Full Review

I was recently given the task of upgrading my companies Server and OS. The company is a small site that has about 5 local users and 3 remote users. The previous servers OS that we used was Windows Server 2000 that was setup years ago for basic application, file and print sharing.

After looking at the current setup and the direction the company was looking to go. I did my research (Which I recommend that everyone do before making such a pricey purchase.) I found Windows SBS 2003 the right fit for a small company that does not have a large IT budget and can also manage on their own if need be.
Installation took about 45min or so on the new machine, but in order for it to find all the drivers I had to go thru the Dell installation CD during setup.

Here is what I am running it on.

Dell PowerEdge 840:
Dual Core Intel® Pentium®E2160, 1.8GHz, 1MB Cache, 800MHz FSB
Memory:
2GB DDR2,667MHz, 2x1GB Dual Ranked DIMMs
Network Adapter:
Broadcom® NetXtreme 5721 Single Port Gigabit Ethernet NIC, Cu, PCIe x1
One integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet adapter
Modem:
56K Internal Modem
Hard Drive Configuration:
Hot Plug Add-in SAS5iR (SATA/SAS Cntrl) supports 2-4 Hard Drives - RAID 0
Drive Cage Configuration:
Chassis with Hot Swap Drives for PE 840
Primary Hard Drive Controller:
SAS 5iR internal RAID adapter, PCI-Express
Primary Hard drive:
250GB 7.2K RPM Universal SATA 3Gbps 3.5-in HotPlug Hard Drive
2nd Hard Drive:
250GB 7.2K RPM Universal SATA 3Gbps 3.5-in HotPlug Hard Drive
CD/DVD Drive:
48x CDRW/DVD IDE Combo Drive, Half-Height
Floppy Drive:
Internal 1.44MB 3.5 inch Floppy Disk Drive

The OS itself is pretty smooth and was able to customize the installation to my needs. But you have to be careful about what you choose not to install, because some of the application and options depend on one another. Migration of the Active Directory from the other server and making this one the Primary was a little tricky, but after looking threw TechNet I was able to resolve the problem. Installation of the companies and other applications were also easy to a point. Some applications and drivers don’t specifically say Windows SBS capable, but if it says Windows 2000/XP it should work. (It did in my case)

Words of Caution:
When installing applications like Virus Programs , you have to really look at the system requirements and make sure that its says it runs on Windows SBS 2003. I tried installing McAfee Virus scan 8.5i and it hung and would not install. I then had to go thru a long process of manually removing the registry entries.
VPN setup was a little tricky and you have to make sure your remote computers are running 2000/XP Pro or Vista Business in order to act right.

The built in firewall is also ok, but if you have a router and are able to configure its firewall. I would recommend using that one.

For backup purposes I wouldn’t recommend the built-in software which is NT Backup. You might want to go with some other software. NT Backup has its limitations on what it can and won’t do. I was unable to setup the remote backup process from the server because it would not allow me to connect to the desktops.

I would not recommend running this software with anything under 1gb of memory and a Dual Processor.

Side Note:
Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 supports a maximum of 75 users or devices. The computer running Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 should be in the Intel Pentium/Celeron family or the AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family or have a compatible processor. Both editions support up to two CPUs on one server

But all else said, the OS is simple and easy to setup and manage for a small group of users.