The Cloud on Your Terms Part 27 of 30: Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2011 Essentials and the Cloud

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imageToday we are going to take a look at another example of  a hybrid cloud.  In a few of parts of the series we talked about hybrid clouds:

In today’s post we are going to look specifically at a product designed to work with Office 365, in particular Exchange online.   SBS 2011 Essentials has been designed to facilitate the connection to the cloud with its integration between on-premise and online services.  SBS 2011 Essentials is not your typical version of SBS it has none of the traditional server components built in.  .  It has all the traditional SBS offerings, Active Directory, Backup,  Remote Web Access, DNS…etc.  The only it does not have is Exchange and other integrated components.  This version is also tailored for small business’ with a limit of 25 users

SBS 2011 Essentials leverages Office 265 for core services like email and SharePoint.  To do this SBS 2011 Essentials uses the Office 365 Integration module, the beta was released on Nov. 1..   You can install and configure the Office 365 Integration Module at any time after completing the server installation.  The Office 365 Integration Module for Windows SBS 2011 Essentials extends the features of the server Dashboard by providing integration with Office 365 services. When you integrate Office 365 with the server, you can:

  • Subscribe to Office 365 or configure the server to use an existing subscription.
  • Perform the following Office 365 account management tasks from the Dashboard:
    • Bulk create Office 365 accounts for network user accounts.
    • Assign new or existing Office 365 accounts to network user accounts.
    • Manage the Office 365 account assigned to a user account throughout the lifecycle of the user account. For example, deactivating a network user account also deactivates the Office 365 account that is assigned to the user account.
  • Synchronize passwords for network user accounts and Office 365 accounts. This allows network users to sign in to Office 365 using their Windows password.
  • Link a professional Internet domain that you have set up on Window SBS to Office 365.
  • View information about your Office 365 subscription.
  • Access your Office 365 management portal from the Office 365 page of the server Dashboard.

To take a look at an earlier version of the Office 365 Integration module and how it works take a look at this quick video:

To learn more and get the integration module: Office 365 Integration Module Beta for Windows® Small Business Server 2011 Essentials  You can learn more about SBS 2011  Essentials here: SBS 2011 Essentials Overview and download the trial here: Download Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

As I mentioned in part 1 we are going to be posting the series across 4 blogs: Brian Lewis, John Weston, Kevin Remde and myself. Let us know what you think of the posts and if you think of topic let us know!

If you happen to miss a part and want to get caught up. You can find all the parts of the series here: The Cloud on Your Terms: 30 Days about the Cloud