I think I will eventually get to the server setup, but it looks like a bigger deal than I first thought -- even with Essentials, which seems to be relatively more forgiving. Actually, Sandeep, I haven't installed the Essentials program anywhere yet. I downloaded and burned the ISO and checked to make sure it would boot. I haven't got even to the point of loading it on a machine yet. Your suggestion to put it in a virtual machine is helpful -- but of course, since I have only ever used VirtualBox (which I don't think would work for this) I would have to learn another program in VMWare.
You should be able to use VirtualBox too. I just mentioned VMWare Player because that was the one I used to demo. It's free. I just like VMWare more. Just make sure you have a lot of RAM because you have to feed 2 Operating Systems. (I remember trying to run a SBS 2011 Standard VM (while I was running Win 7) with 6GB of RAM and dual core processor. Brutal.) Runs great in my current desktop though 16GB (4x4GB) is 80 bucks. 32 Gigs (4x8GB) is less than 200, gotta love the pricing.
Not trying to scare you but you should just consider running SBS 2011 Essentials in a VM all the time when/if you actually deploy it. If something happens you can move it to another computer with ease. That is probably the best thing about virtual machines. Much much much easier to move around on different hardware.
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16GB (4x4GB) is 80 bucks. 32 Gigs (4x8GB) is less than 200, gotta love the pricing.
