Deploying “on-premise” Server 2012 Essentials
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Are you looking at an alternative solution to Small Business Server Standard edition ? Let me discuss a supported solution, that will scale beyond 25 users, while keeping value-add features of Windows Server 2012 Essentials, such as Remote Web Access!!!
Target Customer Needs:
- Existing SBS 2003/2008 Standard wanting equivalent on-premises capabilities.
- Support for hosting virtual machines and multiple server instances.
- On-premises Exchange Server, and optionally SharePoint Foundation as download.
Solution Benefits:
Robust virtualization platform with two virtual instances. (one instance can be Windows Server 2012 Essentials to take advantage of its value-add features)
Affordable storage and continuous availability features.
Support for RDS and virtual desktop infrastructure. (requires add’l licensing)
Maximum control and LOB integration support with on-premises Exchange Server.
What to Sell:
- Windows Server 2012 Standard Edition.
- Windows Server CAL’s for each user.
- Exchange Server 2013 Standard Edition.
- Exchange Server CAL’s for each user.
Deployment:
The Host server will be Server 2012 Standard edition, which includes licensing for 2 virtual machines.
VM#1 – Use “Down-Version” rights to install Server Essentials 2012 as the DC, and get the Value Add features of Essentials.
VM#2 – Install Server 2012 Standard edition, then install Exchange Standard, or SQL, or LOB application, whatever your customer needs.
Growing beyond 25 users transition:
Ability to perform an in-place license transition from Windows Server 2012 Essentials to Windows Server 2012 Standard.
Most of the value-added features of Essentials will remain, but the locks and limits will be removed, e.g., gaining the ability to have Active Directory trust relationships.
The value-added features of Essentials 2012 will not scale indefinitely, but for supportability purposes will be subject to a maximum of 75 users and 75 devices. My personal recommendation would be to target 50 users.
Customers will need to purchase a full copy of Windows Server 2012 Standard and the appropriate number of CALs for their users/devices to be license compliant.
Key Resources:
- “Recommended Small Business Scenarios with Windows Server 2012” guide: https://readytogo.microsoft.com/global/_layouts/RTG/AssetViewer.aspx?AssetUrl=https://readytogo.microsoft.com/global/asset/pages/sbs%20var%20sales%20scenario%20sheet.aspx
- Windows Server 2012 Essentials: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server-essentials/default.aspx
- Windows Server 2012 site: https://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver
- Eric Ligman Blog Post: https://blogs.msdn.com/b/mssmallbiz/archive/2012/11/27/recommended-small-business-scenarios-with-windows-server-2012-guide-available-for-download.aspx
- Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit: https://www.microsoft.com/map
- Migration guides to migrate Server data to Windows Server Essentials 2012: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/jj200183
- Growing Beyond 25 Users with Windows Server 2012 Essentials: https://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2012/08/06/growing-beyond-25-users-with-windows-server-2012-essentials.aspx
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