On Public Preview - Setup and Protection

The first time you boot up the system from the SBS 2008 install DVD, you'll notice a significant difference between this installation process and previous SBS installs. There is no integrated setup.. This comes partially from the image-based setup routines of Windows Server 2008, and partially from design decisions by the development team. Gone are the days where you can "customize" your SBS install, save for a very few items. In reality, about the only things you can configure during setup are the layout of the hard drives, the name of the server,  the name of the default administrator account, and the internal domain name, and even the latter is restricted to certain limitations for you by default.

In general, I'm not opposed to this move. By ensuring a consistent installation across all builds of SBS 2008, the development team has hopefully reduced some of the support calls that will come into Microsoft. One of the more frustrating things for me personally when I'm called in to provide support on an SBS box for a partner is seeing an SBS 2003 box installed without Exchange. Or without Sharepoint. Or without any of the tools that make the box an SBS box and not just another Windows Server 2003 box. Knowing that all the parts and pieces at least started out on the server (yes, you can go into Add/Remove Programs and pull out specific pieces after installation - more on that later) should reduce some of the support footprint moving forward.

So you want to install SBS so that user data, Exchange, and Sharepoint exist on a different volume or partition on the server? No problem. You just won't do that during installation. You'll get to use the Move Data wizards to relocate those features elsewhere on the server after installation completes. But during the installation process, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, gets put on C:. Don't want Exchange on C:? Move it after installation. Don't want user shared folders on C:? Move it after install. Don't want the core OS on C:? Won't happen in this version. Everything goes on C:. Period.

That includes the trial editions of Windows Live OneCare and Forefront Security for Exchange, and this is where I take issue with the installation process, although I undestand it's really more an issue with marketing. The SBS 2008 propeganda includes anti-virus/anti-malware/anti-spam protection for the server as a feature. This "feature" is a pre-installed 120-day trial for these two products. Personally, I don't plan to install or use either of these products, because my operation already has products we use with our existing customer base that we will be putting on new installations. I will be going through the extra steps at the end of the installation to remove these two products from the server (through Add/Remove programs), and I really wish I didn't have to. I fully understand that Microsoft wants to get more into the subscription businss through these two products (both Windows Live OneCare and Forefront Security for Exchange are subscription products, not "package"products), but I hate that they're included in the install as "features" that don't work until you activate them, and I have no way to say "Hey, I don't want that stuff on my server to begin with." How many times have we gone through the uninstall process on a piece of software, only to have that software leave some trace of itself behinnd?  I have not played enough wiht OneCare/Forefront to know how much of the products are left on the box after install, but it is something I will be looking into.

I would rather see Microsoft include the installers for OneCare and Forefront on the SBS installation DVD and give the installer the option to go back after the server is set up, but that would lead to fewer installs of the products, and therefore fewer subscriptions, so I don't see that going away. (Yes, even though the product is in public beta and is called "Release Candidate 0," there is still a possibility that some aspects of the software could change before the final build is released. So it's possible that this behavior could change, but I'm not holding my breath.) It's just that System Builders are given the option to not include OneCare and Forefront when they pre-load a server with SBS 2008, and I think the VARs should be given that option as well. I fully understand that Microsoft still wants to push SBS 2008 as a user-installable product, and for the DIY market, I'm OK with giving them some sort of protection right out of the box, knowing full well that many DIYers never got around to installing anti-virus/anti-malware on their SBS 2003 boxes. But let's not force it down the VAR's throat.

My last note on setup deals with the Answer File. The SBS development team put together a tool to create an Answer File that SBS setup will use to "customize" the installation process. And by "cusomize" I mean "pre-populate the answer file with data that would otherwise be collected in the GUI portion of the SBS setup." You can run teh Answer File Generator Tool and enter the name of the server, the name of the default administrator, even the location information for the company. The answer file is also the only place you'll be able to customize the internal domain name for the network. By default,all SBS 2008 installs prompt for an internal name, but the name entered is a NetBIOS formatted name, and .local will be added to the end of the name. So if you enter CONTOSO in the field, the internal domain name will be CONTOSO.local. If you want to use .lan or even the public DNS name (and no, I'm not getting into that religious debate here), you'll need to employ the answer file to get a non-.local internal domain name.

As a programming note, some of the "how to" steps for issues described in these posts will be available on the Lessons Learned site. And all of it will be covered in the SBS 2008 Unleashed book, tentatively scheduled for release at the same time as SBS 2008.