Windows Server 2016

2016 Essentials Integration: Manage SharePoint Libraries

Once you have Office 365 Integration working with Windows Server Essentials 2016, you can also manage SharePoint libraries from the Dashboard. The process is very similar to adding and managing local Server Folders. To get started, go to Storage and then SharePoint Libraries. Select Add a library from the...
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2016 Essentials Integration: Manage Exchange Active Sync Policies

Assuming you have already setup integration to Azure AD and Office 365, you should be able to start applying Exchange Active Sync policies to your mobile devices. Now, the way to add a mobile device into your Dashboard is really quite simple. Just add an Office 365...
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2016 Essentials Integration: Azure AD & Office 365

This post is part of a series on the Microsoft Cloud Services integrations that are included with Windows Server 2016 Essentials Experience. To begin we will connect our local on-premises Windows Essentials Experience Server to the Microsoft cloud by enabling the Azure Active Directory and Office 365 integrations. Please note that this is very different from using...
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Find out why Windows Server 2016 Essentials Experience still matters

Upcoming Windows Server Essentials Experience Series

For many months now, I have been playing around with the Windows Server 2016 Technical Previews, especially the Essentials Experience role. You might ask: Why? Does the Windows Server Essentials product matter anymore, now that we have Office 365 and have moved well past the days of Small Business Server? It...
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New Options for High Availability using Hyper-V with Storage Spaces Direct (S2D)

Windows Server 2016 introduces a new feature called Storage Spaces Direct. Expanding on their existing software-defined storage technology, Microsoft now allows us to pool internal disks across multiple servers--meaning that you do not need to use a separate enclosure and extra cabling to enable a shared storage solution. Shared storage is required for...
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Windows Server 2016 Essentials Experience: Bug with alias addresses

You may or may not be aware that certain mailbox properties are exposed and configurable from the Windows Server Essentials Dashboard.  For example, you can quickly add or edit alias SMTP addresses. If you didn't know it before, now you do! From the Users tab, select a user, View the account...
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Remove SBS 2008 or SBS 2011 Source Server from the domain

Sorry Old Yeller--I know you were a faithful companion for many years--but it's time to put you down, buddy. I usually wait until the end of the migration project for this. There is no harm leaving the old server as-is for the duration of the project while you finish migrating file shares, DHCP, Remote Access...
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Migrating SBS Remote Web Access to Essentials Anywhere Access

In Windows Small Business Server environments, one of the more popular features to implement was the Remote Web Workplace (or Remote Web Access in 2011). The idea was to grant secure, web-based remote access to corporate resources (such as Remote Desktop or web-enabled access to Server Folders). In Windows Server 2012...
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Migrating File Shares from SBS to Windows Server 2016 Essentials Experience

To copy files from a legacy file server to a new file server, whether 2012 R2 or 2016, the process would be the same. Note: Some files shares might be better off in SharePoint, and users' personal Documents Libraries can probably go to OneDrive. This could greatly reduce the amount of data...
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