Introducing Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server

Most small office networks rely on a variety of software products(and often operating systems) acquired from multiple vendors. Typically, the most computer-literate person in the office--whether CEO or secretary--chooses, installs, and manages the collage of software. Balancing technology and staffing is a real dilemma for many small businesses. Small companies need the services that technology can provide to grow their business and enhance their customer service, but hiring a full-time MIS person to implement and manage the technology might not make economic sense.

The solution to this dilemma may very well be Microsoft BackOffice SmallBusiness Server (SBS). What is SBS? In general terms, the product lets someone with intermediate computer skills and two days to kill configure a robust business network environment that supports 25 client connections and harnesses the power of Windows NT Server, SQL Server, Exchange Server, Proxy Server, and more--all installed and configured through a friendly GUI. Think of SBS as "BackOffice Lite" for small businesses. Small companies can implement file sharing, printer sharing, modem sharing, fax serving, email, and Internet connectivity with one integrated, easy-to-use package.

SBS includes existing BackOffice components and some new componentsMicrosoft developed just for SBS (Figure 1, page 70, lists the components).Exchange is the key component for providing internal and external mail service.To keep hardware requirements to a minimum, Microsoft has tuned the SBS versionof Exchange (and SQL Server) to support no more than 25 connections. (Microsoftprovides SQL Server in SBS to support business database applications, but noneof the SBS components rely on SQL Server.)

In this first installment of the Windows NT Magazine Lab's SBStrack, I'll report on SBS, Beta 2's setup, configuration, management, and onlineHelp. In the next installment, I'll explore SBS's application services, generalcommunications services, and Internet connection services.

The Context for SBS
To truly appreciate SBS, you need to see how it fits into a typical smallbusiness environment. For example, consider the fictitious Dr. X's growingfamily practice. Over the past 20 years, the practice's patient base has risenfrom a few hundred patients to several thousand patients. A few years ago, Dr. Xhired two interns and several nurses just to keep up with demand. The handful of nurses and office assistants feel more confident in front of a typewriter than acomputer, yet they admit they can't keep up with the paperwork (e.g., patientrecords, insurance forms) and general administration (e.g., billing accounts) ofrunning a successful office.

Because Dr. X doesn't have time to explore all the options, Dr. X hires meas a consultant to examine the practice's business needs and present areasonably priced solution to move the office into the 21st century. We discusshardware requirements and software applications for networking, remote access,electronic mail, Internet access, modem and fax sharing, and backups. Then wediscuss the office's database structure and which applications the staffwill use and need to be trained on. Ka-ching! After recovering from price tagshock, Dr. X politely throws me out of the office and tells me never to comeback--without even hearing about maintenance and support options.

Armed with the false assumption that the office staff can do better on itsown, Dr. X and the accountant, office manager, and in-house computer expert goshopping. They buy whatever they can from anyone who offers a cheap, fast deal.Then Dr. X assembles the rest of the staff and gives the motivational speech, "Makeit work, people!" Of course, no one wins in this situation because learningabout, configuring, and supporting these computers often takes anywhere from 10percent to 50 percent of the staff's time, leaving less time for primary jobs.

With SBS in the picture, my encounter with Dr. X might turn outdifferently. SBS provides an integrated software solution for common businessenvironments; thus, bundling SBS with some hardware, line-of-business software,and training lets me provide an economical solution to Dr. X's problem. Idecided to test this theory in the Lab by establishing a small business networkenvironment for Dr. John's Health Services.

A Look at the Server
SBS, Beta 2 comes with a well-written Reviewer's Guide and a Start Herebooklet. The product also includes Release Notes and a Hardware CompatibilityList (HCL--make sure your hardware appears on the SBS HCL, which issubstantially shorter than the standard BackOffice HCL). For a test server, Ichose an HP NetServer E 45, configured with a 266MHz Pentium II, 128MB of RAM,and three 4GB SCSI hard disks. (For more details about the test server, see "HPNetServer E 45," page 113.) I reformatted the hard disks in NTFS beforeinstallation.

Microsoft provides the SBS software on three CD-ROMs, two for Intelprocessors and one for Alpha. The product also includes three SBS installationfloppies, and four floppies containing client licenses. (Microsoft supplieslicenses in increments of five.) The SBS software limits use to 25 clientcomputer systems (the number of computers connected to the server, not thenumber of users). Multiple users can share computer resources asneeded--Microsoft expects no more than 100 users.

Initial installation was a little bumpy, and I had to keep reminding myselfthat I was trying a beta version of SBS. To start with, the setup boot floppiesdidn't let me proceed past Disk 3, and the software presented an error messagestating that SBS could not locate enough space on drive C during setup. Iinstalled a clean version of NT 4.0 using the standard setup boot floppies andexperienced no problems. Using the SBS CD-ROM, I attempted to install SBS overthe standard version of NT 4.0, but the process hung, forcing me to cancel theinstallation.

I then reformatted all hard disks as FAT and used the SBS setup bootfloppies. This time, I was able to complete the installation. During theinstallation process, the Small Business Server Setup Wizard asks for fouritems: name, organization, computer name, and domain name. After you enter thatinformation, the installation process copies the files from the CD-ROM to yourhard disk and asks to reboot the machine. After restarting the machine, theSmall Business Server Setup Wizard asks for general company information anddefaults to a complete install, which requires very little input from you.

After the system restarts, the To Do List shown in Screen 1, page 72,appears. The To Do List presents a friendly and easy-to-understand interface forSBS configuration and maintenance operations. From the To Do List, I immediatelyselected Add a New User so that I could start adding users to Dr. John's HealthServices' network. I was impressed with the Add a New User Wizard that steppedme through creating a user account and setting up access rights. The interfaceis simple, and I liked that I could individually assign access to sharedfolders, shared modems, and the Internet, instead of assigning membership inglobal groups for permissions and rights. The Add a New User Wizard alsoautomatically creates a mailbox for the user.

After creating a user account, you can start the Set Up a Computer Wizard.I think a better name for this wizard is Preparing Client Computers Wizardbecause the wizard creates a user setup disk to configure a user's account andconnection on a client computer. For example, the setup disk configures Outlook97 with the user's email account, places shortcuts on the desktop for the user'spersonal folder and company shared folders, and installs SBS clientapplications. You can also use this wizard to add another user to a computeralready set up for SBS. Several users can use the same client computer, thoughnot at the same time.

A Look at Client Computers
Using the Set Up a Computer Wizard, I created accounts and setup floppiesfor the fictitious family practice. I then installed those floppies on my clientsystems. The first client I installed was for Dr. John. The client-sideconfiguration process involved simply inserting the floppy into a client machineand running setup.exe. The setup.exe program starts the Client Wizard, ahands-off, automated installation process. You must restart the system afterjoining the domain and again after downloading the SBS client applications. Inmy case, the whole process took about 20 minutes.

Client computers can run either NT Workstation 4.0 or Windows 95. Microsoftrecommends an Intel 486DX or higher processor, with 16MB of RAM and 60MB ofavailable hard disk space. The client system needs a 3.5" floppy drive toinstall SBS from the setup floppy. The network adapter card must be from theHCL, and NT 4.0 workstations must have Service Pack 3 installed. The serverautomatically starts the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service forthe network. On the client computers, you must configure TCP/IP to accept DHCP;otherwise, the User Setup Wizard won't work on the clients.

After the final restart, the user account is active and the client-sideuser must enter a name and password and select the proper domain. The clientdesktop displays shortcuts to shared folders and Outlook 97. On my test client,I knew the shared folders were empty, so I activated Outlook 97 to see whetherSBS configured it properly. Roughly 10 minutes passed before the default windowcame up and gave me the "Thank you for choosing Outlook" message. (Ihope Microsoft improves performance in the final shipping version of SBS!) OnceOutlook 97 was running, I verified that the configuration was correct and thatthe global address book had all the user accounts listed.

I then proceeded to create setup floppies for the rest of the fictitiousoffice. Creating the floppies was easy and fast; however, the 20-minuteinstallation time for each client machine got a little annoying. In real life,the end users do the setup, and client-side installation doesn't consume muchadministrator time. I noticed that when I configured more than three clientmachines at the same time, the installation process and network traffic slowedconsiderably.

Managing SBS
After configuring my users and client machines, I started to explore themanagement tools that come with SBS. From the Start menu, you can select ManageServer, which displays a full-screen GUI that lets the day-to-day administratormanage and support the network from one location.

SBS presents its management options on three tabs: Tasks, More Tasks, andOnline Guide. The Tasks tab provides icons for troubleshooting and managingusers, printers, email, shared folders, and backup and restore. Screen 2displays the details for the Manage Connected Users task. Unfortunately, Screen2 typifies the inconsistencies in this beta version: The server had sevenconnected clients accessing email, but the window displayed only threeconnections. (Microsoft stated that the problem I had may be a refresh problemwith this particular function.)

Screen 3 displays the Manage Shared Folders option from the Tasks tab.Instead of having to manage groups and memberships, the administrator cancontrol access to folders, manage folder size, and move folders to differentdrives. (You can also access Manage Connected Users from this window.)

Under the More Tasks tab, the administrator has options for managing emaildistribution lists, hard disks, computers, Internet access, and faxes, andadding or removing software and hardware and publishing on the Internet. Screen 4 shows the Manage Computers window, where you can view networked computers, add or delete a computer to or from the domain, and troubleshoot common computer problems.

The Online Guide tab provides a feature that I hope migrates to otherMicrosoft products. Much like the regular Windows Help program, Online Guidecombines Contents and Find options in an interactive GUI. But in addition toreading about a topic, you can complete operations directly from the topicdescription window. For example, I wanted to explore the Emergency Repair Diskfeature. My search produced the Help window shown in Screen 5 (which I am sureany computer novice can understand). After reading the descriptions, I justclicked the here link and followed the directions to create theEmergency Repair Disk. I was also pleasantly surprised that a few of my actionsrequiring a restart of the server automatically generated an alert message (suchas the one in Screen 6) on the client computers.

Most of SBS's Help pages have the theme: First display an easy-to-readexplanation or description, and then provide an interactive option to completethe task. I found a few Help pages missing, and I wanted page-forward andpage-backward capabilities. When I proceeded down the wrong Help path, Icouldn't back out a page at a time; I had to start at the beginning of theOnline Guide.

Smooth the Rough Edges
A management tool I did not get to try is Crystal Reports for Microsoft SBS.From the Online Guide, I read that I could generate system reports from NT'sEvent Viewer, and tables and graphs on email usage, Internet access, Web serverstatistics, and fax usage. Seagate Software Information Management Group makesCrystal Reports for Microsoft SBS, and Microsoft does not provide technicalsupport for it. All my attempts to generate a report produced application errormessages.

Overall, I was pleased with SBS, and I'm excited about its potential.Microsoft has taken the powerful applications in the BackOffice suite andpackaged them for the small business market. Giving small companies the networkperformance and communications they need without requiring full-time MIS supportis a good idea. The SBS interface simplifies installation, configuration, andday-to-day administration. Based on what I saw in the beta version, however,Microsoft has some work to do to smooth SBS's rough edges.

If you've worked in the reseller channel, you know how painful growing andupgrading technology in a small business environment can be. With SBS, Iinstalled and configured a robust applications server and seven clientworkstations in just 1 day. I easily created user accounts with permissions andaccess rights. Setup floppies let users effortlessly install and configure theirworkstation.

Next month, in the second part of my SBS coverage, I'll describe how SBShandles applications support, Internet connections via an Internet ServiceProvider (ISP), and Web publishing. I'll conclude my report by looking at theremote control utilities available through SBS and by evaluating how effectivethe product is for Dr. John's Health Services.