THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS DIVA

 For any server that you are thinking is a candidate for a SBS 2003 to SBS 2011 migration, next time you are doing maintenance, download two things as these are prereq's for migration to SBS 2011 standard.

1.  Powershell from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=188528

2. Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2.0 from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=188529

You'll need them both as part of the migration from SBS 2003 to SBS 2011

That said I should warn you that installing these puts a new section in the monitoring email.  Not to worry though.

These news pieces kill me...

Microsoft sees cloud opportunities for full gamut of users | Cloud Computing - InfoWorld:
http://infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/microsoft-sees-cloud-opportunities-full-gamut-users-638

"Certainly small and medium[-size] businesses see the value of [Office 365], because today they really just don't even have access to this technology. They don't have the skills internally to run it. But larger enterprises are seeing the value too," Kelly said.

It's called hiring a consultant, sir, or a MSP or whatever you want to call hiring someone to install solutions that are in the markeplace today.  When SBS 2011 releases next month Small Businesses will have access to Exchange 2010 before you RTM Office 365 based on Exchange 2010. 

We do have access to the technology.  And I'm not convinced that we won't need help with Office 365 technology to do exactly what we need to do with it (and are used to doing with it) with our on premise stuff.

For example, show me a small business and I'll show you a firm that normally has multiple domains and aliases.  Show me how you do that out of the box with no consultant help with Office 365.

Show me a small business and I'll show you a firm that is already cobbling up hybrid solutions of dropbox and jungledisk and what not.

http://www.msteched.com/2010/Europe/COS208-LNC   Don't get me wrong Office 365 is interesting, but there's also a lot of vendors doing Exchange 2010 hosting now.

Today I debugged a workstation and was surprised by the trigger of the issue.

We have a tax software at the office called Lacerte.  And we had an issue on one workstation where anytime he clicked around the workstation it would do the line of business equivalent of a 'dr. watson' like report.  Mind you it wouldn't close the program, just want to send an annoying error message to the vendor all the time.  The error message hinted at a video issue and said "list out of bounds". 

So today was the day to debug it. 

We booted into safe mode and the issue did not occur.  So then we fired up msconfig and one by one disabled everything non Microsoft until we narrowed it down.  To a piece of software I never would have thought it was.

Logitech setpoint mouse driver.  It was a 2008 era download so after determining it was that software, we went and downloaded the latest driver.  Worked perfectly with the new driver.

And here I was ready to start ripping out video cards and replacing them with other vendor models.

Don't forget the power of msconfig and safe mode.

Getting a cert on a Win7 phone can be done... per Mike Hoffman on the SBS2k list:

1)      File access is only via Zune sync for media
 
2)      Web access does not give options on the certificate
 
Solution
1)      Email the certificate to a different ISP
 
2)      Setup an account for that mailbox
 
3)      When you read the email you can see the attachment and import the certificate
 
4)      Done.

Bryce said that you have to export it as a p7b for Exchange 2007, then import it from another email account.

That said...

You cannot search the Global Address List with Windows Phone 7 when connecting to Exchange Server 2003:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;2463128&sd=rss&spid=1773

You think your SQL on SBS 2008 is taking up too much ram?  First off be sure to follow this blog post and do this script:

SBS 2008 Console May Take Too Long to Display Alerts and Security Statuses, Display Not Available, or Crash - The Official SBS Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2009/07/14/sbs-2008-console-may-take-too-long-to-display-alerts-and-security-statuses-display-not-available-or-crash.aspx

If you still think it's sucking up too much ram, determine which SQL instance is sucking up the ram by matching up the task to the PID in the task manager.

Find the PID

Then at a command prompt type in tasklist /svc and browse to find the PID number that matches your memory hogger.

(keep in mind in my sample this isn't that bad at all, I'm just doing this for blogging example purposes).  In my case PID of 2076 matches up to

Which is WSUS and SharePoint.

go to the SQL management studio express and right mouse click and run as admin.

Now connect to instances using certain syntax:

Servername\SBSMonitoring is the SQL instance for SBS monitoring.

The instance for SharePoint is \\.\pipe\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE\sql\query   which I can never remember so I have to google it up all the time.

Now right mouse  on the top of the  \\.\pipe\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE\sql\query and click on properties.  Now go down to the Memory section and put some throttles on it as you see fit.

Mind you I'm not sure we have come to a conclusion what we want in those max server memory sections as we did in SBS 2003 ....

(to refresh your memory --

MSFW 128
WSUS 256  (per Dr. J's blog)
SBSMonitoring  70
SharePoint  (I didn't tweak this)
If CRM is on the box, then limit SharePoint to 384

But you can certainly use those as a guide.

Yes Eriq Neale did it first  - http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2009/09/10/throttling-the-memory-on-sbs-2008.aspx but I figured this way I'll remember it better.

"No client backup in SBSv7 while Vail and Aurora have it??? C'mon, tell me you're kidding"

Nope.  I don't want client backup in SBS v7.

Let me repeat that.  I DON'T WANT CLIENT BACKUP IN SBS V7.  I have line of business apps, I have critical data,  don't want to have a client backup NAS with it's needs and wants in the same box as my databases and SQL thank you very much.

I want it, but I don't want it on the same box as everything else I'm doing in the firm.  Therefore why the Breckinridge (aka storage server essentials r2) is the right box for adding client backup to SBS v7.

Gang your SBS v7 is a DC, windows, file share, Exchange, sharepoint, kitchen sink multi tasking beast.  You don't want it to be doing client backups with all that.  It's already a VERY busy box. 

Thus look at the newly announced Breckinridge nicely written up on Sean Daniel's blog:

SeanDaniel.com - Home, Small Business Server and Related Technology: Announcing Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials:
http://sbs.seandaniel.com/2010/11/announcing-windows-storage-server-2008.html

Win7 phone and self signed certs

"There is no current way to install a self-signed certificate, and there has been no indication of if or when it might be possible"
http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/63867/391221.aspx#391221

Edit -- it is doable:

http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2010/11/09/getting-a-cert-on-a-win7-phone-can-be-done.aspx

Still make your life easier and get a third party ssl cert.

So your clients went out and bought a Win7 phone you say?   ... you'll be needing these gems:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2009/02/11/sean-daniel-how-to-install-a-godaddy-certificate-on-sbs-2008.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2007/08/21/how-to-install-a-public-3rd-party-ssl-certificate-on-iis-on-sbs-2003.aspx

Announcing Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials - The Official SBS Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2010/11/08/announcing-windows-storage-server-2008-r2-essentials.aspx

Yup we'll have a pop quiz in the morning.

After SharePoint security update MS10-039 Central Admin and web pages not working - Steve Chen [MSFT] about SharePoint mysteries and related - Site Home - TechNet Blogs:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/steve_chen/archive/2010/06/22/after-sharepoint-security-update-ms10-039-central-admin-and-web-pages-not-working.aspx#_Symptom_#3  

Either I'm totally confused or totally spazzing out on SharePoint patches tonight.

That blog says:


"Remember, applying a patch, cumulative update or service pack to SharePoint is a two-step process:

1. Install the binaries

2. Run psconfig (or SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard) to update the databases"

That's not been my experience with SharePoint updates.  When I install the patch on the real babies, I do it manually via MU.  I don't manually download it, I don't use WSUS.  I run them all by themselves using Microsoft update.  When I do that it installs the update in "quiet' mode and does the psconfig command automatically.  The log files the psconfig does is then laid down here:

• PSCDiagnostics_Datecode.log
  By default, this file is located in the "Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\12\LOGS" folder.
• Upgrade.log
  By default, this file is located in the "Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\12\LOGS" folder.

Knock on wood I've had no runs, no drips no errors with my SharePoint updating manually installing them via Microsoft update.

Open up that folder and look in that log file location

If you see "failed to initialize SharePoint upgrade" then fire up a c prompt (run as admin) get to the c:\ Program files\Common files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\bin and run a manual command of pccoinfg -cmd upgrade -inplace b2b -wait -force

The patch hasn't broken anything, it just didn't finish what it was supposed to.  When it says it cannot connect to the database, the database isn't gone, it's just not finished the patching sequence.

Why does SBS not do inplace upgrades anymore?

In a word.. E X C H A N G E. 

Because they haven't, SBS can't.

Why Migrations Instead of In-Place Upgrades? - Ask Perry - Site Home - TechNet Blogs:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/perryclarke/archive/2010/10/29/why-migrations-instead-of-in-place-upgrades.aspx

Want to know why they don't?  Watch that video. 

And in small business EVERY mailbox is a precious mailbox.

A series of posts documenting the Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 upgrade process on SBS 2008

http://supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog/archive/2010/09/20/migration-by-the-numbers-–-step-1.aspx

http://supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog/archive/2010/09/20/migration-by-the-numbers-–-step-2.aspx

http://supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog/archive/2010/09/22/migration-by-the-numbers-–-step-3.aspx

http://supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog/archive/2010/09/27/migration-by-the-numbers-–-step-4.aspx

http://supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog/archive/2010/09/27/migration-by-the-numbers-–-step-5.aspx

http://supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog/archive/2010/09/30/migration-by-the-numbers-–-step-6.aspx

http://supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog/archive/2010/11/07/migration-by-the-numbers-–-step-7.aspx

http://supportweb.ciaops.net.au/blog/archive/2010/11/07/migration-by-the-numbers-–-step-8.aspx

So what happens when you add 26 users to SBS Essentials (aka Aurora)?

It complains.

Remember it's a 25 user box.

I can confirm in testing that it does count the Admin account as a user in the 25 user counting.  It does not count the Quickbooks service account set up in the install as a user.

Sorry folks the IISreset script I do on Yoda got stuck, ergo why he's been offline a bit.

Back restarted and back to normal.

http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/paul-thurrotts-wininfo/WinInfo-Short-Takes-November-5-2010.aspx

Microsoft Announces SBS vNext Brands, Pricing

"In its typical understated way, Microsoft's Server and Tools Business (STB) unit announced the branding and pricing for its next generation Small Business Server (SBS) products. Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials (formerly codenamed Aurora) will retail for $545 but won't ship until "the first half of 2011." That product is a radical departure from previous SBS versions and targets businesses with 25 or fewer employees. SBS 7, meanwhile, is now branded as Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard and more closely resembles its predecessors. This version will retail for $1,096 when it goes on sale in December and targets businesses with 75 or fewer employees, and like previous SBS versions, it includes on-premise versions of Exchange Server and SharePoint. Both products can be expanded with a second server running the Windows Small Business Server 2011 Premium Add-On. This $1,600 package includes full licenses for Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard and SQL Server 2008 R2 for Small Business and must be run on a second server. Like SBS 2011 Standard, it ships in December. The big question is why the wait on SBS 2011 Essentials? It seems like the simpler product should be done more quickly."

Actually to be exact the premium add on doesn't HAVE to be installed on a second server.  You can in fact use the Premium sku to be a HyperV base, then load up the SBS 2011 standard as a child, then lay down a second copy of Win2k8 R2 with your SQL for small businesses as a child virtual machine as well.  With HyperV you can build a two server setup inside a HyperV.

And Paul dear, Office 365 just released into beta.  Think about it.  Sometimes simple takes time.

Case in the corner series: The crashing Add User Wizard - The Official SBS Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2010/11/04/case-in-the-corner-series-the-crashing-add-user-wizard.aspx

"This was a very strange situation, the most likely cause was that the original Default Policy had been manually renamed to the Windows SBS Email Address Policy and a subsequent service pack for Exchange tried to recreate the missing Default Policy or it could have been as simple as some incorrect manipulation of AD objects.."

The lesson to that blog post, besides calling in support when you need it, is to not muck around with the default policies and settings.  They are there for a reason.

So while we're on the topic... what's the hardware requirements for SBS Essentials?  Less than Standard as it doesn't have the need for supporting Exchange.

Also my understanding is that processor requirement is sliding down a bit before it RTMs:

You also cannot make Aurora be the HyperV parent.  It can be virtualized, but it's not supported for it to be the HyperV host.

http://onlinehelp.microsoft.com/en-us/aurora/system-requirements-1.aspx

System Requirements:

• 2.0 GHz x64 processor.
  
• 2 GB RAM
  
• At least one160 GB hard drive.
  

Hi Susan,
During the recent anouncements about SBS 2011 there's a few bits of info I have so far been unable to find.
Have you seen the hardware requirements anywhere? Also, a few months ago I heard that we will be able to use
SBS 2011 as a Hyper-V Host, do you know if this is true?
Many thanks

Just like SBS 2008, the SBS itself cannot be the HyperV Host. You can buy the Premium add on and that Win2k8 R2
can then be the host for SBS, but you can let the SBS itself be a HyperV host.

It's not supported, and the wizards will have issues.

As to the hardware requirements, they are in the preview release notes in the beta:

System requirements

Ensure that your computer meets the minimum hardware requirements listed, determine whether you need
additional hardware, and check that the drivers for your hardware are supported by the Windows Server® 
2008 R2 operating system. For information about compatible hardware, see the Windows Server Catalog Web site
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125619).

Hardware requirements

As you prepare your hardware for installation, decide how to partition the drives on your server. As a best practice, for increased
performance and easier backup and restoration, add the system and data partitions on separate physical drives. At a minimum,
you should create one partition (the C:\ partition) for the operating system and applications, and then create a separate partition for
data. As an option, you might consider using redundant storage technologies, such as RAID5 or RAID1, to help protect your data.

MINI Space - Blog - Limited Edition “MINI rocks sonoro” Internet Radio: Maximum Sound Meets Minimalist Design - creative projects, competitions, events, thoughts and ideas, by MINI:
http://www.minispace.com/en_us/article/mini-rocks-sonoro/438/

Cool thing we got at home.  It's a radio.  It's an internet radio.  It connects to your wireless or LAN.  It plays your iPod or iPhone.

http://us-en.sonoro-audio.com/elements-w.html

So not only does this connect to the Internet, but if it's inside your local network it sees your music folders and can play the music from there as it can do media streaming (mind you it's a bit annoying to have some of your collection Apple DRM gated).

Oh, yeah.  If you noticed, it just happens to be Mini Cooper in styling.

Not that we bought it just for that reason mind you...

http://us-en.sonoro-audio.com/MINI-rocks-sonoro.html

Of course not.

I don't mean to sound crabby when it comes to marketing, but when stuff comes out that implies wrong things it annoys me.

Obviously a lot as I'm blogging about it during lunch.  So in yesterday's announcement regarding SBS 2011 Standard the pdf download said "

Which implies that shipped with SBS 2011 Standard already inside SharePoint Foundation 2010 is a license to Office Web Apps.  It's not there.  You can install Office Web Apps inside SharePoint Foundation 2010 ..which is included in SBS 2011 standard as you have the necessary buidling blocks, but the download code you need to install is not there.  You are only licensed for it if you purchase Office 2010 via volume licensing.  Furthermore people that use Office Web Apps are only legal to use it if they have an Office Professional VL license on the PC they are using.

Even in the TS2 blog they said:  "I’d like to point out that one of the key new features in the SBS 2011 Standard Edition is the update to SharePoint 2010 Foundation which brings Office Web Apps (OWA) into the picture.  " which at least is more vague so as to not imply that you just get Office Web Apps, but I think the expectations are being wrongly set here.

Just so your expectations are set, at least at this time, as of this writing, you don't get Office Web Applications natively in SBS 2011 Standard.

Edit after 7 p.m.:  So obviously crabbing/blogging about it helped a little as now it says:

But make no mistake,  it's not for free, the licensing means that every user has to have an Office 2010 VL as well:

Joining Dots: SharePoint and Office Web Apps:
http://www.joiningdots.com/blog/2010/07/sharepoint-and-office-web-apps/
"Office Web Apps are not included with retail or OEM versions of Office or with any previous version of Office. And every user who accesses documents using Office Web Apps must have a volume licenses to use Office, including third parties outside your organisation"

Okay so I'm here for another sanity check...

Arriving Now: Microsoft Partner Network & Channel Cloud Push | The VAR Guy:
http://www.thevarguy.com/2010/11/01/arriving-now-microsoft-partner-network-and-channel-cloud-efforts/

I really don't like question and answers driving through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn because you can't search the answers externally.  Facebook in particular is a gated community that you cannot use a search engine to find answers.  While I applaud MS for wanting to use alternative platforms to start conversations, I also see that sometimes these platforms lead to fragmented discussions and lack of authoritative information. 

Twitter's answer stream, all 140 characters of it, rolls off never to be able to be read again too fast.

Not everyone lives in Facebook.  Really.  Not everyone lives in Twitter.  Truly.  Not everyone uses linkedin.  Seriously. 

Sometimes I'd like there to be a DMZ zone in the middle of all of this noise. 

So?  Your thoughts?