MS Small Business Server 2000

You are advised not to take the small in its name too literally! It is based around a Windows 2000 Server installation and is complete in all respects, down to Active Directory and IIS 5.0. The software comes as a 4-CD pack plus a CD for Outlook 2000 . The complete software is also provided on a single
DVD.

The installation procedure is straightforward but time consu- ming. It is recommended to put in lots of RAM (at least 512 MB). You will also need around 2.5 GB of hard disk space to install the complete package. The package also supports Windows 2000 Server features like multiprocessor support and RAID. The hard disk is formatted in NTFS file system and network details like domain name, and server names are taken as inputs during installation.

Once through, the following applications are installed–Microsoft Exchange 2000 and SQL 2000 server, the Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA), FrontPage 2000, and shared fax and modem services. The SBS Server will then function as a domain controller and run all these services. The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is the administrative interface for managing all the features in SBS 2000. This comes in two flavors–Personal (for basic users) and Administrator (for IT administrators). Users and computer accounts can be added, and is based on the ADS. An added advantage is that while adding computers to the domain, the administrator can deploy Outlook 2000 and custom client software for the shared modem and fax services on the newly-added machines.

Wizards for configuring ISA server and features like remote access are simplified. The management console also features a health monitor. Threshold alerts can also be put in place to trigger e-mail notifications or execute specified commands.

Technically, in ess-ence, this solution is a tweaked version of an assortment of Microsoft’s existing products. From a deployment and cost point of view, the SBS 2000 might be too ‘heavy’ a solution for smaller establishments, with less than fifty users. Otherwise, it is a single point solution providing most business networking needs.

Ashish Sharma