Explanation of servers needed: Windows Server 2008R2, SBS2011, WHS 2011

[IamDavid]

This might seem like a dumb question but I'd like to get a better understanding of what the differences ad uses are for all the different types.. Is any one of them the end al be all with the rest just slimmed down versions? I know WHS is for home servers, I currently have it running by home server. Storage servers seems interesting. SBS Essentials too. Any of them enable you to build your own "cloud"?

And I've read many, many pages on all these subjects. Now I need a good simple explanation.

Thanks

 

[Nothinman]

The main difference is so that MS can charge different prices for different SKUs. The different levels of Windows Server are all the same software just with various artificial limitations placed by MS in order to charge you more if you want to use more memory, CPUs, etc.

The secondary differences are the default software setup. SBS includes AD, Exchange, Sharepoint, etc all in one with some SBS-specific wizards and such while standard Windows Server just does AD, file/print, etc. SBS also has other limitations like having to be the only DC in it's AD, I think a rather small number of max users, etc because it's designed for small businesses. They also bundle Exchange in SBS which MS tells you is a very bad idea. WHS used to be it's own thing but now it's part of the SBS line.

The "cloud" is just another word for a hosted product, so while something like BPOS uses the term cloud to make it sound new and fancy it's really just MS' own hosted Exchange services. So technically any server can be used to create a cloud as long as you have the right software.

 

[Griffinhart]

To add some details about various versions.

Win 2008 Server is the Base server product from Microsoft. It Allows all basic services such as IIS, DNS, DHCP, Hyper-V, etc.

WHS, and SBS are both based on Win 2008 server.

WHS Has some feature limitations compared to that of 2008, but has a nice easy to use console. It also adds a pre-build Web access feature allowing for remote access of files and network desktops through a free https://servername.homeserver.com address. This includes some nice media streaming features as well.

WHS also includes a network backup utility using Data De-duplication allowing for bare metal backups of your local PC's.

SBS comes in two flavors. Standard and Essentials.

Essentials is very similar to WHS. All WHS features are available with the exception of the media streaming. SBS Essentials does add the ability to join a domain.

SBS standard is a much more sophisticated package over essentials. It offers the same web interface, but also adds Sharepoint, Exchange, Web Mail, DNS, DHCP, VPN and is your Domain server for your network. All out of the box. What it doesn't have are any native media streaming or built in back up solutions similar to WHS or Essentials.

I use SBS Standard. I also configured Hyper-V on this machine to run WHS for backups of local PC's.

 

[IamDavid]

Thanks guys. Good explination.
So can someone take windows server 2k8 and enable/add media streaming? Or would this be done like you did with WHS on Hyper-V?

 

[Nothinman]

If whatever media streaming service you want to use runs on Win2K8 it should be fine. If you want to use something that's only bundled with WHS then that's what you need. Hyper-V is irrelevant to that unless you want to run it in another instance of Windows under virtualization using Hyper-V instead of VMware.