2010 December :: Third Tier

Archive for December 2010

Dec
29

Amy Babinchak and Susan Bradley Podcast at LooksCloudy.com

by amy

Amy and Susan recorded a podcast last week for LooksCloudy a news website on Cloud computing issues for the IT Professional. In this podcast we discuss SBS 2011 and SBS Essentials and how they fit into the whole cloud movement. We discussed the various aspects of business that will impact client decision making.

Have a listen! Once at the website, click The Weather Report Podcast picture at the top of the page.

http://www.lookscloudy.com/2010/12/what-does-the-sbs-2011-release-have-to-do-with-the-cloud-listen-to-the-weather-report-podcast-to-find-out/

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0 Categories : Uncategorized

Dec
22

Third Tier Staff Named in SMB 150 List

by Third Tier

Third Tier is pleased to announce that five of our staff were named in the SMB 150 list published in the Q4 2010 issue of SMB PC Magazine. This list was compiled by SMBTN and started with almost 900 nominations and features vendors, media personalities, and other people active in the SMB IT community. Our staff who appeared on the list are:

Amy Babinchak
Steve Banks
Eriq Neale
Dave Shackelford
Wayne Small

The digital edition of the magazine can be downloaded from http://www.smbnation.com/Publications/Magazine/tabid/72/Default.aspx (free registration required to access the content).

Congratulations to Amy, Steve, Eriq, Dave, and Wayne for being named in this prestigious list!

0 Categories : Amy Babinchak, Announcement, Dave Shackelford, Eriq Neale, Steve, Wayne

Dec
21

SBS 2011 Release Party Download Available

by Third Tier

Last week’s Third Thursday webinar presentation of the SBS 2011 Release Party is now available for download from the Store page. To view the recording, download and extract the ZIP file, then open the contained folder and open the ReplayMeeting.html file.

Categories : Amy Babinchak, Eriq Neale, SBS 2011, Webinar

Dec
20

Did you miss the SBS 2011 launch party?

by amy

Amy provided Harry Brelsford of SMBNation with a summary of the happenings.

http://www.smbnation.com/Home/tabid/36/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/571/FirstReport_Small_Business_Server_2011_online_launch_party_today.aspx

Q&A from the webinar is posted to http://www.thirdtier.net/2010/12/sbs-2011-release-qa/

We are also happy to say that the recording of the webinar came out well and will be posted soon to http://www.thirdtier.net/store

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1 Categories : SBS 2011

Dec
17

SBS 2011 Standard Download Available

by Third Tier

Following this past Monday’s release of SBS 2011 Standard to manufacturing, the bits are now available for download from Technet Plus and MSDN. For those who have been wanting to take a look at it before deploying it to customers, now is your chance! Expect that the download site might be a little bogged down today, though.

1 Categories : Announcement, SBS 2011

Dec
16

SBS 2011 Release Q&A

by amy

Thank you Tim Barrett and Susan Bradley for making our SBS 2011 Release Party a success!

Prizes!

Ken – Custom, handmade Mini Cooper Gingerbread Cookie
Axel – Wireless Detector T-Shirt
Fred – Signed copy of Have U Rebooted Yet? cartoon
Joe – Kindle

Question: Is this being recorded and if so, can I access it later?
Answer: We have not had much luck with recording lately. But we’re going to try.
Question: Sounds fine here
Answer: Thanks Tom. Tim needs to change out his mic and then we’ll get started
Question: Yes-Storage Server Release Party!
Answer: Thanks!
Question: yes to storage server
Answer: Thanks!
Question: Interested in the Stroage Server Essentials
Answer: Thanks!
Question: Definitely interested in Storage Server Essentials!!
Answer: Thanks!
Question: yes I’m interested in the storage webinar
Answer: Thanks!
Question: both Essentials sessions would be good
Answer: thanks!
Question: Internet bandwidth availability, reliability and needs should also be a factor considered in addition to shop size. This is often overlooked in most presentations as it is assumed that everyone has fat bandwidth and 5-9s reliability for connectivity.
Answer: Good point Ken. Absolutely needs to be considered
Question: Deploying SBS 2011 now? Does Bes work?
Answer: I havne’t tested BES on SBS 2011 yet, so can’t answer directly. May have to wait until after SBS 2011 actually gets out and see what Blackberry’s support will be.
Question: Scenario – Customer has been waiting for a while, and customer’s business is slow now, will pick up significantly in January. Wait for 2011 bits and install in January, or use 2008 and install now?
Answer: Personally I would wait unti 2011. The customer may appreciate that their cash flow will probably also look better in January with the increased business.
Question: I see that SBS 2011 is still not available in MAPS. Any idea when we can start playing with the RTM version.
Answer: Real soon now is what we keep hearing.
Question: So are you saying that we can purchase SBS 2011 Standard and upgrade the Exchange CALs?
Answer: That is our understanding, yes.
Question: oh goodie, i can finnally pare down my 12GB Mailbox!
Answer:
Question: Is 2011 going to be better as a VM?
Answer: Better is a subjective term. From a server growth and a disaster recovery standpoint, I believe yes, a VM is a better solution. It brings some additional complexity, but performancewise the server should be pretty close to bare metal.
Question: Exchange 2003 has jounraling…
Answer: Exchange 2010 has journalling and much, much more
Question: Is this archive with retention policies a pst file, or is it somewhere in the Exchange store?
Answer: It is housed in the exchange store
Question: Can that be changed by the user, or does the admin change it, either universally or individually?
Answer: The admin sets the Exchange features
Question: Shares only on SBS box or anywhere on network?
Answer: Only shares on the SBS server.
Question: What about using hidden shares (localonly$)?
Answer: Haven’t tested that yet, we’ll check into that and report back.
Question: What’s the difference between sharing files on RWA and accessing CompanyWeb? Security wise.
Answer: From a security standpoint, very little.
Question: Can you protect a shared folder with a password?
Answer: What ever the user has access to while in the office, they have acces to remotely.
Question: Many clients are approaching the 75GB max for Exchange 2003 databae. Is it true that Exch 2010 in SBS 2011 no longer has a database limit?
Answer: There is no 75GB database limit like in Exchagne 2003, but it’s not "unlimited"
Question: I’ve got to run, will I be able to download and finish watching the rest of the presentation later? Great stuff guys…thanks
Answer: We will have the deck posted, and hopefully the recording will work and we will post it if it does.
Question: I still prefer term servers for remote access.
Answer: Thanks Tom, good idea especially from the standpoint that you have finite control of what gets enabled by default.
Question: For my clients that have SBS 2008 how do I answer the question. Why should I upgrade to SBS 2011. What value does it have to justify the cost?
Answer: SBS 2008 to 2011 upgrade (in my opinion) is a tough sell. Other than some RWA, OWA, and backup changes, it’s pretty much a version refresh. 2003 to 2011 upgrade though is a much easier sell.
Question: Is the RTM already avaliable for download, I’m a Gold Partner
Answer: Not yet, should be available "soon"
Question: Please post the SBS Build Docs URL Susan just mentioned.
Answer: www.sbswiki.info
Question: Can we see that last page with links again?
Answer: that ok?
Question: Any idea of SBS Essentials 2011 release (other than 1st half)…?
Answer: No ideas. Still waiting on additional details from Microsoft.
Question: Wasn’t there a "SBSBuilddoc.com" or something similar?
Answer: Answered live
Question: When will this be available for volume licensing?
Answer: You should be able to purchase from your disti of choice in January 2011.
Question: yeah, that’s the one I was asking for
Private Answer: Cool!
Question: When will SBS Mirgation be releasing their 2011 docs?
Answer: Don’t have an exact date, should be fairly soon, however.
Question: If you had a proposal out there for 2008, would you change to sbs2011 if they were going to do this in a month?
Answer: I think the panelists would all recommend doing 2011 instead of 2008.
Question: So, assuming the resources, would a good strategy be to set it all up in a virtual environment and then when all good, convert to physical?
Answer: I like virtual all the way (Susan here)
Question: when will SBS 2011 Standard be available on Action Pack?
Answer: It should show up in the Action Pack downloads very soon.
Question: was trying to get susan out of hot water and let her mention it :>)
Answer: oh, ok.
Question: the premium cals do not include remote desktop cals, correct?
Answer: That is correct. RD CALs always have been a separate purchase.
Question: then what do you think the pricing difference is? I hate to ‘eat’ that since the proposal just went out 2 weeks ago
Answer: I would go back to the customer and offer them the choice of 2011, but mention the price change up front. Even if the feature set doesn’t justify 2011 over 2008, 2011 has a longer support life.
Question: I’m not sure you clarified…. From SBS2008 to SBS2011 both standard. Is that a simple migration / upgrade or is that like the difficult SBS2003 to 2008
Answer: SBS 2011 is a migration, not an upgrade.
Question: I know about the 32-64 bit migration issue, yet prior to 64 bit needs, SBS (and Exchange) could upgrade on the same box. Does anyone have any idea why Microsoft chose not to allow in-place upgrading from Exchange 2008 to Exchange 2010? (Or SBS 2008 to SBS 2011)?
Answer: Answered live.
Question: Does a virtual SBS 2011 support a rotating set of USB drives for backup?
Answer: R2′s hyper v support hot swap scsi disks
Question: Do you know when the final release will be avialible on ActionPack and Technet for download for partners?
Answer: Not sure, We’ll blog when it is. We’re watching as well
Question: Can we install av trial/demo version to our customers, an
d register it when it is avaible?
Answer: Correct. Install without a key, put in the product key later just like SBS 2008
Question: For SBS2008 installations I have always purchased the Premium version so that I can virtualsie SBS2008 as a guest. Does SBS2011 standard allow virtualisation without buying the Premium version?
Answer: You need "a" Windows 2008 r2 hyperV base, Standard alone doesn’t provide this. You can install with the HyperV server (free) but I personally like the GUI
Question: OS, so it’s a migration. Is it a simple "click here and migrate" or the whole migration dance like 2003 to 2008? OK, you just answered that from Ken’s question. SO they changes the database again!
Answer: RIght, it’s a full migration. You’ll never see an in-place upgrade of an SBS product again because of a lot of changes to the way installations are done.
Question: are there any books on sbs2011 coming
Answer: Charlie Russel is working on one
Question: How many days have we got on a trial SBS 2011?
Answer: 60 days with a SLrearm ability to extend to 240 days (as I recall – will confirm on blog)
Question: Is the default backup still limited to USB drives only?
Answer: Windows server backup in Server 2008 and newer is image-based and only supports backup to drive media. Does not have to be USB drives, but the native tools no longer support backup to tape.
Question: How good (useful) is the daily server status report in SBS 2011 compared to SBS 2003?
Answer: It’s like SBS 2008′s report. It’s an overview.
Question: I’ve read Sean Daniel talk about Microsoft MultiPoint Server 2011 being a great addition to a SBS network. Can you please explain this further?
Answer: YES, we will have more information this during our SBS Essentials webinar. The product manager for this product will be present and will tell us all about it.
Question: Can TS Web Access applications be published to the Remote Web Access site?
Answer: Answered live.
Question: lastly, what are your experiences with UM on SBS 2011? Is it even possible?
Answer: I’d recommend it on a second server. I do live comm now, but not on the same box as SBS 2008 now
Question: Where will the slide deck and video (if it works) be posted? thirdtier.net’s blog?
Answer: www.thirdtier.net/store
Question: Is faxing with SBS 2011 viable, or is it still hit and miss like with 2008?
Answer: answered live
Question: Nick Whitthome mentioned redirected folders should no longer be used in a blog post today. Is it turned off by default on SBS 2011? What’s the downside. Should user docs be saved to a Storage Sever? Coming from 2003 what does this really mean.
Answer: I think he said that because he HATES redirected folders. It’s still there as an option.
Question: What specific fax/modem hardware are you all currently using in your deployments?
Answer: The only supported option now is US Robotics v.everything
Question: Fax: Also, Multitech 5600.
Answer: If its a business class fax it might work.
Question: Do you know if you can move or rename the Public folder/share in SBS2011? With 2008 I’ve been told you cannot (from Microsoft engineer). Why on earth you would call something Public Downloads and limit it to the C drive of a server, is beyond me.
Answer: answered live
Question: Will Susan blog on the landing page customization
Answer: considered it done.
Question: we use it. and used the USR. The Multitech seems to work better
Answer: I’ve also seen Multitechs work quite well.
Question: I have a customer that has a special situation. Does SBS 2011 support multiple individual fax numbers going to individual email addresses?
Answer: No it does not. You need a full fax server application to do that.
Question: is the Exchange database limitation the amount of disk space you have? Where can I get more info on the upgraded Exchange CALs and how the archiving works?
Answer: Look for public Exchange blogs and technet.
Question: Do you see SBS Essentials replacing Foundation Server?
Answer: Yes I do. I’ll tell you why…
Question: What was the date that we should expect to see 2011 hit the street?
Answer: OEM’s are saying add 3-4 months post RTM for their versions/media, I don’t like OEM installed servers though
Question: So I need to build a new dc in MY office in the next few weeks..panel recommends jump right to sbs 2011?
Answer: IMHO Jump to 2011
Question: Ask the person who posted success with Multi-Tech Modems which specific models they have used?
Answer: posted
Question: Hey my good friends. I was late getting on unfortunately. I want my team to be able to watch this presentation. Is it safe to say you’ll have it posted for download? Merry Christmas to you all. -Vince
Answer: Hey Vince, thanks for attending. http://www.thirdtier.net/store/ when the recording goes live
Question: I follow Sean Daniel on Twitter, but I missed the 2nd half of ur talk about him talking about MultiPoint in SBS environments. I thought it was EDU only…did you say there was going to be a future talk or blog about this?
Answer: Yes, we will have some additional info about that later on. The product manager will join us at our SBS 2011 Essentials webinar later in the year.
Question: Need to put my dauther to bed now here. (Norway) But will try to be on every livemeetings in 2011 from Third Tier. Good night or day! Merry Christmas…..to everyone.
Answer: Thanks!
Question: Mulit-Tec MT5634ZBA-V92
Answer: Awesome, thanks Jim!
Question: MT5600BA. The Courier we used to use dropped too many calls.
Answer: Thanks!
Question: In SBS2008 if you use a 3rd party backup tool instead of the included SBS Backup, the Summary and Detailed reports from SBS complain every day about backup not being configured, and there is a constant warning on the SBS Console. Has anything changed in 2011 that will give those reports and/or the console visibility to other backup solutions (StorageCraft for example)?
Answer: Answered live.
Question: Any idea if you will be able to use Storage Server Essentials as a file server? Application server? Terminal Server?
Answer: Yes on file services. I’m not sure about the licensing restrictions on application server, and I’m pretty sure not for terminal services.
Question: If Joe Engle does not respond to you with his address, will you select a different winner?
Private Answer: Do you want a comic Ken?
Question: Do the Exchange Enterprise Cal archiving features have an easy way for the user to selectively move "stuff" out of his/her mailbox to a shared folder or is the data limited to moving withing Exchange only.
Answer: I believe that the archive is read-only so no. But that might be configurable. Check the Exchange technet docs.
Question: Joe is in our Technology Wizards group in the Portland, OR area.
Answer: Congratulations Joe! enjoy that Kindle
Question: ok so do we have to test again for 2011? i just got my 2008 cert
Answer: Yep, there will be a next text.

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0 Categories : Amy Babinchak, Eriq Neale, Friend of TT, Q&A, SBS 2011

Dec
13

It’s SBS 2011 RTM Day! And we’re having a party

by amy

From the official SBS technet blog http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2010/12/13/windows-small-business-server-2011-standard-releases-to-manufacturing.aspx

…we now have the pleasure of announcing the release to manufacturing of Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard edition and Windows Small Business Server 2011 Premium Add-on.

Designed and priced for small businesses with up to 75 users, Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard delivers enterprise-class server technology in an affordable, all-in-one solution. Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard not only helps to protect, access, and manage your information from virtually anywhere, but also allows your business to be more productive by providing:

A great way to manage email with the powerful new Microsoft® Exchange Server 2010 SP1. Securely access and manage your communications—e-mail, voice mail, instant messaging, and more—from virtually any platform, Web-browser, or device.

A powerful collaboration suite with Microsoft SharePoint® Foundation Services 2010. Enable your employees to access and share your business documents with exciting features and capabilities that help you collaborate securely online—no matter where you are.

A rich platform to run your business applications. SBS 2011 Standard allows you to take advantage of the vast library of applications compatible with Windows Server 2008R2 technologies.

A simple installation/migration path to limit your downtime. SBS 2011 Standard has been designed to simplify the experience of upgrading or installing a new server.

And with that, Small Business Server 2011 springs to life! In celebration of this version Third Tier is having a release party!

If it’s not on your calendar then click here to RSVP.

https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/harborcomputerservices/meetingICS?id=4T8QHH&role=attend&pw=d7%3BH%22.%23H7&i=i.ics

We’ll have some fun. We’ve got some give-aways. We’ll have some great content. We’ve got wonderful people. We’ll take your questions.

When? December 16th. Noon Eastern

What? An SBS 2011 Release Party – Hidden Features and other Things that won’t be in Microsoft’s marketing

Where? https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/harborcomputerservices/meetingICS?id=4T8QHH&role=attend&pw=d7%3BH%22.%23H7&i=i.ics

Who? You, Tim Barrett, Eriq Neale, Susan Bradley and Amy Babinchak

http://www.thirdtier.net/2010/11/third-thursday-webinar-an-sbs-2011-release-party-hidden-features-and-other-things-that-wont-be-in-microsofts-marketing/

0 Categories : Amy Babinchak, Eriq Neale, Friend of TT, SBS 2011

Dec
8

PSSBS & HP get together for a Geek-Fest afternoon in Seattle!

by steve

If you are in the Seattle area, check out and attend the PSSBS & HP SBS Geek-Fest this Thursday, 12/9/2010 at Symform in Seattle. 4-6PM. http://bit.ly/gqyWpo

Categories : SBS 2011

Dec
6

Announcing Give-Aways for the SBS 2011 Party

by amy

You’ll have to bring your own party favors, snacks and drinks to the SBS 2011 Release party next week. But we’ve got prizes!

From Susan Bradley: Kindle
From Tim Barrett: Have U Rebooted Yet? Signed copy of your choice
From Amy Babinchak: XL Wireless Detector t-shirt

Don’t forget to reserve your space.

https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/harborcomputerservices/meetingICS?id=4T8QHH&role=attend&pw=d7%3BH%22.%23H7&i=i.ics

0 Categories : Amy Babinchak, Eriq Neale, Friend of TT, SBS 2011, Webinar

Dec
1

Disaster Recovery Is More Than Just Technology Part 2: The Alphabet Soup

by edwin

In my previous blog post, I talked about high availablity and disaster recovery (HADR) and how it is more than just the underlying technology that keeps the entire strategy intact. In this blog post, I’ll describe a few acronyms – sometimes called buzzwords – that are commonly referred to in HADR projects and implementations (I know I use them a lot when addressing questions regarding HADR.) These acronyms fall under the second P in my PPT for HADR – PROCESS. Every HADR project or implementation should first be able to define these acronyms well before they even purchase the hardware, software and technologies they intend to use. Let’s get going.

Recovery Point Objective (RPO). Simply put, RPO answers the question, “How much data can we afford to lose?” Every HADR project should be able to determine the acceptable amount of data loss and is usually measured in units of time. For example, if a highly critical application runs 24X7 and the stakeholders have defined the RPO to be one (1) hour, if the database that stores the data for the application crashes at 5:45AM and you are running regular log backups (for SQL Server) or redo log backups (for Oracle) every hour starting at 12:30AM (I’m pretty sure the Oracle guys would jump up on me by using this as an example), the 15-minute data loss would be acceptable as you have an RPO value of one (1) hour. The 15-minute data loss was derived from hourly backups running starting at 12:30AM and that the last backup ran at 5:30AM – 15 minutes before the database crashed. Now, defining the hourly backups was not decided upon based on guesswork, although, I see a lot of DBAs simply just use it as a standard. If it was, it’s time to define your RPO and determine the amount of acceptable data loss and review your backup strategies.

Recovery Time Objective (RTO). RTO answers the question, “When is my application coming back online after a disruption?” Together with RPO, RTO is also measured in units of time. Looking back at the earlier example, if the stakeholders have defined the RTO to be two (2) hours, the database, the application and whatever is necessary to use the application should be back online by 7:45AM.

Service Level Agreement (SLA). As Wikipedia defines it, SLA is a part of a service contract where the level of service is formally defined. In my experience, this is commonly agreed upon by a customer and a service provider. You might be thinking that if you have an internal IT management team, chances are that you won’t have to deal with SLAs. However, bear in mind that in order for a computer application to be online, it relies on hardware which needs to be covered by a vendor warranty with associated service levels should the hardware needs to be serviced or replaced during a disaster, a media on which it can be accessed – either via the Internet or your local network – which also needs to be covered by vendor or in-house service level agreements. This is a very important item in your HADR project as anything external to your team will definitely affect your RPO and RTO. For example, if your highly critical application has been restored within two hours and the data loss was less than an hour, you may have met your RPO and RTO but if the Internet connection that allows your users to access the application is still not restored after two hours, forget about achieving your RPO and RTO. Technically, from the point of view of users, your application is still not accessible. Which is why when you’re dealing with vendors or service providers, make sure that your agreed upon SLAs meets your RPO and RTO.

I’ve only scratched the tip of the iceberg on the different components that make up the PROCESS part of an HADR project. What I find surprising is that whenever I start asking about RPO/RTO/SLA values from customers asking for an HADR solution, they immediately respond with “I want zero downtime and zero data loss for my application.” They simply think that their application deserves an RPO and RTO value of zero (0). What they don’t realize quite yet is that as RPO and RTO approaches zero (borrowing jargons from integral calculus that, as your limits approach zero), the cost exponentially increases. And when we start talking about costs, customers start re-evaluating their HADR strategies the way they are supposed to be. This is where I really like the discussions to go because they will look at each application and the corresponding database differently and categorize them accordingly – from not-so-critical to highly critical. And they start crunching numbers to determine how highly critical an application can be and if it does merit a near-zero RPO and RTO. Take for instance an e-commerce site that generates an average of 50 transactions per minute (which is a relatively low volume these days) at US$10 per transaction. That is equivalent to US$500 per minute. Losing an hour’s worth of data due to downtime or data loss would mean US$30,000. Having an HADR solution in place should be justifiable enough to protect a US$30,000 worth of transactions in an hour. Your strategy would also consider if the transactions are only coming in between 5:00AM until 9:00PM as you wouldn’t want to be investing a lot for a solution that doesn’t protect anything after those hours.

So when you plan your next HADR project, think about these concepts and define your RPO/RTO/SLA. It will definitely keep your perspectives right and plan accordingly. In my next blog post, I will be talking about high availability implementations, more examples and how they should address your RPO/RTO/SLA. Keep posted. Plus, if you’re in the Washington DC area this weekend, catch me do a presentation on SQL Server Disaster Recovery Techniques for SQL Saturday #61

Categories : Edwin Sarmiento

Archive for December 2010

And with that, Small Business Server 2011 springs to life! In celebration of this version Third Tier is having a release party!

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