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Updating Small Business Server 2008

Patched

Article from ADMIN 02/2010

By Thomas Joos

Small Business Server is a compact solution for file, print, and mail services in small businesses. We provide step-by-step instructions for installing the required updates.

Companies that deploy Microsoft's Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 to provide a variety of services on the server should make sure that they keep the server up to date. Only servers with the latest patches guarantee best possible performance, security, and stability. If a service fails, the whole server can be affected by the failure.

After installing SBS 2008, you originally have an older version of the server that doesn't even include Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows Server 2008, let alone a state-of-the-art version of Exchange Server 2007. This article identifies the critical updates and shows you how to install them. Because service packs delve deep into the structure of the server, some caution is advisable during the installation.

Windows Server 2008 SP2

If you haven't installed the older Service Pack 2 for Windows Server 2008, you should do that first. After installing SBS 2008, you only have SP1 for Windows Server 2008 in place. Service Pack 2 fixes a large number of bugs and is a prerequisite for many server applications.

The underlying operating system for SBS 2008 is Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition. For this reason, you should always install the required service packs and patches for Windows Server 2008. Start by downloading the installation file for the service pack [1] and make sure you have the x64 variant.

After you double-click the .exe file, SBS 2008 will show you a message from user account control, which you need to confirm. Afterwards, you'll see the welcome window for the service pack installation. The installation can take more than an hour because the service pack contains many system files. After completing the installation, the server will reboot and display a window confirming that the installation has been successful. If you access the properties of

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