BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express (BESx)
Well, the news released back in the middle of February 2010 (link to BlackBerry Blog). And earlier this month, on March 2nd 2010, RIM released the BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express product onto the masses for public download!
It has been a long time coming. Finally, there’s a BES that fits any budget (free is always in the budget!), and it fits almost any deployment scenario. Supported deployment includes 2nd server dedicated, or it can be installed on the Exchange server (yes, SBS and EBS are a supported platform). If you haven’t picked up the vibe yet, I’m really enthused that there is now a free BES solution well-suited to the SMB market!
If you are interested in the details of what the differences are with this BES server, and the pay-version, or the former SMB solution called BlackBerry Professional Server Express, you should take a couple of minutes to watch the online BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express video! And if you are going to be installing this, then check out the BlackBerry Training video for Installing BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express.
Note that for installation on an Exchange 2007 server (like SBS 2008), you need Exchange 2007 Service Pack 2. For SBS 2008, that involves the SP2 installer tool. And don’t forget to get the Exchange Server MAPI CLient and CDO installer files for your BES Server or Exchange Server if you install directly on top.
My opinion on the installation options are mixed. I’m thrilled that installation on an SBS server is supported. Back in the Blackberry BPS Express days (don’t get this confused with BESx), installation on an x64 server was not supported. So this is a welcome change – keep in mind that Windows Server 2008 R2 is x64 only! I’m also glad that installation on the mail server itself is supported since most SMB’s are now buying bigger primary server hardware than they initially require; most installs have plenty of idle capacity. So being able to add an additional server role and load makes a lot of sense to make use of this capacity.
BUT….. installation on the mail server (or on your SBS server) isn’t my preference for the SMB market!
I don’t find the BES role and AD/Exchange/SBS Roles altogether complementary and compatible. If you’re desperate, go ahead, but plan for removal or changes later. The BES administration website and IIS on the server can result in conflicts. Plus, the quirky historical (and in my experience present) operational record for BES really calls for role separation. Ask any BES admin, and if their first troubleshooting step isn’t ‘restart the server’ then they aren’t being fully honest with you! These two characteristics don’t give me great confidence in adding the BESx role to my essential mail server or file server system. My users might love BES, but they also hate downtime!
My preference for install is to add a dedicated server for the BES role in any sized network.
Installation on standalone server is simple, next next next (accept defaults), done. Installation on an SBS isn’t as straightforward, and even when it is done, you won’t be happy if you’ve got to restart your primary system during peak usage times just for the BES functions to reset. Keep it simple folks, and buy a cheap standalone server and Windows licensing, or add another virtualized Windows server in your virtual infrastructure. And if you’re an SMB that hasn’t taken any steps towards virtualization as a method of controlling your infrastructure costs, you really ought to make this consideration prior to stepping into the addition of a BES server in your network.
If you take my suggested approach I’m quite sure that you’ll be miles ahead and much happier with the outcome!
