Some changes are coming for the Small Business Server (SBS) and the Windows Home Server (WHS) products. Microsoft announced the following on Thursday, July 5th, 2012:
- Microsoft has announced a new Windows offering and it is called “Windows Server Essentials 2012”.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/2012-editions.aspx
Retail price: $425 Licensing model: 25 user account limit
Features a simpler interface, pre-configured connectivity to cloud based services; no virtualization rights - Windows SBS 2011 Standard is the final offering of its kind (integrated Exchange and SharePoint).
SBS 2011 Standard will be available through OEM channels until Dec 31, 2013 and other channels until June 20, 2013 - There will not be a new version of Home Server.
Major Home Server features have been integrated into Windows Server Essentials 2012. - There is no new version of the Windows SBS 2011 Premium Add-on.
SQL Server 2012 does not have a Small Business edition and so this offering cannot be continued.
For more details, please check out the Microsoft’s Windows Server 2012 Editions page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Find Answers” link under the FAQ section.