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Microsoft Recalls Small Business Server

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the another-day-another-delay dept.

dasButcher writes to tell us VarBusiness is reporting that hot on the heels of many other delays, Microsoft has recalled their Small Business Server 2003 R2. The operating system started shipping to OEMs, distributors, and systems builders in July but was immediately recalled after a recent audit.

19 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. Huh - did it explode in a fireball? by Maxmin · · Score: 5, Funny

    I mean, it's only software, how dangerous could it have been?

    --
    O lord, bless this thy holy hand grenade, that with it thou mayest blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.
    1. Re:Huh - did it explode in a fireball? by hmallett · · Score: 5, Funny

      Boeing won't use SBS in their plane avionics - it only allows up to 75 seats, and they'll need up to 330 for the forthcoming 787.

  2. At least they caught it by dreamchaser · · Score: 4, Informative

    The article cites 'non-final code' that was found in the audit. At least they found the error before it went out to the public. It's a bit slim on details but it sounds like no end user organizations are using it yet. So, in a way kudos to MS for finding the problem and addressing it rather than just sitting on their hands and making users download even more patches to replace the 'non-final' code.

    1. Re:At least they caught it by D4MO · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'd like to add VS2003, .Net2.0, VS2005, Team System and xbox360 to that.

      --

      Rocket science is easy. Neurosurgery, now *that's* difficult.
    2. Re:At least they caught it by Moby+Cock · · Score: 5, Funny
      I think Microsoft occupies the sweetest niche in all of business.


      Yeah, monopolies are pretty cozy. Those Exxon/BP/Shell/Total guys have not released a new product in 50 years but still haul in record profits.
  3. Why was it recalled? by HugePedlar · · Score: 4, Informative

    For those of us who can't be bothered to RTFA:

    "This routine check of the initial software on the manufacturing line found that it contained portions of code deemed "non-final," according to Microsoft... Microsoft plans to swap in the 'final' code, then reissue Small Business Server 2003 R2 to its manufacturing partners,"

    --
    Argh.
  4. Non-final? by Kaioshin · · Score: 4, Funny

    Non-final, they say? Was it working properly, then?

  5. New patent application in the works? by miffo.swe · · Score: 5, Funny

    New way of shipping on time?

    1. Ship your non-ready product on the stipulated date.
    2. Tell your customers your product has not met your enormously high quality standards *giggles violently*.
    3. Use the time gained to make the product ready for shipping.
    4. If its not ready in time see # 1.

    --
    HTTP/1.1 400
    1. Re:New patent application in the works? by TigerPaw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      umm...

      5. Profit!

  6. SBS made me quit my job... by BinaryCodedDecimal · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Slightly off-topic, but SBS is the reason I changed my job. I leave this place at the end of the month, thank god. I support several companies, 10 of which are using SBS. It has to be the best way of putting all of a company's eggs in one basket. It goes against everything that makes good sense about creating an available, stable network with some redundancy. If you go for the Premium edition and install everything, you'll find yourself running: - Exchange - SQL Server - ISA Server - IIS - File/Print services - DNS - DHCP - WINS All on the same box which is ALSO a domain controller for your network. If that box fails (some of our clients are cheap enough to have declined a RAID solution, against better advice), then that's it... the whole place is down the toilet until the box is rebuilt, and you'd better pray that the backups are good. It's a horrible, horrible way of running things, IMHO. I'll be glad to not have to support these boxes any more.

    1. Re:SBS made me quit my job... by theStorminMormon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You're definitely right about the "all eggs in one basket" risk, but what are the alternatives? A lot of the places that run SBS have no full time IT staff. With SBS they get an out-of-the box file server, domain controller, exchange server. There's a risk it may blow up and they'll lose those things, but for most of these places the alternative is not to have them in the first place.

      It's too expensive to buy multiple boxes and too complicated (for these places where the controller/accountant does double-duty as IT guy). Don't even get me started on Linux. I'm sure it's great if you happen to have an open source guru around, but it's just not a viable option for setting up a back-end where no one has any serious tech experience. Then of course they could always just be a Mac shop - if they want to double or triple their IT infrastructure costs (ha!). Not to mention the prevalence of MS Access in small business areas.

      I think you've got to hand it to MS. For about $400 you get all the software you need to run your business server, and it pretty much works out of the box. It's a whole lot better than not having anything, and as companies grow they will eventually build out the infrastructure and implement more redundancy. The "all eggs in one basket" isn't unique to just Windows SBS - it pretty much characterizes how small business works.

      -stormin

      --
      The Southern Baptist Convention has creationism. On Slashdot, we have porn.
    2. Re:SBS made me quit my job... by jimicus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Linux can be done - I know of at least one company in the area that does it. They don't sell it as Linux; they sell it as an "entire IT system in a box for solicitors".

      You would have to streamline everything a lot though:

      - The customer isn't expected to do anything with the server. That's the support companies job (this isn't a million miles away from how a lot of these places work anyhow, so that's not a big deal).
      - Installation is nailed down to "insert CD, turn system on". All the configuration is pre-done by the support company, and every customer gets the same configuration. The customer doesn't do the install anyhow, the company sends someone to site if necessary, but the fact that everything is already nailed down means that you could get away with shaving a chimpanzee, putting them in a shirt and tie and sending them out to site.
      - Server hardware is specified (and usually supplied by) the support company.
      - Desktops aren't heavily locked down, but are locked down enough to minimise the likelihood of someone completely hosing their system. Combine that with Ghost, and running as much as possible from the server, and the desktop support overhead almost evaporates.

      You could easily charge £a few thousand per company per annum doing this - for the customer, it's a lot cheaper than paying a fulltime IT person when they probably only need a couple of man days a month, and gives them peace of mind.

    3. Re:SBS made me quit my job... by jimicus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And this is how millions of small businesses around the world get their IT support - be it Windows or Linux based, as soon as the company using the system needs any infrastructure beyond "2 standalone desktop PCs" the setup & support is outsourced. Yet still CNET, /.'ers and recently digg'ers harp on about how "Linux must become as easy to configure and install as Windows!"

      No it doesn't. For a lot of uses, it just needs to be easy enough, and customisable enough that a company with the right expertise can seriously consider offering services based on it.

  7. I feel your pain by SpooForBrains · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've recently been butting heads with SBS. Put in a samba server and a terminal server for a client to expand their business and bring some sanity to their IT setup. Their existing database app is hosted on a machine running Windows 2000 SBS, and I'm not allowed to move it. The server can't join their new domain - it's not even allowed to be part of a domain trust. The whole situation is hideous. I want to meet the person who recommended it and smack them round the face with the installation media.

    --
    "The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
  8. Re:where did you read that? by dreamchaser · · Score: 4, Informative

    Read carefully. 3600 units of SBS went out. None went to end users. They were still in the process of building systems around it.

  9. Therac 25 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    To hell with your case fans. Software can kill, ask anyone who lost a loved one to Therac-25.

  10. Another recall or /. just slow? by Marbleless · · Score: 4, Informative

    Is this another recall, or is Slashdot about three weeks behind in the news?

    http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Recalls-D efective-Windows-Small-Business-Server-2003-R2-Pro duct-31365.shtml

    --
    --I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.
  11. Re:where did you read that? by rs232 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    sounds like no end user organizations are using it yet' - dreamchaser

    No it doesn't actually say *no* end users it says *most* and most does not equate to all. You should realize that most PR statements don't actually mean what the words mean.

    "it basically said that in the part you left out:" - kjart

    "None went to end users" - dreamchaser

    The actual words are:

    "Most of Microsoft's voluminous partner base did not have copies of SBS 2003 R2 in hand yet"

    In other words some of Microsoft's voluminous partner base did have it. And seeing its a PR statement out of Redmond we can assume the reality is a lot more than a few got copies got out.

    This fella seems to think he bought a new server that has the R2 edition on it.
    http://snipurl.com/v9i1
    http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.wi ndows.server.active_directory/msg/f797472b226c029d ?dmode=source&hl=en

    No one has still replied to my request for an explanation of what non-final core components mean. Is this the same as bugs?

    --
    davecb5620@gmail.com
  12. Sinclair ZX81 ads of the 1980s by Peet42 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does anyone else remember when Sinclair advertised their 4MHz Z-80 A5-sized ZX81 as "Powerful enough to run a nuclear power station"...? I wonder if anyone took them up on that?