a nuisance; it always has to be replaced because, frankly, it is just no use in a wide area network."  Agreed it is designed to be the server in a small firm, not a WAN.  Read the documentation, it's not hiding the fact that this is the job it was designed for.  " It is no use in an environment where redundant domain controllers are desired."  GAWD CAN'T WE PUT THAT MYTH TO REST ONCE AND FOR ALL PEOPLE?  WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO KILL THAT MYTH OFF FOLKS?  YOU WANT ADDITIONAL DOMAIN CONTROLLERS... SBS CAN DO IT.  "It is no use when the user count exceeds its limit."  Well duh.  Like I said 75 users or devices, after that get the transition pack to put the SBS box back to Windows Server and go on your merry way.

"So why do people use SBS? The answer is simple. "   Wanna know my answer?  It works.  It provides my firm with the right balance of needs, solutions and features.  And it does so in an economic way that I don't have some command line guy sitting there for hours trying to set up Outlook over Http that is done OUT OF THE BOX FOR ME.  I don't have time to pay for an IT consultant to learn PowerShell command lines to set up a box the way they want to.  I want a solution.  I want Remote Web Workplace because it's a more secure solution than VPN is.

"Yet, these consultants are not doing their clients any favours. The customer could be told there’s another option. Why restrict yourselves with the clamps that SBS imposes? A Linux server would impose absolutely no software costs but yet provide a full server operating system, with file sharing, with printer sharing, with directory services, with e-mail, with web and intranet, with a firewall, with a database server. There are no limitations on the number of users. There are no more licensing fees. There are no scalability concerns. And there’s more money to then spend on the hardware."
Okay but my line of business applications need a windows server to reside on.  Now what?  And I need Remote Web Workplace.  Now what?  And I need a sync to my smart phones.  Now what?  Now I know you can either point to a Nitix solution or Clark as a potential competitor or cobble up a collection of products that will come close.  I want a supported solution with enough consultants and community around so that when either I or my consultants get hit by a Bus that my firm will not be dependent on one person.  The Ubuntu and Linux communities for the small business server world are just not comparable.  As platforms for small busienss, they are close, but they are no cigar.  I'm speaking from a business owner when I say that that has looked at other solutions and not from a Consultant with a vested interest is selling licenses.

There's firms like mine that want to stay in the sweet spot of seat size of SBS.  We pass on mergers.  We don't want to grow big.  One of my partners has been in a big firm, we don't want that size.  This boutique size of small firms is exactly what makes SBS still a solid product.  With SBS 2008 the biggest competitor it has is not Ubuntu, RedHat or SuSe but a nicely running SBS 2003 box.  That's the biggest competition for SBS 2008.  Even hosted Email and SaaS might be a larger competitor.

If you would have argued from a standpoint of hosted applications and on premises servers you would have earned more points. 

Try again on the Suckage.  Next time less emphasis on the mergers angle as many small firms don't do that.