Sbs 2003 R2

[marty9876]

Is there anything in the upcoming R2 that will be of significant use? I'm in the process of moving a peer>peer network to SBS and an wondering if waiting until the R2 is out is worth it, or if getting SA now is worth it.

R2 additions:

Includes SUS/WUS patch management- can't you just run WUS/SUS for now anyways?

Increased mailbox limits- isn't that included in the exchange upgrade anyways? 16 GB to 75 GB

SQL 2005 Work group- that's new

That really seems to be about it, am I missing something?

Thanks!

[YeOldeStonecat]

Pretty much true....adding to the above, the CAL rights will be changing regarding access to additional Exchange and SQL servers on the SBS network.

Will be out this summer, if you have SBS now with software assurance, or purchase it with it, you'll get the free upgrade.

[LoStMaTt]

I just tried the beta and was not impressed. Pretty mininmal improvements overall....hogwash..just hogwash.

[MorfiusX]

There's a new feature, but I don't remember what it's called, that blocks specified file types from being save on a drive/store. So, you could not allow .mp3 files to be saved on your file server.

But, for the most part, the new "features" are all already available. The way I look at it is that if you are building a new system, then consider it. I don't think it's worth the upgrade cost.

[SJConsultant]

I just tried the beta and was not impressed. Pretty mininmal improvements overall....hogwash..just hogwash.

Minimal?

Don't forget that SBS R2 will be including Server 2003 R2 (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/r2/whatsnewinr2.mspx) and SQL 2005 as well as MS did not charge for SBS SP1 which included ISA 2004 in the premium package.

Just the changes alone to Server 2003 DFS and FRS will be worth the upgrade cost considering the reduction of bandwidth required for branch office (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/R2/branchoffice/default.mspx) replication.

SQL 2005 includes reporting services which allows creating customized reports on any SQL database which now opens up development opportunities

All in all I'd say the updates are wholly welcomed and will be worth the upgrade in a lot of customer scenarios, at least my own client base.

[MetalX]

We're using SBS 2k3 Premium at work, do we get some sort of free or discounted upgrade?

[SJConsultant]

We're using SBS 2k3 Premium at work, do we get some sort of free or discounted upgrade?

Microsoft has not released pricing yet, but it will be available as an upgrade (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/r2/default.mspx) to any existing installation.