Small Business Server 2003 (July 13, 2007)
Chat Topic: Small Business Server 2003 Chat (EMEA Community)
Date: Friday, July 13, 2007
Please note:Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity
Christian (Moderator):
Hello and welcome to today’s Small Business Server 2003 Chat!
Introductions
Christian (Moderator):
We are pleased to welcome the experts for today’s chat! I will have them introduce themselves now.
Girish Rajan (Expert):
Hello, I am Girish from the Small Business Server team. Welcome all.
David Overton (Expert):
Hi everyone, I am David - I work in the UK with small businesses and run the http://uksbsguy.com site. I will be done with a few things in just a moment, before our noon start! (For me in the UK)
Karan Rustagi (Moderator):
Hi, My name is Karan Rustagi and I am a part of CSS team supporting SBS in EMEA region.
Nandan Sheth (Expert):
Hi. I am Nandan, with the Small Business Server team. To post your technical questions, please make sure you have the option to post your question checked.
Rituraj (Expert):
Hi! My name is Rituraj and I am from Microsoft Small Business Server Support Team here at Microsoft with the EMEA group.
Moloy Tandon [MSFT] (Expert):
Hello all! I am Moloy, Support Engineer with the Small Business Server support group at Microsoft.
Vik (Moderator):
HI, This is VIK part of the Small Business Server team in Microsoft.
Christian (Moderator):
Please feel free to begin asking your questions and remember to check the “ask the experts” box before sending. Thanks.
Start of Chat
Girish Rajan (Expert):
Q: Is this topic including the new version of Server 2k8?
A: Yes. You can ask your questions on this SBS 2008.
Vik (Moderator):
Q: In server 2008 what improvements have been made on network security?
A: You might want to check the webcasts below - http://blogs.technet.com/ianhamer/archive/2007/05/25/windows-server-2008-network-security-webcast.aspx
Anshul (Expert):
Q: In server 2008 what improvments have been made on network security?
A: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/evaluation/overview.mspx#EEB
Vik (Moderator):
Q: I upgraded a workstation on a SBS 2003 domain to Vista and ever since I keep getting failure audits in the security log (event id 675 error code: 0x19) A lot of other people are also experiencing the same thing.. Is there a solution for this?
A: Hi , Have you made sure that you have the following patch installed - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926505
Vik (Moderator):
Q: I upgraded a workstation on a SBS 2003 domain to Vista and ever since I keep getting failure audits in the security log (event id 675 error code: 0x19) A lot of other people are also experiencing the same thing.. Is there a solution for this?
A: Windows Small Business Server 2003: Windows Vista and Outlook 2007 compatibility update
Rituraj (Expert):
Q: We currently have public access to W2K8 Beta 3. Will there be a public beta for Cougar?
A: The beta 1 for Cougar is already released and you can participate through http://connect.microsoft.com to get a feel of it.
Karan Rustagi (Moderator):
Q: I upgraded a workstation on a SBS 2003 domain to Vista and ever since I keep getting failure audits in the security log (event id 675 error code: 0x19) A lot of other people are also experiencing the same thing.. Is there a solution for this?
A: Have you installed KB 926505?
Girish Rajan (Expert):
Q: Are there any plans to be able to upgrade companyweb to WSSv3 instead of a side-by-side install?
A: Yes. In Cougar. SBS 2008.
Vik (Moderator):
Q: Yes, that patch was applied before I rejoined to the domain.
A: What is the service pack level on the Small Business Server?
Vik (Moderator):
Q: Vik: SP2 is on the server
A: Could you check if 936594 is also installed on the server
Vik (Moderator):
Q: Vik: SP2 is on the server
A: This has to be applied after service pack 2
David Overton (Expert):
Q: Take a look at this http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2007/02/09/sbs-vista-client-update-ripcurl-now-available.aspx
A: You might also want to download http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=46E95C56-1A4C-45BD-8D69-5F41FF8F1F22&displaylang=en
David Overton (Expert):
Q: Is it too early to say or what will the main feature selling points be for Cougar to current SBS2003 customers? Since the SBS2003 is working so well they need to be good since I assume that new 64-bit hardware needs to be purchased along with the license.
A: The details of Cougar are not yet public, so detailing the selling points is a bit early. It is true that Cougar will require x64 hardware due to the Exchange elements.
David Overton (Expert):
Q: Hi - regarding the replacement MS Small Business Website Partner Finder. If our listed Partner information is incorrect, yet our Partner Profile info is correct, who do we contact to resolve this? The Regional Service Centre doesn’t seem able to help.
A: Richard, we need to talk to the group responsible - if you send me some details I will assure it gets looked at - you can contact me at doverton@microsoft.com
Anshul (Expert):
Q: Is the current plan still for Cougar (SBS 2008) to only support one NIC? Does this mean ISA will be pushed out of the product in favor of putting this on a separate box and/or using a hardware appliance firewall?
A: That is true for beta release. But it’s too early to comment whether it would have support for 1 or 2 NICS. The Products Group has to decide that.
David Overton (Expert):
Q: any planned release date for a public beta of cougar?
A: The public beta is due later this year, but all dates are subject to change
Karan Rustagi (Moderator):
Q: Yes, that patch was applied before i rejoined to the domain.
A: You may get the 675 because of many reasons. It could happen because of many reasons like IUSR account (No sync with metabase) you may want to log a call with CSS and if it’s a known issue; we will post it on SBS blogs.
David Overton (Expert):
Q: Are there any plans to be able to upgrade companyweb to WSSv3 instead of a side-by-side install?
A: If you want to use Office 2007 against companyweb then you can get instructions on how to make it work nicely at http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2007/03/13/how-to-get-companyweb-windows-sharepoint-services-v2-to-work-with-office-2007.aspx
Vik (Moderator):
Q: Will there be SBS 2003 SP2 slipstreamed media? It's impossible to perform a Repair (aka over-the-top) install of an SBS 2003 SP2 install without slipstreamed media.
A: Yes, it will be released soon
Vik (Moderator):
Q: Vik: 936594 is not installed…
A: Cam: We need to install that patch and reboot the server
David Overton (Expert):
Q: Thanks David, I've seen that, I was thinking more along the lines of things such as access via RWW
A: This is harder - we don't have a supported solution today - it is something I am working on as a side project, but there are a number of ways to provide access, but not via the WSS - e.g. stop companyweb listening on port 444 and assign your wss v3 site to that port
Rituraj (Expert):
Q: Is it correct that Cougar won't support tape backup out of the box? If so, what DR capability is MS supporting out of the box?
A: Yes, the tape backup won't be available in Cougar. We can still take backups on hard drives/network drives. Tape backup is going to be removed.
David Overton (Expert):
Q: David: thanks, I’ve seen the various articles on that...was just hoping for a "support solution"
A: not yet, but doing what I said is perfectly supported - it is via the RWW menu that it is not supported
Moloy Tandon [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there likely to be a migration toolkit to assist in moving from SBS2003 up to Cougar, or are we looking at a normal 'swing' type migration (I know it's early days, but maybe there are plans afoot)
A: Hi Adam! With the final release of Cougar we will come out with a white paper on migration from SBS 2003 to Cougar.
Moloy Tandon [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Is there likely to be a migration toolkit to assist in moving from SBS2003 up to Cougar, or are we looking at a normal 'swing' type migration (I know it's early days, but maybe there are plans afoot)
A: However, the new hardware has to be 64-bit.
David Overton (Expert):
Q: will there be a comprehensive plan for doing the swing migration. There was never a complete article on this for 2003.
A: We will provide lots of details on migration - we will not be able to do an inbox upgrade as upgrading for 32-bit to 64-bit solutions is not supported, but we expect to offer more help otherwise
Karan Rustagi (Moderator):
Q: The newer versions of all products are all focused around collaboration and integration. Do MS plan to launch an SBS IP telephony Solution to work with Exchange 2007 ect.
A: We have been testing that. Unified messaging works on standard version of Exchange 2007 but it’s purely based on licensing(Enterprise license). We will be posting some more information on that on MS website with the release of product.
David Overton (Expert):
Q: stryqx: take a look at http://www.microsoft.com/responsepoint/default.mspx, experts? Are we going to see this in UK?
A: At the moment this is a US only product. Since it is produced by a number of hardware vendors I think it will be a long time, or not at all. Don't worry, you will have plenty of options for VoIP from Microsoft over the coming period
David Overton (Expert):
Q: Any chance of merely moving over the unique SBS fax web part to the side-by-side WSS 3.0? With that piece moved the entire WSS 2.0 companyweb could be abandoned and all WSS function moved to the WSS 3.0 site. Thanks in advance.
A: You could not turn off companyweb, but you could just use a WSS v3 site (eg companyweb2) and have a webpart showing the V2 part. This is the only way to do it today.
Girish Rajan (Expert):
Q: is the beta likely to be release on 32bit?
A: NO. Not Cougar. SBS 2008 is 64bit only.
David Overton (Expert):
Q: Will we have 32-bit "non-production" version similar to exchange?
A: Andy, off all the builds I have seen internally the answer would be no - there are too many moving parts on 1 system to write all of them in both 32 & 64 bit code just to eval. We will have 64-bit guests inside virtual server, so this should not be a problem
Karan Rustagi (Moderator):
We will be answering questions for another 15 minutes
Rituraj (Expert):
Q: Are we likely to see a ForeFront Security SBS Suite?
A: Yes we are going to have that in Cougar.
David Overton (Expert):
Q: seems a shame to release only on 64bit, given that the majority of companies still haven't upgraded to 64bit yet
A: however, most chipsets are 64-bit capable today, so no real problem providing the hardware manufacturers support their systems with 64-bit drivers - and many do today
Moloy Tandon [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Printing error alerts in SBS 2003. Since I manage SBS2003 for my customers and rely to some extent on Alerts from SBS2003 one feature I sometimes miss is that the "Printing error alert" can't tell me which printer had a problem. Is there a way around this?
A: Hi Swede!! Where are you getting those Printing alerts? Are you facing any issues with the print spooler as well?
Vik (Moderator):
Q: Will SBS Prem compensate in kind for the removal of ISA? What provisions are being explored for an ISA move off the SBS box?
A: Is this question for SBS2003 or Cougar?
Karan Rustagi (Moderator):
Q: @all: are the [planned] feature of 2008 with Exchange 2007 likely to be enough for businesses to want to upgrade from 2003? Even if they have SA to cover the licenses do they want to pay for consultant time? Or are we looking at new installs only? Discuss
A: We would be looking at many migration scenarios. You may expect a detailed step by step whitepaper from x32 to x64 hardware. So, we are looking at both new installs and migration
Nandan Sheth (Expert):
Q: Are we likely to see a ForeFront Security SBS Suite?
A: Forefront is designed to be installed on a server functioning as an Edge Server running Exchange 2007. It will install on SBS 2008, however, you will not be able to utilize it to its fullest capability.The best scenario for using Forefront Security suite is to install it on an Edge Server that also has ADAM installed
Karan Rustagi (Moderator):
Q: i think many people will not see any value in upgrading to 2008 for some time. especially the SBS 2003 people. what is the support roadmap for 2003 when 2008 comes out?
A: There will be NO upgrade (because SBS 2003 is only available in x32 only). We are looking at Migration and making it simpler.
Christian (Moderator):
We have about 5 minutes left for our chat. If you have any last minute questions, please submit them asap. The Experts will answer as many questions as they can in the time remaining. Thanks!
Moloy Tandon [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: What I mean is, how long will MS support SBS 2003 following the launch of 2008?
A: We still haven’t decided on that. But the support for SBS 2003 without a service pack has retired.
Moloy Tandon [MSFT] (Expert):
A: Please go thru the link http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifesupsps to get a complete insight on the product life cycle.
Karan Rustagi (Moderator):
We will be answering questions for another 5 minutes
David Overton (Expert):
Q: What can you tell me about improved backup / VSS / restore and all that in Cougar?
A: This is a piece of the product that is being extensively re-written. Remember that almost every backup product on the market uses these interfaces. Backup has a number of new features in Windows Server 2008 and Cougar will leverage these. for more information look at the TechNet site http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/windowsserver/2008/default.aspx
Karan Rustagi (Moderator):
Q: Current backup process to removable drives means a new drive letter for each removable drive. Is this going to be addressed for Cougar?
A: It’s the job of plug and play manager to assign the drive letter and there no plans yet.
Nandan Sheth (Expert):
Q: What I mean is, how long will MS support SBS 2003 following the launch of 2008?
A:http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifesupsps
Vik (Moderator):
Q: will a chat transcript be available at the end of this chat?
A: Yes it would be available - On the TechNet website we would have the link for the Transcript
Nandan Sheth (Expert):
A: You should see the life cycle for supporthttp://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifesupsps
David Overton (Expert):
Q: Moloy - No spooler problems - just stuff like paper jams or hardware problems with the printer itself but it would be good to know which printer is acting up since I'm mostly administering remotely.
A: Moloy, you can open the alerts in the heath manager and modify the information posted in the e-mail, providing it is in the alert posted to the event viewer then it can be in the e-mail
Rituraj (Expert):
Q: Is it confirmed then that no version of ISA will not be included in 2008?
A: Yes, at the moment.
David Overton (Expert):
Q: So the MS thinking is that a beefy hardware perimeter appliance will be "standard"?
A: Duncan, it is more that this is getting more and more a likely scenario rather than not being needed. We also have a number of "beefy hardware" appliances ourselves based on ISA 2004 & ISA 2006Vik (Moderator):Q: ISA 2006 ? that’s better
A: If the question is for Cougar - We have not decided if ISA would be the firewall
David Overton (Expert):
Q: Any plans to integrate WSS 3 with SBS 2003 before SBS 2008 release? For example making WSS 3 accessible through RWW?
A: As has been stated before - no more than the current whitepaper
Vik (Moderator):
Q: Are we going to see DFS-R in Cougar? One thing I expected to see in SBS 2003 R2 and was bitterly disappointed by, especially for my multi-site customers with SBS 2003 at head office and W2K3 at the branch offices.
A: At the moment we don’t have an answer for that - The product group does have to take a decision.
Karan Rustagi (Moderator):
Thank you all for joining us today. We will be taking more questions in our next online chat session.
Christian (Moderator):
Well that wraps things up for our Small Business Server 2003 Chat. Thanks to all of our guests for joining us, and of course, to our experts for being here to answer questions. Have a great day everyone!
Christian (Moderator):
The transcript for today’s chat will be available online at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/default.mspx