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Invitation – KYSBSUG 2009 Feb Live Meeting

KYSBSUG SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 have been out for several months, but are you using it yet? Are your customers?

Join us for this presentation and learn what’s new in SBS 2008, where the pricing sweet spots are, and gotchas to watch out for. We’ll talk about the training that’s available to get you up to speed, books, and a little bit about Hyper-V and SBS. Time has been allotted at the end of this presentation for extensive Q&A.

The good news is that you don’t even need to get in your car – we’re bringing this meeting to you via Microsoft Live Meeting so as many people that want to can attend!

Date: Wednesday 02/18/2009
Start time: 6:30 PM Eastern (GMT -5)
End time: 8:00 PM Eastern (or whenever there are no more questions)
Presenter: Tim Barrett
Topic: SBS 2008 / EBS 2008
Seating in the Live Meeting is limited to the first 50 people, so sign up ASAP!

Registration URL: http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=135942

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SBS 2008 Unleashed Book

SBS 2008 box shot standard edition Back in 2005 I was privileged to be one of the co-authors of “Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Unleashed”. As I’m sure most authors can attest, working on a book is a very unique and eye-opening experience.  It takes a lot of time, work, testing, research and commitment to crank out a book, but in the end you have something tangible to show for all the effort. You make some great friends and learn something about yourself along the way too.

Then we skip forward several years and Eriq Neale invited me to be one the co-authors once again. This time the book was titled “Windows Small Business Server 2008 Unleashed.” I looked at the calendar and figured, “Wow, this is really awesome. We’ve got *tons* of time – the operating system isn’t even baked yet!” So I signed on. Interestingly, time moves quickly. Very, VERY quickly. And as SBS 2008 got closer to being finished and as work on the book continued, it seemed like every movie on TV was about an author with looming publishing deadlines or writer’s block like Duplex or Stranger Than Fiction. No pressure. 😉

At any rate, as the book project moved along, you could really see it transform slowly from an idea, into an outline, to a rough draft, through revisions, technical and grammatical editing, screen shots, page layouts, and eventually all the way into a finished book. And while you’re writing and doing testing and research, the software itself (code named “Cougar”) changes. It goes through various builds, into private and public betas, Release Candidates and eventually it becomes the final RTM code for SBS 2008. Believe me, it’s a pretty long trip!

So, the writing has been done for a while, and now comes the waiting part. The book is being printed and shipped, but I haven’t held a hard copy in my hands yet. And today it was cool to get an email from Amazon.com that really hit home:

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Unleashed

All of the sudden the book seems much more real. 🙂

Getting to this stage was a group effort, and I was just one person in a large team of folks that made this project happen. The whole team worked really hard through deadlines, daily responsibilities, lots of writing and zillions of emails.

The writers of this book include:

And here’s what’s in the book:

Table of Contents:

  1. Welcome to Small Business Server 2008
  2. Planning for the SBS 2008 Deployment
  3. Installing and Configuring SBS 2008
  4. DNS, DHCP, and Active Directory Integration
  5. Internet Information Services 7.0
  6. Remote Web Workplace and Other Remote Access Solutions
  7. SharePoint and Companyweb
  8. Exchange Management
  9. Exchange 2007 Client Connectivity
  10. Exchange Disaster Recovery
  11. Group Policy in SBS 2008
  12. User and Computer Management
  13. Macintosh Integration
  14. Additional Servers
  15. Managing Workstations Through Group Policy
  16. Monitoring and Reporting
  17. Managing Server and Workstation Security
  18. Backup and Disaster Recovery
  19. IPv6 Overview
  20. PowerShell
  21. Advanced Installation Options

Windows Small Business Server 2008 UnleashedI’m sure I speak for everyone on the writing, editing and publishing teams when I say that we’re really proud of this book! And I’d like to send a special “thank you” to Eriq Neale and Acquisitions Editor Loretta Yates for letting me be on the team again,
and for not killing me when they wanted to. 😉

We look forward to seeing the book hit the shelves and we’re certain that it will help people understand and support this amazing new operating system.

I hope you enjoy it!

Title: Windows Small Business Server 2008 Unleashed
Publisher: Sams Publishing; 1 edition (December 6, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0672329573
Paperback: 816 pages
Language: English
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Buy.com | InformIT / Sams

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Watch the SBS 2008 Launch Live – 11/12/2008

Click here to watch the SBS / EBS 2008 launch on 11/12/2008It’s been five long years since SBS 2003 was released (and over two years since SBS 2003 R2 came out).

Tomorrow is the big day:

Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008 launch event!

You can tune in LIVE!

Details:

    See you there! 🙂

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    Greetings from Issaquah

    sbs_2008_logo_small For five days this week I’m in Issaquah, Washington (southeast of Seattle) at the Microsoft Sammamish campus for the special SBS 2008 training that Microsoft arranged for the SBS-MVPs. So far the training has been absolutely fantastic. This is, by far, the most in-depth and valuable software training I’ve ever received, and I am tremendously thankful for the opportunity to be here! I just can’t thank Kevin Beares and his team enough for putting this event together, and our instructor, John Bay, knows this product with a depth I’ve never seen first-hand before. I’ve been using SBS since version 4.0, and it’s awesome to be able to turn the new 2008 version inside out and see what makes it tick.

    In addition to the phenomenal training, another huge benefit of being here in person is the opportunity to network with the Microsoft SBS product team and other SBS-MVPs from around the world. It’s impossible to articulate just how much experience and passion these folks have for the SBS product and the community that uses and supports it. At every opportunity you’ll see folks sharing information, discussing best practices, giving feedback, and debating (sometimes fervently) the issues in the community and the product itself.

    On Tuesday night Kevin Beares took the MVPs and some Microsoft folks out to dinner at Pogacha (a restaurant I *highly* recommend). As always, I feel like the least qualified person to be in the same room, but I’m thrilled at the opportunity to be there and share ideas and experiences.  Unfortunately, not everyone could make it to the training event, for various reasons. But for those of you have had a question answered in the SBS newsgroups, this picture of the dinner attendees should help you put a name with the face.

    mvp_training_2008

    (Click for a larger picture)

    1. Drew Spencer – Microsoft Dev Manager
    2. Mitch Garvis – MVP – Montreal, Canada
    3. Ryan “Fuzzy” Spillane – Sydney, Australia
    4. Kevin Weilbacher – MVP – Florida, USA
    5. Cal McLennan – MVP – Ontario, Canada
    6. Kerry Brown – MVP – Squamish, BC, Canada
    7. Stuart Applegate – MVP – Australia
    8. Tim Barrett – MVP – Louisville, Kentucky, USA
    9. Marina – Germany
    10. Jeff Middleton – MVP – New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
    11. Dave Nickason – MVP – New York, USA
    12. Mark Claggett – Microsoft MVP Lead
    13. Abhinay Kampasi – SBS Developer (backup)
    14. Mehmet Demir – SBS Developer (system health, anti-malware)
    15. Kevin Royalty – MVP – Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
    16. Marina Roos – MVP – Rotterdam, Netherlands
    17. Eriq “Q” Neale – MVP – Denton, Texas, USA
    18. Dean Calvert – MVP – Adelaide, Australia
    19. Wayne Small – MVP – Sydney, Australia
    20. Susan “Bitzie” Bradley – MVP – Fresno, California, USA
    21. Charlie Russel – MVP – Canada
    22. David Belanger – SBS Developer (setup)
    23. Oliver “Ollie” Sommer – MVP – Germany
    24. Jeff Loucks – MVP – Ontario, Canada
    25. Henry Craven – MVP – Melbourne, Australia
    26. Steven Banks – MVP – Seattle, Washington USA
    27. Kevin Beares – Microsoft Community Lead – WSSG
    28. Jon Bay – Microsoft Product Support (our trainer)
    29. Marie “Mom” McFadden – Microsoft Community Program Manager

      Also here, but not pictured…

    30. Dana Epp – MVP – Canada
    31. Frank McCallister – MVP – Helena, Alabama, USA
    32. Larry Struckmeyer – MVP – Florida, USA
    33. Tobias Redelberger – MVP – Germany
    34. Steven Lai – MVP – San Jose, California, USA
    35. Les Connor – MVP – Canada
    36. Vlad Mazek – MVP – Orlando, Florida, USA
    37. David “ShackDaddy” Shackelford – MVP – Seattle, Washington, USA

    To all those with missing info, I’ll fill it in as soon as I can confirm info – I’m horrible with remembering names 🙂 If you know any of the missing info above, please feel free to post it in the comments. And if I missed anyone who’s here, please comment that too.

    Thanks Microsoft for a truly awesome and valuable event!

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    SBS 2008 Migration Smack Down

    Two classrooms full of Microsoft MVPs, all working on an SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 migrations on identical equipment (Dell Optiplex servers with Core 2 Quad processors w/ 8 GB of RAM). Lots of talking, lots of flexing, lots of reading.

    Who won?

    Team “Tim & Vlad”. Proof, baby:

    All the party people say "woop-woop"

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    Remaining SBS 2008 Tour Dates

    I’ve had a couple folks today ask about other stops on the SBS 2008 Tour.

    Here are the remaining dates and the URL to register:

    • Downers Grove, IL – Tuesday, September 16
    • Irving, TX – Wednesday, September 17
    • Minneapolis, MN – Thursday, September 18
    • South Field, MI – Wednesday, September 17
    • Waltham, MA – Thursday, September 18
    • New York, NY – Friday, September 19
    • San Francisco, CA – Monday, September 22
    • Irvine/Los Angeles, CA – Tuesday, September 23
    • San Diego, CA – Wednesday, September 24

    Registration URL: Click here to Register at the event of your choice

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    2008 SBS Partner Group Tour Registration Open

    2006_sbs_tour_kysbsug Good news for SMB Resellers interested in getting the scoop on SBS 2008 – Microsoft has recently announced the SBS 2008 Partner Group Tour, so go ahead and block the date on your calendar (these are typically evening events).

    Unfortunately, the tour can’t come to every city, but there are 14 stops planned so far.  Here’s the current list of cities and dates, as of 7/27/2008:

    Date City Partner Group Lead
    Sat 9/16/2008 Redmond, WA Steven Banks
    Tue 9/19/2008 Atlanta, GA Rick Butler
    Wed 9/20/2008 Charlotte, NC Mark Crall
    Thu 9/11/2008 Miami, FL Scott Cayouette
    Fri 9/12/2008 Houston, TX Tim Loney
    Mon 9/15/2008 Cincinnati, OH Kevin Royalty
    Tue 9/16/2008 Chicago, IL Cynthia Slade
    Wed 9/17/2008 Dallas, TX Russell Clements
    Wed 9/17/2008 South Field, MI Tavis Patterson
    Thu 9/18/2008 Waltham, MA Scott Galbraith
    Fri 9/19/2008 New York, NY Robert Patterson
    Mon 9/22/2008 San Francisco, CA Steven Lai
    Tue 9/23/2008 Irvine, CA Dave Seibert
    Wed 9/24/2008 San Diego, CA Jim Muglia

     

    *Dates and cities are subject to change.

    Registration isn’t open yet, but when the ticket window opens, we’ll let you know ASAP.  The closest stop to us is Cincinnati, OH on Monday September 15, 2008. Hope to see you there! 🙂

    UPDATE: 08/18/2008 – Registration for the Cincinnati event is now open. Click here to register today!

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    SBS 2008 Launch Date Announced

    Today, July 7, 2008, at Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) Microsoft announced the official launch date of SBS 2008 (Cougar):

    Per Steven VanRoekel:

    “I am excited to announce that Nov. 12, 2008, is the official launch date for Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008. Activities that day will signal availability of both solutions and kick off launch efforts worldwide. In many ways, though, we consider WPC our launch for partners and we want to help them plan and prepare for the solutions.

    We are also announcing that both solutions are reaching the Release Candidate 1 milestone, another step toward final release. Pre-release versions of Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008 are available for download and evaluation now through www.multiplyyourpower.com.”

    Note – That is not RTM date, just the launch date.  There is a lot of discussion in the forums about Software Assurance, what’s in, what’s out, why did they do this or that, etc.. The bottom line is, you have a hard date. So now you can better help customers decide if they should limp along on existing hardware and for another 5 months, or pull the trigger on new hardware purchases using SBS 2003 now and look at SBS 2008 when SP1 is born.

    Source: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2008/jul08/07-07QAvanroekel.mspx

    BTW – Is it just me, or does the new 2008 marketing material look like a cross between the Zune logo and Line Rider? Fortunately nowadays we can hire services like the best SEO agency in henderson.

    Here’s the link to the Line Rider video I’m talking about, which is ‘ok’, but the best Line Rider is here (and imbedded below):

    The Super Mario Bros one is cool too. But I digress…

    Anyway, I guess it’s fresher than the old ‘Breakout’ / Q*bert marketing stuff from the Server 2003 era, if you want to learn about good marketing used in stores nowadays, check this dimensional lettering signs.

    I won a free game!

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