Small Business Server 2008 is a cost-effective all-in-one server solution that provides small businesses with many of the features that are typically only available to larger companies, such as an in-house email server, internal websites (also known as intranet sites), remote access, mobile device support (for synchronizing Microsoft Outlook data to a Windows Mobile device), and database software for server-based applications. These features are provided by Microsoft products that have been brought together in one single package.

Additional features of Small Business Server 2008 include Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0, Integration with Windows Office Live Small Business Edition, Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server, Windows Server Update Services 3.0, and Windows Live One Care for Server.

Windows Sharepoint Services can help your company boost performance by using an internal website to share, access, and update internal documents, coordinate calendars, and participate in discussions.

Windows Office Live Small Business gives you e-mail marketing capabilities and online tools to help promote and manage your business.

Microsoft Forefront Security helps protect your server from e-mail based threats by using multi-layered anti-virus technology.

Windows Server Update Services help to keep your network up-to-date by managing the deployment of Microsoft product updates.

Windows Live One Care for Server helps protect your server from viruses, spyware, and other unwanted intruders, and helps maintain your server.

This new version of Small Business Server has two options, Standard Edition and Premium Edition. Standard Edition comes with one server license and does not include database software. Premium Edition comes with two server licenses and database software. The second server license can be used for a remote access server or a stand-alone database server.

In previous versions of Small Business Server the server hardware was limited based on Microsoft’s software limitations. In most cases, these limitations were fine because most companies did not exceed the level of performance that was in place. In other cases, we have seen companies add additional hardware to support their growing needs for higher performance applications. This new version of Small Business Server has expanded the maximum requirements for the product, requiring less hardware and maintenance while providing a higher level of performance.