How do I disconnect computers from 2008 SBS network?

We are a very small company with 12 people, no dedicated IT. We have a Dell PowerEdge T300 System Server with Windows SBS 2008. It was installed by a "professional" and has cost us thousands in hourly work to maintain it ever since. I have researched the 2008 SBS, gone online, read, and all I have done is learned enough to know I am in way over my head. I want to ditch the server. How do I properly disconnect the 12 computers that have been migrated into the domain? Is it as simple as unplug the server and go back to our old setup of a desktop computer hooked to the router and modem? Boy, I hope so. But, as complicated as this has been I foresee a complicated process ahead of me. I will understand if you say "go buy some books and take a class", but I don't think they will cover this. Thanks in advance for your help.


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Mira,

It is better to have a small business server if you have over users or
computers because workgroup is limited to 10 access sessions. The problem is
"thousands in hourly work to maintain it". You may be able to find a very
good professional who may charge only between $100 to $150 per hour or $500
per month for maintaining it.

To answer your question, "unplug the server" may not work or the user may
have problem to logon and sharing, perhaps access the Internet. To help you,
we do need to know what you are running on the SBS.

--
Bob Lin, Microsoft-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
http://www.HowToNetworking.com


"Mira Barks" wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> We are a very small company with 12 people, no dedicated IT. We have a
> Dell PowerEdge T300 System Server with Windows SBS 2008. It was installed
> by a "professional" and has cost us thousands in hourly work to maintain
> it ever since. I have researched the 2008 SBS, gone online, read, and all
> I have done is learned enough to know I am in way over my head. I want to
> ditch the server. How do I properly disconnect the 12 computers that have
> been migrated into the domain? Is it as simple as unplug the server and
> go back to our old setup of a desktop computer hooked to the router and
> modem? Boy, I hope so. But, as complicated as this has been I foresee a
> complicated process ahead of me. I will understand if you say "go buy
> some books and take a class", but I don't think they will cover this.
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>
>
> Submitted via EggHeadCafe - Software Developer Portal of Choice
> Some ASP.NET 2.0 Configuration Tips
> http://www.eggheadcafe.com/tutorials...-configur.aspx

"Mira Barks" wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> We are a very small company with 12 people, no dedicated IT. We have a
> Dell PowerEdge T300 System Server with Windows SBS 2008. It was installed
> by a "professional" and has cost us thousands in hourly work to maintain
> it ever since. I have researched the 2008 SBS, gone online, read, and all
> I have done is learned enough to know I am in way over my head. I want to
> ditch the server. How do I properly disconnect the 12 computers that have
> been migrated into the domain? Is it as simple as unplug the server and
> go back to our old setup of a desktop computer hooked to the router and
> modem? Boy, I hope so. But, as complicated as this has been I foresee a
> complicated process ahead of me. I will understand if you say "go buy
> some books and take a class", but I don't think they will cover this.
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>

I agree with the other answers you've received. With twelve computers it's
much easier to manage them and the network with a properly functioning SBS
server than without. This doesn't mean you have to use all of the features
of SBS. My recommendation would be to look for another consultant who is
experienced with SBS. Explain to them what you want out of the server and
that you eventually wish to manage the server yourself. If the first
consultant messed up the server, and it sounds like this is the case, it
will take some time and hours to get it working properly. Once working
properly an SBS server can be managed by a moderately experienced person,
yourself, with a little input from an outside consultant. I have several
customers who do this. Their normal monthly bill is around two to three
hours at the bottom end up to twenty hours at the high end. The bottom end I
get their reports emailed to me and phone them if I see anything unusual. I
remotely install updates and fix anything they can't deal with. At the high
end I do everything and basically are their helpdesk for all users. A good
consultant will work with you to figure out your needs and tailor a package
to meet them.

To answer your question specifically. It is imperative that you copy any
data you need from the server to a workstation before you start any of this.
Once the computers are disjoined from the domain you will not have easy
access to the server. On each computer make sure you have a local account
with administrator privileges. Test logging on with this account. You don't
say what OS the clients are so the procedure to disjoin them from the domain
is generalized. You need to be in the System Properties for the computer.
Each OS has a slightly different path to get there. Click on the Name tab.
Click on the Change button. Change from Domain to Workgroup making sure you
specify the same workgroup for all computers. Once all computers are
disjoined from the domain turn off the server. It no longer serves any
useful purpose with SBS installed on it. You would have to install a
different OS to use it in a workgroup.

--
Kerry Brown
MS-MVP - Windows Desktop Experience: Systems Administration
http://www.vistahelp.ca/phpBB2/

Mira Barks wrote:
> We are a very small company with 12 people, no dedicated IT. We have
> a Dell PowerEdge T300 System Server with Windows SBS 2008. It was
> installed by a "professional" and has cost us thousands in hourly
> work to maintain it ever since. I have researched the 2008 SBS, gone
> online, read, and all I have done is learned enough to know I am in
> way over my head. I want to ditch the server. How do I properly
> disconnect the 12 computers that have been migrated into the domain?
> Is it as simple as unplug the server and go back to our old setup of
> a desktop computer hooked to the router and modem? Boy, I hope so.
> But, as complicated as this has been I foresee a complicated process
> ahead of me. I will understand if you say "go buy some books and
> take a class", but I don't think they will cover this. Thanks in
> advance for your help.
>
>
> Submitted via EggHeadCafe - Software Developer Portal of Choice
> Some ASP.NET 2.0 Configuration Tips
> http://www.eggheadcafe.com/tutorials...-configur.aspx

Hi, Mira - to add to the other replies ...

Under the hood, SBS is AD and Exchange and DNS and GPOs and all sorts of
other complex things. It is something that should be maintained by
experienced and skilled techs - professionals, without the double quotes.
Not to be rude, but unless you have a background in this area and have the
time & desire to devote to this kind of work, this isn't something you can
learn with a couple of books. If you have 12 computers you have outgrown a
workgroup and I would never recommend you get rid of the server - you'd lose
a lot of functionality. Workgroups are generally not suitable for corporate
networks at all.

Perhaps you should review your maintenance costs. What is actually costing
you so much money, is it being itemized (e.g., are your users generating a
lot of requests to the support people that training could resolve) and how
much are you budgeting for each month? Your network is not going to run
itself entirely. However, a properly installed system on decent hardware
(the T300 is a very entry-level box, I'll say that) should not require a lot
of monthly maintenance work for a 12-user network. Perhaps you aren't set up
adequately for your needs. I think it would be wise to get a good IT
consulting firm in to do an assessment and report of your network and see
whether they have some suggestions. You can get a delegated account do some
basic admin (password resets, etc) but leave the big jobs to the experts and
have them do monthly/quarterly maintenance work.

My general advice - if you're not going to invest sufficiently in hardware,
software & maintenance for your network you'd be better off not having
computers at all.