Our newest Microsoft Press Training Kit -- MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-653): Configuring Windows® Small Business Server 2008 (ISBN: 9780735626782) – is now available at fine bookstores everywhere. The book, authored by Small Business Server experts Beatrice Mulzer, Walter Glenn, and Scott Lowe, provides comprehensive preparation for exam 70-653 and the MCTS: Windows Small Business Server 2008, Configuration certification.
The book includes complete coverage of all exam objectives, real-world scenarios, lab exercises, customizable practice tests, and a discount voucher that will save you money when you’re ready to take the exam.
To give you a taste, we’ve included excerpts from the Introduction and two sample chapters:
This training kit is designed for Microsoft Small Business Specialists who want to update their current certification credentials as well as for consultants to small businesses and value-added resellers (VARs) who want to add credentials reflecting their experience with Windows Small Business Server 2008 (Windows SBS) server software. A Small Business Specialist is a server administrator who has at least three years experience managing Windows-based servers and infrastructure in an environment of 5 to 75 users in a single physical location. A Small Business Specialist is responsible for supporting network services and resources such as messaging, database servers, file and print servers, a firewall, Internet connectivity, an intranet, remote access, and client computers. The Specialist might be responsible for implementing connectivity requirements, for example, connecting branch offices and individual users in remote locations to the small business network and to the Internet.
The Preparation Guide for Exam 70-653 is available on the Microsoft Learning site.
By using this training kit, you learn how to do the following:
■ Deploy hardware and software for servers running Windows SBS 2008. ■ Migrate to Windows SBS 2008. ■ Deploy hardware and software for computers on the network. ■ Maintain systems and services availability. ■ Implement and maintain remote access. ■ Maintain user accounts and computers. ■ Implement and maintain collaboration. ■ Implement and maintain messaging.
Windows SBS 2008 might appear to be quite simple because it was designed with ease of use for the administrator in mind. When an administrator is familiar with the Windows SBS Console, managing the Windows Small Business Server network should be straightforward.
What most administrators—especially administrators who have an enterprise background—overlook is that the Windows SBS Console functions on top of the Windows Server 2008 operating system and uses most of the Windows Server 2008 native administrative tools, managed through the Windows SBS wizards. In previous releases of Windows Small Business Server, often administrators would forgo using the Windows SBS wizards because, for instance, they were certain that adding a user or group account should be done through the Active Directory Users And Computers console and not through a wizard! In the end, this resulted in user accounts that were only partially functional, with authentication and access problems. The basic knowledge that these administrators were missing was that Windows Small Business Server configures its own organizational units and applies preconfigured Group Policy settings. Using the Windows SBS Console to create the user or group accounts places the newly created accounts in the appropriate organizational unit, therefore minimizing administrative tasks while ensuring consistency.
The caveat here is to use Windows Small Business Server and its tools and wizards as intended. Only reach for additional tools when necessary—for instance, when you cannot perform an advanced task through the Windows SBS Console. Read this book, practice the exercises, and keep this thought in mind as you take Exam 70-653, and you are well on your way to becoming a Small Business Specialist.
Joining client computers to the Windows Small Business Server 2008 (Windows SBS) domain is an excellent example of the Windows SBS 2008 philosophy of automating administrative tasks to the point of miniscule effort. You can join 10, 20, or more client computers to a domain without first having to create computer accounts in the Active Directory directory service. You can also configure Group Policy, updates, disk quotas, e-mail quotas, and folder redirection with a minimal amount of effort and, better yet, without having to touch each individual native tool or program.
You can use the Windows SBS Connect Computer Wizard (covered in Lesson 2) combined with several Windows SBS Console tasks (covered in Chapter 2, “Managing Users”), and voila, your client computers will become Windows SBS 2008 network clients that are standardized and easily managed. But before you assemble your Windows SBS 2008 network, you must be sure the client computers meet certain prerequisites.
The recommended client operating systems for the Windows SBS 2008 network are the Windows XP Professional operating system with Service Pack 2 (SP2), the Windows Vista Business operating system, the Windows Vista Enterprise operating system, and the Windows Vista Ultimate operating system. If your client computers run earlier operating systems such as Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows Millennium edition, Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows Vista Home Basic, or Windows Vista Home Premium, it is important that you upgrade them to one of the recommended operating systems. You can then manage them from the Windows SBS Console, and the recommended operating systems provide additional security features, reliability, and better performance.
You can use the Client Advisor utility in Windows SBS 2008 to scan client computers that are running one of the recommended operating systems to help determine their compatibility with the Windows SBS 2008 network prior to joining the computers to the domain. With this time-saving tool, you can prepare client computers and avoid possible failures during the domain join process.
When you have established basic network connectivity between the client computers and the server running Windows SBS 2008, you can join client computers to the Windows SBS domain by starting the Windows SBS Connect Computer Wizard. The Windows SBS Connect Computer Wizard joins client computers to the Windows SBS domain, migrates local user profiles, and configures networking and additional settings as configured by you in the Windows SBS Console.
This chapter discusses the details of preparing client computers for the Windows SBS 2008 network, migrating user data, and joining client computers to the Windows SBS 2008 domain, as well as configuring the network and client computer settings in the Windows SBS Console. Chapter 2 discusses managing user and computer accounts in greater detail.
■ Prepare the computer. ■ Join computers to the domain. ■ Migrate local data.
Messaging and collaboration are two key drivers in technology-buying decisions. The ability to quickly and easily stay in touch with customers and work seamlessly with other people in the organization to meet customer needs often raises the need for new technology. In Windows Small Business Server 2008 (Windows SBS) server software, Microsoft takes collaboration to a new level by including both Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 as a part of the base product. Both Exchange Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 offer powerful features that take information management outside the corporate boundary by enabling high levels of remote access. Through this ability to access information anywhere anytime, Windows SBS 2008 removes location from the equation. Users can just as easily work at the local coffee shop as they can from their office.
In this chapter, you learn how to manage Exchange Server and SharePoint. You might realize that you need to work with these two products for some time before you can consider yourself a master. Because Windows Small Business Server exposes only a fraction of the features available in these two products, take time after the exam to explore these two products in great detail; you’ll find that, used appropriately, they can revamp the way you do business.