Microsoft appear to be taking a different direction with the new release of SBS and it's not one that will suit most of my customers. In almost all cases, customers have gone for SBS because of Exchange Server, but this is being removed. Right now I could stockpile SBS 2011, which does include it, but I need to start planning for alternatives. I don't deal with customers any larger than 25-users and I've never set up a multi-server system, hence why SBS has been perfect for over 10 years now.
What I need is a server OS that is simple to install, simple to administer and caters for the following facilities :-
File Sharing
Print Sharing (although this is usually a minor requirement these days)
Local e-mail hosting ala Exchange Server
Remote Access to both server and desktops
I have ZERO experience outside of the MSDOS and Windows environments, hence the need for this to be simple .
I know why Microsoft have done it but instead of keeping a product going and giving small businesses an option, they are taking that away and forcing people to look elsewhere. Exchange is also moving to 'cloud' based which, for most of my rural customers is also not an option. I have some customers struggling with sub.2Mbps connections so you can imagine what it would be like for them .
One last thing. The server OS needs to be damn stable and require very little maintenance. I cannot afford to be running around all the time fixing problems. Believe it or not, I have to do very little work on my customer's SBS-based systems as, once set up, they just work .
Ta .