About the Lead Author

Eriq Oliver Neale is an internationally recognized Small Business Server expert in addition to being an accomplished author, musician, blogger, teacher, and all-around geek. He started building PCs from scratch to help pay his way through college and never looked back. In the 17 years he has worked in IT, he has dealt with DOS, VAX/VMS, Novell, Macintosh, all flavors of Windows, and all manner of communication technologies, including email systems and remote access solutions.

Eriq's writing credits include contributions to The Internet Unleashed 1997 from Sams Publishing, Windows 2000 Server System Administrator's Handbook, E-mail Virus Protection Handbook, and several books in both the 2000 and 2003 MCSE exam preparation series. One of his earliest works, an article on MIDI (musical instrument digital interface), is still a frequently referenced document on the Internet.

Eriq spent a year as a support engineer in the Small Business Server team of Microsoft's Product Support Services. In addition to resolving complex support issues, he also developed internal documentation used by other support engineers. He also contributed heavily to the "Connecting Macintosh Clients to a Windows Small Business Server" document released by Microsoft early in 2005.

Eriq makes his home in northern Texas with his wife and pets. His consulting practice provides direct support to small businesses locally, and he consults with other small business IT support firms around the globe. When he is not posting in the newsgroups, participating in email discussion groups, supporting clients domestically and abroad, taping his weekly small business technology radio show, or writing about small business topics in his blogs, Eriq can usually be found in his recording studio, curled up with a good mystery, or relaxing in front of the television.