While shooting an interview for TechNet Edge with the Essential Business Server guys, the topic of the new EBS Preparation Wizard came up. After hearing more about the tool, I figured I needed to spread the word so today I give you a Feature of the Week on this new FREE tool.
Who is it for? Mid size businesses (25-300 PC environments) who are either interested in upgrading to EBS as well as anyone considering upgrades or even wanting just to get healthier.
What is it? A really great tool that scans the existing network environment looking for the most common mis-configuration and server health issues that affect setting up of new server roles. There are 91 different configurations that are scanned including:
· Active Directory
· DNS/Networking
· Exchange
· Windows Server Configuration (Service packs, Hard Drive Space, Memory, etc)
When does it ship? The EBS Preparation Tool is available TODAY!
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E3906025-00E3-407D-BF5B-99D546021923&displaylang=en
Why is it cool? I needed to check out the details of a scan, so I reached out to a friend of mine who has an environment that is a perfect EBS candidate. He ran the tool and came up with a few errors and warnings. Below is an example of what you see when you use the tool (the name of the server has been removed for privacy reasons). Notice how the error not only tells you the name of the server and what issue it has, but also includes a link to the knowledge base article on correcting the issue.
What do I need to have before I can use the tool? The following software needs to be installed to run the Preparation Wizard:
· .NET Framework 1.1
· .NET Framework 2.0
· Microsoft Exchange Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) 2.8
· Make sure you have the latest service packs and updates for the .NET Framework.
· Be aware that there are IIS dependencies for the Exchange BPA.
· The Exchange BPA must be installed in the default location.
Get started
EBS Team Blog post on the tool
Great EBS product overview article including screenshots of the tool
EBS Product Site
