RC1 bits The RC1 bits have been made available again at the links below but please remember the following about pre-RTM code: As this is not final release code, you may not install the software in a live operating environment. Thus, it should...

In conjunction with The Dream Server virtual launch on November 12th, Microsoft and its partners are sponsoring a virtual tradeshow that includes both webcasts and exhibits. Please register here early and help promote this broadly! On November 12th...

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 is a stand-alone product that will be available via the Microsoft Download Center free of charge. Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 does not require CALs for the product itself. Read more and download Microsoft Hyper-V Server...

In today's economic times, we understand businesses are re-assessing their strategy, forecasts and budgets. Investing in your IT infrastructure can help you keep your competitive edge, boost productivity, focus on line of business applications such as...

I’d like to do two things right off the bat in this, my first, blog post here… 1) Announce that Windows Essential Business Server 2008 has reached RTM! (English now, more languages to come soon) 2) Extend my sincere gratitude to the many customers...

Possibly one of the most exciting topics in the market today – well perhaps not as exciting as EBS, but close! Earlier this week we ran a special session for our partners covering the intended support details for running Windows Essential Business...

I’m sure many of you have at some point spent time on Dr Tom Shinder’s web site www.isaserver.org . Recently I caught a blog post from Dr Tom which really captured why we did in fact include Forefront Threat Management Gateway. He really hits the nail...

Lingan Satkunanathan shows off some of the security features in this recent interview on TechNet EDGE.  He’ll talk about how we lock things down out of the box, how you can change settings once you’re installed, and also talks about features like...

Collecting basic information about all of the computers in your network can be a tedious task. On the Computers and Devices page in Essential Business Server this one by one approach is no longer required.  This EBS console page gathers critical...

So up until now we’ve really focused on all of the underlying technology of EBS, and have covered each of the server roles – Management, Messaging and Security.  Now we’re going to look into how the administration works within EBS and how we’ve designed...

Don’t have three servers spare to trial EBS?  Why not check out our Click Through Demo of Windows Essential Business Server.  These demos require .net framework 2.0 and either Windows XP or Vista. These cover scenarios like Managing system health...

Think you have what it takes to get certified early on EBS?  Announcing free beta coupons for the EBS exam by Prometric!  Beta exams help you to understand what’s involved with running the product and help you get ahead of the pack supporting...

We have just released two new components of the EBS server setup and installation process. We added a first step to setup – a downloadable tool that scans the existing environment looking for the top (91) configuration issues and server health issues...

The Worldwide Partner Conference wrapped up today with 4 days of great info for thousands of Microsoft Partners (mostly VARs & VAPs).  Essential Business Server was demoed and referred to throughout the conference.  For people who weren...

EBS activities continue at the Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston this week. Visit www.VARvid.com to see and hear partners in Houston discuss their thoughts and plans around EBS. For example, a video interview with Ed Correia of Sagacent Technologies...

With our announcement of Release Candidate 1 yesterday, the EBS team is getting close to shipping and getting the product out to market.  There are a number of things that happen in these final stages, so let me give you an inside look at some of...

Hot off the presses (and a keynote demo), the EBS team announced the Release Candidate 1 version of EBS at Worldwide Partner Conference here in Houston.  As the Group Program Manager, I had the privilege of being the first to publicly show RC1 bits...

Windows Essential Business Server supports up to 30 System Center Essentials 2007 (SCE) Server Management Licenses (SMLs), the maximum number of SCE SMLs permitted by the SCE software. SCE SMLs are included with the purchase of Windows Essential Business...

The Messaging Server is the third server installed as part of a core Windows Essential Business Server 2008 deployment. Its duties include messaging and collaboration for the Windows Essential Business Server 2008 solution. For network infrastructure...

This is a continuation of a previous post where I spoke about the role of Windows Error Reporting (WER) in Essential Business Server (EBS). Today, I'll be discussing Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) in EBS.  Before working at Microsoft...

The Security Server is the second server installed in a Windows Essential Business Server 2008 deployment. It integrates with the existing Management Server and it is automatically configured for the typical needs of a <300 seat business. The Security...

Check out a recent Podcast with Steven VanRoekel the director of Windows Server Solutions.  He talks with Joe Wilcox about the challenges midsize businesses face, and how Essential Business Server builds directly from our customers feedback. A great...

Part of evaluating Windows Essential Business Server 2008 is about understanding how it all fits together.  As you hopefully know by now Essential Business Server 2008 runs on three Servers.  Today we’re going to cover what is actually installed...

Starting from today we’re introducing a series of short VLOGs to get you familiar with Essential Business Server 2008.  We like to refer to them as Demo Slices . First up the add new user wizard .  We learnt a lot in our research about how a...

My name is Michael Goulding and I'm a Software Design Engineer on the Essential Business Server team.  I'd like to explain what the WER (Windows Error Reporting) and CEIP (Customer Experience Improvement Program) components of EBS are, and how they...