Windows Small Business Server 2011 (SBS 2011) comes in two editions: Standard and Essentials. In addition, the Small Business Server Premium Add-on is available for SQL based line of business (LOB) support, or as an additional member server.

Small Business Server 2011 Standard

Your all-in-one network solution, designed and priced for small businesses with up to 75 users. SBS 2011 Standard delivers enterprise-class server technology in an affordable, all-in-one solution. SBS 2011 Standard helps protect your business information from loss by performing automatic daily backups. Additionally, it allows users to be more productive with features such as e-mail, Internet connectivity, internal websites, remote access, and file and printer sharing.

Get ready for the future and take advantage of the cloud. Ideal as a first server for small businesses with up to 25 users, SBS 2011 Essentials provides a cost-effective and easy-to-use solution to help protect data, organize and access business information from virtually anywhere, support the applications needed to run a business, and quickly connect to online services for e-mail, collaboration and CRM.

The Windows Small Business Server 2011 Premium Add-On gives small businesses a flexible and cost-effective solution for deploying additional servers on a network running Windows SBS 2011. It provides a platform for running line-of-business (LOB) applications that are based on the SQL Server operating system, role-based server deployments (such as additional domain controllers), and virtual servers that run in a Hyper-V environment. It also gives you the flexibility to access a second application platform when you need it, yet requires minimal IT resources.  Designed as an add-on component for Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials or Standard, Windows Small Business Server 2011 Premium Add-On includes Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Technologies and SQL Server 2008 R2 for Small Business.

Windows Server 2008 R2 is a multi-purpose server designed to increase the reliability and flexibility of your server or private cloud infrastructure, helping you to save time and reduce costs. It provides you with powerful tools to react to business needs faster than ever before with greater control and confidence.

The latest release of Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2008 R2 delivers many improvements for you to implement a robust datacenter and desktop virtualization plan. Whether you want to consolidate servers, build a private cloud, or offer Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), the features of Windows Server 2008 R2 enable you to take your datacenter and desktop strategy to a new level.

Server and Desktop Virtualization

Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 provides both server and client virtualization, enabled by Hyper-V and Remote Desktop Services (RDS).

Hyper-V

Hyper-V is Microsoft’s hypervisor which provides you with a scalable, reliable, and highly available virtualization platform included in the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. SP1 introduces new features to Hyper-V for creating dynamic virtual data centers and private clouds. These improvements provide you with increased availability and performance, improved management, and simplified methods for deployment including live migration. When combined with System Center, you are able to build out a dedicated Microsoft private cloud environment to transform the way you deliver IT services to the business.

Dynamic Memory, a new feature of Hyper-V introduced in the SP1 release enables you to better utilize the memory resources of Hyper-V hosts by balancing how memory is distributed between running virtual machines. Memory can be dynamically reallocated between different virtual machines in response to the changing workloads of these machines. Likewise, Dynamic Memory enables more efficient use of memory while maintaining consistent workload performance and scalability. Implementing Dynamic Memory means that higher levels of server consolidation can be achieved with minimal impact on performance. Dynamic Memory also means that you can have a larger number of virtual desktops per Hyper-V host for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) scenarios. The net result for both scenarios is more efficient use of expensive server hardware resources, which can translate into easier management and lower costs.

Remote Desktop Services

Remote Desktop Services allows your users to access applications, data, and even an entire desktop running in the datacenter over the network. It provides you with both the features and the robustness of a proven solution giving your users flexible access to their data and applications. To expand the Remote Desktop Services deployment scenarios, Microsoft has been investing in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, also known as VDI. VDI is a centralized desktop delivery architecture, which enables Windows and other desktop environments to run and be managed in virtual machines on a centralized server.

In addition to the new virtualization features, the Windows Server 2008 R2 OS contains several updates over the previous version to the tools you are most familiar with.

Improved Management

Windows Server 2008 R2 helps reduce the amount of effort you expend managing your physical and virtual data centers by providing enhanced management consoles and automation for repetitive day-to-day administrative tasks.

Improved Web Application Platform

Windows Server 2008 R2 gives you the ability to deliver rich web-based experiences efficiently and effectively, with improved administration and diagnostics, development and application tools, and lower infrastructure costs.

Increased Scalability and Reliability

Windows Server 2008 R2 has been specifically designed to support increased workloads while utilizing fewer resources.

Integrated Experience with Windows 7

Windows Server 2008 R2 includes technology improvements designed with Windows 7 enterprise users in mind, augmenting the network experience, security, and manageability.