Once a small business owner chooses to invest in a server, the real decision-making process begins. The organization needs to both select the hardware that will provide the processing power to support adequate performance and choose an operating system that will underpin all of the system's operations. Naturally, the hardware dictates the operating system choice, and vice versa. The good news: small businesses have a myriad of options from which to choose. The bad news: the diversity of choices doesn't simplify the decision-making process.

Microsoft offers three different OSs targeted towards small and medium-business (SMBs) needs: Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation, Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, and Windows Small Business Server 2008. Read this paper to learn how each version takes a different approach to address the particular needs of a small business.