Whether you own, work for, or consult a small to medium sized business, listen up. This article is your primer to understanding SBS … and why it IS a big deal. And if you think SBS is not up your alley, below you’ll find some important reasons to think again.

Putting SBS to Work for You

If you are an IT pro working for a small to medium sized business, SBS allows your company to share costly resources (fax machines, printers, Internet) via sever based computing, ultimately giving your IT budget a ton more bang for its buck!

SBS also gives employees 24/7 remote access to e-mail, company data and customer info – and that means higher productivity! Overall, you will be able to deploy many of the networking features found in larger companies, for a fraction of the cost.

If you are, or would like to become a consultant … SBS could be your ticket to a second (or first) income. With solid Small Business Server 2003 Training under your belt, you can help many small businesses get up to speed with a robust, secure network that will fit within the budget of just about any company. SBS is your opportunity to get your foot in the door in an area that is ripe with money making possibilities!

What You Get with SBS

One of the greatest things about SBS is that the price tag for the whole suite is just a fraction of what you would have to pay if you were to buy the enterprise version of any one of these products. For example, you can buy the Standard Edition of SBS for less than $500 (5 user license); the software bundled with the Standard Edition would cost you well over $2000 if you were to buy it separately.

You can install SBS on a server that will cost you around $1000 and you will have a VERY functional and powerful server…for under $2000 total!

What SBS Can Do

Here is a partial list of reasons that make SBS a standout solution:

• You get a central and secure place where you can store business data
• SBS gives you the ability to access shared documents remotely
• You have a powerful email solution in Exchange 2003
• You can get a powerful portal/collaboration tool in SharePoint services
• You have the ability to control critical updates on all your clients and servers
• You can protect your business with available SBS backup solutions
• A shared faxed server can be used to route faxes through your email client (Outlook)
• SBS is MUCH easier to install/manage than Server 2003 (and the other components) individually

What You’ll Need to Run SBS

Here are the minimum requirements (not the Microsoft minimum requirements…REALISTIC minimum requirements!) you’ll need to run Small Business Server 2003 R2:

• CPU Speed - 1GHz or Faster
• Memory - 1GB of RAM minimum, 2 GB of RAM recommended
• Hard Disk - 80 GB of available hard disk space (add a larger hard drive if you need it, they are cheap)
• Display - Super VGA (800 x 600)
• Other Devices - Ethernet NIC card, Keyboard/Mouse, high-speed Internet, Windows XP Pro or 2000 for clients

For more information about SBS and hardware requirements visit: Microsoft.

Windows Small Business Server Training by Train Signal

You get detailed coverage of Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 R2. “Get your Hands Dirty” with this Real World Training that is 100% Instructor Led!

In this course Jonathan Hassell will lead you through Scenarios and Examples that will have you ready to tackle anything that SBS 2003 can throw at you.

Microsoft Small Business Server Training — Learn more about our SBS training and view the free demo now!

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