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Small Business Server Support Forum    
Forums > Microsoft Smallbusiness Server > Small Business Server 2008
Subject: Multiple 'EBS server suites' in a domain
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Derek Taylor User is Offline
United Kingdom
Member since
5/7/2008

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Posts: 2
5/07/2008 12:22 AM  
Hi All!
 
This is my first post so be gentle!
 
Our company is currently running separate copies of SBS at our three sites. It looks like EBS would suit our expanding needs however one of the most infuriating problems at the moment is that each of our SBS servers have to be kept on their own domain so new details (e.g. for new staff) has to be entered 3 times. Will it be possible with EBS to have multiple 'server sets' (as I believe a copy of EBS is run over multiple machines) within one domain? Ideally we want to run separate copies of Exchange and SQL server at each site with a VPN to connect the three.

Many thanks in advance,
 
DelBert
Stan Guinn User is Offline
Texas, USA
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12/29/2005

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5/08/2008 02:40 PM  
From the information I gathered at the SBMSummit, the requirement that SBS/EBS be the root of the domain and own the FSMO roles has not changed. Thus it will need to be deployed exactly as your current network.

What is the advantage of having three SBS or EBS systems. Why not consider one EBS and 2 remote Win 2k8 domain controllers. Having 2 extra Exchange and Sharepoint servers seems unnecessary.
Derek Taylor User is Offline
United Kingdom
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5/7/2008

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5/09/2008 03:41 PM  
Hi Stan, thanks for your response.

The reasons for running extra copies of Exchange and SQL are for speed and reliability. One of our three sites (what could be considered a sub office) is in a time zone 5 hours out of our main office so out of hours support becomes a problem. Also, if any of our internet (or inter-office) connections go down it means all of our sites are down.

Does this seem reasonable or is there a better way of doing it?

DelBert
Stan Guinn User is Offline
Texas, USA
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5/10/2008 01:49 AM  
It is very tough to make a blind recommendation to someone without knowing the nuances of their business model. You'll never get n argument out of me against multiple SQL servers. SQL can be a serious resource hog. Depending on your business model, distributing that work might be a good idea.

What I was thinking was one central EBS with additional Domain Controllers at each branch office. If the EBS went down, the first thing ppl would miss is email. There are backup email services that capture your email while your server is down. So ultimately you don't lose anything except extra time to go retrieve it. The next thing they miss is being able to get to the internet. With DHCP/DNS running on a single SBS/EBS, when it goes down there is no name resolution so it can't find www.google.com. But with local DCs, that info can be replicated to them so the remote ppl can still get to the internet. So the next issues would be any LOB apps they need access to while the main server is down. So there would need to be a strategy for that in place.

Your particular business model may not permit a configuration different than what you currently have. I was thinking about this from a support angle. Supporting one EBS and 2 remote DCs is way easier than supporting 3 EBS servers with 3 Exchanges, 3 Backup schedules, 3 WSUS, 3...etc.

And the big questions is how often do your servers totally break? Hopefully not very often. I have some that have never broken. Of course you have to have a plan in place for when it does happen.
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Forums > Microsoft Smallbusiness Server > Small Business Server 2008 > Multiple 'EBS server suites' in a domain


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