Microsoft’s Small Business Server, or SBS, 2008 is designed to answer that question with a resounding yes.

While Windows Server 2008 is a robust networking and server platform that can easily handle the needs of any small business, it is not designed with non-computer professionals in mind. This is largely because any attempt to make certain tasks easier invariably also makes them less able to scale to the full enterprise. Thus, a small business owner used to be stuck in between the need for a full server system, but without the time (or the skills) to handle properly managing the system.

Windows Small Business Server 2008 tackles this problem via an intuitive console. In the 2008 version, the console has been designed in such a way as to relate directly to common business tasks, versus the Windows Server 2008 paradigm which relates directly to common system administration tasks.

The result is a fully robust server platform that can be properly managed by a small business without the need to hire a full-time system administrator, or pay a consultant thousands of dollars to keep a relatively simple system running smoothly.

Windows Server 2008 Robust Scalability — Not Easy Operation and Administration

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 offers a full range of scalable user and group administration. Therein, lies the problem. While a seasoned systems administrator has no difficulty with the concept of local users and domain users, the average business owner can get crossed up right there. And, that is before he even contemplates things like Active Directory, global groups, machine accounts, and so on.

Imagine a dentist whose practice has expanded over the years. When he first started out, it was just him and an assistant sharing one computer. But, as the practice grew, he added a dental hygienist, and then a few years ago, he took on a partner, along with another hygienist. He split the admin function in two with one scheduler, and one person handling billing. Recently his son joined the practice (and another hygienist), plus, they added someone to handle the phones so that the other admin could better handle the lobby.

Things are going well for the business, and some more employees might be in the works, but what started out as two people sharing a computer without any need for security has become an 11 person office using a network of computers cobbled together by a nephew who “is good at computers” a consultant that came in three years ago, and a little bit of luck.

Things like backups are hit or miss, and security is basically an “I hope no one notices this directory” affair, especially since he isn’t sure if user accounts were deleted after people left the company.

There is no doubt that it is time for a server platform with regular backups and real security. Plus, an email system would be much better than the various sticky notes pasted around the office to communicate with each other. However, there is nowhere near enough work for a full-time computer admin.

If our intrepid dentist were to use Windows Server 2008, he might get some of the features he needs, but the office still wouldn’t be any better when it came to administration and maintenance. One look at the User Properties menu in Windows Server 2008 is likely to give our poor business owner heart burn, and who knows what his Active Directory might look like, and that’s before we even think about putting in Microsoft Exchange.

Small Business Server 2008 Console and Wizards

SBS 2008, however, is built with people like our dentist in mind. Adding a new user when one of the employee’s niece comes in after school to help is as easy as starting up the main administration console. There is a dedicated User tab, but easier than that, user account creation is one of the tasks easily linked off of the front page of the console.

One click and the New User wizard guides the small business owner through a quick process to define an account and then the SBS server takes care of everything else automatically. No more, creating a local user account when a domain user account was required, or forgetting to setup a machine account to go with the new user. All of those tasks are handled behind the scenes with just a minimum amount of user input.

Or more specifically, with exactly the amount of user input a small business owner should be expected to know. Who is this user? Do they have a new computer, too? What level of permissions should this user get?

Tasks like adding groups, deleting users, and adding devices are similarly channeled toward someone who knows more about the employees than they know about computer systems. Important tasks like assigning machine level privileges to the user account can’t be forgotten, because the wizard brings up a screen specifically asking whether to assign an existing computer to the new account or add a new computer.

Adding new computers has long been a source of confusion for small business owners. This is for two reasons. First, a small business doesn’t buy new computers that often, so even once they figure it out, chances are they forgot all about it by the time a new computer comes in. Second, it seems odd to most non-technical people that a machine would need an account at all.

Thankfully, SBS 2008 simplifies the process by handling the task of installing the machine account via the browser. A click on the To Do screen, gives users exactly the prompting they need to insure that adding a new system goes smoothly.

For all of those businesses where computers are a necessary accessory and not part of the company’s business, SBS 2008 provides a much simpler user experience for busy entrepreneurs and business owners who need the robust environment provided by Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Exchange Server without all the headaches.

To see if SBS 2008 is right for your company, you can download a 60-day trial of Small Business Server 2008. This is a fully functioning install of SBS 2008. The demo period can be reset up to three times which means that theoretically, a business can have a 240-day trial.

Related posts:

1. Windows Server 2008 Active Directory — Creating Users is Easy!
2. Server 2008 Active Directory: Adding a Child Domain
3. How To Install Windows Small Business Server 2008
4. SBS 2008 and IT Consultants – Is It For You?
5. Intro to Microsoft Small Business Server 2008

Last week I showed you how to create user accounts and user templates. So today, I’m going to show you how to put all of these users into a group.

Why would we want to do that?

Well, let’s say for example that we have this one shared folder on our network that we want only our Sales Department to have access to.

Without groups in your Active Directory, you would have to go to each individual Sales Department user account and give that account access to that shared folder. That can take quite some time if you have, let’s say … 200 users in your Sales Department.

Instead, what we are going to do is, take all the Sales Department user accounts and put them in a Sales User Group. Now when I want to give access to all of my Sales Users to that shared folder, I just give the entire Sales Group access to it and voila! All Sales Users now have access to our shared folder!

That’s just so much easier, isn’t it? You can then take the Sales User Group and put it in a Sales Organizational Unit.

Organizational Unit is really just a folder for organizational purpose, to keep your Active Directory nice and clean. You can add different groups, computers and other resources to an Organizational Unit.

Enough talk, let me show you how you can accomplish all of this in your Windows Server 2008 Active Directory.

Creating an Organizational Unit

1. Start by opening up your Server Manager, then expand the Roles section.

2. Next expand the Active Directory Domain Services section and click on Active Directory Users and Computers.

3. At this point you should be able to see your domain. In our example we are using the Globomantics domain. Go ahead and expand your domain.

4. Now we need to create an Organizational Unit for a group to live in. In our example we are going to create an OU for our Ops Team.

To create a new Organization Unit, right-click on your domain name, point to the New option and then select Organizational Unit.

5. Type in the name of your OU and make sure that the box is checked next to Protect container from accidental deletion. When done, click OK.

6. We now have a new Organizational Unit in our Active Directory called OpsOU.

Creating a New Group

1. After you create an Organizational Unit in your Active Directory, you are ready to create your first group. Go ahead and select your OU and then right-click in the blank area.

2. Next, point to New and then select Group.

3. The next step is to name your Group, select the scope and then select the type.

In this example we are going to name our group OpsUSers. We are also going to leave the default selections for group scope, which is Global, and group type, which is Security. When you are ready, click OK.

4. Our new group has been created!

Moving Accounts Into a Group

1. In order to move pre-existing accounts into a group, you need to hold down the Control key and click on all the User or Computer accounts that you want to move into that group.

2. Then you need to right-click on any one of those accounts and select Add to a group.

3. Next, you need to type in the group name and let the machine find it.

In our example, I will type in OpsUsers and then click on the Check names button. Once the name is verified and group name is found, the text will become underlined and you can click the OK button. Since we know our group exists, we are going to click OK without verification.

4. Now all of these accounts are part of our OpsUsers group.

Note: Another way of accomplishing this would be to click on an account, hold it, then drag and drop it into a particular group. Depending on how much you like to use your mouse and how much time you have this may or may not be your preferred way of accomplishing this task.

Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Training — Coming Soon!

Get complete coverage for the new 70-640 exam and get started on your MCITP certification.

Master Active Directory terms, learn about creating, organizing, and managing Users and Groups, installing and upgrading Domain Controller and much more — all on Windows Server 2008.

New Active Directory Training is Coming Soon –
Signup for new release notifications and discounts!

Related posts:

1. Windows Server 2008 Active Directory — Creating Users is Easy!
2. Windows Server 2008: Auditing Active Directory
3. Server 2008 Active Directory: Adding a Child Domain
4. Server 2008: Install Active Directory Certificate Services
5. Windows Server 2008: Install Active Directory Domain Services

Most of the time we create user accounts for people, however user accounts can also be created for applications or processes.

User accounts allow a person to access resources on a network. But we can just as easily deny access to certain resources on the network through the user account. That’s why, User Account Objects are quite important and very useful.

Today I’ll show you how easy it is to create a new user account, create a user template and how to use a template — all on your brand new Windows Server 2008!

Next week we’ll discuss User Groups and Organizational Units — so grab our RSS Feed so you don’t miss my next article! Now, let’s get started with creating a user account.

Creating a New User Account

1. To start let’s go ahead and open up Server Manager

2. Then we will open up the Roles section — next to Active Directory Users and Computers section and finally the Active Directory Users and Computers.

You should now see your domain name.

3. We are going to click on our Users section where we are going to create a new User Account. To do so, right-click on the blank section, point to New and select User.

4. In this window you need to type in the user’s first name, middle initial and last name. Next you will need to create a user’s logon name.

In our example we are going to create a user account for Billy Miles and his logon name will be bmiles. When done, click on the Next button.

5. In the next window you will need to create a password for your new user and select appropriate options.

In our example we are going to have the user change his password at his next logon. You can also prevent a user from changing his password, set the password so that it will never expire or completely disable the account.

When you are done making your selections, click the Next button.

6. And finally, click on the Finish button to complete the creation of new User Account.

Creating a User Template

A user template in Active Directory will make your life a little easier, especially if you are creating users for a specific department, with exact same properties, and membership to the same user groups.

A user template is nothing more than a disabled user account that has all these settings already in place. The only thing you are doing is copying this account, adding a new name and a password.

You may have multiple user templates for multiple purposes with different settings and properties. There is no limit on the number of user templates, but keep in mind that they are there to help you, not to confuse you, so keep in mind less is better.

To create a user template, we are going to create a regular user account just like we did above. A little note here, you may want to add an * as the first character of the name so it floats at the top in AD and is much easier to find.

1. To start out, right-click on the empty space, point to new, and select User.

2. Type in the user’s name (with asterisks if so desired) and click Next.

3. Create the template’s password and do not forget to check the box next to the Account is disabled option. When ready, click Next.

4. Once the account is created, you can go ahead and add all the properties you need for that template. To do so, double-click on that account and navigate to a specific tab. Once done click OK.

Using a Template

1. Now in order to use that user template, we are going to select it, copy it and add the unique information such as user name, password, etc.

We can do that for as many users as needed. Let’s start by right-clicking on the template and selecting Copy.

2. Next we are going to enter the user’s name, login and password information while making sure the checkbox next to Account is disabled is unchecked.

3. Once we finish, our new user account is created with all the properties of the template account. Now wasn’t that easy!

Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Training — Coming Soon!

Get complete coverage for the new 70-640 exam and get started on your MCITP certification.

Master Active Directory terms, learn about creating, organizing, and managing Users and Groups, installing and upgrading Domain Controller and much more — all on Windows Server 2008.

New Active Directory Training is Coming Soon –
Signup for new release notifications and discounts!

Related posts:

1. Server 2008 Active Directory User Groups — the Easy Way!
2. Server 2008 Active Directory: Adding a Child Domain
3. Windows Server 2008: Install Active Directory Domain Services
4. Windows Server 2008: Auditing Active Directory
5. Server 2008: Install Active Directory Certificate Services