This book is primarily designed to help those who are looking to pass the Microsoft Certification Exam 70-169—Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard, Configuring. The major benefit of achieving this is the ability to qualify for some of the Microsoft competencies that are available. However, it should also be of benefit to any Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2011 Standard network administrators in that it covers all the basics from setting up a new Windows SBS 2011 Standard server, through migration from previous versions of SBS, to configuring and maintaining not only the server, but also the workstations and user accounts.
Even after the exam is completed, the book can still be used as a standards and best practice reference for anyone working with Windows SBS 2011 Standard.
For those new to the world of Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS), you may be surprised to find that the SBS product has been around since October 1997 when it was released as BackOffice Small Business Server 4.0. Since then it has progressed through the following releases:
BackOffice Small Business Server 4.5 (May, 1999)
Microsoft Small Business Server 2000 (February, 2001)
Windows Small Business Server 2003 (October, 2003)
Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 (July, 2006)
Windows Small Business Server 2008 (August, 2008)
Windows Small Business Server 2011 (December, 2010)
As you can see SBS is a product with a long and distinguished heritage.
In recent years there has also been a number of different versions of SBS with each release. This continues to this day with two major offerings around the 2011 product. The first, and the one not covered in the book, is Windows SBS 2011 Essentials which is a product without the traditional inclusion of Exchange or SharePoint servers and is designed to be connected to Microsoft's cloud based offering of these products, Office 365.
The second, and the one covered exclusively by this book is Windows SBS 2011 Standard which is the traditional infrastructure version that includes on-premise versions of SharePoint and Exchange.
Microsoft certifications are available for most Microsoft products, including Windows SBS 2011 Standard. They are designed to test your knowledge of the product to provide you with relevant skills that both employers and customers respect and recognize. Being a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) also gives you access to the community of other certified professionals around the world.
Becoming an MCP provides you with valuable resources and benefits from Microsoft, such as access to a member website, career building tools, and training.
Completing the Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard, Configuring exam also puts you on the road to becoming a Small Business Specialist. This qualification is a unique recognition of businesses that support the SBS product range.
The Small Business Specialist community is spread all over the world and is well known for its passion around the product and the solutions it provides customers. There are many resources available to Small Business Specialists including access to Not For Resale (NFR) software from Microsoft, e-mail list, and in many cases regular get-togethers where Small Business Specialists meet and share their knowledge, experience, and work together as a group to improve what they know about the product and their businesses.
The best way to get involved in the Small Business Specialist Community is to join a local group and start participating. To find out more information about a group near you visit http://www.sbsgroups.com.
Chapter 1, Installing and Setting Up Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2011 Standard, takes you through the process of installing a Windows SBS 2011 Standard server, including migration if required.
Chapter 2, Configuring Remote Access, covers the configuration of various methods of remote access for Windows SBS 2011 Standard.
Chapter 3, Configuring and Managing Messaging and Collaboration, shows you how to share information with Windows SBS 2011 Standard via such things as e-mail, network folders, and the built-in intranet.
Chapter 4, Managing Users, Computers, and Printers, covers the creation of user and group accounts as well as the management of shared resources such as computers and printers.
Chapter 5, Managing Health and Security, examines what resources are available in Windows SBS 2011 Standard to ensure that the network continues to run smoothly.
Chapter 6, Advanced Configuration, will show you how to take Windows SBS 2011 Standard beyond the basic installation with options such as additional servers.
Appendix A, Resources, contains a range of valuable resources for Windows SBS 2011 Standard including websites, mailing lists, blogs, and more.
Appendix B, Test your Knowledge Answers, contains answers and explanations to the questions found at the end of each chapter.
This book covers the basics of Windows SBS 2011 Standard. It covers most of the default Windows SBS 2011 Standard options and configurations simply because this is the material that Microsoft is most likely to test in any certification exam. Given the focus of this book which is the Microsoft Certification exam, the text will not cover the Windows SBS 2011 Essentials product as this is not currently part of the examination curriculum.
There is simply not enough room to cover all the permutations that are possible with Windows SBS 2011 Standard. This book also only scratches the surface of what can be done with Windows SBS 2011 Standard and how it can be configured. Things such as group policy, SharePoint, and other customizations can really take Windows SBS 2011 Standard from the plain vanilla to something that is highly customized and optimized for any business.
If you are an experienced Windows SBS 2011 Standard administrator, then this book is probably not for you. If you are looking for a deep dive into all the configurations that are available with Windows SBS 2011 Standard, then this book is also probably not for you. However, if you are primarily looking to pass the Microsoft Certification exam and secondly looking for an introduction into the world of Windows SBS 2011, then this book is for you.
This book is based on the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2011 Standard product. It also covers the Premium Add-On pack for the product. To get the most from this book, you should have access to both software products as well as standard Windows desktop software such as Windows 7 Professional.
It is strongly recommended that you look to establish a test environment so you can follow along with each chapter of the book. Utilizing virtualization technology to run your software on will provide you with a significant amount of flexibility during run up, configuration, and testing. Importantly, it will also give you portability to move between hardware systems if required.
Aside from the hardware and software, you will also generally need a router and a connection to the Internet.
This book is aimed at the IT Professional looking to learn more about Windows SBS 2011 Standard. This typically means they are either a network administrator for a business that already has Windows SBS 2011 Standard or they are a reseller that is supporting customers with the product.
More than this, the book is specifically targeted at those seeking to complete the Microsoft Certification Exam 70-169—Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard, Configuring. That said, the book should also be seen as a good technical resource about Windows SBS 2011 Standard and includes best practices as well as a number of important resources.
If you are an IT Professional who is working with Windows SBS 2011 Standard and potentially looking to become Microsoft Certified on the product, then this book is for you.
Once you have read this book, completed all of the example questions at the end of each chapter, and understood the explanation to achieve the correct answer, what else should you do to help you pass the certification exam?
1. Read through the information on the Microsoft website about this exam: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Exam.aspx?ID=70-169&Locale=en-us.
Even though the outline of this book is closely related to the Skills Measured tab on this website, take the time to read them again and make sure you have the knowledge in each topic.
2. Install and use Windows SBS 2011 Standard. Although a server in a live environment is preferred, if this isn't possible a test lab server is a great advantage to help pass this certification.
3. Become a member of your local SBS users' group or online community. These communities are worldwide and once you have become a member you have access to people who work with the SBS and related products.
4. Create a login to Prometric. It is the only place at this time you can book your Microsoft Certification, and thus you must have a login.
As can be expected the guidelines on what you are required to bring, and what is not allowed in a test centre are very controlled. Ensure you read the about the Test Center Experience found at: http://www.prometric.com/TestTakers/FAQs/Test+Center.htm.
Best of luck!
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "Click Configure the internet address, and then click Next".
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