Technical

Migrating Companyweb from SBS to Office 365 SharePoint Online

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server comes with a watered-down implementation of SharePoint called Companyweb (or WSS). Whether you are migrating from a full-blown SharePoint environment on-premises or the basic Windows Server-included Windows SharePoint Services, you are going to have to come to terms with one major migration hurdle: Microsoft provides no...
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Checklist: Preparing for the Migration from SBS to Office 365 & Windows Server 2016

Before you begin your migration from SBS 2008/2011 to Office 365 and Windows Server 2012 R2 or 2016, it pays to set aside 2-3 hours to review the existing environment, look for pitfalls, and set out your plan of attack. This is a checklist that helps me do just that.

1....

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Hybrid Network Architecture Options & Pre-Reqs for SBS Migration to Office 365 & Windows Server 2016

In this post I will lay out some of the options to consider when replacing the late Small Business Server (SBS) product with a hybrid architecture. Along with the huge success of Office 365, many small businesses are realizing the benefits of a hybrid deployment model, where some infrastructure is kept on-premises, and other...
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Email migration paths from SBS/Exchange to Office 365

Whether you are a small business migrating from SBS Server 2003, 2008 or 2011, or a mid-sized business operating with Exchange On-premises (or even if your email system is hosted), there is probably a migration path available for you. Here are various methods you would have to choose from based solely on what version or type...
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How to properly remove Exchange 2007/2010 from SBS 2008/2011 after migration to Office 365

Most small businesses that were invested in the Small Business Server (SBS) platform are migrating to Office 365. This means they no longer need to keep their on-premises Exchange Server. However, there is a proper way to remove the Exchange services from the SBS server before you dismantle it for good. Exchange should...
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How-to Manage Server Folders & Security in Windows Server 2016 Essentials

After setting up your domain and adding or importing users from an existing domain, then one of the very next things you're likely to do as an administrator of Windows Server Essentials 2016 is to setup your shared folders and permissions. Prior to this step, I also recommend enabling the integration to
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Automate the deployment of guest virtual machines with PowerShell

Small businesses often bemoan the cost and complexity of implementing System Center. But who needs System Center when you've already got PowerShell?! In the previous post, I shared a series of snippets / scripts that I use to quickly configure a standalone Hyper-V host, including host name & timezone,...
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Automate the deployment of a standalone Hyper-V host server using PowerShell

In this article, I wanted to document a standard, standalone Hyper-V server deployment for a small business using nothing but PowerShell. The best practices for Hyper-V state that the role should be enabled on a server without the GUI (e.g. Core or Nano--although I rarely see this done in a small business setting). Best...
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