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How easy is it to set up a small business server with Microsoft Small Business Server i have good IT knowledge?

I have a main high powered computer that will run the Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 as a OS. This is connected via Ethernet into the router switch with the 15 computers attached to the switch too. I want to set up a system with free roaming user accounts on the 15 computers. How easy will it be for me to set up this system, I have great knowledge in most areas of IT like Networks but not much experience with servers. Also what operating system will need to be installed on the client computers?

Public Comments

1. You will need the server to be a primary domain controller, this requires a good active directory setup. All the machines will need to be installed with the business version of whichever Microsoft OS you use, or they can NOT join a domain. You will need enough server licences for all the machines and appropriate client licences. Check this, it is very expensive.
2. Degree of difficulty is hard to estimate. For Einstein, differential equations was trivial; most people in the world have no idea what a differential equation is let alone how to solve them. If you are fairly analytical in your problem solving modes, and use the logical approach you should be able to do this. Do not rush through it. I suggest XP Pro or Vista Business as the client Operating System.
3. This should be fairly straightforward. After installing Windows 2003 SBS (installation is very similar to XP and Vista), you'll be prompted with a wizard that will guide you through the process of creating a "domain" with a name of your chosing and installing the basic services Windows 2003 provides. Then you should create accounts for every client (remember, each client needs an official Client Access License, Windows 2003 comes with 5 CAL, additional CALs are sold in packs of 5) Your clients need to run Windows 2000, Windows XP Pro or Windows Vista Business in order to join the domain you configured. You can do this from the "system" part of the classic control panel, under the "computer name" tab. When walking through the wizard to join the domain, enter the credentials of the account you created on the server for that client, then the credentials of an account that's authorized to add a client to the domain (by default that would be the Administrator account) When all clients are integrated into the domain, you're done with the basic setup of your server and network. After that you may want to read up on the advantages your server and it's domain can provide. You can restrict various actions on the clients like prohibit them from using the internet or certain programs, things like that. Good luck!