Guide to Small Business Server Editions and Licensing
January 13, 2012
Small Business Server is an "all-in-one" server solution, bundling server operating systems with relevant applications and services. It provides organizations with application server technologies like folder and printer sharing, an email server, tools to manage Internet access, internal websites (intranets), remote access, support for mobile devices, and backup/restore tools.
As its name suggests, Small Business Server is designed for small organizations. It supports a maximum of either 25 or 75 users and would be appropriate for organizations that will not exceed this number of simultaneous user connections in the near future.
The purpose of this guide is to help you find the Small Business Server edition and licenses appropriate to your organization's needs.
Versions and Editions
Microsoft offers both the 2011 and the 2008 versions of Small Business Server through TechSoup in order to allow organizations to select the server operating system that will meet their needs.
All versions and editions are available only as 64-bit operating systems and can be installed only on a server with a 64-bit processor.
The following table provides information about each version and edition offered through TechSoup. For more details about licensing, see Microsoft's Small Business Server Licensing FAQ (PDF).
| Version/Edition | Description | Users | Server Licensing | Client Licensing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Business Server 2011 Essentials | Includes folder and printer sharing, remote access, support for mobile devices, and backup/restore tools. | Up to 25 | You may run, at any one time, one instance of the server software in one physical or virtual operating system environment on the licensed server, but not both. | No CALs are required. |
| Small Business Server 2011 Standard Edition | Includes folder and printer sharing, remote access, support for mobile devices, backup/restore tools, network access tools, and firewall protection. Provides installations of:
|
Up to 75 | You may run, at any one time, one instance of the server software in one physical or virtual operating system environment on the licensed server, but not both. | Each user or device that accesses or uses the server software requires a CAL. The server comes with five CALs that can be used for either users or devices. |
| Small Business Server 2011 Premium Add-on | Must be used with a validly licensed copy of Small Business Server 2011, Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, or Small Business Server 2008 Standard Edition. Provides installations of:
|
Up to either 25 or 75, depending on which edition the add-on is used with | You may elect to run this second copy of Windows Server in a physical or virtual operating system environment, but not both. If you run it in a virtual environment, you may run another instance in the physical environment of the same licensed server that may be used only to run hardware virtualization software, provide hardware virtualization services, or run software to manage and service operating system environments on the licensed server. In this case, it does not need to be joined to the Small Business Server domain. The license for SQL Server allows you to run, at any one time, any number of instances of SQL Server in the same physical or virtual operating system environment as Small Business Server. |
Each user or device that accesses or uses the services and technologies of the Premium Add-on requires a CAL. The add-on comes with five CALs that can be used for either users or devices. |
| Small Business Server 2008 Standard Edition | Includes file and printer sharing, an email server, tools to manage Internet access, internal websites (intranets), remote access, support for mobile devices, backup/restore tools, and firewall protection. Provides installations of:
|
Up to 75 | You may run, at any one time, one instance of the server software in one physical or virtual operating system environment on the licensed server, but not both. | Each user or device that accesses or uses the server software requires a CAL. The server comes with five CALs that can be used for either users or devices. These CALs can also be used to access instances of Exchange Server 2007, SQL Server 2008, or any other Windows servers within the Windows Small Business Server 2008 domain. |
Upgrading and Downgrading
You can use Software Assurance to upgrade and downgrade the operating system and associated licenses for two years after you obtain the Standard edition or Premium Add-on. Using Software Assurance to upgrade directly through Microsoft means that you don't need to request the new version through TechSoup, so it won't count as an additional request toward your limit of five server products per two-year cycle.
If you have active Software Assurance on SBS 2008 Standard, you are eligible to upgrade to SBS 2011 Standard. If you have active Software Assurance on SBS 2008 Premium, you are eligible to upgrade to SBS 2011 Standard and SBS 2011 Premium Add-on.
If you exercise downgrade rights with Small Business Server 2011 Standard Edition, you must downgrade all component parts of the server software.
If you exercise downgrade rights with Small Business Server 2011 Premium Add-on, you cannot downgrade to Small Business Server 2008 Premium Edition: you can downgrade to SQL Server for Small Business 2008 and Windows Server 2008 Standard.
There are no downgrade rights for Small Business Server 2011 Essentials.
With Software Assurance, CALs obtained for older versions of Small Business Server are compatible with newer versions of the software if the new software is obtained within two years.
CALs offered through TechSoup are always for the currently offered version.
For more information, see Microsoft Software Assurance.
Small Business Server Products Available Through TechSoup
The Small Business Server donations available through TechSoup are listed on the Small Business Server catalog page.