Microsoft has started the marketing push for SBS 2008 as part of the Windows Essential Server Solutions family of products, that currently includes Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008. Unfortunately, the marketing is prominently featuring an element that has been causing some confusion in the SBS space. Right on the main WESS page, the blurb for SBS 2008 states that SBS 2008 is: “An affordable server solution designed for businesses with 50 employees or fewer.” Many people are thinking that this means SBS 2008 will revert back to a 50 user/device maximum licensing combination, which is less than the 75 user/device max in SBS 2003.
Fear not, the maximum # of users/devices that will be licensed with SBS 2008 is still 75. Yes, Microsoft has targetted SBS 2008 for the 1-50 user market and EBS 2008 for the 50-250 user market, but the technical limitations on the maximum number of users/devices has not changed. You can find the 75 figure listed at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/essential/products.mspx and http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/essential/choose-solution.mspx.
The serious IT Professional knows that the number of licenses is not the only factor in determining which product will be the best solution for a particular company. Some 50-75 user companies will do just fine on SBS 2008. I know of a couple of 20 user companies (and smaller) that EBS 2008 would be an excellent match for. It all boils down to need and resource availability. Will you be able to run a 75-user company on an SBS 208 box that was designed for 15-20 users? Yes, but it may not perform as well as expected. Would the three-server implementation of EBS 2008 be complete overkill for some 60 user businesses? Absolutely.
With EBS in the product options now, there are more considerations to make when planning an SBS/EBS implementation for a business. The maximum number of user/device licenses is simply one consideration. There will be many, many others.