Okay so it's pretty clear from the public news that SBS 2003 R2 RTMd just recently.. and honestly.. I really wasn't going to blog about it... why? Well because for one.. right after I would blog about the RTM RTMing you'd ask me "so what's the pricing?" and I honestly don't know. All of the details and SKUs and all that will be released in July as the "official launch" for SBS 2003 R2 is going to be at the World Wide Partner Conference in Boston. The cdroms and boxes and stuff are in production so there's not really a need to start talking about how cool it is when you can't get it or download it or anything... so wait until July when the real party is... besides there will be SBSers in attendance for that like Chris and Susanne and AmyL and Harry and Beatrice and Vlad for the real launch.
So I was going to originally hold off saying anything because well.. the cdroms aren't available to purchase and the SKUs aren't set and you can't order them now.. so why start the buzz now when there's "buzz time later" to be had. I mean let's not start the party when the party will be in July, right?
..but here's the thing... folks that know I'm an SBSers send me the links... and one of them... well.. I mean I know a couple of folks who were quoted in the article and well... lemme put it this way.. let me just give you a hug first..because you might as well just paint a bulls eye target on your forehead...'cause I can't let those comments go by without a rebuttal....and I certainly can't wait until July to come out with my opinion regarding the statements that were made.
In regards to interest in R2, Jason was quoted as saying...."No, there's not much interest at all. The Green Check feature isn’t worth the price of the upgrade. There just is not a lot of compelling value in SBS R2 that makes us want to recommend it to our clients," said Jason Harrison, president of Harrison Technology Consulting, Nashville, N.C.
First up is Jason... and Jason... you know what next week is? Yup that's Patch Tuesday day... and do you know how many patches are comin' down next week? A TON. And do you currently use WSUS? Do you find it... uh... how can I describe this.... uh... confusing, annoying, baffling, bewildering, complex, esoteric, mystifying, obscure, unfathomable, vex... well you get the idea.
I bet you do, don't you? I sure do. Like Les said, SUS was good, WSUS is confusing and SBS's version of WSUS... just a whole lot easier to handle. So Mr. Harrison, you SBSer you, I want you to consider a couple of things here that Don Murphy in the SBS2k listserve said yesterday about compelling reasons for SBS:
- Quota templates -- Don said yesterday -- "Le'ts celebrate! I want quota templates!" ....disk quotas are in this release for one.....
- A patch management tool under the hood that will give both the consultant and the owner a birds eye view of the patch status of their network...
- Finally SQL 2005 which has a MUCH better security profile than SQL 2000
- Expandable cal rights for Exchange and SQL for other servers in the network.
Disk/Folder Quotas -- SBS 2003 r2 has that part of the Windows 2003 R2 for disk/folder quotas..(and Microsoft you really need to upgrade your official web site because right now you are totally silent on this item that a lot of var/vaps wanted) We now have the FSRM feature from R2 that allows us to have quotas by folder.
Patch Management under the hood. I'm sorry sir, but I've been patching SBS boxes for a long time and that "green check" you blow off as not being a compelling value IS of value. When I go and talk to the community do you know how few folks have WSUS installed now? Are doing any sort of patch management strategy at all? So before you blow off this release as having 'no value', I'd say you'd better assure me that the ONLY reason why it has no value TO YOU is that you already have a patch management strategy in place.
He went on to say "The only case would be if we have a client who needs update services or SQL 2005"... whoa... sir... yeah I'll let you have the statement about the "needing SQL 2005 (which by the way by default has better security features than SQL 2000 and runs in a better security context and all that) ...but your statement "IF we have a client who needs update services".... dear... sweetie... EVERY CLIENT needs update services. Every day there's a change in the threats on the horizon...every day the bad guys try a new task to get to us... this is truly big business and they pay people to write bad things to try to get us....we've had all sorts of different threats and unless you keep that guard up... you are just asking for trouble. So I'm sorry... for anyone who says "if we have a client".. it's more like all of us have clients that need update services.
In fact let me challenge you...next week is a big patch week... you walk around to each desktop, ensuring that each one has flipped to Microsoft Update and you patch every server, every desktop, by hand. Don't remote it and do this.. you do it by hand. Now ... tell me again that you don't need a tool to help you keep these machines up to date? And if you are not patching... I'm sorry you are a ticking time bomb waiting to occur.
The difference between "normal" WSUS and SBS's WSUS.. and no Don, to answer your question there's some tips and tricks to get further functionality out of SBS's WSUS than folks saw during the beta...but this isn't the time nor the place to blog about that... Mark your calendars for July for more info...but there's a lot under the hood that most folks haven't even scratched the surface on.
SQL 2005. In my not so humble opinion, the ONLY compelling reason WHY you should not upgrade to R2 is quite frankly the database. If you are a company with a LOB app that is on an existing SQL database... I'll bet you that your app vendor probably hasn't even begun to even think about upgrading that database to SQL 2005. Due ot the fact that SBS is an integrated bundle..if you need SQL 2000.. you are stuck on SBS 2003 sp1 and can't upgrade to SQL 2005...but... if you are like me where your LOB apps are not tied to that SQL database and the only LOB thing you have on SQL is your ever increasing Sharepoint up on that server, given SQL 2005's increased security posture....man... there's no good reason to be staying on an older database in my book.
Expanded Cal Rights. Want a second Exchange server? Another SQL 2005 workgroup box? Just buy the Windows OS and the Exchange or SQL and plop it into your network and you won't need SQL or Exchange cals for that second (or third or whatever) box.
Folks, Security is a FEATURE...and somehow it feels like folks forget that.
Okay so now the flip side... Oh, but Susan, that SQL 2005 Workgroup is so much less robust than SQL 2000. Gentlemen.. a challenge to you...I'll bet you right now your LOB app vendors are supporting SQL 2000. If you can email me with the name of one of your small business vendors that you build your practice around that is, right now, indicating that they are supporting SQL 2005 standard and will NOT support SQL 2005 workgroup... you tell me the name and I'll send you a Mountain Dew. (One can, your choice of regular, Live wire, Code Red, Pitch Black, AMP but not Baja Blast unless you want a gift certificate to Taco Bell...subject of course to seasonal availability) I'll bet you that those app vendors are still on SQL 2000...and that's what will keep you from migrating to SQL 2005 not necessarily the lack of support of Workgroup.
So I promise.. no more hoopla about R2.. not right now anyway... July is the better time for the party poppers and all that...but I just couldn't let that comment go by... for some partners it's the disk/folder quota feature.. for others it's the SQL 2005.. for me... it will be first and foremost and ALWAYS about the pride in the fact that SBS showcases more than any other software platform around just how far patching as come...
I used to sit in front of my SBS 4.5 box and cross my fingers, squint my eyes and think happy thoughts when patching and rebooting my server. To think now that SBS has UNDER THE HOOD built in patch management and integration to show that you are patched.... I'm just still.... well it just really cool is all.
So Jason... a hug for ya.. didn't mean to beat you up... and I promise gang... we'll have lots more about R2 in July cause that's when the real party is.... but to me.. R2 IS a compelling story for upgrading.
P.S. Just heard that Dean Calvert will be presenting at the Small Business Symposium... way cool!