2010-8

Security Compliance Manager Exchange

Category: Security Compliance Manager | No Comments

The latest release in the Security Compliance Manager Baseline Beta review program is a new security baseline for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

This resource is an exciting new addition to the security baselines released earlier this year that can be used in combination with the Security Compliance Manager tool. The Exchange Server 2007 Security Baseline represents some of the most prescriptive and detailed security guidance to date from Microsoft for Exchange Server 2007. It works within the Security Compliance Manager tool, which allows you to use automated tools based on Windows PowerShell to set, customize, and monitor computers running Exchange Server 2007 for compliance with organizational policies.

This baseline will be available for beta review through September 13, 2010.

To download the beta release of the Exchange Server 2007 Security Baseline,

For detailed instructions about how to import the downloaded file into the Security Compliance Manager tool, refer to the program description page: https://connect.microsoft.com/content/content.aspx?ContentID=17624&SiteID=715

Note: The Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Security Baseline requires Security Compliance Manager (SCM) v1.1. If you are running SCM v1.0, you must upgrade SCM before importing the baseline. Otherwise, the import process will fail.

Security Compliance Manager Baseline Beta Review Program
The Security Solution Accelerators team is developing new baselines and settings, all of which are designed to help your organization plan and deploy security baselines with ease and confidence. These new baselines and supporting best-practice guidance are available as part of the Security Compliance Manager Baseline Beta review program. The scope of this program includes baselines for Exchange Server 2007, Office 2010, SQL Server® 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008 R2; and setting packs for Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8.

The beta releases in this program are formatted to be imported for use in the Security Compliance Manager tool, which released in early 2010. This powerful tool provides guidance to work with other tools and features of Microsoft products to help you plan, deploy, and monitor your security baselines. The tool enables you to access and automate all of your organization’s baselines in one centralized location, balancing your needs for security and functionality.

To learn more about the Security Compliance Manager tool, visit the TechNet Library: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=113940
To download the tool, click here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/? LinkId=182512

2010-8

Windows Live Essentials 2011 beta refresh

Category: Windows Live Essentials | No Comments

Today we’re releasing an update to Windows Live Essentials 2011 beta. One of the main reasons we release betas is to allow early adopters to enjoy our products and provide feedback on their experience. First, we want to say thank you for your help. For Messenger alone, we had over 3 million unique users, 3.5 million updates to display pictures, 6.2 million video calls, and 7.6 million updates to status messages.

Your beta feedback and usage has helped shape the many improvements we’ve made and continue to make across Messenger, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Writer, Mail, and Family Safety. Today I’d like to summarize some of the more visible changes you’ll see in today’s update, and we’ll follow up with more details in later posts.

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-essentials-beta

2010-7

MaxUserPort – what it is, what it does, when it’s important

Category: Web Servers, Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

Recently I run in to the MAXUserPort issue I binged again to see if there are other bloggers that have this fixed. I saw a good post from Tristan Kingston ( I could not find my own post ;-(

Source :http://blogs.technet.com/b/tristank/archive/2008/03/11/maxuserport-what-it-is-what-it-does-when-it-s-important.aspx

MaxUserPort controls "outbound" TCP connections

MaxUserPort is used to limit the number of dynamic ports available to TCP/IP applications.

It’s never going to be an issue affecting inbound connections. MaxUserPort is not the right answer if you think you have an inbound connection problem.

(I don’t know why, I just know it is. Probably something to do with constraining resource use on 16MB machines, or something.)

To further simplify: it’s typically going to limit the number of outbound sockets that can be created. Note: that’s really a big fat generalization, but it’s one that works in 99% of cases.

If an application asks for the next available socket (a socket is a combination of an IP address and a port number), it’ll come from the ephemeral port range allowed by MaxUserPort. Typically, these "next available" sockets are used for outbound connections.

The default range for MaxUserPort is from 1024-5000, but the possible range is up to 65534.

When You Fiddle MaxUserPort

So, why would you change MaxUserPort?

In the web server context (equally applicable to other application servers), you’d usually need to look at MaxUserPort when:

- your server process is communicating with some type of other system (like a back-end database, or any TCP-based application server – quite often http web servers)

And:

- you are not using socket pooling, and/or

- your request model is something like one request = one outbound TCP connection (or more!)

In this type of scenario, you can run out of ephemeral ports (between 1024 and MaxUserPort) very quickly, and the problem will scale with the load applied to the system, particularly if a socket is acquired and abandoned with every request.

When a socket is abandoned, it’ll take two minutes to fall back into the pool.

Discussions about how the design could scale better if it reused sockets rather than pooling tend to be unwelcome when the users are screaming that the app is slow, or hung, or whatever, so at this point, you’d have established that new request threads are hung waiting on an available socket, and just turn up MaxUserPort to 65534.

What Next? TcpTimedWaitDelay, natch

Once MaxUserPort is at 65534, it’s still possible for the rate of port use to exceed the rate at which they’re being returned to the pool! You’ve bought yourself some headroom, though.

So how do you return connections to the pool faster?

Glad you asked: you start tweaking TcpTimedWaitDelay.

By default, a connection can’t be reused for 2 times the Maximum Segment Lifetime (MSL), which works out to 4 minutes, or so the docs claim, but according to The Lore O’ The Group here, we reckon it’s actually just the TcpTimedWaitDelay value, no doubling of anything.

TcpTimedWaitDelay lets you set a value for the Time_Wait timeout manually.

As a quick aside: the value you specify has to take retransmissions into account – a client could still be transferring data from a server when a FIN is sent by the server, and the client then gets TcpTimedWaitDelay seconds to get all the bits it wants. This could be sucky in, for example, a flaky dial-up networking scenario, or, say, New Zealand, if the client needs to retransmit a whole lot… and it’s sloooow. (and this is a global option, as far as I remember).

30 seconds is a nice, round number that either quarters or eighths (depending on who you ask - we say quarter for now) the time before a socket is reusable (without the programmer doing anything special (say, SO_REUSEADDR)).

If you’ve had to do this, at this point, you should be thinking seriously about the architecture – will this scale to whatever load requirements you have?

The maths is straightforward:

If each connection is reusable after a minimum of N (TcpTimedWaitDelay) seconds
and you are creating more than X (MaxUserPort) connections in an N second period…

Your app is going to spend time "waiting" on socket availability…

Which is what techy types call "blocking" or "hanging". Nice*!

Fun* KB Articles:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319502/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328476

2010-7

Last day For Windows 2003

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | 1 Comment

After today there is no mainstream support for windows 2003. So get your servers ready for windows 2008 R2 .There is still the extended Support. But the OS is 7 years old, almost every product that is older than 7 years need a replacement. think about your home desktop,TV,dishwasher etc the Extended support end at 14-07-2015

Sure you can wait till the NEXT version of windows in 201x. But can you wait ?, can you ? ,are you sure ? What about the security and all the benefits of windows 2008R2 you want to skip this? maybe now but I’m sure by the end of this year you need windows 2008R2 if you want to keep up with the market.

Do you still use IE6 ? no you are running the latest version because the security is better. And what about the migration/adoption time in your organization ? .

Think Proactive ! if you have software assurance you are already paying for the windows 2008R2 release so why not upgrading. Our company always waits for the service pack , well there is a service/feature pack it is still in beta but it brings new stuff for windows 2008R2 play with it and get ready and avoid a forced migration because you need some app that is only running on windows 2008R2.

Below are several links to the Windows 2008R2 resources.

Windows 2000 End-of-Support Solution Center

Support for Windows 2003 ends on July 13, 2010!

The Windows 2000 End-of-Support Solution Center is a starting point for planning your migration strategy from Windows 2000 to Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

For more information please see the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy.

Planning and Assessing Migrating Server Roles Migrating SQL Server Networking Server Roles Small Business Server Client Migration Application Compatibility Ask the Community Assisted Support

Planning and Assessing

Planning and Assessing a Migration or Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2

A direct upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2008 R2 is not supported. The resources below provide information about migration paths.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Product Home Page
Visit the Windows Server Home Page for product information, trial software, purchasing options, technical resources, case studies and more.

Windows Server 2008 R2 System Requirements
Before upgrading your system from Windows 2000 to Windows 2008 R2, be sure your hardware meets the Windows Server 2008 R2 system requirements. Assuming your hardware meets the requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2, upgrading is a two-step process. You must first upgrade your system to Windows Server 2003 SP2 (or later) and then upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Upgrade Paths
This document outlines supported and unsupported upgrade paths for editions of the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system.

Assessment and Planning Toolkit for Windows Server 2008 R2
The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is a powerful inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that can securely assess IT environments for various platform migrations and virtualization without the use of any software agents. NOTE: The oldest operating system supported by this tool is Windows Server 2003 SP2.

Windows Server Migration Tools
Administrators can use Windows Server Migration Tools to migrate server roles, features, operating system settings, and other data and shares to computers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2. NOTE: The oldest operating system supported by this tool is Windows Server 2003 SP2.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Deprecated Features
This document provides is a list of deprecated features and functionalities in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and is intended for IT professionals who are updating operating systems in a commercial environment.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 (MDT 2010) provides a common console with the comprehensive tools and guidance needed to efficiently manage deployment of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Planning and Assessing a Migration or Upgrade to Windows 7

SP1 Beta Overview

The Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Betas are concurrent releases that we’ve packaged together in a single download for a more streamlined and cost effective deployment. Businesses can begin realizing the advancements of the Windows Server platform for virtualization through two key features: Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX.

Read the Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Whitepaperfor a technical overview of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta release features and benefits.
Download the Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta Reviewer’s Guide to evaluate the core features of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta release in your environment.

Dynamic Memory Overview

“We found that we could increase the number of virtual machines per Hyper-V server by 25 to 50 percent with Dynamic Memory. For some Hyper-V servers, we even went from 4 to 7 virtual machines—a 75 percent increase!”
- David Feng, IT Director, Sporton International

Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V introduces a new feature, called Dynamic Memory, in the Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta releases. It allows customers to achieve increased density when they’re consolidating physical servers into a virtual realm, providing them with predictable performance and linear scalability. With Dynamic Memory, IT administrators are able to pool available memory on a physical host and then dynamically dole that memory out to virtual machines running on the host, based on current workload needs.
For a technical overview of the new Dynamic Memory feature, download the Dynamic Memory Technical Overview whitepaper.

RemoteFX Overview

“We save 70 to 80 hours each month by delivering classes remotely using RemoteFX in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. At our billing rate of $250 an hour, that’s more than $200,000 a year.”
- Rand Morimoto, President, Convergent Computing

RemoteFX, a key feature of Remote Desktop Services (RDS) lets IT administrators deliver a rich graphics experience to end-users through virtualized desktops. Using new protocol enhancements between Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7, end users can now access virtual machines on a wide variety of target devices and still get a rich graphics experience with server-side graphics processing.
Learn more about RemoteFX and download the Remote Desktop Services Datasheet.

2010-7

Fix for KB976902 What is this update

Category: Windows 2008 R2 SP1 | No Comments

Windows 2008 R2 SP1 is now in beta and on the web are the first leaked beta builds but remember you don’t know if the source is OK.

just wait for a few day’s weeks for the real thing. below is a quoted post from the windows server blog and an installation overview but one question is there what is this update 976902 and why is it not online.

Building on our commitment to provide customers with the right technologies to virtualize their IT environments, today we’re announcing that the public beta of Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 will be released by the end of July. We’ve posted on the contents of SP1 before, but the beta release will be the first time you’ll be able to actually get your mitts on the new code. In case you missed our earlier post, here’s a recap:

SP1 will be a joint release for both Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. From the server side, we’ve included two key new features:

Dynamic memory is an enhancement to Hyper-V in R2 and allows IT administrators to pool all the memory available on a physical host and dynamically distribute it to virtual machines running on that host as necessary. That means based on changes in workload, your VMs will be able to receive new memory allocations without a service interruption. For a deeper look at Dynamic Memory check here.

RemoteFX is the latest addition to Microsoft’s desktop virtualization stack. Using this new feature in Windows Server 2008 R2, you’ll be able to deliver an even richer and more user-transparent desktop virtualization experience. RemoteFX functions independently of any graphics stack and supports any screen content, including rich content like Silverlight or Flash. It also enhances the end-user’s hardware experience with support for USB redirection. Because it uses virtualized graphics resources, RemoteFX works on a wide array of target devices, which means you can deploy it over both thick and thin client hosts and a wide variety of network configurations. For some more information on RemoteFX check here.

Source :http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2010/06/07/coming-soon-windows-server-2008-r2-sp1-beta.aspx

But if you have the bits you can install the beta it is an easy setup Next , Next and I agree

And you are ready to go with the hyper-v dynamic memory and more.

But you can also use the Windows update Server for this.

First you see an update K976902 but what is this update If you look in the XML you see the KB from the support site but no info there infact the page is not there . In time the page will be there I guess.

<> File overview

assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3" manifestVersion="1.0" description="Fix for KB976902" displayName="default" company="Microsoft Corporation" copyright="Microsoft Corporation" supportInformation="http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=976902" creationTimeStamp="2010-06-04T05:04:12Z" lastUpdateTimeStamp="2010-06-04T05:04:12Z">
<assemblyIdentity name="Package_for_KB976902" version="6.1.1.16562" language="neutral" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35"/>
<package identifier="KB976902" applicabilityEvaluation="deep" releaseType="Update" restart="possible" selfUpdate="true" permanence="permanent" psfName="Windows6.1-KB976902-x64.psf">

If you look in the windowsupdate.log you see this

<> Windows update.log

2010-07-05 09:30:36:805 1000 7c0 Report REPORT EVENT: {2BC8037A-D5AA-4992-B902-8A2A6D4DB23A} 2010-07-05 09:30:05:652+0200 1 183 101 {7599B82A-8F9A-4ADA-9D0E-7DABCAA87B9D} 101 0 AutomaticUpdates Success Content Install Installation Successful: Windows successfully installed the following update: Update for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-based Systems (KB976902)
2010-07-05 09:30:36:805 1000 714 AU >>## RESUMED ## AU: Search for updates [CallId = {B8821183-1838-42A8-978F-23676C3B9B41}]
20

So tested the deployment of SP1 manual or with WSUS no problem there.

But make sure your source is correct do not use leaked files you never know who changed the files.

2010-6

Windows 8 Plans Leaked: Numerous Details Revealed

Category: Windows 8 | No Comments

Source :http://msftkitchen.com/2010/06/windows-8-plans-leaked-numerous-details-revealed.html

Windows 8 Prototype Machine

Speaking of Apple, I think the following prototype looks like some rejected Mac prototype (i.e. I don’t like it very much — at least from this angle). The wallpaper is the old Windows 7 beta wallpaper (as you can see by the beta fish in the center of it) and there is clearly some build information on the bottom right-hand corner of the desktop. This may well be something left over from Windows 7 planning, but being included in Windows 8 planning documentation, I figured it was worth tossing in. Here’s the machine and below it, its specifications:

Windows 8 Product Cycle

The following slide isn’t too telling in and of itself, but it serves to show how Microsoft has chosen to divide its Windows 8 product cycle into 3 main phases:

Planning (from Framing to Vision): Big picture thinking, themes then scenarios, and feature identification list.
Development (from Vision to Beta): Design and build features, refine SKUs (shelf-keeping units) and value propositions, and begin sharing code.
Readiness (from Beta to GA+90): Feature complete and bug-fixing, establish and track readiness metrics, and focus on creating great Dell + Windows experiences.

Of note, these slides were apparently leaked or inadvertently released after being given to one Derek Goode at HP. Likewise, many of the discussions throughout the slides address HP, so the 3rd phase above making reference to Dell interests me. Anyway, here is the slide of note:

2010-6

Virtual Machine Density Flexibility in Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clustering

Category: Hyper-V, Windows 2008 R2 | Tags: Clustering, Failover, Hyper-V, Limits, Requirements, Virtual Machines, Windows Server 2008 R2 | No Comments

Recently Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clustering has changed the support statement for the maximum number of Virtual Machines (VMs) that can be hosted on a failover cluster from 64 VMs per node to 1,000 VMs per cluster. This article reflects the new policy in Hyper-V: Using Hyper-V and Failover Clustering.

Supporting 1000 VMs will enable increased flexibility to utilize hardware that has the capacity to host more VMs per physical server while maintaining the high availability and management components that Failover Clustering provides.

Number of Nodes in Cluster	Max Number of VMs per Node	Average Number of VMs per active Node	Max # VMs in Cluster
2 Nodes (1 active + 1 failover)	384	384	384
3 Nodes (2 active + 1 failover)	384	384	768
4 Nodes (3 active + 1 failover)	384	333	1000
5 Nodes (4 active + 1 failover)	384	250	1000
6 Nodes (5 active + 1 failover)	384	200	1000
7 Nodes (6 active + 1 failover)	384	166	1000
8 Nodes (7 active + 1 failover)	384	142	1000
9 Nodes (8 active + 1 failover)	384	125	1000
10 Nodes (9 active + 1 failover)	384	111	1000
11 Nodes (10 active + 1 failover)	384	100	1000
12 Nodes (11 active + 1 failover)	384	90	1000
13 Nodes (12 active + 1 failover)	384	83	1000
14 Nodes (13 active + 1 failover)	384	76	1000
15 Nodes (14 active + 1 failover)	384	71	1000
16 Nodes (15 active + 1 failover)	384	66	1000

Note: There is no requirement to have a node without any VMs allocated as a “passive node”. All nodes can host VMs and have the equivalent to 1 node of capacity unallocated (total, across all the nodes) to allow for placement of VMs if a node fails or is taken out of active cluster membership for activities like patching or performing maintenance.

It is important to perform proper capacity planning that takes into consideration the capabilities of the hardware and storage to host VMs, and the total resources that the individual VMs require, while still having enough reserve capacity to host VMs in the event of a node failure to prevent memory over commitment. The same base guidance of Hyper-V configuration and limits of a maximum number of VMs supported per physical server still apply. This currently states that no node can host more than 384 running VMs at any given time, and that the hardware scalability should not exceed 4 virtual processors per VM and no more than 8 virtual processors per logical processor. Review this Technet article on VM limits and requirements: Requirements and Limits for Virtual Machines in Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Is there a hotfix or service pack required to have this new limit?

a. No, this support policy change based on extra testing we have performed to verify that the cluster retains its ability to health detect and failover VMs with these densities. There are no changes or updates required.

2. 64 VMs per node on a 16 node cluster equals 1024 VMs, so aren’t you actually decreasing the density for a 16 node cluster?

a. No, the previous policy was to have 64 VMs per node in addition to one nodes equivalent of reserve capacity, which is 15 nodes x 64 VMs which equals 960 with the spare capacity of a passive node. This policy slightly increases the density for a 16 node cluster and the density for an 8 node cluster is more than twice and a 4 node cluster more than 4-times as high as before.

3. Does this include Windows Server 2008 clusters?

a. This change is only for Windows Server 2008 R2 clusters.

4. Why did you make this change?

a. We are responding to our customers’ requests to have flexibility in the number of nodes and the number of VMs that can be hosted. For VMs running workloads that have relatively small demand of VM and storage resources, customers would like to place more VMs on each server to maximize their investiments and lower the management costs. Other customers want the flexibility of having more nodes and fewer VMs.

5. Does this mean I can go and put 250 VMs on my old hardware?

a. Understanding the resources that your hardware can provide and the requirements of your VMs is still the most important thing in identifying the capacity of your cluster or the specific Hyper-V servers. Available RAM and CPU resources are relatively easy to calculate, but another important part of the equation is capacity of the SAN/Storage. Not just how many GB or TB of data it can store, but can it handle the I/O demands with reasonable performance? 1000 VMs can potentially produce a significant amount of I/O demand, and the exact amount will depend on what is running inside the VMs. Monitoring the storage performance is important to understand the capacity of the solution.

Source :http://blogs.msdn.com/b/clustering/archive/2010/06/28/10031803.aspx

2010-6

Microsoft sends invitations to testers for Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 SP1

Category: Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2008 R2 DHCP Cluster, Windows 2008 R2 NLB, Windows 2008 R2 Printer Cluster, Windows 2008 SQL 2008 Cluster | Tags: Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 | No Comments

You are receiving this invitation based on the quality of feedback you have provided on previous Windows programs and the Microsoft Windows release team would like you to participate in the Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) release program, to be available shortly, as announced at the Microsoft’s TechEd conference.

Accepting this invitation will allow you to access pre-release versions of the Service Pack for the purposes of validating the release readiness. We highly value your past feedback and know we can count on you again to help us build a great new version of Windows!

The SP1 release version is not available quite yet but we need to assemble a great team of program peers early so you are ready to go when we are! If you accept this invitation you’ll be notified when the release version becomes available.

What you will get if you choose to participate

• Early access to downloadable Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 releases
• Access to private newsgroups to share information about the release with other program peers and with Microsoft staff
• The ability to report bugs and track their status
• An opportunity to help us build a better Windows by validating the release readiness

What we will ask of you if you choose to participate

• Download and install Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 on at least one PC each
• File bugs if you encounter them as well as respond to surveys as you can.
• Validation we are seeking
o Set-up and installation
o Application Experience/Compatibility
o Device Experience/Compatibility
• We ask that you actively participate in discussions on the newsgroups and share your opinions with us and others

What to do With Your Group policy’s

Category: Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) | No Comments

Group policy’s are common and easy to use , but in the old day’s there where only a few GPO’s but now there are settings for every box in windows.

Let say you have 3000 GP in your windows 2003 native AD how to manage this you have 8 domain Controllers in three locations, and everybody in creating en editing this GPO’s. All doing this in his own way one on his windows xp desktop SP1 other on SP2,SP3 etc and others on the DC’s and others on the server’s. where is the ADM file version and what happens with the GPO if there are different languages in the domain ?

I think this is common in most networks. That is why you have to think about this. just make sure that not all system engineers are able to edit the GPO’s and that GPO management is done from one location a GPO server.

Enhancing Group Policy through change management

Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM), a core component of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance, makes it easier for IT organizations to keep enterprise-wide desktop configurations up to date, enabling greater control, less downtime, and reduced total cost of ownership (TCO).

A Tour of Advanced Group Policy Management

This white paper is an overview of Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM)

So now that You have setup the AGMP server you did take a peek in the sysvol almost 4000 MB just ADM files !.

No wonder logon times are LONG. So just Remember Use only the templates that are needed default this is not the case.

How do we fix this First we take a look at the GPO and see if the GPO is a computer or a use GPO or both.

If it is a computer GPO you do not need the user configuration so we can turn this off

Just set one or none checkbox ( not both )

Now we go inside the GPO check the templates like below if it is a security setting only you don’t need templates at all so remove the files.

Now that We fixed this the size is down a lot so cleaned up a bit from 4000 MB to 450 MB wow . But what about the replication ?

Yes the files are in the sysvol and with every change the whole thing gets replicated between the DC’s !

We are using a single server for management and only there we can use the templates on this location we use always the latest ADM files and not all admins have access to this. Great but what about the replication well did you know you can filter this.

no this is not the site and services MMC it is in the users and computers mmc

Make sure you run the mmc in advanced mode , go to the FRS , Domain System Volume and check the properties. put the *.ADM file in and you are ready to go.

Make a good backup of the Sysvol folder. Now you can delete the ADM files on the DC that does not hold the AGPM. or if you use a member server for AGPM than make sure only one DC has the ADM files use the server that hold the FSMO roles, for performance reasons the FSMO roles are all on the same DC. just make sure the roles can be moved to other DC’s.

Test this in your LAB and see if it can work for you. here it saved a lot of time but the one place GPO editing is a bit a pain but in a few weeks nobody knows how it was in the past.

2010-6

Windows Time Service and Internet Communication (Windows Server 2003)

Category: Windows Time Services | No Comments

Windows Time Service Tools and Settings

Did You know that the time services can break your Active Directory.

Well with the default time settings you have a +&- time setting in

MaxPosPhaseCorrection & MaxnegPhaseCorrection normal you should set this to 48 hours 0×2A300 or 172,800 seconds.

But what is the default ? 4,294,967,295 = about 136 years so this means your time between DC can be 136 years different, without killing your AD. This is fixed in Windows 2008 R2 but I know there are a lot of sites the did not configure this value.

The value of the MaxNegPhaseCorrection entry on the domain controller should be equal to 48 hours.

Note This is not a new rule but an update to an existing rule.
Before you apply this update, a registry path is incorrectly set to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config\MaxPosPhaseCorrection

After you apply this update, the registry path is corrected to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config\MaxNegPhaseCorrection

Change this !!

So Set one DC to the NTP server and all others should use NT5DS

Get more info here :

Update for the AD DS Best Practices Analyzer rules in Windows Server 2008 R2 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/980360

How to configure the Windows Time service against a large time offset http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884776

Benefits and Purposes of Windows Time Service http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc775797(WS.10).aspx

Windows Time Service http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490845.aspx

Configure the Windows Time service on the PDC emulator (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91969)

Configure a client computer for automatic domain time synchronization (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91376)

Configure a manual time source for a selected client computer (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=91377)

2010-5

Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

RDCMan manages multiple remote desktop connections

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4603c621-6de7-4ccb-9f51-d53dc7e48047&displaylang=en

RDCMan manages multiple remote desktop connections. It is useful for managing server labs where you need regular access to each machine such as automated checkin systems and data centers. It is similar to the built-in MMC Remote Desktops snap-in, but more flexible.

The installation is very easy.

I love first install errors smile_devil It is my Pc that is the problem not the application I hope.

So now that the installation is completed we are ready to go.

I use visionapp all the time and I like this very much.

First we must make a group that holds the Servers

Now that we have a Group we can import Servers or add a server.

But the first time you may want to add a bulk with a text file or with a wildcard. in this case a # the bad thing you can only add one wildcard.

So now I have imported my servers I want to create groups “domain name” Role or add subgroup

Now I can’t add servers to the DC group I can only add servers to the RODC Group. In vissionapp I can do this.

Overall It is like visionapp but RDCman is only at the beginning no add in for external applications or the server in folder thing like above.

And I must say the TAB view in the top off the screen is nice now you have to scroll down to click your server, but If you have lots of open RDP sessions the most active sessions are on top if you use the sorting

SO if you don’t want to pay for a RDP management tool this RDCman is the tool you want easy to use and to manage. No problems with NLA on windows 2008 R2

A cool thing is that you can connect to group and Logoff to group

In may case I run it to 100 RDP sessions got again a nice error and the RDCman went down.

So Will I use it ? : YES

Is it better than Vissionapp ? : NO

It is Free so give the tool a test ride if you don’t use any tool now it is great Get it here :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4603c621-6de7-4ccb-9f51-d53dc7e48047&displaylang=en

2010-5

Change printer driver in a windows 2008 R2 Cluster

Category: Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2008 R2 Printer Cluster | No Comments

How to change a printer driver in a windows 2008 R2 cluster.

If you are running a Windows Server 2008 R2 print cluster GET THIS HOTFIX! http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976571

Now that you want to change a printer driver in you current windows 2008 R2 cluster we need to go to the Failover Cluster Manager

Go to the Printer Services & app then choose manage printer

Now that we opened the printer manager we can add the drivers,ports,options.

We can do add the new printer driver or remove a driver.

But the best way is go to your printer and choose properties in the advanced tab check the new driver button.

Pick a new driver or if the driver is already installed in the driver tab you can pick the driver from the pull down list.

Now that We use a new driver we are ready to go but remember in some cases word templates uses printer predefined printer settings or alignment settings that may change if you use a new driver.

2010-5

Tech·Ed Europe Returns to Berlin 8 – 12 November

Category: Tech-ed | No Comments

Tech·Ed Europe Returns to Berlin, 8 – 12 November

Tech·Ed Europe is Microsoft’s premier technical education event providing the most comprehensive technical training on Microsoft’s suite of products, technologies, solutions and services. If you are a technology professional involved in building, deploying or maintaining IT solutions using Microsoft technologies, Tech·Ed Europe is the conference that will help you solve today’s real-world challenges and prepare you for tomorrow’s innovations. >> Learn more about Tech·Ed.

What you’ll get at this year’s event
- Hear about the future of Microsoft’s products, technologies, solutions and services directly from Microsoft’s leaders
- Choose from over 370 technical sessions delivered by Microsoft and industry experts
- Participate in more than 150 Hands-on Labs and Technical Learning Centres designed to give you practical experience with the latest tools and technologies
- Network with Microsoft and industry experts, and fellow delegates that share your technology interests and business challenges
- Plan the features and architecture to support your product and business goals and to prepare your skills for the future
Get a Jumpstart on Technical Learning with Pre-Conference Seminars

Arrive early and get a jumpstart on your technical learning. Choose from eight pre-conference seminars delivered by Microsoft and industry experts, and selected to give you an edge on the latest technologies and topics.

Additional fees apply; conference delegates will receive a €100 discount on the pre-conference seminars. >> View the full list of seminar titles, descriptions and speakers.

2010-5

Windows Live ID

Category: Windows Live ID | No Comments

2010-5

Mouse Mischief

Category: Mouse Mischief | No Comments

There is a cool product that is called Mouse Mischief. You can give your kids a mouse and play together in one powerpoint sheet.

Get it here :http://www.microsoft.com/multipoint/mouse-mischief/default.aspx

And checkout the samples I like this. smile_regular

Mouse Mischief can transform teaching and learning in the classroom. Mouse Mischief integrates into Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, allowing teachers to create interactive presentations that engage and excite every student in the classroom. Approximately 5–25 students, each with his or her own mouse, can answer multiple choice questions and draw on a shared screen. You can download Mouse Mischief free of charge.

Three compelling reasons to use Mouse Mischief in your classroom

Actively engages students and supports collaborative learning

With Mouse Mischief you can spark student curiosity by incorporating interactive technology into the curriculum. Students have fun learning while seeing visual representations of their answers on a shared screen while using colorful mouse pointers (like a robot, snowflake, guitar, and many more shapes). You can enable collaborative learning when using Mouse Mischief in Team mode; in Team mode, all members of a team need to work together to agree on an answer before it can be selected.
Improves classroom management and overall student participation

With Mouse Mischief you no longer need to wait for raised hands; you can immediately see your students’ answers on the screen. Mouse Mischief helps make it easy for all students–even those who are often quiet in class–to participate regularly without the fear of saying the wrong answer. This can allow you to have better visibility into the progress and comprehension of your entire class so you can adjust your lessons on the spot.
Is familiar to use and easy on the classroom budget

Because Mouse Mischief integrates into familiar PowerPoint technology, you do not have to spend time learning new skills to use it. Additionally, you can set up your classrooms to play Mouse Mischief lessons without purchasing expensive hardware; many schools already have mice, and both mice and USB hubs are available at many stores where computer accessories are sold.

Read a teacher’s perspective on how Mouse Mischief impacted student learning in the classroom

Twitter :

#mousemischief

@MouseMischief

http://bit.ly/aPST92

2010-5

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2

Category: SQL 2008, SQL 2008 R2 | No Comments

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has released an updated guide for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2.

The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guide for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 helps organizations address key design decisions and confidently plan the efficient implementation of a SQL Server infrastructure. The tasks addressed in this guide help technical decision makers identify the appropriate SQL Server roles needed as well as determine the infrastructure components, server placement, and fault-tolerance configuration necessary to meet planning requirements. By using this guidance, organizations can make efficient planning and optimal design decisions for their SQL Server infrastructures.

Download the IPD Guide for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=160982

What’s New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

Built on SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2 has expanded reporting and analytics through self-service business intelligence.

• Master Data Services. With Master Data Services, IT organizations can centrally manage critical data assets companywide and across diverse systems, enable more people to securely manage master data directly, and ensure the integrity of information over time.

•Improved application and multi-server management capabilities.

•The SQL Server Utility allows DBAs to centrally manage and view instances of SQL Server, data-tier applications, database files, and volumes.

•The Utility Control Point (UCP) collects configuration and performance information from managed instances of SQL Server every 15 minutes, and provides dashboard views of health summary of SQL Server resources.

•Data-tier applications (DAC), which contain all of the database’s schema, dependent objects, and deployment requirements used by an application to improve the deployment of data applications and the collaboration between data-tier developers and DBAs.

•Utility Explorer dashboards to monitor resource utilization and health states.

•Two new premium editions. SQL Server 2008 R2 introduces two new premium editions to meet the needs of large-scale datacenters and data warehouses: Datacenter and Parallel Data Warehouse.

•Integration with Microsoft SQL Azure. The client tools included with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 allows DBAs to connect to SQL Azure, a cloud-based service that offers a flexible and fully relational database solution in the cloud.

•Integration of SQL Server with Sysprep. Allows DBAs to automate the deployment of SQL Server.

•Analysis Services integration with SharePoint. SQL Server PowerPivot for SharePoint is a new role-based installation option in which PowerPivot for SharePoint will be installed on a new or an existing SharePoint 2010 server to support PowerPivot data access in the farm.

•See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993.aspx for more detailed information on features in specific versions of SQL Server 2008 and http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993(SQL.105).aspx for SQL Server 2008 R2.

Determine capacity and performance requirements

•Disk storage required. For databases that don’t yet exist, an estimate will need to be made of the disk storage required. Storage needs should be calculated for the database, transaction log, indexes, and tempdb database.

••IOPS and throughput required. Since the main function of SQL Server is to manipulate data, and that data resides either in memory or on the I/O subsystem, any I/O performance problems will result in performance degradation of SQL Server. Although it may not be possible to calculate the required IOPS in advance, benchmarks for some workloads may be available from SAN and disk vendors that may provide a baseline for estimating the required performance and the disk storage configuration required to deliver that performance level.

More information about the IPD series:

The Infrastructure Planning and Design guides are the next version of Windows Server System Reference Architecture. The guides in this series help clarify and streamline design processes for Microsoft infrastructure technologies, with each guide addressing a unique infrastructure technology or scenario. All guides share a common structure including:

Definition of the technical decision flow through the planning process.
Listing of decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.
Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity and other characteristics.
Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.
These guides complement product documentation by exposing and focusing on infrastructure design options.

2010-5

MAP Beta Program

Category: MAP, Risk and Health Assessment | No Comments

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 is an agentless tool designed to simplify and streamline the IT infrastructure planning process across multiple scenarios through network-wide automated discovery and assessments. This Solution Accelerator performs an inventory of heterogeneous server environments and provides you with usage information for servers in the Core CAL Suite and SQL Server, SQL Server 2008 discovery and assessment for consolidation, Windows 2000 Server migration recommendations, and a readiness assessment for the most widely used Microsoft technologies—now including Office 2010.

What’s new with MAP Toolkit 5.0 Beta 2?

Software usage tracking for Exchange Server and SQL Server

SQL Server discovery and assessment for consolidation

Migration recommendations for Windows 2000 Server

MAP Toolkit 5.0 Beta 2

The MAP Toolkit 5.0 Beta 2 includes the following features:

Heterogeneous Server Environment Inventory: Know what’s in your IT environment. The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit performs a network inventory of IT assets remotely without the use of agents, identifying heterogeneous server environments consisting of Windows Server and Linux operating systems, including those running in a virtual environment. MAP 5.0 also automates the discovery of Linux-powered LAMP stacks.

Software Usage Tracker: Right-size your IT environment with MAP Toolkit 5.0 and simplify software license management and compliance processes. MAP 5.0’s new usage tracking feature provides consistent software usage reports for key Microsoft server products: Windows Server, SharePoint Server, System Center Configuration Manager, Exchange Server, and SQL Server. Run updated reports whenever you need to accurately assess current software usage and client access history in your environment. This reduces time and administrative costs for managing your server and client access licenses (CALs) and helps you to streamline the management of your software assets.

Microsoft Office 2010 Readiness Assessment: Streamline your migration to Office 2010 with MAP 5.0’s hardware compatibility proposal document. The MAP Toolkit provides readiness details and specifics of your IT infrastructure inventory, including hardware and OS requirements and upgrade recommendations for planning a seamless Office 2010 deployment. The actionable recommendations and assessments presented shorten the time it takes to plan your Office 2010 migration and prepares your IT environment for Office 2010 deployment and migration scenarios.

Database Discovery for SQL Server Consolidation: MAP 5.0’s new database discovery feature gives you the information you need to optimize your database resources and investments. MAP helps you simplify database administration and provides wide-ranging details of databases and server instances—information you can leverage for consolidation. Use the MAP Toolkit’s proposals to better utilize hardware and database resources, reduce administrative costs, and streamline your software licensing needs— all essentials for cost effective IT planning and operations.

Migration Recommendations for Windows 2000 Server: As support for Windows 2000 Server ends soon, MAP 5.0’s Migration Assessment feature helps you prepare for migration to Windows Server 2008 R2 by assessing the Windows 2000 Server environment and legacy workloads in the form of proposals and reports. The MAP Toolkit’s actionable recommendations help you to understand the potential business impact of maintaining legacy workloads and the benefits of migrating to the robust Windows Server 2008 R2 environment. With migration to Windows Server 2008 R2, you’ll be able to utilize the increased IT flexibility and efficiency from such technologies as Hyper-V and Remote Desktop Services, as well as tap into power-savings features to decrease TCO.

Even non Hyper-V machines are scanned

This beta review program is now open. Beta 2 will run through mid-June, 2010. Download the beta materials today, and tell us what you think!

More Info Can be found here :

http://blogs.technet.com/b/mapblog/

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd537566.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd450979.aspx

2010-5

Can’t delete or modify folders with reserved names

Category: Security | No Comments

Ever want to create a folder that can’t be deleted ? yes it can be handy you see this by some leechers in FTP sites.

Some malware (including virus’s and other types of programs with bad intentions) as well as some hardening programs and utility’s sometimes create files and directorys with illegal names.
Why "illegal" ?
Because some names such as LPT1, LPT2, LPTx, PRN, CON and more are reserved as
they have a unique meaning to the operating system.
Trying to rename/delete/modify a file or directory with such an illegal file name will return

Access Denied

so how to do this.

Step one : go to the CMD

C:\>md \\.\c:\LPT1

C:\>md \\.\c:\COM1

C:\>md \\.\c:\COM2

try to delete this folders. You can’t no security properties are there and take owner etc. IT will not work.

The reason why the line above would work is because of it’s prefix:

\\.\

Do this.

C:\>rd \\.\c:\LPT1

C:\>rd \\.\c:\COM1

C:\>rd \\.\c:\COM2

Now the folders are gone.

2010-5

Deploying Remote Desktop Connection Broker with High Availability

Category: Hyper-V, Microsoft Application Virtualization Dashboard, Remote Desktop Connection Broker, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2008 R2 DHCP Cluster, Windows 2008 R2 NLB, Windows 2008 SQL 2008 Cluster, Windows 7, Windows cloud services | 1 Comment

This guide is intended for IT professionals, and tells how to configure Remote Desktop Connection Broker in a failover cluster. The configuration provides users with access to personal virtual desktops or virtual machines in a virtual desktop pool through RemoteApp and Desktop Connection

A failover cluster is a group of independent computers that work together to increase the availability of applications and services. The clustered servers (called nodes) are connected by physical cables and by software. If one of the cluster nodes fails, another node begins to provide service (a process known as failover). Users experience a minimum of disruptions in service. This guide describes the steps for configuring Remote Desktop Connection Broker (RD Connection Broker) in a failover cluster, as part of a configuration that provides users with access to personal virtual desktops or virtual machines in a virtual desktop pool through RemoteApp and Desktop Connection. As you work with the configuration in this guide, you can also learn about failover clusters and familiarize yourself with the Failover Cluster Manager snap-in in Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise or Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter.

Deploying Remote Desktop Connection Broker with High Availability click here: Start download

Failover of clustered RD Connection Broker

Servers providing a virtual desktop

1. The user requests a connection to a virtual desktop, either a personal virtual desktop or one from a virtual desktop pool.

2. The RD Gateway receives the request.

3. The RD Gateway sends the request to a virtual machine redirector (that is, RD Session Host running in virtual machine redirection mode). The virtual machine redirector informs RD Connection Broker, and then waits for the IP address of a virtual machine.

4. RD Connection Broker requests information about a virtual machine from the RD Virtualization Host.

5. RD Connection Broker receives information about a virtual machine and then provides that information to the virtual machine redirector.

6. The virtual machine redirector communicates through the RD Gateway, providing the client with the IP address and connection information for a virtual desktop.

7. The client connects to a virtual desktop.

8. The virtual desktop is displayed on the client.

The following illustration shows the same sequence of events occurring despite the failure of one node of the cluster. Because a second cluster node is still running, it can respond to client requests as they occur.

Figure 3 Servers providing a virtual desktop after a failure

Cluster Screen Shots

RDP Connection Options

Additional Links

· Remote Desktop Services (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=154440)

· What’s New in Remote Desktop Services (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=185916)

· Install the RD Session Host Role Service (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=185917)

· About Dedicated Farm Redirection and Virtual Machine Redirection (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=185918)

· Remote Desktop Connection Broker (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=185919)

· Verify Connection broker cluster configuration (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=188508)

· Remote Desktop Services Script Repository (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=190312)

2010-5

Talking about Experts Live

Category: community | No Comments

Als klant van INOVATIV kunt u zich gratis inschrijven – Heeft u deze code niet? Neem dan contact op met info@expertslive.nl

Experts Live is het kennis evenement rondom Microsoft Infra & Security, Unified Communication, Virtualisatie en Management met System Center. Over de dag worden 17 sessies gepresenteerd door vak specialisten met o.a. een Microsoft MVP status, hiermee garanderen wij u als bezoeker het hoogste kennisniveau. In de breakout sessies worden o.a. Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Exchange 2010, OCS 2007 R2, Hyper-V en System Center hands-on gedemonstreerd.

Experts Live wordt mede mogelijk gemaakt door onze hoofdsponsors Citrix, Nobel en PQR. Op woensdag 16 juni 2010 bent u van harte welkom in het Hart van Holland te Nijkerk. Vergeet u niet te registreren.

2010-5

Microsoft Responds to the Evolution of Communities

Category: community | No Comments

source :http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx

Microsoft has a long history of establishing newsgroups that channel users and issues into the newsgroup (NNTP) space where information is shared and problems can be addressed by the community. Currently, Microsoft hosts more than 2000 public newsgroups that cover virtually all of our products, along with more than 2,200 private newsgroups that reach specific audiences including Certgen, SBSC, Partner Programs, MVPs and Direct Access, among others.

Meanwhile, customers are turning online more and more for information and help. Microsoft is revamping its communities to make it easy for customers to find help and information when they need it. Using forums as the online support strategy will reduce the number of redundant resources and centralize content, making community contributions more broadly available and impactful.

Beginning in June 2010, Microsoft will begin closing newsgroups and migrating users to Microsoft forums that include Microsoft Answers, TechNet and MSDN. This move will centralize content, make it easier for contributors to retain their influence, reduce redundancies and make content easier to find. Overall, forums offer a better spam management platform that will improve customer satisfaction by encouraging a healthy discussion space.

Why Forums?

The move to an online forums application for community support has many benefits. Perhaps most appealing is the notion that "we own the app". This means we can continue to invest in and extend the application to solve customer problems as they arise. We are not constrained or tied to any particular back-end limitation. It is a web application that we own and can extend as needed. Below are some of the current forums features:

Support for Questions and Answers: The forums application enables users to ask questions and get answers flagged as such by authoritative users in the community. This ability to easily filter and find actual answers coming from trusted individuals is what sets the application apart from other discussion-based applications.

Subscription and Notification Services: Users have the ability to subscribe to forum activity they are interested in by subscribing to either RSS or to Live Alerts on any thread they are interested in tracking. Users can also subscribe to RSS feeds for any forum, selecting cuts of data like answer state on incoming or new threads. The Live Alerts option can be configured to send updates to mobile applications, instant messenger or to the users Live Mail account.

Ability to Vote as Helpful: Users can vote on content as being more helpful, enabling users to filter on helpfulness

2010-5

cloudapp.net

Category: Cloud Computing | No Comments

The Windows Azure platform offers a flexible, familiar environment for developers to create cloud applications and services. With Windows Azure, you can shorten your time to market and adapt as demand for your service grows.

Windows Azure offers a platform that is easily implemented alongside your current environment.

But did you know there is a cloudapp.net site that hosts several funny sites.

You will have the opportunity to consent to share the information you provide during the self-assessment for public health, education and research purposes. This can help health officials, researchers and others learn more about where symptoms may be occurring in the U.S. If you do not consent to store your responses as described in the survey, we will not retain the information you provide after you leave the site.

Checkout the Sites some cool sites are there http://www.bing.com/search?q=cloudapp.net&go=&form=QBLH&filt=all

Cloud SMS – Free SMS Worldwide

http://webcamtimemachine.cloudapp.net/

http://fenrisevents.cloudapp.net/#/Home

http://ratingsimulator.cloudapp.net/

https://h1n1.cloudapp.net

Bing Maps World Tour

Group Policy Search A group policy search tool for Microsoft Active Directory Group Policy Settings.
gps.cloudapp.net

http://eyeonearth.cloudapp.net/

2010-5

Microsoft Security Assessment Tool (MSAT) 4.0 And Beta 5.0

Category: MAP, MOSS, Microsoft Security Assessment Tool, Microsoft Security Assessment Tool (MSAT), RAP, Risk and Health Assessment, Risk and Health Assessment Program | No Comments

Microsoft Security Assessment Tool

The Microsoft Security Assessment Tool (MSAT) is a free tool designed to help organizations like yours assess weaknesses in your current IT security environment, reveal a prioritized list of issues, and help provide specific guidance to minimize those risks. MSAT is an easy, cost-effective way to begin strengthening the security of your computing environment and your business. Begin the process by taking a snapshot of your current security state, and then use MSAT to continuously monitor your infrastructure’s ability to respond to security threats.

At Microsoft, the security of our customers’ networks, business servers, end-user computers, mobile devices, and data assets are a top priority. We are committed to providing security tools like MSAT to help you improve the security state of your business.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1

Beta review program now open!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MAP 5.0 BETA 1

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 is an agentless tool designed to simplify and streamline the IT infrastructure planning process across multiple scenarios through network-wide automated discovery and assessments. This Solution Accelerator performs an inventory of heterogeneous server environments and provides you with usage information for servers in the Core CAL Suite, a data center infrastructure assessment survey, and a readiness assessment for the most widely used Microsoft technologies—now including Office 2010.

What’s new with version 5.0?

The MAP Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1 includes the following new features:

Heterogeneous Server Environment Inventory: The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit performs a network inventory of IT assets remotely without the use of agents, identifying heterogeneous server environments consisting of Windows Server and Linux operating systems, including those running in a virtual environment. MAP 5.0 also automates the discovery of Linux-powered LAMP stacks.

Software Usage Tracking: Right-size your IT with the MAP Toolkit 5.0. MAP 5.0’s new usage tracking feature provides consistent software usage reports for Microsoft servers, including Windows Server, SharePoint, and System Center Configuration Manager. Run updated reports whenever you need to accurately assess the current software usage and client access history in your environment. This will reduce your time and administrative costs for managing software and Server and Client Access License (CAL) licensing assets, and ensures that you pay only for the licenses you use.

Microsoft Office 2010 Readiness Assessment: Streamline your migration to Office 2010 with MAP 5.0’s hardware compatibility proposal document. The actionable recommendations and assessments presented shorten the time it takes to plan your Office 2010 migration.

Data Center Infrastructure Assessment Survey: Use this survey in the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 to assess the components needed to design the storage and networking infrastructure for the Dynamic Infrastructure Toolkit for System Center.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Office 2010 Readiness Assessment: Streamline your migration to Office 2010 with MAP 5.0’s hardware compatibility proposal document. The actionable recommendations and assessments presented shorten the time it takes to plan your Office 2010 migration

2010-5

Risk and Health Assessment Program RAP

Category: MAP, MOF, RAP, Risk and Health Assessment, Risk and Health Assessment Program | No Comments

There are some tools that are hard to find but gives you a overview of a site. there are testing tools for Exchange,SQL,AD,Windows,Clustering.

Keep in mind that these download packages are intended for Microsoft Premier customers only. But everyone can download and use the tools.

If you run the tools it looks like this Below is the WDRAP It is an easy next next finish application but the result is more complex this is where the errors are.

You can import desktops by text file , mine is not in a domain so I can do only a local test.

There are Several Tools that you can use

Risk and Health Assessment Program for Exchange Server ( ExRAP ) – Scoping Tool v1.2

Risk and Health Assessment Program for Active Directory (ADRAP). – Scoping Tool v1.4

Risk and Health Assessment Program for Microsoft SQL Server (SQLRAP). – Scoping Tool v1.2

Risk and Health Assessment Program for Cluster Server (CSRAP) – Scoping Tool v1.3

Risk and Health Assessment Program for Cluster Server Datasheet

Risk and Health Assessment Program for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSSRAP) – Scoping Tool v2.0

MOSS Configuration
Customizations ,Farm Topology ,Search ,Security
Operational Excellence
Change Management ,Database ,Disaster Recovery ,Monitoring ,Search ,Service Level Agreement High
Server Configuration
Antivirus ,Database ,Event Logs ,Farm Topology ,IIS Information ,Load Balancing ,Network ,OS Information ,Security
Server Health
Antivirus ,Customizations ,Event Logs ,IIS Information ,Performance ,Security , Security Updates

Risk and Health Assessment Program for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Datasheet

Risk and Health Assessment Program for Windows Desktop (WDRAP) – Scoping Tool v1.1

Microsoft Services Risk and Health Assessment Program for Windows Desktop (WDRAP) is a proactive, Premier Offering to assess the health, performance, and efficiency of Windows Vista and Windows XP-based desktop and portable computers. WDRAP performs over 500 in-depth tests against a group of your desktop and portable computers and your IT operational procedures. WDRAP collects required configuration data, analyzes it to identify settings that deviate from recommended best practices, and generates remediation recommendations. This enables the enterprise to make sure that computers are optimally configured and maintained in order to provide a dependable and well-performing platform for business applications.

Technorati Tags: Risk and Health Assessment Program,Risk and Health Assessment Program for Exchange Server,( ExRAP ) – Scoping Tool v1.2,Risk and Health Assessment Program for Active Directory (ADRAP).,– Scoping Tool v1.4,Risk and Health Assessment Program for Microsoft SQL Server (SQLRAP). – Scoping Tool v1.2,Risk and Health Assessment Program for Cluster Server (CSRAP) – Scoping Tool v1.3,Risk and Health Assessment Program for Cluster Server Datasheet,Risk and Health Assessment Program for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSSRAP) – Scoping Tool v2.0

2010-5

Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 3.0

Category: Hyper-V, MAP, RAP, Risk and Health Assessment, Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

What’s new in the Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 3.0?

If you’ve used version 2.1, you know that it offers free, tested guidance and automated tools that let you safely service offline virtual machines in your SCVMM library. VMST 3.0 builds on this functionality, adding powerful new features designed to streamline the process of keeping your offline virtual machines, templates and VHDs up-to-date with the latest operating system and application updates, without introducing vulnerabilities into your IT infrastructure. VMST 3.0 helps you effectively manage the workflow of updating your offline virtual machines according to their individual needs. Using VMST 3.0, customers can also keep users productive during updates and maintenance of physical hosts: VMST 3.0 now automates the servicing of Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V host clusters, leveraging live migration.

Using new features in VMST 3.0, customers can now service:

Offline virtual machines in a SCVMM library.
Stopped and saved state virtual machines on a host.
Virtual machine templates.
Offline virtual hard disks in a SCVMM library by injecting update packages.
Windows Server 2008 R2 failover clusters running Hyper-V.

VMST 3.0 works seamlessly with other Microsoft technologies.

VMST 3.0 is designed to work with Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2008 or SCVMM 2008 R2, and with the following technologies:

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 SP1 or WSUS 3.0 SP2.
System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007 SP1, SCCM 2007 R2, or SCCM 2007 SP2.
VMST 3.0 also provides the option to manually copy updates to service offline VHDs.
The tool works with Windows Task Scheduler to enable scheduling the servicing job.

Virtual Machine Servicing Tool

During your participation in the Beta Program, you can receive support by contacting us at vmoff@microsoft.com.

Note: VMST 3.0 is not localized to any non-English languages. It is supported in the English language only.

Tell us what you think! Download the beta materials and send us your feedback

2010-5

Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer is now available for Windows Server 2008 R2

Category: Hyper-V, Virtualization, Windows 2008 R2, Windows cloud services | No Comments

In Windows management, best practices are guidelines to configure a server as defined by experts. For example, it is considered a best practice for most server technologies to keep open ports that are required for the technologies to communicate with other networked computers and also block unused ports. Whereas best practice violations, even very important best practice violations, are not necessarily problematic, they indicate server configurations that can result in poor performance, poor reliability, unexpected conflicts, increased security risks, or other potential problems.

What is Best Practices Analyzer?

Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a server management tool that is available in Windows Server 2008 R2. BPA reports best practice violations to the administrator after BPA scans the roles that are installed on Windows Server 2008 R2. Administrators can filter out unnecessary information or exclude results from BPA reports. Administrators can also perform BPA tasks with either the Server Manager GUI, or Windows PowerShell cmdlets. For more information about Best Practices Analyzer and scans, see the Best Practices Analyzer Help.

The update described in this article contains best practice benchmarks against a computer that is running Hyper-V on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2. After this update is installed on a server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2, you can run a series of Best Practices Analyzer scans on Hyper-V that will help you to bring the role into compliance with best practices.
You can use Hyper-V Best Practices Analyzer to scan a server that is running the Hyper-V role, and help identify configurations that do not comply with best practices for this role. BPA scans the configuration of the physical computer, the virtual machines, and other resources such as virtual networking or virtual storage. Scan results are displayed as a list that you can sort by severity, and include recommendations for fixing issues and links to instructions. No configuration changes occur automatically by running the scan. More information about Hyper-V is available at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48557

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the update package now.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

Category: SQL 2008, SQL 2008 R2 | No Comments

With the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 database software, now is the time to prepare for new levels of innovation. Take training to learn how to use-and promote-new features that increase scalability and improve efficiency.
With SQL Server 2008 R2, you can:

Enable business users to build and share actionable BI with little or no IT support by using SQL Server PowerPivot for Excel.
Accelerate the development and deployment cycle, and centralize application monitoring and management to improve developer efficiency.
Scale to hundreds of terabytes without sacrificing performance or increasing cost with SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse.

Learn more about the new features in SQL Server 2008 R2.

2010-4

Windows Server 2008 R2 – Free eBook

Category: Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2008 R2 DHCP Cluster, Windows 2008 R2 NLB, Windows 2008 SQL 2008 Cluster | 1 Comment

It is an old item but handy to have.

Fantastic new book hot off of Microsoft Press covering Windows Server 2008 R2.

Excerpt from the book:

“This book is targeted primarily at Windows server administrators who are responsible for hands-on deployment and day-to-day management of Windows-based servers for large organizations.”

Chapter breakdown is as follows:

Chapter 1, “What’s New in Windows Server R2”

Chapter 2, “Installation and Configuration: Adding R2 to Your World”

Chapter 3, “Hyper-V: Scaling and Migrating Virtual Machines”

Chapter 4, “Remote Desktop Services and VDI: Centralizing Desktop and Application Management”

Chapter 5, “Active Directory: Improving and Automating Identity and Access”

Chapter 6, “The File Services Role”

Chapter 7, “IIS 7.5: Improving the Web Application Platform”

Chapter 8, “DirectAccess and Network Policy Server”

Chapter 9, “Other Features and Enhancements”

And best of all a free electronic version is available here:

2010-4

the end of the floppy disk

Category: 3.5in floppy disk | 1 Comment

Floppy disc, PC World announces the end of the floppy disk

finally the end of the floppy disk is here, who needs it any more. So I copied my last million 3,5 disk to my hard disk now I have a million floppy’s on one 1,5 TB disk. Imagen the time that you need to find a file on a million floppy’s

Below are some items about the floppy disk.

The 3.5in floppy disk, once an icon of the computer age, is to be cleared from the shelves of PC World as demand for disks plummets.

In 1998 we were using more than 2bn floppy disks a year – but new technology and the rise of digital photography and music has left the floppy disk almost obsolete.

Apple was the first mass-market computer manufacturer to drop the floppy drive with the release of the iMac in 1998. Five years later Dell removed floppy drives from its best-selling Dell Dimension range.

The first floppy disk – which was 8in – was developed by IBM in the late 1960s to replace tape drives. The disk was invented by David Noble, an engineer for IBM.

The first 3.5in disk – which was developed by Sony – was sold in 1981.

Today consumers have a wide choice of storage devices and can also use recordable or rewritable CDs. A USB memory stick can store 1,000 times as much as a floppy disk.

The increasing availability of broadband and wireless internet connections has rendered small-scale removable storage devices largely obsolete.

Source :http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2803487/PC-World-announces-the-end-of-the-floppy-disk.html

Sony to stop selling floppy disks from 2011

Floppy disk

The first floppy disk was introduced in 1971 by IBM

Sony has signalled what could be the final end of the venerable floppy disk.

The electronics giant has said it will stop selling the 30-year-old storage media in Japan from March 2011.

Earlier this year Sony stopped selling the disks in most international markets due to dwindling demand and competition from other storage formats.

The slow death of the "floppy" or "diskette" began in 1998 when Apple decided not to include a floppy drive in its G3 iMac computer.

Since then various other firms have stopped support for floppy disks, including computer giant Dell in 2003.

Computing store PC World stopped selling them in 2007.

However, Sony has continued to sell the disks, and continues to ship them in the millions.

Now, the firm – which claims to have produced the first 3.5in (9cm) disks in 1981 – has decided to halt sales completely faced with competition from online storage and portable USB drives.

Source :http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8643844.stm

2010-4

Microsoft Takes Desktop Management to the Cloud: Introducing Windows Intune

Category: Virtualization, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7, Windows Intune Beta, Windows cloud services | No Comments

Source:http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2010/04/19/microsoft-takes-desktop-management-to-the-cloud-introducing-windows-intune.aspx

This beta is limited to 1,000 customers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Customers will be able to sign up until May 16, 2010. The beta may be used on up to 20 devices.

PC Management & Security Windows Intune Beta

Windows Intune simplifies how businesses manage and secure PCs using Windows cloud services and Windows 7—so your computers and users can operate at peak performance. Windows Intune delivers cloud-based management and security capabilities that can be administered through a single Web-based console, enabling your end users and your IT staff to work from virtually anywhere-all that’s required is an Internet connection.

Windows Intune screenshot

Remote workers in multiple locations. Multiple PC configurations. Limited resources. These are just a few of the challenges that face businesses just like yours every day. Windows Intune™ is a new solution that can help you address these challenges, taking PC management to a whole new level of simplicity. With its powerful combination of Windows® cloud services, Windows software, and advanced on-site tools, Windows Intune offers a comprehensive solution to help keep your PCs and end users operating at peak performance

Windows Intune is a comprehensive solution that includes PC management, malware protection, Windows upgrades, and more.

Use the Windows Intune cloud service beta to:

Manage updates
Protect PCs from malware
Proactively monitor PCs
Provide remote assistance
Track hardware & software inventory
Set security policies

This beta is limited to 1,000 customers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Customers will be able to sign up until May 16, 2010. The beta may be used on up to 20 devices.

Try

Get the Beta

Sign up for a beta of Windows Intune with your Windows Live ID.http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ff472080.aspx?ITPID=mscomgl

2010-4

An application or service that queries information about a failover cluster by using the WMI provider may experience low performance or a time-out exception

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

There is a new hotfix for windows 2008 R2 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/974930

Consider the following scenario:

An application or service uses the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) interfaces to query a failover cluster for the configuration and state information.
There are many resources and groups on the failover cluster.

In this scenario, the application or service may experience low performance or a time-out exception.
For example, if you use the System Center Virtual Machine Manager to manage a virtual machine on the failover cluster, you may experience this issue.

Windows Server 2008 R2 file information note

The MANIFEST files (.manifest) and the MUM files (.mum) that are installed for each environment are listed separately. MUM and MANIFEST files, and the associated security catalog (.cat) files, are critical to maintaining the state of the updated component. The security catalog files (attributes not listed) are signed with a Microsoft digital signature.

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 R2

Collapse this tableExpand this table

File name	File version	File size	Date	Time	Platform
Clussvc.exe	6.1.7600.20517	4,579,840	28-Aug-2009	11:21	x64

Collapse this tableExpand this table

File name	File version	File size	Date	Time	Platform
Cluswmi.dll	6.1.7600.20517	540,160	28-Aug-2009	11:23	x64
Cluswmi.mof	Not Applicable	76,540	28-Aug-2009	03:31	Not Applicable
Cluswmiuninstall.mof	Not Applicable	176	13-Jul-2009	20:22	Not Applicable

This is a hotfix :View and request hotfix downloads

2010-4

Full Bleed, No Chrome: Behind the Design of KIN

Category: KIN, Mobile | No Comments

REDMOND, Wash. — April 12, 2010 — For Pioneer Studios creative director Jon Friedman, it’s not symphonies or sunsets that inspire great design. It’s the little things we work with every day.

“It’s the way we use garbage cans or soap dispensers,” says Friedman, who works in the Microsoft group named for Seattle’s Pioneer Square. “In every little problem there’s an opportunity for a better design, and a better experience.”

KIN TWO, left, features a high-resolution camera and enables users to shoot HD video; the compact KIN ONE, right, is small enough to easily fit into a pocket.

Click for high-res image

Friedman says that approach played a big role in Microsoft’s next generation of social phones, called KIN, which the company launched today. The new touch-screen phones combine a sleek, compact form factor with software that helps users discover, share and interact with friends and family online. The phones, available this spring through Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and later this year through Vodafone in Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K., let users organize and experience their social media feeds, video, messages and more, and share them with others as they choose.

KIN began, he says, with a lot of research to help understand today’s younger generation, which has grown up with social media embedded into the fabric of their lives. The research involved everything from usage statistics, to target-customer profiles, to a Web-based “consumer collaboration” group called project muse that involved some 2,000 volunteers

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2010/apr10/04-12windowsphonelaunch.mspx

2010-4

Deployment part 1

Category: Deployment, SQL 2008, Virtualization, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2008 SQL 2008 Cluster, Windows 7 | 1 Comment

Lately I’m a bit busy with some offline project’s with large deployments and I think there is a good blog item in it but it takes some time to build it.

Deployment is easy tools are every where but what tool do I need and what to use

Not only Microsoft tools are here but also Altiris ( Symantec )

A Long time a go I build RIS images very cool and easy to use and a bit flexible

Then there was a Automated Deployment Services I did a TAP program but my test site was not complete for the TAP. Still a Cool product

Enterprise data center administrators face significant challenges as they scale their infrastructures and deploy and administer larger numbers of Windows servers in their environments. Windows Server 2003, Automated Deployment Services (ADS), is a new component of Windows Server 2003 that helps customers address those challenges. For example, ADS includes tools for deployment automation that support operating system and application installation to dozens or even hundreds of bare metal systems in a manner that supports security and auditing without administrator input.

As this white paper describes, the new set of ADS imaging tools developed by Microsoft help to offer a secure, rapid, and flexible deployment of both Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003. In addition, ADS enables script-based administration of a large number of Windows servers.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/techinfo/overview/ads.mspx

Then there was BDD

Desktop Deployment for Midsize Businesses

Business Desktop Deployment (BDD), or deploying Microsoft Windows, Office, and other applications to client computers, is a vital task for organizations of all sizes. You can deploy desktops using several methods depending on the number of client systems involved, available infrastructure, and skill level of IT staff. In very small organizations, BDD often means a hands-on, CD-based installation or purchase of systems with OEM versions of the operating system and applications already installed. In larger organizations, more advanced deployment processes and technologies can simplify and automate deployment; provide for remote configuration and management; and streamline disaster recovery.

The methods and tools you choose depend on your current IT environment. Environments for BDD fall into three primary categories: limited, basic, and well-managed. Table 1 identifies components and characteristics of each environment.

Business Desktop Deployment involves several key aspects, from planning to post-deployment management. The following sections describe these aspects for each target infrastructure.

Limited Management Infrastructure

The following list describes issues and solutions for desktop deployment for organizations with limited management infrastructure.

•Planning and Assessment. A successful deployment requires inventorying existing target client systems, operating systems, and applications and identifying which systems and applications will be upgraded. In smaller environments, custom Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) scripts and scripts included in the Windows Resource Kits can be used to inventory systems and applications.

•Application Compatibility. Microsoft Windows XP and Office 2003 provide full compatibility with one another, but many deployment scenarios involve additional applications and older versions. Application compatibility analysis and testing help ensure existing applications will run on the new desktops and that any compatibility issues are remediated. For limited management environments, the Windows XP Help and Support Center and Program Compatibility Wizard (included with Windows XP) and the Windows Catalog are key compatibility resources. Older Windows applications can be configured with compatibility settings to enable them to run under Windows XP through the Compatibility tab page of the application’s properties.
See the following links for additional resources and solutions:
Resolving Application Compatibility Issues with Compatibility Administrator
Program Compatibility Wizard
Windows Catalog
Windows XP Upgrade Advisor

•User State Migration. Desktop deployment includes migrating user documents, files, application settings, and other data to target systems. The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard in Windows XP is a great method for limited management environments.
See the following links for additional resources and solutions:
User State Migration: Overview
User State Migration Tool

•Deployment and Installation. In limited management environments, the operating system and applications are often preinstalled on purchased systems. Additional deployment is generally through manual, CD-based installation.
See the following links for additional resources and solutions:
Deploying a Simple Managed Environment
Windows Deployment and Resource Kits

•Supplemental Applications. The Windows XP and Office 2003 combination form the core client tools for many organizations, but often needs to be supplemented with other applications. Manual installation is often used in limited management environments to install these supplemental applications.

•Security and Patching. It’s important to keep up-to-date with operating system and application updates. The Microsoft Update Web site, which combines Windows and Office updates, and Automatic Updates help limited management environments stay current.

And Now there is : Windows Deployment Services

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

This guide contains step-by-step guidance for how to install and configure the most common scenarios for Windows® Deployment Services (sometimes called “WDS”) in Windows Server® 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Note that you cannot use Windows Deployment Services with the Server Core installation option. To download the Windows Deployment Services documentation (including a step-by-step guide, deployment content, and WDSUTIL command-line syntax), see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=89381.

What is Windows Deployment Services?

Windows Deployment Services is the updated and redesigned version of Remote Installation Services (RIS). Windows Deployment Services enables you to deploy Windows operating systems over the network, which means that you do not have to install each operating system directly from a CD or DVD.

For information about what is new or included in your version of Windows Deployment Services, see Windows Deployment Services: What’s New (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=140114).

Who should use this guide?

Windows Deployment Services is intended for deployment specialists who are responsible for the deployment of Windows operating systems. This guide assumes that you have a working knowledge of common desktop deployment technologies, as well as networking components such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Domain Name System (DNS), and Active Directory® Domain Services (AD DS). The target audiences are:

Deployment specialists interested in deploying Windows images to computers.
IT planners, designers, or analysts evaluating Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

More here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc771670(WS.10).aspx

And the tools are here :

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

Deploy Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Office products

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 (MDT 2010) provides a common console with the comprehensive tools and guidance needed to efficiently manage deployment of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 is the recommended process and toolset to automate desktop and server deployment. Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 provides detailed guidance and job aids for every organizational role involved with large-scale deployment projects.

One-click downloads for:

Looking for other free, authoritative resources to help you proactively plan, integrate and operate IT systems? Visit the Solution Accelerators Home Page.

Deployment TechCenter

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/desktopdeployment/default.aspx

This is the first in a range I will try to build a complete now days server I know there are plenty around but lots of them are 2008 and not R2 in a few day’s I hope to fix this first I have to build a sharepoint farm

2010-4

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Dashboard

Category: Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 | No Comments

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Dashboard lets customers track application and operating system deployments, security updates, the health status, and IT compliance with key regulations—with an easy to use, customizable Web interface. Because the Dashboard is built on Windows® SharePoint® Services, IT staff can access information without using the Configuration Manager console.

IT Challenges
IT administrators and IT support staff need easier access to key information about software and operating system deployments, client health, and compliance with regulations. They must ensure that their systems and software meet the configuration requirements established for the organization. And they need the ability to track this information without having access to a System Center Configuration Manager console.
Key Benefits
Benefits of the dashboard include:

Actionable information out of the box. The dashboard comes with a wide range of valuable, built-in reports that IT managers can access without using the Configuration Manager console.
Centralized, near-real-time access to key information. The graphical dashboard lets customers view any Configuration Manager data set in near-real time—without leaving their desk.
Easy to build and configure. The dashboard’s wizard-based tools let customers easily create new dashboards in minutes.
Easy to customize. The dashboard can easily be customized to meet the needs of different departments and other groups. Any data set in the Configuration Manager database can be presented on the dashboard, in chart, gauge, and table formats.
Flexible & interactive. Users can easily filter data and create ad hoc, custom views. Filters allow users to quickly drill down from high-level to more specific data.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=27fe0d80-38c6-464a-953a-1c2edcf35c2d

2010-4

System Center Operations Manager R2 (KB981740)

Category: System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 | No Comments

This hotfix addresses an issue in System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 does not display new properties in some views after you import a management pack

This hotfix for System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 resolves the following issue:

A management pack does not display the correct properties in some views after you import the management pack.

To resolve the issue, download the update file from the following Microsoft Download Center Web site:

Collapse this imageExpand this image

Download the http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ff0708e6-a920-4174-a9af-b9c585ebb665&displaylang=en package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ff0708e6-a920-4174-a9af-b9c585ebb665&displaylang=en)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981740

2010-4

Deploying Remote Desktop Virtualization

Category: Microsoft Application Virtualization Dashboard, Virtualization | No Comments

Lately there are all kind of virtual waves that customers want everything have to be virtual unless..

Well Microsoft does have several guides to do this I pointed out 3 guides that are a good basic to start.

This step-by-step guide walks you through the process of setting up a working personal virtual desktop accessible by using Remote Desktop Web Access (RD Web Access) in a test environment.

Personal virtual desktops are virtual machines that are assigned to a user within your organization and available by using either RemoteApp and Desktop Connection or Remote Desktop Web Access (RD Web Access). In this guide, we will set up a personal virtual desktop and connect to it by using RD Web Access.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=0D278F5C-37FA-43FB-8032-614C7BF1D617&displaylang=en

Second :

This step-by-step guide walks you through the process of setting up a working Remote Desktop Services infrastructure in a test environment. During this process, you create an Active Directory® domain, install the Remote Desktop Session Host (RD Session Host) role service, and configure the Remote Desktop Connection client computer.

This guide is considered the basic Remote Desktop Services step-by-step guide. All other step-by-step guides developed for Remote Desktop Services will assume that this guide has been completed first. This step-by-step guide walks you through the process of setting up a working Remote Desktop Services infrastructure in a test environment. During this process, you create an Active Directory® domain, install the Remote Desktop Session Host (RD Session Host) role service, and configure the Remote Desktop Connection client computer. After you’ve completed this process, you can use the test lab environment to learn about Remote Desktop Services technology on Windows Server® 2008 R2 and assess how it might be deployed in your organization. The goal of a Remote Desktop Session Host (RD Session Host) server is to host Windows-based programs or the full Windows desktop for Remote Desktop Services clients. Users can connect to an RD Session Host server to run programs, to save files, and to use resources on that server.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=DA934121-F85D-4827-BB11-E17E9DB5D53A&displaylang=en

Third :

Deploying Remote Desktop IP Virtualization Step-by-Step Guide

Brief Description

Remote Desktop IP Virtualization provides administrators the ability to assign a unique IP address to a program that is available by using RemoteApp and Desktop Connection.

Remote Desktop IP Virtualization provides administrators the ability to assign a unique IP address to a program that is available by using RemoteApp and Desktop Connection. In this guide, we will configure Remote Desktop IP Virtualization and access it as a standard user by using RemoteApp and Desktop Connection.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=11a2145c-0b61-4b98-848e-3c8e80ee736f&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MicrosoftDownloadCenter+%28Microsoft+Download+Center%29#tm

2010-4

Security Compliance Manager

Category: Security Compliance Manager | No Comments

The Security Compliance Manager will help you accelerate knowledge to merge best practices, customize once to centralize decision making, and export to multiple formats to enable monitoring, verification, and compliance. The tool is designed to help accelerate your organization’s ability to efficiently manage the security and compliance process for the most widely used Microsoft technologies.

This end-to-end Solution Accelerator will help you plan, deploy, operate, and manage your security baselines for Windows® client and server operating systems, and Microsoft applications. Access the complete database of Microsoft recommended security settings, customize your baselines, and then choose from multiple formats—including Desired Configuration Management (DCM) packs, Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP), XLS, or Group Policy objects (GPOs)—to export the baselines to your environment to automate the security baseline compliance verification process.

The Security Compliance Manager provides centralized security baseline management features, a baseline portfolio, customization capabilities, and security baseline export flexibility to accelerate your organization’s ability to efficiently manage the security and compliance process for the most widely used Microsoft technologies.

Take advantage of the experience of Microsoft security professionals, and reduce the time and money required to harden your environment. This end-to-end Solution Accelerator will help you plan, deploy, operate, and manage your security baselines for Windows® client and server operating systems, and Microsoft applications. Access the complete database of Microsoft recommended security settings, customize your baselines, and then choose from multiple formats—including XLS, Group Policy objects (GPOs), Desired Configuration Management (DCM) packs, or Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP)—to export the baselines to your environment to automate the security baseline deployment and compliance verification process. Use the Security Compliance Manager to achieve a secure, reliable, and centralized IT environment that will help you better balance your organization’s needs for security and functionality.

Key Features & Benefits

Centralized Management and Baseline Portfolio: The centralized management console of the Microsoft Security Compliance Manager provides you with a unified, end-to-end user experience to plan, customize, and export security baselines. The tool gives you full access to a complete portfolio of recommended baselines for Windows® client and server operating systems, and Microsoft applications. Additionally, the Security Compliance Manager enables you to quickly update the latest Microsoft baseline releases and take advantage of baseline version control.
Security Baseline Customization: Customizing, comparing, merging, and reviewing your baselines just got easier. Now you can use the new customization capabilities of the Security Compliance Manager to duplicate any of the recommended baselines from Microsoft—for Windows client and server operating systems, and Microsoft applications—and quickly modify security settings to meet the standards of your organization’s environment.
Multiple Export Capabilities: Export baselines in formats like XLS, Group Policy objects (GPOs), Desired Configuration Management (DCM) packs, or Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) to enable automation of deployment and monitoring baseline compliance.

Included in the Download

The Security Compliance Manager download includes the following components:

Microsoft_Security_Compliance_Manager_Setup.exe – The Microsoft Security Compliance Manager allows you to view, update, and export security baselines.
LocalGPO.msi – This tool is designed to manage local group policies of a computer such as applying a security baseline and exporting the local Group Policy.

Download the Security Compliance Manager:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182512

Learn more about the Security Compliance Manager: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=113940

2010-4

Application Virtualization Dashboard

Category: Microsoft Application Virtualization Dashboard | No Comments

The Microsoft® Application Virtualization Dashboard helps you monitor virtualized software applications across your organization. The dashboard’s built-in charts, gauges, and tables let you track any APP-V dataset in near-real time, so you can easily stay on top of the usage, health, and compliance of all your virtualized applications.

The App-V Dashboard is designed and built on Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 as the application platform by using Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5/4.6.

Key Benefits

Benefits of the dashboard include:

Actionable information out of the box. The dashboard comes with a wide range of valuable, built-in reports like top 5 applications used, top 5 users, applications never used, application usage for a specific user, system utilization, and many more.
Near-real-time access to key information. The graphical dashboard lets customers view any App-V dataset in near-real time.
Easy to build and configure. The dashboard’s wizard-based tools let customers easily create new dashboards in minutes.
Easy to customize. The dashboard can easily be customized to meet the needs of different departments and other groups. Any data set in the Microsoft Application Virtualization database can be presented on the dashboard, in chart, gauge, and table formats.
Flexible & interactive. Users can easily filter data and create ad hoc, custom views. Filters allow users to quickly drill down from high-level to more specific data.

Join the Beta Program for the Dashboard

The App-V dashboard is now in beta release. Want to get an advance look at the dashboard, and a chance to provide feedback so it best meets your needs? Join the beta program!

To join the beta program, click here. You can also send your enquires about this Solution Accelerator to satdash@microsoft.com.

How the Dashboard Works

The Application Virtualization Dashboard is designed to work with an existing Application Virtualization 4.5 or 4.6 infrastructure. The Dashboard queries the Application Virtualization database and uses the resulting data set to present key infrastructure metrics in a graphical format.

The Application Virtualization Dashboard uses SharePoint Web parts to manage and display data sets:

Microsoft Dashboard Configuration Web Part. Use this Web part to create and modify the SQL queries that produce the data sets and the other properties that govern how the Dashboard displays the data sets.
Microsoft Dashboard Viewer Web Part. Use this Web part to display the data sets. A Dashboard Viewer Web Part displays one data set at a time. The Application Virtualization Dashboard can contain multiple copies of the Dashboard Viewer Web Part at once, each copy displaying a different data set.

The following figure shows how users can interact with the Web parts to retrieve and display data.

Ff424455.image1(en-us,TechNet.10).jpg

Figure 1. Application Virtualization Dashboard Process Flow

The Application Virtualization Dashboard process flow involves the following sequence of activities:

An IT Service Manager requests a new data set.
The IT Administrator uses the Dashboard Configuration Web Part to define the new data set.
The IT Administrator stores the configuration information for the new data set (the information is saved in the Windows SharePoint Services Content database).
The IT Administrator adds a new copy of the Dashboard Viewer Web Part to the default Application Virtualization Dashboard and then modifies the Web part to display the new data set.
The IT Service Manager browses to the Application Virtualization Dashboard site.
Windows SharePoint Services queries the Application Virtualization database as specified by the data set configuration.
Windows SharePoint Services renders the new data set using the Dashboard Viewer Web Part.

Sample Screenshot

Requirements for the Application Virtualization Dashboard

The App-V Dashboard integrates with an already functioning deployment of System Center Application Virtualization and has no additional infrastructure requirements. It is assumed that App-V and it’s database are configured in accordance with Microsoft installation guidance.

The following table lists software requirements for the Application Virtualization Dashboard.

App-V Dashboard Software Requirements

Software

Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 or 4.6
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP2
Note Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP2 is supported as an alternative to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Browser

Microsoft Internet Explorer® 7.0 or Internet Explorer 8.0.

2010-4

Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF)

Category: Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) | No Comments

The new MOF Management Reviews guide and the MOF Service Mapping guide are now available for download.

Download MOF Management Reviews: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=186460

Download MOF Service Mapping: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=186459

MOF Management Reviews will help organizations ensure that their technology services are on track to deliver expected business value. The management reviews in this document—Portfolio, Service Alignment, Project Plan Approved, Release Readiness, Operational Health, and Policy and Control—offer guidance to help management set goals, evaluate progress, and confirm results.

MOF Service Mapping—an extension of the Business/IT Alignment Service Management Function (SMF)—is intended to introduce the content, structure, development, usage, and benefits of service maps. Service maps are graphical representations of a technology service that illustrate the various components that rely on the successful delivery of that service.

2010-4

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1 is still open

Category: MAP Toolkit | No Comments

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1 is still open. If you haven’t already, be sure to download the tool today and tell us what you think. We want to hear from you! Use MAP 5.0 to plan your infrastructure, accelerate IT planning, and assess multiple products and scenarios from a single tool-helping you and your organization save valuable time and money.

To download the MAP Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1, visit Microsoft Connect: https://connect.microsoft.com

MAP Toolkit 5.0 is an agentless tool designed to simplify and streamline the IT infrastructure planning process across multiple scenarios through network-wide automated discovery and assessments. This Solution Accelerator performs an inventory of heterogeneous server environments and provides you with usage information for servers in the Core CAL Suite, a data center infrastructure assessment survey, and a readiness assessment for the most widely used Microsoft technologies-now including Office 2010.

Is your organization spending valuable resources planning its IT infrastructure? Participate in the MAP Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1. Take an early look at this release, and provide timely feedback to help ensure that our development team best meets your needs.

Tell us what you think!

Please send us your constructive feedback. We value your input; this is the perfect opportunity to be heard. Send your comments to the development team: MAPfdbk@microsoft.com.

Availability

The beta 1 review period will run through mid-May, 2010.

Tell your friends
To join the beta review program for Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0, visit Microsoft Connect: https://connect.microsoft.com/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=1668&InvitationID=M32B-GBGR-HHFG&SiteID=297.

2010-4

Emergency Patch for IE 6, 7, 8 released

Category: Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, Security | No Comments

we released MS10-018 out-of-band due to increases in attacks against Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 using the vulnerability discussed in Security Advisory 981374. I want to reiterate that Internet Explorer 8 is not affected by this issue so customers using this version are not affected by these attacks and we continue to encourage customers to upgrade to the newer version because it provides more security and protection.

MS10-018 is a typical cumulative update for Internet Explorer and was originally going to be released during the normal update cycle on the 13^th of April. The Internet Explorer team accelerated testing of this update due to the growing attacks against the publicly disclosed vulnerability (CVE-2010-0806), and the update has reached the appropriate quality bar for distribution to customers. Releasing the update early provides Internet Explorer 6 and 7 customers protection against the active attacks and provides users of all versions of Internet Explorer protection against nine other vulnerabilities.

Here is a simplified view of the ten vulnerabilities and their aggregate severity on Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8:

* Vulnerability under active attack.

This table demonstrates what we have been saying about the improved security and protection offered in Internet Explorer 8 and why we continue to encourage customers to upgrade.

Since we announced yesterday that we would be releasing this bulletin out-of-band, we have been asked if it addresses the vulnerability that was used in the “pwn2own” contest at the CanSecWest security conference last week. We are still investigating that issue at this time so we do not have an update available. In accordance with the contest rules, the vulnerabilities used are responsibly disclosed so that the respective vendors can produce updates to protect their customers before the vulnerabilities can be used by criminals. Microsoft continues to encourage responsible disclosure and we are a sponsor of the CanSecWest conference because we believe in working closely with security researchers to protect customers and the entire computing ecosystem.

Our next regularly scheduled bulletin release is Tuesday April 13, so that means we will be conducting another public webcast on April 14. We invite you to attend that webcast and bring any questions you have regarding the April release and we will try to answer them all live on the air. Here is the registration information:

Date: Wednesday April 14
Time: 11:00 a.m. PDT (UTC –8)
Registration: https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032427721

Source :http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/default.aspx

2010-3

Windows 7 Godmode

Category: MDT, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7 | No Comments

There are several post on the web on godmode I did not use it before but I did some testing with it and like it. so below is a list of the strings that you can use With a link to a microsoft site for all the options.

How does this work Create a folder on your desktop and name it GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

but the name before the dot can be self named

Below is a list of additional useful folders that you can create using the same process described above. I have named the folder accordingly to give you a clue as to what each one does:

LOCATION.{00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}
BIOMETRIC.{0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}
POWER.{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}
NOTIFICATION.{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
CREDENTIALS.{1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}
NETWORKAPPS.{15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}
DEFAULTS.{17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}
ASSEMBLIES.{1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}
WIRELESS.{1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}
NETWORK.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
DRIVES.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
PRINTERS.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
REMOTE.{241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
FIREWALL.{4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}
PERFORMANCE.{78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}

Canonical Names of Control Panel Items

As of Windows Vista, each Control Panel item is given a canonical name for use in programmatically launching that item. This topic lists each Control Panel item, its canonical name, and its GUID.

Windows 7 Control Panel Canonical Names

The following canonical names are defined for Control Panel items in Windows 7. All names are also valid on Windows Vista unless specified otherwise. Not all Control Panel items are available on all varieties of Windows and some Control Panel items might appear only when appropriate hardware is detected. These canonical names do not change for different languages. They are always in English, even if the system’s language is non-English.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee330741%28VS.85%29.aspx

2010-3

MDT Debugger

Category: MDT | No Comments

Source : http://blogs.technet.com/deploymentguys/archive/2010/03/22/mdt-debugger.aspx

MDT Debugger

When creating and configuring an LTI deployment solution there is one thing that always bugs me immensly: debugging custom scripts. Writing the scripts is easy, but debugging them is a whole different experience. The reason is simple, to debug a script you normally need to launch it from within the MDT environment (during the deployment). Consequently, it can be quite hard and very slow to iron out any errors that they (might) contain because of the need to run a full deployment of a computer, just to be able to do some testing.

This isn’t the actual part that bugs me though. The annoying part is when the script fails and MDT ends, all because of a silly mistake made in the script; this for me is the frustrating part that could at times drive me insane. Because MDT has now terminated, pretty much the only sure way to re-test the script is to re-run the deployment; vastly slowing down the debugging time.

I should point out that this is no fault of MDT, it is all mine; after all, I was the one who put the error in the script! But, because of the way MDT works, the debugging of these custom scripts can be labourious task…. until now! [cue drum-roll] I would like to present version 0.1 of the "MDT Debugger"! This nifty little tool makes debugging most custom actions, script or not, simpler and prevents MDT from terminating with the red error screen if the custom action has failed.

The MDT Debugger sits in-between MDT and your custom script and intercepts the return code that is normally sent back to MDT from your custom action. It then displays the error code and allows you to either accept and return it to MDT, edit it before returning it to MDT, or to relaunch the custom action again. This later option gives you the opportunity to fix any errors in the script/action and then relaunch it – thus eliminating the need to relaunch the deployment process from the very beginning just to re-test the custom action.

More on source :http://blogs.technet.com/deploymentguys/archive/2010/03/22/mdt-debugger.aspx

2010-3

Install this update to remove the prerequisites required to run Windows Virtual PC and XP mode

Category: Windows 7 | No Comments

Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB977206)

You install Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode on a computer that is running Windows 7. When you try to start or configure Windows XP Mode in Windows Virtual PC, you receive one of the following error messages.
Note You may also receive one of the following error messages when you try to start or configure any other virtual machine in Windows Virtual PC.

Unable to start Windows Virtual PC because hardware-assisted virtualization is disabled

Collapse this imageExpand this image

Overview

Install this update to remove the prerequisites required to run Windows Virtual PC and XP mode. The prerequisites include a processor which supports hardware assisted virtualization (HAV) which is also enabled in the BIOS. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Windows6.1-KB977206-x64.msu

All supported x86-based versions of Windows 7

Collapse this imageExpand this image

Download the update package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=837f12aa-1d37-464e-ae59-20c9ecbebaf6)

All supported x64-based versions of Windows 7

Collapse this imageExpand this image

Download the update package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e70dd043-e262-43c0-a002-446567f1e2b4)

2010-3

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

The Solution Accelerators team is pleased to announce the beta release of this updated version of the toolkit. Use the MAP Toolkit 5.0 to plan your right-sized infrastructure, accelerate IT planning, and assess multiple products and scenarios from a single tool—helping you and your organization save valuable time and money.

To download the MAP Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1, visit Microsoft Connect: https://connect.microsoft.com/site297.

Availability

This program is now open. The beta 1 review period will run through mid-April, 2010. The release of this tool is scheduled for July, 2010.

Learn more

· Visit the MAP home page: http://www.microsoft.com/map

2010-3

Understanding Quorum ( witness )Configurations in a Failover Cluster

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

The Develop department ask me what kind of Quorum Witness disk Should we use ? There is a guide from Microsoft that you can help to make the right choice.

How the witness configuration affects the cluster

The quorum configuration in a failover cluster determines the number of failures that the cluster can sustain. If an additional failure occurs, the cluster must stop running. The relevant failures in this context are failures of nodes or, in some cases, of a disk witness (which contains a copy of the cluster configuration) or file share witness. It is essential that the cluster stop running if too many failures occur or if there is a problem with communication between the cluster nodes. For a more detailed explanation, see Why quorum is necessary later in this topic.

Important

In most situations, use the quorum configuration that the cluster software identifies as appropriate for your cluster. Change the quorum configuration only if you have determined that the change is appropriate for your cluster.

Note that full function of a cluster depends not just on quorum, but on the capacity of each node to support the services and applications that fail over to that node. For example, a cluster that has five nodes could still have quorum after two nodes fail, but the level of service provided by each remaining cluster node would depend on the capacity of that node to support the services and applications that failed over to it.

Quorum configuration choices

You can choose from among four possible quorum configurations:

Node Majority (recommended for clusters with an odd number of nodes)
Can sustain failures of half the nodes (rounding up) minus one. For example, a seven node cluster can sustain three node failures.
Node and Disk Majority (recommended for clusters with an even number of nodes)
Can sustain failures of half the nodes (rounding up) if the disk witness remains online. For example, a six node cluster in which the disk witness is online could sustain three node failures.
Can sustain failures of half the nodes (rounding up) minus one if the disk witness goes offline or fails. For example, a six node cluster with a failed disk witness could sustain two (3-1=2) node failures.
Node and File Share Majority (for clusters with special configurations)
Works in a similar way to Node and Disk Majority, but instead of a disk witness, this cluster uses a file share witness.
Note that if you use Node and File Share Majority, at least one of the available cluster nodes must contain a current copy of the cluster configuration before you can start the cluster. Otherwise, you must force the starting of the cluster through a particular node. For more information, see "Additional considerations" in Start or Stop the Cluster Service on a Cluster Node.
No Majority: Disk Only (not recommended)
Can sustain failures of all nodes except one (if the disk is online). However, this configuration is not recommended because the disk might be a single point of failure.

Illustrations of quorum configurations

The following illustrations show how three of the quorum configurations work. A fourth configuration is described in words, because it is similar to the Node and Disk Majority configuration illustration.

note Note

In the illustrations, for all configurations other than Disk Only, notice whether a majority of the relevant elements are in communication (regardless of the number of elements). When they are, the cluster continues to function. When they are not, the cluster stops functioning.

Cluster with Node Majority quorum configuration

As shown in the preceding illustration, in a cluster with the Node Majority configuration, only nodes are counted when calculating a majority.

Cluster with Node and Disk Majority quorum

As shown in the preceding illustration, in a cluster with the Node and Disk Majority configuration, the nodes and the disk witness are counted when calculating a majority.

Node and File Share Majority Quorum Configuration

In a cluster with the Node and File Share Majority configuration, the nodes and the file share witness are counted when calculating a majority. This is similar to the Node and Disk Majority quorum configuration shown in the previous illustration, except that the witness is a file share that all nodes in the cluster can access instead of a disk in cluster storage.

Cluster with Disk Only quorum configuration

In a cluster with the Disk Only configuration, the number of nodes does not affect how quorum is achieved. The disk is the quorum. However, if communication with the disk is lost, the cluster becomes unavailable.

Why quorum is necessary

When network problems occur, they can interfere with communication between cluster nodes. A small set of nodes might be able to communicate together across a functioning part of a network but not be able to communicate with a different set of nodes in another part of the network. This can cause serious issues. In this "split" situation, at least one of the sets of nodes must stop running as a cluster.

To prevent the issues that are caused by a split in the cluster, the cluster software requires that any set of nodes running as a cluster must use a voting algorithm to determine whether, at a given time, that set has quorum. Because a given cluster has a specific set of nodes and a specific quorum configuration, the cluster will know how many "votes" constitutes a majority (that is, a quorum). If the number drops below the majority, the cluster stops running. Nodes will still listen for the presence of other nodes, in case another node appears again on the network, but the nodes will not begin to function as a cluster until the quorum exists again.

For example, in a five node cluster that is using a node majority, consider what happens if nodes 1, 2, and 3 can communicate with each other but not with nodes 4 and 5. Nodes 1, 2, and 3 constitute a majority, and they continue running as a cluster. Nodes 4 and 5, being a minority, stop running as a cluster. If node 3 loses communication with other nodes, all nodes stop running as a cluster. However, all functioning nodes will continue to listen for communication, so that when the network begins working again, the cluster can form and begin to run.

Source :http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754482.aspx

2010-3

DOWNLOAD A FREE COPY OF THE SECOND TRUESEC DEPLOYMENT CD

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

DOWNLOAD A FREE COPY OF THE SECOND TRUESEC DEPLOYMENT CD

This second Deployment CD has the following detailed Step-by-step Guides and Video Tutorials:
MDT 2010 Lite Touch Deployments (just the free tools)
- Installing the server for MDT 2010 Lite Touch
- Creating a Windows 7 reference image using Lite Touch
- Deploying a Windows 7 image using Lite Touch
- Dynamic Settings, creating and using the deployment database
MDT 2010 Zero Touch Deployments (deployment with ConfigMgr 2007 SP2 R2)
- Installing the server for MDT 2010 Zero Touch and ConfigMgr 2007 SP2
- Creating a Windows 7 reference image using ConfigMgr 2007 SP2
- Deploying a Windows 7 image using ConfigMgr 2007 SP2
- Dynamic Settings, creating and using the deployment database
Additional Presentations
- New features in MDT 2010
- Upgrading MDT 2008 to MDT 2010
- Migrating Windows XP to Windows 7

http://www.deploymentcd.com/

2010-3

Download Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager 2010

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

tsEvaluateTheNew

Forefront Identity Manager 2010 (FIM 2010), the next generation release of Identity Lifecycle Manager, delivers an integrated identity management solution with powerful self-service capabilities for Office end-users, rich administrative tools and enhanced automation for IT professionals and .NET and WS-* based extensibility for developers. FIM 2010 provides organizations with unique workflow driven solutions to manage user accounts, passwords, groups and distribution lists as well as certificate-based credentials such as smart cards, using identity-based policies that can span across Windows and heterogeneous environments. And when you download the latest evaluation software, you’re automatically registered to access valuable resources assembled in one convenient location.

System Requirements

Required Hardware: Server

The server(s) hosting the Forefront Identity Manager server components must meet the following hardware requirements.

Processor x64 capable

Hard disk 2 gigabytes (GB) of available hard disk drive space (not including the databases)

Memory 2 gigabytes (GB) or more of RAM

Additional Requirements

Monitor with a resolution of 1024×768
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive

Required Hardware: Client

The client computer that hosts the Forefront Identity Manager client-side component(s) must meet the following hardware requirements.

Memory 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended)

Hard disk 500 MB of free hard disk drive space

Monitor 1024×768 resolution

Required Software

2010-3

Information about the Browser Choice update

Category: Windows 7 | No Comments

A Browser Choice update is available for users who are located in member countries of the European Economic Area.

The following information is provided to help system administrators manage the display of the Browser Choice update screen in managed personal computing environments that are under a Volume Licensing program.

Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\BrowserChoice

Value name:

Enable

Value type:

DWORD

Possible values:

1 Display the Browser Choice update (default)

0 Do not display the Browser Choice update

2010-2

Cool Tools: VHDCopy, VHDCopEE and VMProv from Dilip Naik

Category: Hyper-V, Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

Yesterday I had a nice chat with Dilip Naik he made a special tools for VM’s and the virtualboy Made an excellent blog item about dilip’s product.

Whit his product you can bring up a VM in just a few seconds , in case of a dissaster you need to copy your 1TB VM back to your LUN and wait untill te copieng is don to boot up the VM, but with his tool you don’t have to wait just start the copy and boot up the VM it checks the source and do the process simultaneously.

Tools that Rocks.

Source: http://blogs.technet.com/mattmcspirit

Cool Tools: VHDCopy, VHDCopEE and VMProv

If I said there was a tool that could accelerate fixed-sized VHD copies by 10 times, would you be interested? If I said you could instantly provision and boot a new VM from a currently copying VHD file, would you be interested? Well, if the answer is yes, to either of those questions, then I have a couple of tools that you may find useful.

Hat-tip to Dilip, one of our MVPs for File Systems/Storage and author of ‘Inside Windows Storage, for providing the link to VMUtil.

VHDCopy

When you think about it, a fixed-sized VHD, typically, contains a lot of nothing. What I mean by that is, think about it, if you have a 100GB fixed-size VHD, and inside that VHD, you’re only using say, 30GB, why should you have to transfer (for whatever reason) the full 100GB, when only 30GB is actually useful stuff? You could apply the same example to a backup drive – if I had a new backup drive of 1TB, and I’d only backed up 50GB so far, and I needed to move the files somewhere else, what would be quicker to transfer, 50GB or 1TB?

This is just one of many inefficiencies that exist within a file copy of a VM, that VHDCopy solves, by refraining from copying the meaningless portions that exist within a VHD.

Advantages include:

Significant reduction in disk I/O – typical savings may range from 20% to 90% reduction in disk I/O – your mileage will vary
Significant reduction in file copy time – typically order of 2X to 10X faster – your mileage will vary
Scriptable command line tool that requires no installation
Use VHDCopy to migrate from Windows Server 2008 based Hyper-V to Windows Server 2008 R2 based Hyper-V and its Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV)

There’s a datasheet here for more information, and you can always head over to the VHDCopy page for more stuff, including download links.

VHDCopEE

Building on VHDCopy, but providing more functionality, particularly around network transfers, as you can see from the table below:

Although it’s not quite clear from the website, depending on the page you’re looking at, both VHDCopy and VHDCopEE do run on the latest Windows OS’s, both Server and Desktop, yet VHDCopy will only accelerate local transfers, rather than network transfers, for which you’ll need VHDCopEE.

Advantages include:

Significant reduction in disk I/O of up to 90% depending upon VHD contents
Significant reduction in file copy time – up to 10 X faster based on VHD file contents
Scriptable command line tool that requires no installation
Use VHDCopy to migrate from Windows Server 2008 based Hyper-V to Windows Server 2008 R2 based Hyper-V and its Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV)
Use VHDCopEE with Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 and its Rapid Provisioning feature
Get SAN storage features such as Instant Clones and Instant Provisioning while using low cost non SAN storage

More on the ‘bolded’ ones later…

Again, there’s a datasheet here, and you can head over to the VHDCopEE page for more info. You can grab the download here.

VMProv

This one’s pretty darn clever too. Think about it, you want to create a VM from say, a VHD that already exists. So, you copy, and past the VHD, and it takes x-minutes to copy. Using the above technologies, it’ll be quicker, but we’re still going to have to wait until the copy has finished to start the VM, right? Wrong.

VMProv allows a VM to be provisioned and available for use within seconds, well before the accelerated file copy has finished. Once the file copy finishes, the provisioned VM is no different than if it had been utilized after the file copy operation had finished. While the file copy is happening, the VM is fully available, and you may install any updates or new software. All changes made to the VM while the file copy is happening are preserved.

Cool hey?

On top of that, and going back to the bolded points under VHDCopEE, VMprov is designed to be used with Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager R2 and its Rapid Provisioning feature.

scvmm_soln

Think about using SCVMM – whenever you’re sending out a VHD from the library, it’s typically going to be a file copy process, and the bigger the file, the longer it will take. Using VHDCopEE will speed up the transfer, and combining that with VMProv will mean you can start the VM up without waiting for the VHD to finish copying. Combine that with a Rapid Provisioning PowerShell script, found here, and you’re going to accelerate stuff considerably.

You can read the VMProv datasheet here, and check out the VMProv page for further info. If you want to download it, you can, here.

2010-2

Iphone killer ? Will lucky number 7 get market from the IPHONE

Category: Windows 7 | No Comments

Windows Phone Newsroom

Windows Phones are designed for life in motion, so you don’t miss a moment. This newsroom provides the latest product news, articles and reviews, event resources, and other press materials about Windows Phones.

Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Series
Feb. 15, 2010
Today at Mobile World Congress 2010, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer introduced the next generation of Windows Phones, Windows Phone 7 Series.

Video: Watch the Press Conference

Today at Mobile World Congress 2010, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the next generation of Windows^® Phones, Windows Phone 7 Series. With this new platform, Microsoft offers a fresh approach to phone software, distinguished by smart design and truly integrated experiences that bring to the surface the content people care about from the Web and applications. For the first time ever, Microsoft will bring together Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music and video experience on a mobile phone, exclusively on Windows Phone 7 Series. Partners have already started building phones; customers will be able to purchase the first phones in stores by holiday 2010.

“Today, I’m proud to introduce Windows Phone 7 Series, the next generation of Windows Phones,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. “In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 Series marks a turning point toward phones that truly reflect the speed of people’s lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences.”

Designed for Life in Motion

With Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft takes a fundamentally different approach to phone software. Smart design begins with a new, holistic design system that informs every aspect of the phone, from its visually appealing layout and motion to its function and hardware integration. On the Start screen, dynamically updated “live tiles” show users real-time content directly, breaking the mold of static icons that serve as an intermediate step on the way to an application. Create a tile of a friend, and the user gains a readable, up-to-date view of a friend’s latest pictures and posts, just by glancing at Start.

Every Windows Phone 7 Series phone will come with a dedicated hardware button for Bing, providing one-click access to search from anywhere on the phone, while a special implementation of Bing search provides intent-specific results, delivering the most relevant Web or local results, depending on the type of query.

Windows Phone 7 Series creates an unrivaled set of integrated experiences on a phone through Windows Phone hubs. Hubs bring together related content from the Web, applications and services into a single view to simplify common tasks. Windows Phone 7 Series includes six hubs built on specific themes reflecting activities that matter most to people:

People. This hub delivers an engaging social experience by bringing together relevant content based on the person, including his or her live feeds from social networks and photos. It also provides a central place from which to post updates to Facebook and Windows Live in one step.
Pictures. This hub makes it easy to share pictures and video to a social network in one step. Windows Phone 7 Series also brings together a user’s photos by integrating with the Web and PC, making the phone the ideal place to view a person’s entire picture and video collection.
Games. This hub delivers the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience on a phone, including Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer’s avatar, Achievements and gamer profile. With more than 23 million active members around the world, Xbox LIVE unlocks a world of friends, games and entertainment on Xbox 360, and now also on Windows Phone 7 Series.
Music + Video. This hub creates an incredible media experience that brings the best of Zune, including content from a user’s PC, online music services and even a built-in FM radio into one simple place that is all about music and video. Users can turn their media experience into a social one with Zune Social on a PC and share their media recommendations with like-minded music lovers. The playback experience is rich and easy to navigate, and immerses the listener in the content.
Marketplace. This hub allows the user to easily discover and load the phone with certified applications and games.
Office. This hub brings the familiar experience of the world’s leading productivity software to the Windows Phone. With access to Office, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace all in one place, users can easily read, edit and share documents. With the additional power of Outlook Mobile, users stay productive and up to date while on the go.

Availability

Partners from around the world have committed to include Windows Phone 7 Series in their portfolio plans. They include mobile operators AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, and manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc. The first phones will be available by holiday 2010. Customers who would like to receive additional information about Windows Phone 7 Series and be notified when it is available can register at http://www.windowsphone7series.com.

To watch the full replay of Steve Ballmer’s press conference at Mobile World Congress, and to experience Windows Phone 7 Series through an online product demo, readers can visit http://www.microsoft.com/news/windowsphone.

2010-2

Microsoft DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

There Is a nice tool that you can use if you are playing or implementing DirectAccess

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=9a87efe8-e254-4473-8a26-678adea6d9e9

Overview

The Microsoft DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant (DCA) helps organizations reduce the cost of supporting DirectAccess users and significantly improve their connectivity experience.
DCA informs mobile users of their connectivity status at all times; provides tools to help them reconnect on their own if problems arise; and creates diagnostics to help mobile users provide IT staff with key information if necessary—all to help customers operate with more efficiency, and at a lower cost.
DCA is the newest addition to the Windows® Optimized Desktop Toolkit 2010, which is designed to help IT pros plan, deliver, and operate the right desktop technologies for users across their organization.
The download includes the following components:

Microsoft_DirectAccess_Connectivity_Assistant.zip
Microsoft_DirectAccess_Connectivity_Assistant_x32.msi
Microsoft_DirectAccess_Connectivity_Assistant_x64.msi
Microsoft_DirectAccess_Connectivity_Assistant_DeploymentGuide.docx
Microsoft_DirectAccess_Connectivity_Assistant_Release_Notes.en.htm
DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant GP.admx
DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant GP.adml

2010-2

I’m here in seattle ready for the MVP Summit

Category: MVP Summit | No Comments

In a long flight where the day becomes night. I’m here in Seattle with no sleep when I need to sleep.

This week lots and lots of connecting with the Windows 2008 R2 Clustering team and other MVP’s It is all under NDA so no in-depth

but check out the FIX IT blog there will be a new beta that can help you fixing things.

http://blogs.technet.com/fixit4me/

2010-2

Microsoft Security Compliance Manager version 1.0 Beta Review Program!

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | 1 Comment

The Solution Accelerators team is pleased to announce the beta release of this new tool, an end-to-end Solution Accelerator to help you plan, deploy, operate, and manage your security baselines for Windows® client and server operating systems, and Microsoft applications.
The Security Compliance Manager version 1.0 provides centralized security baseline management features, a baseline portfolio, customization capabilities, and security baseline export flexibility to accelerate your organization’s ability to efficiently manage the security and compliance process for the most widely used Microsoft technologies.
Is your organization spending valuable resources making sense of security baseline management? Participate in the Security Compliance Manager version 1.0 Beta. Take an early look at this release, and provide timely feedback to help ensure that our development team best meets your needs.
Download
Download the Beta of Security Compliance Manager version 1.0 NOW!!

2010-2

Microsoft SharedView is a fast, easy way to share documents and screen views with small groups of friends or coworkers

Category: Tools | 1 Comment

I used sharedview now from the start and I must say it is great easy to handle. even for old people like granddad’s who are stuck with the computer but you don’t wanna go there to spend your sunday.

You can use shareview

After you signed in with your live account you can do a start new session

Press start and you are done.

now you started a session others can join easy by using the pasport nome

or do an invite

you can share desktop now you can take control on the others desktop to help or just to show a powerpoint or tool demo, anything you want.

Cool stuff and easy to use check it out. It is still beta get it Download SharedView Today

Go here for the complete beta site :http://connect.microsoft.com/site94

2010-2

Internet Explorer 8 Officially Becomes World’s Most-Used Browser

Category: Internet Explorer 8 | No Comments

Source : http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsexperience/archive/2010/02/02/internet-explorer-8-officially-becomes-world-s-most-used-browser.aspx

This week, Net Applications released their January browser market share report. Their report shows that Internet Explorer 8 is not only the most popular browser on Windows with 27.9% usage share, but that it now has 25.6% of market share across all OS’s on a worldwide-weighted usage share basis (data provided by Net Applications). We launched just less than a year ago, so it’s both humbling and thrilling to see so many people choose our product so quickly – making it the most popular browser of choice worldwide.

There are many reasons people choose which browser to use. Most people want to know and trust the company behind their browser. And people are looking a browser that protects them – and their privacy online. In an August 13th, 2009 post on the IEBlog, we announced Internet Explorer 8’s SmartScreen Filter had hit over 80 million malware blocks. But that was back in August. As of today, Internet Explorer 8 has done over 350 million malware blocks. You can see Internet Explorer 8’s SmartScreen Filter in action in this blog post. Internet Explorer 8’s SmartScreen Filter blocks malware over 2 million times a day.

Phishing is a very serious threat to people browsing the Internet today – a criminal attempt to secure people’s personal information online, generally spread through email directing unsuspecting consumers to fake websites and asking them to enter sensitive information . With Internet Explorer 7, we introduced the Phishing Filter, and have continued to improve on it in Internet Explorer 8. Together, Internet Explorer 7 and 8 have blocked a total of over 125 million phishing sites.

You may have recently heard about organizations including Google recommending that people update their browsers and move off older versions, such as the nearly decade-old Internet Explorer 6. Think about what technology and the Internet were like in the year 2000 – and consider how they’ve evolved since then. In 2000, “phishing” was something that happened at the lake, not online. There was no social networking, no RSS feeds, and no real blogs. It was a different time – and people’s browsing needs were different. Today’s Internet calls for more.

We support this recommendation to move off Internet Explorer 6. Modern browsers such as Internet Explorer 8 bring benefits for customers and developers alike. We realize there are some customers today who depend on Internet Explorer 6, and while we continue to support them through the lifecycle of the product, we are also investing in the tools and training to help them upgrade as well.

2010-1

Beta release of SCOM Management Pack for File Services in Server 2008 R2

Category: System Center | No Comments

Overview

The File Services Team is proud to announce the beta release of our File Services Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007. This management pack provides health monitoring for SMB shares, NFS shares, DFS Namespaces, DFS Replication and File Server Resource Manager including the File Classification Infrastructure.

Supported OS Versions

The following table describes which File Services role service can be monitored with the beta management pack on various Windows Server versions.

Role Service	OS Version Supported
DFS Namespaces	Windows Server 2003, 2003 R2, 2008, 2008 R2
DFS Replication	Windows Server 2003 R2, 2008, 2008 R2
File Classification Infrastructure	Windows Server 2008 R2
File Server Resource Manager	Windows Server 2008 R2
NFS File Sharing	Windows Server 2008 R2
SMB File Sharing	Windows Server 2008 R2

New Features

The table below describes several of the key features provided in this beta management pack.

Feature	Description
Agentless Monitoring	Ability to monitor file services on servers without deploying a SCOM agent to the specific server
Highly Available Cluster Instance Monitoring	Ability to monitor the health status of a Highly Available File Server deployed on a Failover Cluster
NFS Role Service	Monitor activity logging, NIS configuration, port registration, portmaper service, NFS service driver, username mapping service, and more
FSRM Role Service	Monitor FSRM service, quota driver, filescreen driver, file classification task progress, and orphaned mountpoints
DFSR Role Service	Monitor the health of DFS Replication service, communications with replication partners, database recovery, communications with Domain Controllers, free space on volume containing a replicated folder, USN journal wrap events, overlap with FRS, inconsistent configuration, and more
DFSR Backlog Tracking	Ability to display the backlog count per connection for a DFS replication group
DFSR Performance Counters	Track data for bandwidth ravings, replication conflicts, deleted files and staging area
DFS Namespace Role Service	Monitor DFS namespace service, health of a single namespace hosted on multiple servers, health of the AD component of DFS namespaces, site table initialization, namespace initialization, Namespace Synchronization with AD, Folder Target Health and more
SMB Role Service	Monitor the health of Lanman server service, creation of shares at system startup, IRP stack overflow events, firewall port configuration

Download Instructions

1. Log on to File Services and Storage connection

2. Click the announcement: Beta release of SCOM Management Pack for File Services in Server 2008 R2

3. Follow instructions to download the Management Pack

2010-1

WSUS 3.0 SP2 With NLB on windows 2008 R2 what can go wrong

Category: Windows 2008 R2 NLB | No Comments

In the TechNet newsgroups pops up a question about Wsus an network load balancing ( NLB ) sure this can be done and works just like all other NLB websites. but needs a little tweak.

So this install guide is not the easy one but there are several steps that can go wrong

So I have two windows 2008 R2 servers Wsus01 and Wsus02 and I will use a remote Database based on windows 2008 R2 and SQL 2008 of course. and my domain is also 2008 R2 that is also is used for my DFS

This config runs on my Hyper-V box.

The config will be in powershell and in gui mode to see the changes and what & how things running.

Setting up WSUS is easy start the WSUS30-KB972455-x64.exe and next next finish. this is not the method I will use this time it works on a single server but not on a multi host server.

this is my wsus DFS share it is now empty

The wsus options WSUS30-KB972455-x64.exe /?

On Wsus01 we start the Setup by CMD WSUS30-KB972455-x64.exe sqlinstance_name=SQL server or by GUI

What You need is IIS and the com+ items else you get the “no IIS found “error

now that the install screen pop’s up the “storage folder “ and you want to put the files on a DFS so fill in the DFS share.

WRONG this will not work fill in a local location and the change to the DFS will be done later.

Now that WSUS is installed we do the NLB thing and I do this with powershell If you want to see the config with the NLB gui check my other post.

So I go to powershell and run the commands. well it is not that easy. first I need to import the NLB module

Import-Module NetworkLoadBalancingClusters

module not found ?? yes this is correct module not found because I did not add the features for networkloadbalancing

Do this on all your NLB servers, this was not needed on windows 2003 but as you know in windows 2008 R2 you NEED to add the things you want and are not installed by default.!!

PS C:\Users\administrator.MVP> Get-Module

PS C:\Users\administrator.MVP> Import-Module NetworkLoadBalancingClusters

As you can see the powershell module is now imported and ready for use

The Second problem is when you first use powershell and want to run things you get access denied. Tell PS that you are the boss.

Set-ExecutionPolicy -scope LocalMachine RemoteSigned –force

The – Force is no question yes/no just do it.

First command to install the NLB in powershell

New-NlbCluster -InterfaceName NLBNIC01 -ClusterName WSUSNLB -ClusterPrimaryIP 10.255.255.3 -SubnetMask 255.255.255.0 –force

NLBNIC01 is the network interface name

WSUSNLB is the NLB cluster name with the IP and subnet

When I run this I had a error DHCP is on , yes I did not configure a IP on the local NLB nic it is not needed because the server will only use the NLB name/IP

*****************************************

Bug in powershell of is it by design ?

****************************************

First I did a netsh to rename the “local area connection” name

Netsh interface set interface name="local area connection 2" newname="NLBNIC01"

Netsh interface ip set address name="NLBNIC01" static 10.255.255.2 255.255.255.0
Netsh firewall set opmode mode=disable

Give IP and disable the firewall

Now that this is set I can run the PS command

New-NlbCluster -InterfaceName NLBNIC01 -ClusterName WSUSNLB -ClusterPrimaryIP 10.255.255.3 -SubnetMask 255.255.255.0

The new NLB cluster is created. In the old NLB gui it shows one server with the default rule and as you can see the configured IP on NLBNIC01 is still there.

-force = no yes needed

Because the NLB is running a webserver and uses only 443 and 80 I delete the global rule

Get-NlbClusterPortRule | Remove-NlbClusterPortRule

The port Rule is gone and we create a new rule on port 80,443

Get-NlbClusterPortRule | Remove-NlbClusterPortRule

Get-NlbCluster | Add-NlbClusterPortRule -StartPort 80 -EndPort 80 -Affinity None

Get-NlbCluster | Add-NlbClusterPortRule -StartPort 443 -EndPort 443 -Affinity None

Well this worked but what about the IP on the NIC yes I will remove it. It can be done on the nic or in the NLB but with a PS command it is easy.

Remove-NlbClusterNodeDIP 10.255.255.2

The NLB cluster is ready on ONE node ! you need to add the second one. this can be done remote or on the server. First I check if I can connect to the second server.

I forget to disable the Firewall , do this by hand or NETSH.

netsh firewall set opmode mode=disable

Get-NlbCluster | Add-NlbClusterNode -NewNodeName MVPWSUS02 -NewNodeInterface NLBNIC02

Now that the second node is added I need also remove the local IP

Remove-NlbClusterNodeDIP 10.255.255.2

After this Configuration the WSUS NLB is almost ready You need to configure the website to bind to the NLB address just go to the website and right mouse bindings and change here the IP

The Binding has to be done on both nodes. WSUS01 & WSUS02

On the WSUS02 the wsus installation is a bit different than on WSUS01 you do not need to create a DB anymore just install the WSUS and skip the DB

Wussetup.exe /q sqlinstance_name=mvpsql2008-2 create_database=0

C:\wsusinst>Wussetup.exe /q sqlinstance_name=mvpsql2008-2 create_database=0

C:\Program Files\Update Services\Tools>wsusutil.exe movecontent \\mvp.local\wsus\data c:\wsus.log

Content location is being moved. Please do not stop this program.

Content move has successfully finished.

As you can see the content folder is changed and IIS is also changed you need also do this on the wsus02 server

As you can see the content is been downloaded to the DFS link.

But remember you need to give access on the DFS share ( put the NLB machines in the full access rights – in my case wsus01$ and the 02

********* Bug found in the TechNet documentation

In the TechNet documentation is a line that you must change the content path by hand Well the “movecontent “option changed this.

So no changes are needed !

*********************************************************** this step is not needed

2010-1

Spam on live dot com

Category: fiberman site is full | No Comments

I did not post that much items the last month but now I want to post something. So my fiberman.spaces.live.com is full

In the mean time my backup sit is still open

www.aca-computers.nl

mmm I was working around my blog try to update this but I saw that some idiot posting comments multiple times WHY nobody wants your stuff,

of course you know this else you won’t do this as a desperate action.

Please stop this

I saw this post on microsoft research on project ASIRRA great project

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/asirra/default.aspx

Asirra — Installation Instructions

Protecting your web site with Asirra is easy. It just takes a few lines of code in whatever language your web service is written in. See these complete working examples:

There are four basic steps, described below. First, add a call to our JavaScript from your web form. Second, wire your "submit" button to our Asirra validation function. Third, write your own JavaScript function that submits the form once you get a callback saying the Asirra challenge has been successfully solved. Finally, add a call to our web service from your server form processor, to ensure that you are not getting a request from a cheating client.

2009-11

Infrastructure Planning and Design Guides—Release Announcement

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

Infrastructure Planning and Design Guides—Release Announcement

Selecting the Right Virtualization Technology

Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has released two updated guides, Selecting the Right Virtualization Technology and Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services.

With the release of these updated guides, the Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) series of guides further assists organizations in selecting the right virtualization technologies for their business needs.

To select an appropriate virtualization technology, organizations can look to the updated IPD Guide for Selecting the Right Virtualization Technology. This guide walks the reader through the technology selection process for each workload—and is now updated to include coverage of Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

If the IPD Guide for Selecting the Right Virtualization Technology points the organization to Remote Desktop Services as a best fit for their business needs, the guide then directs the user to the updated IPD Guide for Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services, which then outlines key infrastructure planning and design guidance for a successful implementation of Remote Desktop Services. The IPD Guide for Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services leads the reader through the nine-step process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. Identification of the RD Session Host farms is presented in a simple, easy-to-follow process, helping the reader to design and plan centralized virtual data centers.

Used together, these updated guides provide comprehensive planning and design guidance for implementing a Remote Desktop Services infrastructure. The IPD Guide for Selecting the Right Virtualization Technology also teams with other virtualization guides in the IPD Series—to provide end-to-end planning and design guidance for a variety of virtualization technologies.

Download the IPD Guide for Selecting the Right Virtualization Technology at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=160981

Download the IPD Guide for Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=177881

For users of Windows Server 2008 R2, the Remote Desktop Services guide is a complete replacement for the Terminal Services guide. The Remote Desktop Services guide reflects the new capabilities introduced with Windows Server 2008 R2 as well as the rebranding of Terminal Services. The Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services remains available at http://www.microsoft.com/IPD.

Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning process by:

Defining the technical decision flow through the planning process.
Listing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.

· Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.

· Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

2009-11

Hyper-V on Windows 2008 R2 or Vmware 3.5u4 what should I use

Category: Hyper-V, Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

The big thing is what would I use if you want to run virtual should I do vmware the biggest player of should I use an other product.

Well there are both up’s and down’s with all the products. So The situation is this Lets say you have a HP c7000 with BL460C + Eva FC storage and you have already vwmare in your network. Each blade has 4 network connections and you want clustering also. And your infrastructure site is mainly Windows 2003 SP2.

Setting up vmware only next next start the kernal etc. configure the network nic 0, 1 for LAN, nic 3 for clustering HB,NLB etc and the last nic we use for future DPM or other tools. We use a 1TB LUN connection and pointed it to the Vmware cluster 8 Vmware servers

In this we use a WIndows 2003 SP2 for a WSUS server and we build a Windows 2003 x64 R2 Cluster For SQL

In the Vmware site we build a VM with 3 nic’s and 3 disks c,d,e this is the baseline that I will use. So after the OS install and configured the OS and I prepare the both Cluster nodes. Give the Nic’s the right IP. I turned off the VM and added the Quorum disk and 2 disk for SQL , logging and Database. here is the first Issue for this disk

you have to do this from the ESX console with the command line tool.

vmkfstools -c <size> -d eagerzeroedthick -a lsilogic /vmfs/volumes/<mydir>/<myDisk>.vmdk

On large disk it can take a long time !

and In windows it is better to do a alignment of your disk with diskpart.exe

create partition primary align=64

So I added the disk to my first cluster node , started my VM and what is this my nic’s !! are gone and there is a total mess It looks like a move. Yes this is normal When You added a cluster disks and Yes you must use scsi and there for you need a virtual PCI slot and this slot is using the nic slot. The PCI slots are using the rank SCSI, NIC etc. keep this in mind do not configure the node befor you have added the disks.

Now that We have This up and running we can start with the real work, setting up the cluster and SQL ( see my other blogs of how to do this )

Now that My wsus server is up and running with a SQL 2008 Database I try to sync the updates just select all just for the fun. get the line warmed up for the data..

But in a view moments I had an error Database error ? why I have a cluster so max uptime.

My event log on the WSUS server points me to this error :

The WSUS administration console was unable to connect to the WSUS Server Database.

Verify that SQL server is running on the WSUS Server. If the problem persists, try restarting SQL.

My event log on the SQL server points me to this error :

The log for database ‘SUSDB’ is not available. Check the event log for related error messages. Resolve any errors and restart the database.

What is wrong. My Database is there it must me timing reboot and same error. testing etc vmware forums no solution for this , it is not my SAN I have lots of disk IOPS HOW and WHY. build the same thing with RAW disks and the problem is gone. My conclusion VMWARE has slow virtual disk. now I have to make all RAW disks , lot of work but it worked.

Problem solved but less flexible. vmware 3.5u4

So no easy server rollout, snapshots, cloning to bad for a test site you probely needed that.

Now how is hyper-v doing. I mounted my windows 2008 R2 ISO to the blade ILO board and go for the install. again a next next install.

First I do is get the hyper-v rol up and running configure the NICs prepare the 1 Tb disk and off we go.

I create a new VM and start the VM ready to go but I have an error “Hypervisor not running “ mm I did enable this I checked the bios and first I saw nothing wrong in the bios. I did not read the error on the hyper-v box I jumped right to the bios.

rebooted the server and try to start the VM same error.

This time I read the Error and saw “Hypervisor not running “

*Must have Virtualization Technology enabled in the BIOS

*Must have No-Execute enabled in the BIOS

back in the BIOS. I enabled this

Now I was ready to GO. Booted my Blade and had a BSOD ?? mm ok turn the blade off ( power off ) and than on again same BSOD.

Stop 0x0000007E (ffffffffc0000096, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4)
SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

It Seemed I hit a BUG in hyper-V/Windows 2008 R2 So I disabled the bios settings and booted my hyper-v server as normal

got the HOTFIX from microsoft You receive a "Stop 0x0000007E" error on the first restart after you enable Hyper-V on a Windows Server 2008 R2-based computer.

I did a quick view If there are more issues with hyper-v and found that there was a second fix that I maybe needed.

I have a blade with the Xeon CPU

Stop error message on an Intel Xeon 5500 series processor-based computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 and that has the Hyper-V role installed: "0×00000101 – CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT"

I downloaded this and applyed this fix also

Enabled the BIOS and started the VM in hyper-V and it started. On one machine I installed Windows 2008 R2 and 4 others I installed Windows 2003 Sp2.

The windows 2008 I installed from ISO but the Windows 2003 based OS I used the Altiris Job that I have.

there are a few Items that You must know If you want to use PXE You have to use a legacy network adapter to boot from.

This is a shame it is only a 100 mbit nic and as you can see IDE boot only VMware can boot scsi. IDE is limited to 4 Disks.

Now I have to redesign my virtual concept here. let go of the VMware config.

the steps are now build vm with IDE disk and legacy adapter and add later a hyper-v nic and disable the PXE nic.

but my disks…….. ok I create one IDE disk to boot from and build 2 or more SCSI disk if I need them.

for my C , D, E config.

But what about naming in vmware every new created VM comes in it own folder in the datastore with the given name and the disk are auto given this name to with a _1 or _2 option.

But in hyper-V I have to give every disk a name by hand and make sure it comes in the right folder or else it comes in the default harddisk folder. What I do not want. I like to see all info per server.

Now that This is configured I can start the Install, I must say once it started it went fast and without any troubles.

Now that I had a Server with Windows 2003 I want to logon to this server.

But after a mouse Click there was a message box : display a message that the Mouse is not captured in the Remote Desktop session.

Ah I forget to install the Hyper-V tools.

But after a reboot still no mouse. Why is this because it is windows 2003 and not 2008 ? there is something wrong with the tools.

I logged on to this VM and do a manual setup as a gui based MVP person I had to do this with no mouse. keyboard only. It was like working with … well I don’t know I use windows only..

What I did was logon to this machine and started taskmgr <> new task <> C:\ now I get a explorer and I can browse to the Tools CD.

as you can see there is a amd64 and a x86 folder. Now there is a little confusion on what to use my VM is x64. what should i use

Wrong you must use the x86 because Microsoft is using ADM64 for AMD based machines and x86 For Intel based Machines.

And the x86 Is for x64 bit OSes. but if you run the setup twice at the same time don’t know who does this but then you have this error

reinstalling integration disk error 61957 I binged for this error and there was a hit ;-( do not run twice the setup at the same time.

After a reboot my mouse is working. And WSUS is also Working as it should.

Conclusion :

It is abit strange to compare the both products not totaly the same Vmware 3.5u4 and hyper-v r2

But I think the most of us are using the VM products just to make the server application virtual. Often I hear NO No clustering is needed We have VMware and this is a cluster. Ok that is partly true. If the hardware fails No problem here, but what if the software fails after updates or installing new Applications. If it fails the VM is gone. Sure backup it the thing but be honest WHO backup’s there VMWARE VM’s ? I have not seen this, –( no we have a redundant SAN that replicates ( it also Replicates the errros ) VMware cost a lot and you have to pay for the Windows OS. And I thing the VM disks are not the fastest method.

Hyper-V : Well if you use Windows 2008 R2 servers Enterprise then you can run 4 VM’s for free no OS license is needed only for the server that runs the Hyper-V role . For Data Server then You need only the license for the server that Runs the hyper-v role and you can run unlimited VM’s on this machine NO OS license is needed.

This saves a lot of money.

But technicaly is it comparable to VMware ? yes but is works different than VMware. And there are a few bugs this can be fixed and is not a show stopper, in the Windows 2008 R2 you can use CSV in a hyper-v cluster so that your VM keeps running if a hyper-v server goes down. Building vm clusters is a bit diffrent than in vmware you need iscsi or use passthru disk, But ISCSI is easy to use and is the most flexible in a test site or production. there are products like rocketdivision or use a windows 2008 r2 storage server that has build in iscsi services.

I hear you oh I must use ISCSI no thanks I keep with my vm 3.5u4 lets see if you can built a windows 2008 R2 cluster with out ISCSI disk and using only the vmdisks. Clustering in Windows 2008 R2 is way different than 2003 !

As in all products prepare your servers and avoid oeps i forget this like I showed above. Think about what will I do with the Products, futures that I can use and bought as addon. Or is you focus on Costs.

IMHO if you have servers that needs uptime USE CLUSTERING or NLB this way you have an insurance that the software is also redundant.

Keep in mind most of the comparison is Vmware with vcenter and hyper-V stand alone but If you use SCVMM ( System Center Virtual Machine Manager. You have much more futures than vcenter.

Lessons :

Set you BIOS setting Right before the OS install
Be sure that you have a step by step install to avoid the oeps thing ( saves time ) and looks better to your manager
Prepare your disks ( RAW,ISCSI,VMdisk,pass-true, etc )
Think about need I application uptime or hardware uptime
Do you have a limited budget and don’t want to purchase any additional OS licenses

2009-11

Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010

Category: Forefront | No Comments

Dear Valued Customers,

We are happy to announce that we have released Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 to manufacturing (RTM). The evaluation version is available for download here.

We would like to thank you for support throughout this entire journey. Your ongoing feedback and insights were critical and we are confident that it has helped us develop a great product which you will be delighted to use.

Please see the following blog post for more information about the RTM version.

Thank you!

The Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 Team

2009-11

Tech-ed 2009 Emea is over

Category: Teched 2009 | No Comments

Well ik was a long week of sessions and after party’s community stuff , getting swag and more swag. Hope it was intresting for all of us now we have to wait for a year to see Teched 2009 Europe yes not Emea but europe.

so for the next 2 years Teched Europe in in Berlin.

But if you can’t wait and missed teched in berling you can go to dubai 1-3 march 2010. I posted a new photo book and You can see the TechEd Country Drink.

IT’S A FIRST FOR THE MIDDLE EAST. DON’T MISS OUT

You can’t afford to miss out on the very first Tech·Ed in the Middle East… add your name to the mailing list to be notified when registration opens.

Microsoft Tech·Ed Middle East 2010

Microsoft Tech·Ed is the premier technical education and networking event for any technology professional interested in learning, connecting and exploring a broad set of current and soon-to-release Microsoft technologies, tools, platforms and services.

Only Tech·Ed combines knowledge, expertise, inspiration, connections and friendship … all at the one event.
Tech·Ed Middle East delivers the experience on which great careers are built
No other event provides such in-depth knowledge in such a short time
Get hands-on training via Instructor Led Labs
Connect with International and Local Technical Experts, Microsoft Staff, Partners, MVPs, community influencers and industry peers
See Microsoft product demos and participate in interactive sessions

Learn More

Tech·Ed Worldwide:

Tech·Ed Middle East is part of the global, year-long Microsoft series of Tech·Ed events. Tech·Ed also takes place in North America, India, Africa, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, China and Latin America.

Be part of the worldwide Tech·Ed experience

Tech·Ed comes to Dubai!

From shopping festivals to sporting events, Dubai is known for creating and hosting the highest international standard events. Tech·Ed Middle East 2010 will host its first ever tour of the region in the heart of Dubai, and promises to meet the Dubai reputation of world class delivery.

The city is cosmopolitan by nature and the line-up of international and local Tech·Ed speakers will be as diverse.

Dubai is known for its top class hotels, superb facilities and excellent entertainment options – all of which will combine to make Tech·Ed Middle East 2010 an event not to be missed.

“…solve today’s real-world challenges…”

“Tech·Ed Middle East 2010 is the conference that will help you solve today’s real-world IT challenges and prepare for tomorrow’s innovations.”

Find out why you can’t miss Tech·Ed

2009-11

Help reduce the cost and complexity of compliance with the IT Compliance Management Series for Windows

Category: System Center, Teched 2009, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2008 R2 DHCP Cluster, Windows 2008 SQL 2008 Cluster, Windows 7 | No Comments

Download the Beta releases, and take advantage of this opportunity to provide valuable feedback on these new compliance guides and resources for Windows® 7, Windows Server® 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Download the IT Compliance Management Series for Windows – Beta at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=56419

The Compliance Solution Accelerators team has just released valuable extensions to the IT Compliance Management Series. And with “Companies now spend(ing) about 8.5 percent of their IT budgets on compliance needs," says French Caldwell, an analyst at Gartner (CIO Magazine, Sept 2007), these couldn’t be more timely. These new offerings provide specific technical guidance and resources for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

The IT Compliance Management Series will help you shift the burden of your IT governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) efforts from people to IT systems and implement controls to address IT GRC requirements that apply to your organization. This series is intended for IT managers and IT professionals who must plan, implement, or configure Microsoft products and who want to ensure that IT GRC requirements are addressed efficiently and effectively.

During this Beta period, reviewers are being asked to provide feedback on guides, resources, and compliance baselines that provide direction on how to enable Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2 to support your organization’s key IT GRC initiatives by taking advantage of features and technology inherent in the operating systems. Successful implementation of these recommendations will allow organizations to simplify the enforcement and management of their IT GRC objectives.

Looking for other Windows 7 resources from the Solution Accelerators team? Check out the Windows Desktop Solution Accelerators page.

Want more Windows Server 2008 R2 resources? Visit the Windows Server 2008 R2 Solution Accelerators page.

Solution Accelerators for every stage of Windows Server 2008 R2 migration

Plan

Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides
Streamline the design processes for Windows Server 2008 roles and Hyper-V server virtualization.

Learn more | Download

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 4.0
Generate custom proposals and reporting for Windows Server 2008 R2 hardware compatibility and Hyper-V virtualization.

Learn more | Download

Deliver

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010
For faster, cost effective, automated Windows Server 2008 R2 deployment.

Learn more | Download

Windows Server 2008 Security Compliance Management (SCM) Toolkit
Meet security and compliance requirements.

Learn more | Download

Operate/ Manage

Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool
Keep offline virtualized servers up to date, protected from security threats.

Learn more | Download

Service Level Dashboard 2.0 for System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2
Keep mission-critical applications available and running at peak performance.

Learn more | Download

Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF)
Gain a competitive advantage through increased efficiency and lower costs.

Learn more | Download

2009-11

Teched 2009 Clustering new documentation migration to a R2 cluster

Category: Teched 2009, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2008 R2 DHCP Cluster, Windows 2008 SQL 2008 Cluster | No Comments

Just a quick recap on the cluster sheets this week, there were a lot of questions how do I solve the split brain thing.

Well make sure you have one cluster node up and do start the services with force state like below

net start clussvc /fixquorum

Or with powershell

Start-ClusterNode –FixQuorum

So just now there is new documentation discussing special cases and consideration when migration to a R2 cluster (from 2003, 2008 or R2). Additional considerations needed for DFS-Replication, DHCP, (MS)DTC, Exchange, File Server, MSMQ, Print, SQL, VMs and 3rd Party

Resources. Link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee791924(WS.10).aspx Our general R2 migration guide is here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc730990.aspx

Additional detailed guidance for the following migrations on a cluster is also available:

DHCP: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee460952(WS.10).aspx

Hyper-V: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/957256

Steps for migrating from R2 RC to R2 RTM are here: http://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/archive/2009/09/02/9890272.aspx

2009-11

Tech-ed sessions

Category: System Center, Teched 2009, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2008 R2 DHCP Cluster, Windows 2008 SQL 2008 Cluster, Windows 7 | No Comments

There where today alot of sessions because teched is fully booked you must come early or else your seat is gone this is a bad thing, I had this blue shirt with microsoft on it and Staf on my badge so I have been kicked out in a cluster session. this to make room for other people , Microsoft personal where not allowed –| .

So you can see clustering is getting popular and why well Hyper-V wants it for the cluster shared volumes ( CSV ) and with this you can do live migration of hyper-v VM’s . The CSV volumes are not suitable for file sharing it will not work the volumes are getting corrupted if you do !

SVR319 Multi-Site Clustering with Windows Server 2008 R2

This session is all about clustering the do’s and don’t

What if you have only one datacenter ? Well multi-site clustering is now here You can give the network interface a “OR” option

If you have only one san But you need 24×7 uptime than you san needs replication but how ?

So make a choice whay do you need sync or A-sync and very important is the cluster validation tool.

here is a overview of the new Witness disk the old quorum disk.

CLI306 How-to: Windows 7 Deployment on a Stick!

What do you need

use the MDT 2010 tool kit and make sure you use imagex ! here you can image your system and create a image for redeploying in the old days this was a riprep image you all know this was sometimes a pain in the % . now it rocks.

The POS session is also about deploying and imagex

EMB203 Using Windows Deployment Services and Microsoft System Center to Deploy and Manage a Point-of-Service (POS) System Running POSReady

at this session there where only a few people so was it not interesting ? well below are a view of the PPTX.

As you can see SCCM come across in most of the products now days time to learn SCCM the new SMS 2003 yes or no. I like the product but only for OS deployment ??? no use WDS think create build and deploy TCBD is my opinion easy to do test it in your hyper-v environment build a DC, WDS , deploy windows 7 and capture a image with imagex and put the image.wim file in the wds and redeploy it to a new machine so 4 VM’s can do this. hardware one quadcore and 4 gb memory a basic desktop now days.

there is more to come but you have to see this stuff slides are fine but the realthing is better.

And remember there will be NO 32 bit windows 2008 R2 OS !

on some slides microsoft uses the x86 but this means not always that it is x32 no it means this is a intel based machine.

I had a lot of questions of when will there be a 32 bit windows 2008 R2 server ? why do you want to have this server for testing ? but you have hyper-v for testing ?

Well suppose you have running windows 7 and want to do a virtual windows 2008 R2 then you have a problem… tomorrow a new day and fresh questions.

2009-11

Tech-ed 2009 overview day 2 and 3

Category: Teched 2009 | No Comments

Today was a long day early up and late in the hotel.

Yesterday we had the Exhibition openings party and the springboard party below is a brief overview.

the watergate club

and tomorrow there is the dutch community party.

2009-11

Berliner Mauer #20jmf

Category: Teched 2009 | No Comments

#TEE09 Teched Europe #keynote #20jmf

http://www.citymosaic.de/

Der Mauerfall am 9.11.1989 …

… hat eindrucksvoll gezeigt, was eine große Gemeinschaft bewirken kann. Nur der Wille und die Hartnäckigkeit der demonstrierenden Massen haben die Wiedervereinigung möglich gemacht. Wir möchten jetzt, 20 Jahre später, dem Volk ein Gesicht geben und das größte Fotomosaik der Welt erschaffen. Jeder kann mithelfen und sich mit einem oder mehreren Bildern verewigen, um damit seinen Eindruck des Mauerfalls, der Feierlichkeiten zum 20 jährigen Jubiläum oder sonstigen Impressionen zu dem Thema allen Menschen mitteilen.

Das „BerlinMOSAIK“ ist eine virtuelle Kunstaktion von Sascha Ackermann und Lars Beckmann, die jeden herzlich einlädt, an der Aktion teilzunehmen, der das Tag 20jmf verwendet. Personen, die Bilder mit dem vorgenannten Tag (Namen) über das Uploadtool oder einen anderen beschriebenen Weg hochladen erteilen uns mit der Namensgebung die Erlaubnis, das Bild in dem Mosaik zu veröffentlichen und für Marketing- oder PR Maßnahmen rund um das Mosaik zu nutzen.

Eine Selektion oder Kontrolle kann leider nicht in der Gänze erfolgen, daher weisen wir darauf hin, dass die Bilder die persönlichen Impressionen der teilnehmenden Nutzer darstellen. Daher stellen diese weder die persönlichen Meinungen noch Einstellungen der Betreiber dar. Wir übernehmen explizit keine Verantwortung/Haftung für jeglichen extern bereitgestellten Inhalt.

Wir werden versuchen, sämtliche Bilder, die diskriminierenden, fremdenfeindlichen, anstößigen, sexistischen oder verbotenen Inhalt darstellen schnellstmöglich auszufiltern und von der Seite zuverbannen. Ein Anrecht auf eine Teilnahme an dem Mosaik besteht aus den vorgenannten Gründen daher nicht.

source :http://www.portel.de/nc/nachricht/artikel/41093-microsoft-teched-europe-2009-in-berlin-eroeffnet/12/

Foto:Microsoft

In seiner Eröffnungsrede gab Achim Berg einen sehr persönlichen Rückblick auf das heutige historische Datum: "Wie Millionen andere Menschen saß auch ich am 9. November 1989 wie gebannt vor dem Fernseher und verfolgte live den Fall der Berliner Mauer." Entsprechend unterstützt Microsoft Deutschland das neue virtuelle Gesamtkunstwerk "BerlinMosaik", das die Berliner Künstler Lars Beckmann und Sascha Ackermann zum Jubiläum gestartet haben. Nutzer können dabei Fotos in unterschiedliche Communities wie Picasa, Twitter oder Flickr hochladen und den Tag "20jmf" einbinden.

Eine von den Künstlern entwickelte Applikation findet die Bilder und gliedert sie in das Social Media-Projekt ein. Tausende von Fotos lassen sich dann gleichzeitig zoomen oder neu anordnen. Realisiert wird das innovative Projekt über die Microsoft-Technologie Silverlight 3 mit Deep Zoom.

Microsoft ruft alle Nutzer auf, bei diesem Projekt mitzumachen.

2009-11

system Center Data Protection Manager ( DPM 2007 )

Category: SQL 2008, System Center, Teched 2009, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2008 R2 DHCP Cluster | No Comments

MGT102-SUN Why Microsoft Built a Backup Solution

Presenters: Jason Buffington, Sandeep Phadke

Sun 11/8 | 16:00-17:15 | New York 1 – Hall 7-1a

This session was about DPM today and feature

Jason did a brief overview of what is coming this week and take the time for QA. He said DPM is a bit late with his new version because We need this DMP 2010 version now if we want to backup Exchange 2010 and Hyper-V R2

This are the DPM sessions today

Here are some excellent links to the DPM resources

jason says also how the License is working a enterprise agent and a file agent is the bottom line.

I like the product you should see atleast one session and than tell me that you don’t like this product. No this is great yes as an addon.

it is fast and stable and you can easy restore your Microsoft product’s ok it cost a lot of diskspace and you need a fast san. But hardware is cheat these days so this should not be an issue.

Tomorrow is the first day at ask the expert booth so maybe I see you there. I have to go to the bar here Jack Daniel’s is waiting.

2009-11

Tech-ed 2009 Berlin

Category: Teched 2009 | No Comments

Yes it is time to go. Tech-ed 2009 in berlin hard work to do party every day.

during the daytime party and afterhours we have to work, lets face it who knows peter beense.

I have all his Mp3’s who doesn’t , I have stored this files safely on the web If I ever need it I can use it. But not this week.

So 300 miles to drive in 5.5 hours this can’t be right

With my speed max 138 Miles/hour it should be 2,5 hours with an extra two hours in the city. lets change the speed of the PKW

yeb 4 hours. Hope I can improve my max speed.

I see you @ tech-ed

Update : @ it took me 3 hours and 25 minutes

2009-11

Windows 2008 R2 Add VHD disk or boot from VHD disk

Category: VHD disk, Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

Did You know that you can add a VHD disk to your windows 2008 R2 Server and /or boot from it ?

You can easy edit the VHD and reuse it in hyper-v.

So go to disk manager and right click on disk management

You can create a new VHD. If you use dynamic make sure you have the disk space that u needed.

I use a fixed disk with windows 7 on it. that I use in hyper-v as golden Image for my desktops.

fill in the VHD location. You can make it read only if you need software install that is on a VHD, I have a VHD with all the ISO files on it that I can mount on every server if I need to install extra software or tools.

But now I use the Windows 7 VHD now that I mounted the disk I can use it.

I need a WallPaper on the windows 7

now I can do a offline or detach vhd , If I don;t I get this error in hyper-v

even if the disk is offline

You can also delete the VHD

or You can boot from the VHD it is just like in windows 7 mount it and use bcdedit to change the boot string.

below are samples.

bcdedit /set {GUID} device file=[c:]\vhd\win7.vhd
bcdedit /set {GUID} osdevice file=[c:]\vhd\win7.vhd

Here are some articles and video about booting from VHD.
http://blogs.msdn.com/cesardelatorre/archive/2009/01/11/windows-7-natively-booting-from-a-vhd-virtual-pc-image-file.aspx

Inside Windows 2008 R2 Virtualization Improvements and Native VHD Support (Mark Russinovich)
http://www.microsoft.com/emea/teched2008/itpro/tv/default.aspx

2009-11

Windows 2008 R2 new hardware found installing device driver software

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | No Comments

Today I Replaced a mainboard of my Hyper-V cluster for a better one. after booting up the new hardware wizzard poped up the wizzard found new hardware. I had a Driver DVD ready but what is this no driver disk is needed the driver installation was a automatic process find the hardware and downloaded the driver from the windows driver catalog.

Sure there are hardware items that can’t be found. that is where the driver DVD is needed.

But one thing I changed is the following on the New hardware icon and double clicked it and there was a setting always use the driver catalog. I did not make a screen shot ;-( I tried to reproduce the settings but I’m not able to do this. But remember this you can change this setting Below are the shots of downloading the drivers.

As you can see in the screen shots the driver is downloaded. Cool !

2009-10

Annoying SQL 2008 SP1 Cluster bug

Category: SQL 2008, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2008 SQL 2008 Cluster | Comments Off

SQL 2008 Cluster The current SKU is invalid.

Invalid SKU Error when Adding a Node to a SQL 2008 Cluster

After setting up several SQL 2008 Clusters I ran in to this problem I think it is only on windows 2003 x64 enterprise but I’m not sure.

The issue is this: After installing the first SQL 2008 Sp1 node you want to add the second node , you do the add node to the SQL server failover cluster and follow the wizard.

But after checking the setup support rules , and the product key check this message pops up that “The current SKU is invalid “ What is this I did install 2 other two node clusters with no problem, is the installation source broken or need the new server a kernel restart.

No it is a BUG , yes a bug : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/957459/ I downloaded the fix (360784_intl_x64_zip.exe 178 MB)

In my case it did not work ;-( , the problem is clear the product key is not right or the check is no working. The location of the product key is in the defaultsetup.ini I fixed this ini with the SP1 location after I slipstreamed the SP1 in SQL 2008. I removed the defaultsetup.ini and run the add node setup again and I get the product key popup

And there I copied the product key from the defaultsetup.ini and the Installation worked. I know this is not nice but without the defaultsetup.ini my product key is not available in the source so no unauthorized installs can take place.

Now that I have a workaround for the installation crew I checked the microsoft site if there is a bug filed and yeb there is.

Another Cluster issue fixed.

Technorati Tags: SQL Server 2008 service pack 1. Slipstream,SQL 2008 Cluster The current SKU is invalid,Invalid SKU Error when Adding a Node to a SQL 2008 Cluster,The current SKU is invalid,SQL 2008 Cluster – The current SKU is invalid,SKU is Invalid when installing 2nd node in SQL 2008

2009-10

Infrastructure Planning and Design Guides—Release Announcement

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | 1 Comment

DirectAccess

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has released a new guide: DirectAccess.

This IPD guide provides actionable guidance for designing a DirectAccess infrastructure. The guide’s easy-to-follow, four-step process gives a straightforward explanation of the infrastructure required for clients to be connected from the Internet to resources on the corporate network, whether or not the organization has begun deploying IPv6.

The guide covers four key steps in the design process for DirectAccess:

Aligning the project scope with the business requirements.

· Determining whether IPv6, Teredo, 6to4, and IP-HTTPS connectivity will be supported for Internet-based clients.

· Assessing the need for IPv6/IPv4 network address translation service and ISATAP for internal communication.

· Determining the number and placement of servers, the certificate services requirements, and location of CRL distribution points.

Download the IPD Guide for DirectAccess at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=164151.

Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning process by:

Defining the technical decision flow through the planning process.
Listing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.

· Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.

· Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

2009-10

OpsMgr 2007 R2 (SCOM): Coretech Coffee Monitor Management Pack – 0.0.0.1

Category: System Center | Comments Off

Source: Coretech

Download: CoretechCoffeeMonitor-MP-0.0.0.1 18.15 MB

This is very cool now I can build my own beer MP with a recovery task to SMS my girlfriend to buy or bring me more beer.

nice work

The file has included test examples and vlc player. The Management Pack is 32Kb

This management packs can be used to keep track of the level of coffee in left in the pot.

With this management pack, you will never run dry of, what we all know, is the most important part of a productive environment!

This is mostly made as a proof of concept, as this technique can be transferred to other monitor types. It could be expanded with other types of sensors, like a weight to check the level of coffee instead of a camera, or a thermometer to check the temperature of the coffee.

This is the very first version. It has been tested in test environments.

By default, it will trigger a warning when under 50% is left, and a Critical Alert when under 20% is left.

Please do not hesitate to report any bugs and please send suggestions for the next version you might have.

This was developed by Jakob Gottlieb Svendsen with the help of Kåre Rude Andersen

Requirements

Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2

Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5 SP1

A network connected camera

Coffee machine with clear-glass pot and free view to all of the pot, see an example in the video.

2009-10

TechNet Live – Join the new efficiency

Category: Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7 | Comments Off

See you there to collect your free Windows 7 Ultimate DVD

TechNet Live – Join the new efficiency

Op 8 oktober lanceren wij Windows 7, Exchange 2010 en Windows Server 2008 R2 voor de zakelijke markt en u kunt daarbij zijn. Wat kunt u verwachten? Inspirerende sessies door internationale topsprekers, waaronder een keynote van Steve Ballmer (CEO van Microsoft), de mogelijkheid met collega’s en experts kennis en ervaringen te delen en als eerste aan de slag met de nieuwste technologie. TechNet Live mag u niet missen.

2009-10

Infrastructure Planning and Design Guides—Release Announcement

Category: Infrastructure Planning, System Center, Windows Deployment Services | Comments Off

Windows Deployment Services

System Center Operations Manager

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has released two updated guides for deployment and operations: Windows Deployment Services and System Center Operations Manager.
These guides, updated to reflect the features and functionalities of Windows Server® 2008 R2 and System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2, outline the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of these deployment and operations products.

The Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Windows® Deployment Services guides the reader through the process of designing a Windows Deployment Services infrastructure in a logical, sequential order. Following the six steps in this guide will result in a design that is sized, configured, and appropriately placed to enable rapid deployment of Windows operating systems, while also considering the performance, capacity, and fault tolerance of the system.

The Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Microsoft System Center Operations Manager. The guide takes the reader step-by-step through the process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. Identification and design of the required management groups is presented in simple, easy-to-follow steps, helping the reader to design and optimize management infrastructure.

Download the IPD Guides for Windows Deployment Services and System Center Operations Manager at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/ee382254.aspx.

Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning process by:

Defining the technical decision flow through the planning process.
Listing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.
Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.
Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

2009-10

Service Manager 2010 Beta-2

Category: Windows Deployment Services | Comments Off

The Service Manager team is very pleased to announce that Beta-2 for Service Manager 2010 is now available for download from connect. Details and links are below.

Download

To download, simply go to the Service Manager site on Connect www.connect.microsoft.com. Once you have successfully signed in, click the Downloads link, click Service Manager Beta-2 and then select all of the following files on the download details page:

· SMCDImage_amd64.exe

· SMCDImage_x86.exe (32 bit console)

· InstallOMMPs.exe

· AuthoringTool.exe (authoring console)

· SM_B2_Public.zip

Click download to begin the download process. Once the files have successfully downloaded, please be sure to read the release notes before installing the product as they contain some important information about the release

You can also use the public forums for feedback and support, link below
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=2066&SiteID=17

Please read the “Preparing for Service Manager Deployment” section of the Installation and Configuration Guide for step-by-step guidance on how to install and configure the product.

2009-9

Infrastructure Planning and Design Guides—Release Announcement

Category: Infrastructure, System Center, VHD disk, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7 | Comments Off

Infrastructure Planning and Design Guides—Release Announcement

Windows Server Virtualization

System Center Virtual Machine Manager

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has released two updated virtualization guides: Windows Server Virtualization and System Center Virtual Machine Manager.
These guides, updated to reflect the features and functionalities of Windows Server® 2008 R2 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, outline the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of these virtualization products.

The Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Windows Server Virtualization takes the reader through the process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. Identification of the Hyper-V™ server hosts required is presented in easy-to-follow steps, helping the reader to design and plan virtual server datacenters.

The Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager assists readers in the design and implementation of SCVMM architecture, thus enabling centralized administration of physical and virtual machines. Identification of the VMM server instances required is one of the simple, seven-step design processes presented in this guide.

Download the IPD Guides for Virtualization at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/ee395429.aspx
Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning process by:

Defining the technical decision flow through the planning process.
Listing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.
Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.
Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

2009-9

DUTCH INFORMATION WORKER USER GROUP

Category: MOSS, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7 | Comments Off

Uitnodiging SDN DIWUG avond event, dinsdag 29 september

De zomer is weer voorbij! Tijd voor een nieuwe DIWUG avond! Dit keer een gevarieerd programma met twee interessante sprekers: 2 Nederlandse MVP’s!
Deze avond wordt gehost door Qurius. Qurius AS is met de auto goed bereikbaar. Het kantoor ligt vlakbij alle belangrijke uitvalswegen en ze beschikken over eigen parkeergelegenheid. Deze parkeergelegenheid is echter wel beperkt. Om die reden, en met het oog op de verwachte drukte, raden wij je aan om op 29 september a.s. met het openbaar vervoer naar Rijswijk af te reizen. Het station ligt op een steenworp afstand van het kantoor van Qurius. Klik hier voor complete adresgegevens

Inschrijven voor deze avond kan via www.diwug.nl.

DUTCH INFORMATION WORKER USER GROUP

Welcome to the Dutch Information Worker User Group (DIWUG) website. DIWUG is a platform for people that are interested in Information Worker solutions. Several times a year, DIWUG organizes an event where members can meet, share knowledge and see interesting presentations in an informal setting. If you would like to join us or receive more information about our activities, please subscribe for the next event, or contact us by email .

SESSIE: DINSDAG 29 SEPTEMBER

DIWUG heeft op 29 september weer een interessante avond voor je in petto! Dit keer een gevarieerd programma met twee interessante sprekers: 2 Nederlandse MVP’s!
Deze avond wordt gehost door Qurius. Qurius AS is met de auto goed bereikbaar. Het kantoor ligt vlakbij alle belangrijke uitvalswegen en ze beschikken over eigen parkeergelegenheid. Deze parkeergelegenheid is echter wel beperkt. Om die reden, en met het oog op de verwachte drukte, raden wij je aan om op 29 september a.s. met het openbaar vervoer naar Rijswijk af te reizen. Het station ligt op een steenworp afstand van ons kantoor. Klik hier voor complete adresgegevens

AGENDA

18:00-18:45
Ontvangst met een hapje eten

18:45-19:00
Introductie door DIWUG

19:00–19:45

Kleine moeite, groot resultaat: Het aanpassen van bestaande en toevoegen van nieuwe blokken aan de SharePoint blokkendoos.
In veel organisaties wordt SharePoint gebruikt als platform voor een intranet of een samenwerkingsomgeving. Bij het inrichten van zo’n omgeving ben je vooral bezig met het realiseren van aanpassingen aan en uitbreidingen op het platform, in plaats van met het bouwen van grote maatwerk oplossingen. Je kunt op het SharePoint platform vaak met weinig inspanning veel effect sorteren. In deze sessie zal Ton van een aantal van deze aanpassingen laten zien hoe ze te realiseren zijn en hij zal uitleggen waarom hij voor een bepaalde aanpak gekozen heeft. De voorbeelden zullen onder andere bestaan uit:

Eenvoudiger gebruikers beheer
Navigatie in wiki’s
Gebruik van meerdere RSS feeds in een nieuws site
Aanpassingen aan standaard gedrag SharePoint search scopes
Wijzigen van SharePoint documenten met Office 2003
Extra navigatie in MySites

Na deze sessie heeft u een goede indruk van hoe de SharePoint blokkendoos aangepast en uitgebreid kan worden.
Spreker: Ton Stegeman (MVP SharePoint)

19:45–20:00

Pauze

20:00–20:45

Best practices Excel Services
Excel is een van de meest gebruikte gereedschappen in het bedrijfsleven. Naast het maken van berekeningen wordt Excel vaak toegepast als project management tool, het bijhouden van lijstjes en het maken van formulieren. Het nadeel is uiteraard dat de Excel werkbladen op de computer van één medewerker staat, met als gevolg dat anderen er geen gebruik van kunnen maken. Natuurlijk is dit voor een deel op te lossen door de werkbladen in een SharePoint document library te plaatsen. Echter, er is betere manier om de kracht van Excel te combineren met het gemak van SharePoint: Excel Services. Excel Services is een onderdeel van MOSS 2007 waardoor je in staat bent om Excel op de server te laten draaien en alleen de resultaten van een werkblad te presenteren aan de gebruikers van de data. Dit opent een heel scala aan mogelijkheden! In deze sessie laat Dennis Vroegop (Software Architect, voorzitter dotNed en Microsof Most Valuable Professional) zien wat Excel Services is, hoe je het toepast en welke valkuilen je tegen kunt komen.
Spreker: Dennis Vroegop (MVP .NET)

21:00–21:30
Netwerken met drankje

2009-9

Active Directory Recycle Bin

Category: AD Recycle Bin, Active Directory Recycle Bin, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7 | Comments Off

Active Directory Recycle Bin is a new feature in windows 2008 R2 it is not an option that you can turn on or of.

Yes it is a hidden feature and you can only turn it on. What do you need well only a windows 2008 R2 DC

By default, Active Directory Recycle Bin in Windows Server 2008 R2 is disabled. To enable it, you must first raise the forest functional level of your AD DS or AD LDS environment to Windows Server 2008 R2, which in turn requires all forest domain controllers or all servers that host instances of AD LDS configuration sets to be running Windows Server 2008 R2. After you set the forest functional level of your environment to Windows Server 2008 R2, you can use the instructions in this guide to enable Active Directory Recycle Bin.

The restore can only be done with powershell there is no supported tool from microsoft but there are nice gui tools.

http://powergui.org/shares/powergui/sbin/docs/Advanced_Reporting_PowerPack/Advanced_Reporting_PowerPack.html

http://www.overall.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40:adrecyclebin&catid=15:adrecyclebinexe&Itemid=64

How does It work.

You can enable it if your forest is on windows 2008 R2 <> check it in Active directory domains and trusts <> right click on domain<> raise domain functional level.

I started the Powershell and get this.

Oh ok I never used the powershell on this server so I have to import the modules

Now I am ready to go , mm what is this error

security ! ok we can fix this so check our powershell policy : Get-ExecutionPolicy

Restricted easy thing change one letter G=S

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Now we have set the policy and get a list off commands

Get-help set-AD*

this shows a list of all set-ad starting commands.

We have already checked that the domain is in 2008R2 mode but you can set this with powershell.

set-ADForestMode -Identity mvp.local -ForestMode Windows2008R2Forest.

To enable the AD recycle Bin we use Powershell, you can do this by hand in the CN=Partitions but this is the best way.

No Ad recycle bin key.

We run the enable option. you can get help on this get-help Enable-ADOptionalFeature

Enable-ADOptionalFeature –Identity ‘CN=Recycle Bin Feature,CN=Optional Features,CN=Directory Service,CN=Windows NT,CN=Services,CN=Configuration, DC=MVP,DC=local’ –Scope ForestOrConfigurationSet –Target ‘mvp.local’

Now there is a key CN=Recycle Bin Feature

To verify that Active Directory Recycle Bin is enabled, navigate to the CN=Partitions container. In the details pane, locate the msDS-EnabledFeature attribute, and confirm that its value is set to CN=Recycle Bin Feature,CN=Optional Features,CN=Directory Service,CN=Windows NT,CN=Services,CN=Configuration, DC=mydomain,DC=com, where mydomain and com represent the appropriate forest root domain name of your AD DS environment

We do a list of deleted items check on deleted=True

I used a user that is called “Deleted”

Get-ADObject -Filter {displayName -eq "delete"} –IncludeDeletedObjects

Get-ADObject -Filter {displayName -eq "delete"} -IncludeDeletedObjects | Restore-ADObject

So now you can delete and restore AD items but better would be if there where gui tools.

There are no Gui Tools from microsoft at this time. but there are some great community tools . I like the tool from Overall solutions, but there is also a powergui tool

Have fun with it don’t tell your user or IT manager this that you can restore Items with a click or script in 10 min time. Else you get more work on recovering deleted items. Even the helpdesk can do this. IMHO this is a must have option just like AGPM Or my old post

2009-9

The New Efficiency

Category: Infrastructure, The New Efficiency, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7 | Comments Off

On September 29th at 9 am (PST) please join us here on www.thenewefficiency.com for a kick-off discussion on “The New Efficiency” live from San Francisco as a part of Microsoft’s Virtual Launch Event.

Join in the conversation during this must-see event and see top technology leaders and Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, debate the role of IT during this economic reset. Can cost savings, productivity and innovation come together to drive business growth? Get a closer look at how real companies are justifying IT investments across desktop, server, network and beyond. You’ll also find sessions related to new releases of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft Forefront, Microsoft System Center, and Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack.

Mark your calendars; watch it live; submit questions in advance. Don’t miss it!

2009-9

SQL 2008 Database Mirroring

Category: SQL 2008, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7 | Comments Off

The easy things are often the hard things to do. Clustering, DCHP,DFS,SQL,SCOM,SCCM,SCDMP,MOSS,

I had this project that runs completely on SQL with a IIS .NET app and I migrated them to SQL 2008 Clustered and on Windows 2008 R2 but I had this Question I want to mirror the DB to an off site location, ok no problem just follow the wizard and do next next Finish like I always do “I hate the Wizards “ but yes they did and it won’t work. So they hired me to do the job. I saw the mistakes and see why people don’t READ. Some IT crowd just have a lot off stress to help the company to get things running again. Ok the youtube links are a bit off topic but the It crowd of this project did know all of them and we had a lot of fun during the installation in this 100% success fully project. I had again a happy customer.

But If you want to mirror the SQL DB you must not forget to do just one step use named pipes.

So I have my 2 SQL 2008 servers running and as you can see I have the Mirror consol open and there are DB in it.

in less than 10 steps we do DB Mirroring.

Logon to SQL server ( source DB ) and or make A DB

Make Sure the DB is in full Recovery mode !

This is the key thing USE named pipes ! on source and target.

So now we have a database that we want to mirror, I check a few steps with a SQL script.

Just to make sure the DB is in full recovery.

use master

alter database Moss2007

set recovery full;

The next step is backup the DB

Backup database Moss2007

to disk = ‘c:\moss2007.bak’

with format

And backup the Database Log files

backup log MOSS2007

to disk = ‘c:\moss2007log.bak’

Yes I can be done easyer but this is a step by step and you can do things twice.

So the first server done. Lets go to the second server and copy files to other server. The backup files are now on the target server.

Maybe the path location is not the same than on the source, better is to use the same location but you can easy change this.

What I did I did an all in one job restore and change the path. the SQL script speaks for it.

use master

restore database moss2007 from disk =’C:\moss2007.Bak’ with norecovery,

replace,

move ‘moss2007′ to ‘C:\sql\moss2007.mdf’,

move ‘moss2007_log’ to ‘C:\sql\moss2007_log.ldf’

restore log moss2007 from disk =’C:\moss2007log.bak’ with norecovery, replace,

move ‘moss2007′ to ‘C:\sql\moss2007.mdf’,

move ‘moss2007_log’ to ‘C:\sql\moss2007_log.ldf’

So now we moved the DB files to the C:\SQL location , there is no better place than the c drive to place your DB files , if it uses all your disk space and there will be a sudden reboot the system is broken if you are lucky.

USE a disk other than the C drive.!!

We go back to the Source server.

On the Source server we follow the menu task<>mirror <> configure security. We can’t do anything else here yet.

So easy next <>next , in my case I have only 2 servers but better would be 3 servers the third server as a witness server,

I choose NO here, next would be source SQL server.

To support automatic failover, a database mirroring session must be configured in high-safety mode and also possess a third server instance, known as the witness. The witness is an optional instance of SQL Server that enables the mirror server in a high-safety mode session to recognize whether to initiate an automatic failover. Unlike the two partners, the witness does not serve the database. Supporting automatic failover is the only role of the witness

Next choose the target server , you will get a SQL logon window , logon and proceed

Now if you run SQL on a service account than use this account for the mirror.

And finish

The database mirror is complete you can start it directly or in the first menu where you started. If you do a failover you will see that the DB is moved to the other location, and you app can still be up the sql server is mostly one item. remember the SQL server name is different than the first one so the app must see that the DB is moved to the other server witch can be down.

This shows the DB mirror console nice info can be found here.

2009-9

Myth or True SMB BOSD

Category: SMB BOSD, Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7 | Comments Off

Today there is this story about the SMB BOSD is it true ?

first here is the full story http://g-laurent.blogspot.com/2009/09/windows-vista7-smb20-negotiate-protocol.html

My Server versions.

I run the exploit and yes there is a BSOD ;-(

but there is no firewall on and everything is wide open. This is on my windows 2008 R2 RC build 7100

even with the Firewall on it still gets a BSOD the only thing you can do is block port 445. And I did a test on Windows 7 in my domain with the (BSOD DC ) and no BOSD my Windows 7 is secure !!

On the left windows 7 <> right Windows 2008 r2 RC build 7100

After replacing the srv2.sys file and a reboot I did the test again and no more BOSD

but where did I find this new srv2.sys file <> yes in windows 7

Story confirmed partly true. but it can be fixed. when I do not know. but remember changing this file is not supported.

and you need to bypass the NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller security rights.

You must remember turn your firewall on does not always help you port 445 ,138,139 are open if you make a block rule 445

but maybe you need 445

No I’m not gona help you to test this or tell you where to find the tools to do this.

2009-8

Windows 2008 R2 DHCP Cluster Setup

Category: Windows 2008 R2, Windows 2008 R2 DHCP Cluster | Comments Off

You all know how to setup a DHCP Server it is easy , start,run,appwiz.cpl,add components,network services<> ADD DHCP.

Well it is almost the same but than different.

Ok I have a 3 node cluster and a DC running. I made a ISCSI target and published it to the cluster as free space.

So here is my cluster Windows 2008 R2

What We need for the DHCP is a disk

I created a 5 Gb ISCSI disk and added this to my cluster.

So the first step we do is add the dhcp role to the cluster .start the server Manager to add the role

you have to do this on every node !

Now start the cluadmin.msc and under services and applications right click <> configure a Service or application

Select the DHCP Role and as you can see my node 3 does not have the DHCP Role, I decide to ignore this error ! to get errors for troubleshooting later !

So we need a name this will be the cluster group name and an IP

Next is select the Disk for this resource. I used the 5 Gb disk

In the beginning we had this error no dhcp on node 3. if you missed this the next screen can’t be missed

To bad this error is also in yellow. So I have a failure but it is no show stopper.

The Cluster Resources and IP Right click on the resource you can see all the options, I choose Manage DHCP

the nice thing about this is it is a cluster resource single point of configuration one console to set all. I created my scope just like in NT in the properties there are new Tabs

there is a new configure button name protection This feature supports prevention of name squatting issues caused due to non-Windows OS machines. Using this feature one could prevent registration of non-Windows OS machine with a same name that is already registered for another machine in DNS Server.

You can use Network Access Protection with DHCP to enforce health policies, which can help protect a network against the spread of viruses, worms, and malicious software (malware).

there is now a filter who can receive a DHCP IP

there is the collision detection works if you have multiple DHCP servers with the same scope.

One this that is important is the credentials to register the IP in the DNS if you are running a secure DNS

So now that the DHCP server is up and running on node 1 I move this resource to node 3

as you can see DHCP server failed , remember I did not install DHCP on node 3

I added a time server and move the resource back to node 1

Next time we do WINS / DFS

Technorati Tags: Windows 2008 R2,Cluster,DHCP,Failover,Easy,Guide,Error

2009-7

My CHM File is not Displayed Correctly

Category: CHM Files | Comments Off

Ok here’s my issue and how to solve this.

If you read the technet magazine and read it online using the CHM file you may have this problem. It is an old issue but today I had this issue.

Source to read : Technet

So If you opend the file you see this.

Mmm strange but if I open the file local I have the same issue, oh ok do properties and use the unblock button. Then open the file.

As you can see the file opens and you can read the CHM file.

Or you can add this regkey then you can open the file direct from the internet

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions]
"MaxAllowedZone"=dword:00000003

MAXAllowedZone values :

0 – My Computer

1 – Local Intranet

2 – Trusted Sites

3 – Internet Zone

4 – Restricted Zone

2009-6

Clustering SQL 2008 on Windows 2008 R2 what can go wrong

Category: Windows 2008 SQL 2008 Cluster | 1 Comment

Ok this post is not only on how to setup a sql 2008 cluster but more on what can go wrong and more important how to solve this.

As much as I hate an installation that goes wrong and you spent day’s on how to solve this because you can ‘t bing your problem.

Here is what I have on hardware in this case a two node cluster windows 2008 R2 RC build 7100 and the SQL 2008 DVD

I have more than enough disk space in may case I have two disk of 100 GB but I will use only one disk per instance this is not Best Practice but handy in a test lab.

So I downloaded the SQL DVD and hit the setup.

I love the warning but as every one I do not read it and click run program 2x , finaly there is the setup splash.

So First I do the Prereq. This is nice this way you can see if the configuration you use is ok for the job.

Well I have a pending reboot and a .NET security warning , mmm strange I can’t connect to the Web . first a reboot.

Since this is not tux I rebooted the kernel.

ok after the Reboot I hit setup again and I click the setup failover cluster , now there is no pending reboot here and I can go further

Remember that You must use the same product key on your Cluster nodes !!!!

Yes I agree who reads this any way I just wanna do a fast setup my boss want the sql cluster ready today. Yes I can.

Yes next next eh No MSDTC ? do I need it ? mmmm network binding error firewall error can’t the setup handle this for me ?

Troubleshoot the install errors:

Ok it seems is will not be a next next finish I agree setup Right. and this is whay you must read the guides!! except in a demo where things must go wrong.

So first we do a MSDTC setup this is needes if You wanna do Transactions

We also need to cluster the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator resource (MSDTC). Although MS DTC is not required for Database Engine-only installation, without it being clustered, you would receive a warning message during the setup configuration checks because of the incompliance of the Cluster_IsDTCClustered rule. If you need to install SSIS, Workstation Components or use distributed transactions, then MS DTC must be clustered. In our example, the MSDTC resource is clustered in a group called "Your name MSDTC Group". This group contains the MSDTC resource, a shared Physical Disk T: to store MSDTC log files, a network name, and an IP Address. Before clustering MSDTC, network MSDTC access must be enabled on both nodes. For more information, please refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817064/. The MSCS Cluster Service account will need to have public rights to SQL Server so that it can run SELECT @@servername for the IsAlive cluster checks.

Setup MSDTC :

This is the easy part Go in you FCM ( Failover Cluster Manger ) configure a service or application and select the MSDTC.

So I give the MSDTC the IP and point it to the new disk for the log files. I use a separate disk for the MSDTC so that I can move the resource where and whan I want.

Done I just created my MSDTC failover cluster resource !

Network binding Order :

This error is easy to fix and it is new I have never seen this error ( or I did always ther right steps ) so go to your network tab eh yes but where is it. well it take me almost a minute to find it.

Go to Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections

click organize and layout and check the menu bar now you can go to advanced.

Change the order and done.

Back to the SQL backup :

So Again I swing the SQL setup

I named the first instance and changed the default

So whay would you use DHCP ?? just give it a fixed IP

I use the same service account for all the services added the administrator to the sql admins. You should create a group and put users in i. but you can do this later.

What is this \\?\volume{

Ok this is strange I give the SQL server disk 4 , lets see what the problem is. Oh ok this is a CSV disk CSV = cluster shared volume.

You can’t use this disk!.

So I added a fresh new iscsi target to the nodes and run the setup again.

No errors

As in the settings above I filling the items and go.

Ok Now I have more disks to use and I do not choose a CSV volume , and no I do not wanna use DHCP

Same services account

Now as you can see I can see the disk letter this is great and almost done.

Yes I do believe in the error roporting this way we can make the product better.

No the filestream does not need an update I’m using Windows 2008 R2 RC state of the art server. I saved the config file maybe I do a command line setup later if I want to reinstall this cluster.

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20090604_212627\ConfigurationFile.ini

As you can see the ini file is easy to read and to adjust where needed.

What another error ;-( kerberos , Well this is a nice error bink it and you will see not much errors or resolution about this.

Did I miss something I solved all the other errors.

So what is it :

RequireKerberos

Controls whether or not the Network Name resource can be brought online without Kerberos authentication. The choices are:

RequireKerberos is set to 1. The next time this resource is brought online, clients using this resource will be authenticated using Kerberos. That is, a computer object for the Network Name resource will be created or updated before that resource comes online.

RequireKerberos is set to 0. Disables this option, that is, no computer object is created for the Network Name resource. This is the default. The Cluster service will try to detect if a computer object already exists for the Network Name resource; if a computer object is present, the resource will fail to come online. If this property were previously set to 1, setting it back to zero will disable the computer object created for this Network Name resource, if any.

Do not rename a Network Name resource and change the Kerberos authentication setting at the same time. Instead, allow time for changes to replicate after performing each action.

When I looked at my install I can’t see anything about a sql cluster only the network name. ah no ip settings.let me fix this.

Done fixed the IP and bring it online start the sql manager and go. NO it won’t work. You know whay. YOU missed the error in the beginning.

this is saying USE SP1 my download came without sp1 and I can download sp1 but how to use it.

Well it is not easy, yes it is.

First copy the files from the DVD to a disk location.

use robocopy .

robocopy “sqlDVD” to “ disklocation” ( change the names !)

download the sp1 sql 2008 software details.aspx-FamilyID=66ab3dbb-bf3e-4f46-9559-ccc6a4f9dc19

Extract the sp1 files to the hardisk loaction

SQLServer2008SP1-KB968369-x86-ENU.exe /x:v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU
SQLServer2008SP1-KB968369-x64-ENU.exe /x:v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU
SQLServer2008SP1-KB968369-ia64-ENU.exe /x:v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU

Change the Setup files

robocopy SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1 setup.rll
robocopy SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1 setup.exe

robocopy v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\pcu\ia64 v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\ia64 /xf Microsoft.SQL.Chainer.PackageData.dll
robocopy v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\pcu\x64 v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\x64 /xf Microsoft.SQL.Chainer.PackageData.dll
robocopy v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\pcu\x86 v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\x86 /xf Microsoft.SQL.Chainer.PackageData.dll

and merge the sp1 files.

And change the installation path in the DefaultSetup.ini located in the ia64,x64,x86

PCUSOURCE="z:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU"

So I did the complete setup again but now with SP1 and I can login in the SQL manager

Watch the servername instance you can see this in de FC manager netbios name and sql name.

Now that we are installed SQL on node 2 we must install SQL2008 SP1 on node 2.

Just add the node to the cluster and follow the guide fillin the serial

Fill in the password and next

I hope I showed you that alot can go wrong and a setup can always be tricky if you want to to this to fast.

I will mesh this configuration so that I hopefully have nice errors to solve.

In the next session I will add a second instance.

positive comments are welcome

2009-6

System Center Blogs

Category: System Center | Comments Off

There are several System Center blogs but If you can’t find your info here as starter than thing info is not there; if the info is not there, you can ask fellow Operation-neesians to help with your question.

2009-6

SCVMM 2008 R2

Category: System Center | Comments Off

The Beta is now complete and we have posted our final Release Candidate for SCVMM 2008 R2 on our Connect site. In addition to all the new capabilities R2 Beta introduced here’s what is new in SCVMM 2008 R2 Release Candidate:

Storage Migration:
Enables migration of storage for a running VM. This is especially relevant as customers upgrade to Windows 2008 R2 as it allows them to easily migrate away from their existing one VM per LUN deployments and consolidate their VMs into a single CSV. For Hyper-V, this feature enables migration of a running VM’s storage both within the same host and across hosts with minimum downtime. For VMWare, this feature enables storage vMotion.

Rapid VM Provisioning:
Enables rapid creation of VMs without the need to copy VHDs over the network. Customers can now use storage technologies such as snap cloning to clone VHDs and then use the rapid provisioning feature to create VMs while continuing to take advantage of the VMM features to do OS customization and IC installation.

Host compatibility checks:
Enables checks for CPU features and enlightenment parity to ensure compatibility between a VM and a host prior to migration. A related feature to make a VM compatible with a host by limiting the use of certain CPU features is also enabled.
Queuing of Live migrations:
Enables users to do multiple live migrations within a cluster. VMM now detects the condition where live migrations fail due to collisions with in-progress live migrations and automatically performs queuing and retries in the background.

Support for 3rd party CFS:
Enables support for clustered file systems from ISVs that implement functionally similar to CSV (Clustered shared volumes). This feature allows for backwards support for CSV scenarios on Windows 2008.

Support for Custom Disk resource:
Enables support for Veritas volume manager by recognizing Veritas volume manager disks as a cluster disk resources.

It is our goal that the final (RTM) version of SCVMM 2008 R2 will ship within 60 days of the ship date of Windows Server 2008 R2. We look forward to your feedback on this Release Candidate.
Thank you, the SCVMM product team.

2009-5

Windows 2008 R2 RC File Server and print server

Category: Windows 2008 R2 | Comments Off

Below are the few steps to use a cluster as file server or as print server. These are just the basic’s

Start the wizzard choose the file server option and add a IP to the netbios name

select the disk that you want to use for file sharing

Now I make a share in this cluster , select the disk and if you want to change the permissions do this here. because I had the quorum disk on this disk the cluster folder is on the data disk.

This I like a lot below is the enable access based enumeration I made a post on how to do this in windows 2003.

Clustering Access-based Enumeration (ABE) – Windows Live

and now it is just a setting clap

You can create a DFS link if you want. This will I do in a next session.

As you can see it is much next next I agree just the basics are easy to do. the next blog items are all about R2 RC.

I have almosted everything clusterd , so get some hardware and use R2 !

2009-5

Windows 2008 R2 RC clustering setup a cluster

Category: FCCP list, Windows 2008 R2 RC clustering, clustering setup | Comments Off

For a demo I did setup a windows 2008 R2 RC x64 server with HV. Because the demo hardware was not on the FCCP list. It takes more time to setup the server. So a Hint use hardware that is on the FCCP list !.

So I used a x64 OS and still I hate this the drivers is always an issue , even a 3com nic won’t run these cards where very popular but no driver. so I was looking for some other elcheapo nics but almost every nic is not supported with x64 software. Why !!

If the industry want us to use x64 software just make sure that there are drivers for x64, and not the crapy once.

So In this senario I used the rocketdivision software for ISCSI. This week you can also use the windows 2008 Storage server with the microsoft ISCSI target software. You can also download the ISCSI software from teched but remember it runs only on storage server.

It is a MSI file so maybe you can adjust it so that it runs on other servers, not that I tried this

Ok my POC config.

here are my 3 nic’s Open de failover MMC

So first we start the validate configuration.

So fill in the node names as I added the second node, and as you can see the wizzard tells me that the failover services is not installed

I installed the feature on the second node and rerun the wizzard

As you can see the node1 and node2 are added.

The validation configuration wizzard is success full

Now that We know that I can make a cluster , we added some disk to the nodes.

one disk as Witness disk and one for data

On node the was no mpio installed so I did this to, remember node1 and node2 needs to be the same if you want to use the services in a cluster

Now We create cluster

Now that the cluster is in place and you want to remove the cluster is can be done with powershell quick and easy.

Now we do it by powershell

cluster /destroy /cleanup

The mmc is not refreshing

So what we didn’t do is configuring the cluster network .

So I do not want that my iscsi nic is doing clustering.

The one thing I hate after the wizzard is to reconfigure the quorum disk.

Now the cluster is in place

2009-5

Microsoft iSCSI Target Software available to the public!

Category: clustering setup | Comments Off

Many of you ask about the cheapest way to deploy your own cluster. We all know that the hardware requirements are very flexible, so long as the components have a Windows Server logo and the complete solutions passes Validate (support policy) … but what about storage?

Clustering does have a few storage requirements. The storage must be shared between the cluster nodes so that when a node fails and the other node picks up the workload, it will be able to access the same data which is on that shared disk. You may use Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or iSCSI, and the device must support persistent reservations (hardware requirements). But networked storage can be expensive…until now!

Windows Storage Server 2008 (WSS 2008) with the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.2 is now available to all MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers. A version for evaluation (TechNet Plus or MSDN), demonstration (MSDN), development (MSDN) or test (MSDN) is now being provided to MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers for the first time. Rather than using expensive shared storage you simply run Storage Server on another machine. All communication is done over regular Ethernet cables, so HBAs or an expensive SAN are not needed. With just any three computers (2 cluster nodes and 1 iSCSI Target / DC) and a hub you can have your own Failover Cluster! Now there are no excuses for not trying out clustering.

Full details and a FAQ are available at: http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2009/05/12/windows-storage-server-2008-with-the-microsoft-iscsi-software-target-3-2-available-to-msdn-and-technet-plus-subscribers.aspx

Source : http://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/archive/2009/05/14/9613924.aspx

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: I tried to install the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.2 on Windows Server 2008 (or Windows Server 2008 R2) and I got an error saying “Installation is not supported on this operating system”. What’s the problem?
A: The Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.2 can only be installed on Windows Storage Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise or Workgroup. It cannot be installed on other OS version, like Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

So you need Storage Server !

If you don’t want storage server but you do want to use ISCSI take a peek at Starwind.

The is a trail version.

2009-5

Why Windows Storage Server 2008?

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Windows 2008 | 1 Comment

The amount of data supported within the organization continues to grow every year. Regulatory requirements, archival demands and data availability push storage requirements to their limits. As the datacenter grows, so does power consumption, physical space requirements and the need for improved hardware to handle the massive volume of data. Administrators need more than just raw storage capacity, but to implement the storage techniques and strategies that help them prioritize data and provide a standard of service. Storage demands will continue to grow and a storage solution is needed that can grow with the demand. Windows Storage Server 2008 can enable your organization to optimize your datacenter storage requirements.

It is finally here – the Windows Storage Server 2008 release based on Windows Server 2008 is ready for OEM embedded partners to develop dedicated NAS and block appliances. Learn about the new improvements in the OS, including OEM extensibility, Single Instance Storage (SIS), Java-based remote desktop features and the new iSCSI Software Target package

Get more info here

Or See the webcast : TechNet Webcast: Introducing Windows Storage Server 2008 (Level 300)

2009-5

Mount SkyDrive As A Virtual Drive In Windows Cloud Dektop

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Skydrive, Windows Live | Comments Off

The microsoft Skydrive is very handy 25 gb lots of space, easy to put 25000 pictures in the drive.

But how do you get them off , one by one ;-( pictures are easy with the live photo manager but what about files ??

Well I found the tool for this. my cloud desktop http://www.gladinet.com/

You can mount you skydrive as a windows drive.

*Gladinet Beta testers may receive a free license with one year free upgrade
*Some features may be disabled during Beta testing
*Please check the product for the exact list of integrated cloud storages/applications

There are 3 versions Check it out !

http://www.gladinet.com/p/download_professional.htm

2009-4

Announcing a New Program for System Center Influencers

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

source : http://blogs.technet.com/systemcenter/archive/2009/04/28/announcing-a-new-program-for-system-center-influencers.aspx

Officially launching at MMS 2009 in Las Vegas is a new community program that will give influencers—user group leads, MVPs, popular bloggers, and others recognized as influential in the community around System Center—the technical training content, people connections, and general guidance they need to enhance their credibility and impact in the community.

Key Member Benefits

Access key content: Members get access to the latest technical training content to help them enhance their expertise. This also includes exclusive user group content.
Meet experts and peers in the community: Members can stay connected with System Center-focused events, or let others know about their upcoming events. Members can register and find events, as well as request speakers for upcoming meetings.
Grow in influence: Members can learn about new opportunities to lead their communities on and offline, and find out about other opportunities to get more involved with Microsoft.

This invitation-only program has its online home on Microsoft Connect, and offers or links to several different tools intended to support influencer needs. As this is very much a work in progress that is just getting off the ground, we are asking participants to help us develop the program and shape it in ways that are most relevant to the community.

Who’s Eligible

This program is intended for influencers of all kinds, or simply those who are looking for tools to become more influential in their communities. Our intention is not to supplant any existing influencer programs, such as the MVP program, but merely to complement and extend them, focusing specifically on the needs of the System Center (and soon: Virtualization) community.

How to Find Out More

If you are interested in this program, or have any questions about our tools, resources, or mission, please contact us at scnetsup@microsoft.com.

- dave //

Source : http://blogs.technet.com/systemcenter/archive/2009/04/28/announcing-a-new-program-for-system-center-influencers.aspx

2009-4

System Center Central

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

There is a new Website for all your System Center Stuff :

Nice Work guys.

2009-4

Network Monitor 3.3 is now available

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Network Monitor | Comments Off

Please download Network Monitor 3.3 from Microsoft.com. Visit the Network Monitor 3.3 Release Blog to get more information about this release.

To provide feedback, go to our scenario voting page, and let your opinion be heard.

What’s New in Network Monitor 3.3?

· Ability to capture on WWAN and Tunnel interfaces on Win7.

· Critical fixes to NM3.3 to operate correctly with Hyper-V.

· Right-click-add-to-alias. Right-click a frame in the Frame Summary window with an IPv4, IPv6, or MAC address to add that address as a new alias.

· Right-click-go-to-definition: Right-click a field in the Frame Details windows and select Go To Data Field Definition or Go To Data Type Definition to see where the field is defined in the NPL parsers.

· Auto-scroll. See the most recent traffic as it comes in. In a live capture, click the Autoscroll button on the main toolbar to have the Frame Summary window automatically scroll down to display the most recent frames as they come in. Click Auto-scroll again to freeze the view in its present location.

· Experts available online: Experts are stand-alone applications that analyze Network Monitor capture data. Various experts are available online at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=133950.

· Frame Comments: Attach comments to frames in a saved capture file. Select the Frame Comments tab in the lower-right window to add, view, edit, or delete comments.

· API Extensions: API methods have been added to enable access to conversation information, properties, field display strings, and comments.

· Ability to open ETL files and correlate information by Network Tracing scenario.

· Set of core parsers to improve parsing performance. These can be accessed by changing the Common and Windows set of parsers to stubs:

From the Tools menu, select Options

· Go to the Parsers Tab

· Select the folder you want to stub out (Common or Windows)

· Click on the Stubs button on toolbar

· See our Release Notes for a complete list of new features and known issues.

· Experts: Experts are stand-alone applications that analyze Network Monitor capture data. Network Monitor 3.3 provides a simple interface for registering experts with the product and invoking them on a saved capture file. We have made some initial experts available online. Do you have a network troubleshooting need that is not currently met by Network Monitor or our available experts? Why not suggest your own expert? Please use the feedback link on the left to submit a description of the analysis task you want to solve (you must first join our connection) and we will work with you to create an expert for the community to enjoy.

2009-4

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has released a new guide: Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization.
This guide outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V). The reader is guided through the four-step process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. Identification of the MED-V server instances required is presented in simple, easy-to-follow steps, helping the reader to deliver managed virtual machines to end users. Following the steps in this guide will result in a design that is sized, configured, and appropriately placed to deliver the stated business benefits, while also considering the performance, capacity, and fault tolerance of the system.
Download the guide by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/ipd and selecting “Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization” under the IPD One-click Downloads, listed on the bottom right of the page.
Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning process by:

Defining the technical decision flow through the planning process.
Listing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.
Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.
Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

2009-4

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V)

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: MED-V | 1 Comment

Enhancing deployment and management for Virtual PCs in enterprise environments

MED-V v1 has released

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) provides deployment and management of virtual Windows desktops to enable key enterprise scenarios. MED-V 1.0 helps enterprises upgrade to the latest version of Windows even when some applications are not yet compatible.

MED-V builds on top of Microsoft Virtual PC to run two operating systems on one device, adding virtual image delivery, policy-based provisioning and centralized management.

MED-V is one of the six technologies in the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP). Read MDOP 2009 announcement.

"MED-V saves us time in standardizing our desktop across the multiple entities of the Belgacom group", says Eric Opitom, Office Automation Domain Manager at Belgacom, a provider of integrated telecommunication services, "With thousands of users in our environment, MED-V will significantly reduce the time required for testing and migrating the applications we have."

The challenge of legacy applications

Incompatibility of legacy applications with newer versions of Microsoft Windows can often delay enterprise upgrades to the latest version of Windows. Testing and migrating applications can be time consuming, and meanwhile users are unable to take advantage of the new capabilities and enhancements offered by the new OS. By delivering applications in a Virtual PC that runs a previous version of the OS (e.g., Windows XP or Windows 2000), administrators can remove the barriers to OS upgrades.

Read the EMA case study

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization: Advantages

Centrally create, deploy, and update virtual PC images throughout the enterprise
Provision virtual images and user policies according to business affiliation and requirements
Accelerate the upgrade path to new Desktop OS-legacy applications continue to run in a virtual environment with a previous OS version
Simplify IT integration of new subsidiaries by running two IT environments concurrently (i.e. the corporate one and the acquired company’s one)

Read more about MED-V features in the datasheet (PDF, XPS) or in the Architecture white paper

Source : http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/products/med-v.aspx

2009-4

Robert Smit received Microsoft® MVP Award!

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Microsoft Most Valuable Professional | Comments Off

Today I had a email with the ultimate award. Thank you Community, In this time of my life I can use this to get new powers to ban bad things out of my life. Sometimes people keep yelling that they are the backbone of the community and pushing and pushing to believe they are right , but they are not. I think this kind of power is wrong and if you fight this correctly they will pay believe me they will.

Not always is Microsoft the best solution but think about why this will not fit in your organization most of the times it is policy and not that the software is bad. This MVP status is great and I will continue helping the community and it may not always your solution to the problem but he I’m not in control of your system. I give you my opinion and hopes it will help you to solve your problem.

THANKS

Microsoft is pleased to recognize you as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for your exceptional contributions and commitment to technical communities worldwide over the past year. Microsoft is happy to present you with the MVP Award as our special way of saying thanks for making a difference.

As the independent voice of users worldwide, your influence on technical communities is felt in many ways—enhancing people’s lives and contributing to our industry’s success. We’re deeply grateful to you for sharing your feedback, comments, answers, and expertise with technical communities. In recognition of your commitment, Microsoft is pleased to honor you with the Most Valuable Professional Award. Thank you for empowering the community with your outstanding leadership!

Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation

Thank you for your exceptional contributions to technical communities! It gives us great pleasure to present you with the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award for the technical expertise you generously provide to others. By sharing your knowledge, experience, and objective feedback, you inspire and help people to solve problems and discover new capabilities every day. We are honored to welcome you as a Microsoft MVP.

Rich Kaplan
Corporate Vice President
Customer and Partner Advocacy
Microsoft Corporation

2009-3

Windows Cluster File share Settings

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Windows Cluster | 1 Comment

Sometimes I see troubles with file sharing and clustering, default windows uses caching.

and in clustering you don’t want to do caching so you can turn it off

Just go to the caching TAP and check the checkbox.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/287566

There is also an Issue with the previous Version page.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888603

You can set this in a GPO below is a sample how to make a ADM file for this.

CLASS USER

CATEGORY "Windows Components"

CATEGORY "Windows Explorer"

POLICY "Disable Previous Versions Tab"

EXPLAIN !!PVHelp

KEYNAME "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer"

VALUENAME "NoPreviousVersionsPage"

VALUEON NUMERIC 1

VALUEOFF NUMERIC 0

END POLICY

END CATEGORY;

[strings]

PVHelp="\nThis policy allows you to disable the Previous Versions Tab (used for Shadow Copies) in Windows Explorer.”

2009-3

Operations Manager 2007 R2 introduces key new and enhanced functionality

Category: System Center | Tags: Infrastructure Planning, System Center | Comments Off

OpsMgr R2

Enhanced application performance and availability across heterogeneous platforms

Delivers monitoring across Windows, Linux and Unix servers-all through a single console
Extends end to end monitoring of distributed applications to any workload running on Windows, Unix and Linux platforms
Maximize availability of virtual workloads with integration with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008

Improved management of applications in the data center

Delivers on the scale requirements of URL monitoring of your business
Meet agreed service levels with enhanced reporting showing application performance and availability
More efficient problem identification and action to resolve issues

Increased speed of access to information and functionality to drive management

Faster load times for views and results
Improved and simplified management pack authoring experience

For those who are evaluating the Beta release, this Release Candidate offers a number of enhancements over the Operations Manager R2 Beta, including:

-New Power Management MP template (Monitored system must be Windows Server 2008 R2 or Win7)
-Updated branding across all User Interfaces
-Improved trace configuration tools on the CD to help support issues escalated to Customer Support (where applicable)
-Improved Run As Account Distribution Configuration
-Ability to run inline tasks for non-Microsoft servers
-Support for upgrade from Beta deployments to the Release Candidate
-New and updated documentation, including the Usage Guide, Design Guide, Deployment Guide, Upgrade Guide, Security Guide and Operations Guide

Apply – to participate in the "Operations Manager Public Beta" – https://connect.microsoft.com/SelfNomination.aspx?ProgramID=2249&pageType=1&SiteID=446

Get it – System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 (RC) – http://connect.microsoft.com/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?SiteID=446&DownloadID=17271

2009-3

Windows Update Standalone Beta client Windows Vista and Windows 7

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Beta, Microsoft Vista, Windows 7, Windows Update | 2 Comments

There is a new beta for the windows update , I must say this is a nice improvement better overview and new options

Now Standard Users can install Updates. < and this beta works on windows 7 >

Get it on the connect site.

There is an new option Who can install Updates !

This option is enabled by default in Windows 7. It is disabled by default in Windows Vista to preserve the allowed functionality that administrators expect non-administrators to have.

As a result of these improvements, preliminary data suggests an overall 95% reduction in UAC prompts when using Windows Update.

The New Screens off Windows update

Improved error hubs

Many of the Windows Update error hubs have been improved to provide users with a clear action they can take to help solve the problem that occurred.

Action Center integration (Windows 7-only)

Unable to check for updates

Notification appears if unable to check for updates for 32+ days:

Launch a scan by clicking the notification, or the button in Action Center:

Upcoming auto-install

Action Center reminds users about scheduled update installations, so they can save their work in advance and avoid losing their data.

2009-3

Windows 2003 Cluster Error 0x8007170a

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Windows Cluster | Comments Off

Did You see this Error ? 0x8007170a this computer cannot be made a member of a cluster.

Think about if you see this What Windows Version do I have.

Do not assume that you have the correct windows version if someone told you I have the cluster nodes up and running but I can’t install the Cluster.

Windows 2003 fail over Needs WINDOWS 2003 ENTERPRISE !

0x8007170a this computer cannot be made a member of a cluster means You are running windows standard edition

2009-3

Savision Free Live Maps for Everyone

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

Source: PRWeb

“Savision B.V., the leader in Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager visualization, today announced the availability of a free version of Live Maps for Microsoft Operations Manager 2007. Microsoft Operations Manager administrators everywhere can now benefit from the extraordinary visualization capabilities of Live Maps v3. The free version is fully functional and allows IT organizations to create three maps of any type.”

We are proud to announce the availability of a free version of Live Maps for Microsoft Operations Manager 2007. Now you and OpsMgr administrators everywhere can benefit from the extraordinary visualization functionality of Live Maps v3. The free version is fully functional and allows you to create three maps of any type.

Live Maps v3 allows your IT organization to easily conceive, build and maintain large-scale monitoring maps. New wizards and templates empower you and your colleagues to quickly construct dynamically updated network and application topologies, geographical views, complex business processes and executive dashboards. This ensures that employees at all levels, from the IT operator to the business executive, have access to the information needed to proactively manage IT problems.

Live Maps gives organizations running Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 a powerful web-enabled solution to create end-to-end service topologies, business process and executive dashboard maps. Additionally, the latest version allows maps to become network link aware ensuring that connectivity problems are easily identifiable. We are giving you all of this for free in order for you to truly maximize your organization’s investment in Operations Manager 2007.

This is a limited time offer – download your copy today at www.savision.com/free.

2009-3

System Center Ops Manager management pack for Hyper-V

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

System Center Ops Manager management pack for Hyper-V

A quick note that a beta of the Hyper-V management pack for System Center Operations Manager (2007, 2007 R2) is available. In combination with SCVMM (for advanced monitoring of VMs across your Hyper-V, ESX and Virtual Server environments), this SCOM management pack enables health/perf monitoring of the Hyper-V host. The management pack includes health diagram view of virtual machines, virtual components roll-up per host, critical Hyper-V Service monitoring, disk space threshold monitoring.

This beta management pack supports the following OS only (for now):

§ Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition (Full Installation with Hyper-V Role enabled)

§ Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition (Full Installation with Hyper-V Role enabled)

§ Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition (Full Installation with Hyper-V Role enabled)

To request an invitation to access this beta, you can send a message to the following address: MPCC@microsoft.com

2009-3

System Center Virtual Machine Manager R2

Category: System Center | Tags: Hyper-V, System Center | Comments Off

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 is now available as a public beta.

This is the first release of SCVMM to support Windows Server 2008 R2.

Key new features in R2

Live Migration

SCVMM can now trigger live and quick migration of virtual machines on R2 clusters.

Clustered Shared Volumes (CSV)

SCVMM can now place multiple VMs on a single LUN configured as a CSV

SAN enhancements

SCVMM can now use SAN migration mechanisms to move virtual machines in and out of clusters. Multiple LUNs per single iSCSI target are now supported, which lets SCVMM use certain iSCSI products from Network Appliance and EMC.

Networking enhancements

From 2008 R2 comes support for Virtual Machine Queues (VMQs) & Chimney (TCP offload engines). VMQs are a mechanism for the network cards to transfer data via DMA directly into the child partition’s memory. Also, different processors can serve different queues, thus enhancing scalability greatly. For more details, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd434877.aspx

Support for MAC spoofing
Support for reusable port groups in VMWare VirtualCenter.
Maintenance mode support

Maintenance mode is supported across all platforms: Hyper-V, VS and VMWare ESX hosts. Putting a host in maintenance mode triggers live migration (where possible) of all VMs on the host on Windows 2008 R2 and VMWare. Also,migrations for performance and resource optimization (PRO) to the host are disabled.

Disjoint domains support
BITS compact server support for network transfers

2009-3

How to create a Print Cluster

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

If you have a cluster and thinking about how to host my printers on the cluster, wiil it be hard to do or not.

No it is easy to do.

Below is a screen shot of a print cluster, all you need is a disk for the spooler dir. IP address and a network name.

In my case I created a extra backup lan , be aware a spooler directory can be huge, think about printing a powerpoint

So I don’t have to tell how to create a disk , IP or Network Name just follow the wizard.

But the thing is setting up the Spooler folder You setting this in the cluster as below.

But You easy forget to set this path in the printer server it self here stands something like

C:\windows\system32\spool\printers

And do you really want to log all the spooler info ? If you have more than 800 Printers ? when did you look in this logfile ?

Yes if you have troubles but in most cases you clean the log and start all over ( IMHO ) after a brief review.

But more important is the printer creating do not create a printer on node 1 or node 2 but you must create the printer on the printer virtual network name. only than will the printer failover to the other node and you must set the spooler folder to the right location.

This post is not a complete guide for how to…. but a quick think about…. below are some microsoft links that are very helpfull

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/print/default.mspx

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302539/en-us

2009-3

Network Monitor 3.3 Beta has Released!

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Network Monitor | Comments Off

Please also visit our NM33 Beta Release Blog for some more information.

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/NMExperts/

What’s New in NM3.3 Beta

§ Ability to capture on WWAN and Tunnel interfaces on Win7

§ Critical fixes to NM3.3 to operate correctly with Hyper-V

§ Right-click add to alias. Right-click a frame in the Frame Summary window with an IPv4, IPv6, or MAC address to add that address as a new alias.

§ Right click go to definition: Right-click a field in the Frame Details windows and select Go To Data Field Definition or Go To Data Type Definition to see where the field is defined in the NPL parsers.

§ Auto-scroll. See the most recent traffic as it comes in. In a live capture, click the Autoscroll button on the main toolbar to have the Frame Summary window automatically scroll down to display the most recent frames as they come in. Click Autoscroll again to freeze the view in its present location.

§ Experts available online: Experts are stand-alone applications that analyze Network Monitor capture data. Various experts are available online at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=133950.

§ Frame Comments: Attach comments to frames in a saved capture file. Select the Frame Comments tab in the lower-right window to add, view, edit, or delete comments.

§ API Extensions: API methods have been added to enable access to conversation information, properties, field display strings, and comments.

§ Ability to open ETL files and correlate information by Network Tracing scenario

Technorati Tags: Network Monitor,3.3,Experts,Page

2009-2

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 Technology Adoption Program

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

Announcing the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 Technology Adoption Program

Microsoft is currently building the update to System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (ConfigMgr07) titled Service Pack 2. The ConfgMgr Technology Adoption Program (TAP) team is pleased to announce that we are now soliciting participation in the System Center Configuration Manager Service Pack 2 Product validation program.

What’s New?
ConfigMgr07 SP2 will include new OS support along with improving on the Intel AMT integration.

New Operating System Support

Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008 SP2
Windows Vista SP2

(Intel) Active Management Technology Integration – Version 2

Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 will improve on the Intel AMT (iAMT) integration provided in Service Pack 1. SP2 will add full feature support for computers that have the Intel vPro chip set and iAMT firmware versions 4 & 5. In addition to providing feature parity with SP1 and iAMT firmware versions 3.2.1, 4.0 and 5.0, support for the below new features are being added:

OOB Wireless Management: Wireless Profile Management (mobile ONLY)

Provide configuration of up to eight (8) wireless profiles per site that are available to AMT clients assigned to that site
Set the wireless information during AMT provisioning and configure all required profile settings (SSID, key management, encryption, etc.)
Send wireless profile operations to the Intel translator on AMT systems with revisions earlier than 3.2.1

End Point Access Control: 802.1x support

Provision 802.1x settings on AMT wireless clients during AMT provisioning
Send 802.1x settings operations to the Intel translator on AMT systems with revisions earlier than 3.2.1

Persistent Data Storage: Non Volatile Memory or Third Party Data Store (3PDS)

Write string data into 3PDS on AMT through OOB management console

Access Monitor: Audit Log

Enable or Disable Audit Log (no critical event settings)
View Audit Log through OOB Console

Remote Power Management: Power State Configuration

Enable configuration of the power policy settings and include in provisioning settings when provisioning an AMT system

Program Description

This program is designed to provide collaboration with your company and Microsoft. The purpose is to validate through lab testing and the deployment of pre-release builds. Your company will have the opportunity to provide design and performance feedback for the product. You can do this through the reporting of bugs and submission of Design Change Requests (DCRs), as well as provide general feedback for product group consideration. This program will provide customers with support from the Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager product group, as well as 24×7 support for production deployment issues. The program starts soon and finishes by the end of the calendar year 2009.

Program Requirements

All participants must:

Prior to program participation, have a signed TAP Agreement and System Center Configuration Manager SP2 Program Description on file with Microsoft. If you do not have a Master TAP Agreement with Microsoft currently, please work with your Technical Account Manager, Account TS, or other Microsoft representative to get one completed.
Commit to providing resources for the duration of the program
Commit to timely response of survey and feedback requests from Microsoft
Agree to participate in some form of public relations activities as identified in the TAP agreement and the System Center Configuration Manager SP2 Program description
Have a Microsoft Premier Support contract which includes a Microsoft Technical Account Manager resource
Provide a project plan for deployment
Deploy each milestone build of pre-release System Center Configuration Manager Sp2 into your production environment within 14 days of availability
Meet the following deployment goals:
1. Beta – 500 or more clients installed and actively managed by the product
2. RC – 2,000 or more clients installed and actively managed by the product.

Program Benefits

All participants receive:

The opportunity to shape this update to Configuration Manager 2007 through direct feedback to Microsoft
Regularly scheduled conference calls with a member of the System Center Configuration Manager Team. Discussions will include deployment planning, feedback, feature review presentations from members of the System Center Configuration Manager Product Group, and other customer driven topics
Production certified pre-release builds as well as exclusive access to interim lab-only builds of the product
Web-based bug reporting and priority bug resolution
Support and deployment guidance from the System Center Configuration Manager Product Group, as well as 24×7 support from Microsoft Beta Customer Support Services for production deployment issues
A dedicated Program Manager contact in the System Center Configuration Manager Product Group
A head start in the next deployment cycle, taking advantage of new and enhanced features available in System Center Configuration Manager SP2
Potential onsite visits by members of the Product Group in order to help with production deployment and feedback.

Nominations

A short nomination survey is located here:

Full link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=EFslbxTQdA6OCgbp_2fg8iNQ_3d_3d

Participant Selection

The number of available slots in the program is limited. The selection is based on a broad set of criteria and not solely on a customer’s commitment to fulfill program requirements.

Prioritization will be given to organizations that meet one or more of the following profiles:

Are currently in the Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 TAP, *and* have Configuration Manager 2007 deployed
Have participated in the Configuration Manager 2007 TAP and are significantly deployed with Configuration Manager in production
Have participated in previous SMS or Configuration Manager 2007 TAP and are significantly deployed with Configuration Manager in production
Have Intel AMT hardware deployed in production *and* have Configuration Manager 2007 deployed.
Are using Configuration Manager Operating System Deployment (OSD) and have a business need to deploy Windows 7 using OSD.

Program Timetable (all dates are estimates and subject to change)

February 2009	Initial Nomination period	Submission of System Center Configuration Manager SP2 Nomination Surveys by or on behalf of interested customers.
March 2009	Customers selected	Customers selected for the program are notified and given information regarding initial participation.
April / May 2009	Readiness/Planning	Online information sessions and conference calls to get familiar with feature set and initiate planning
June 2009	Beta	Deployment in production environment. Product validation and feedback submitted.
Summer	RC	More extensive deployment in production environment. Product validation and feedback submitted.
Win7 plus 90 days	Release to Manufacturing	Upgrade to released build and enterprise-wide deployment.

Please contact sccmtap@microsoft.com with any questions you may have regarding this communication or the nomination process.

Sincerely,

The System Center Configuration Manager Technology Adoption Program team

Technorati Tags: System Center,Configuration Manager,2007,Service Pack 2,Technology,Adoption,Program

2009-2

Microsoft Fix it Solution Center

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: FixIT | Comments Off

There is this new thing Microsoft Fix it Solution Center.

Thank you for your interest in Microsoft Fix it. We’re working hard to automate solutions to common software problems in an easy, intuitive way that is available when and where you need it. So whether you are looking for a solution in help or support content, or an error report, Fix it provides a way to apply automated fixes, workarounds, or configuration changes so you don’t have to perform a long list of manual steps yourself.

nice blog : http://blogs.technet.com/fixit4me/

Have you ever come across a Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article or been presented with a Windows Error Reporting (WER) solution and asked yourself, why can’t Microsoft just fix this for me? Today KB articles and WER solutions provide you with a list of steps that can be followed to resolve your issue. However, tomorrow looks much different and we hope it helps you resolve any issues you have with our products faster and easier. <> Read more http://blogs.technet.com/fixit4me/

2009-2

Internet Explorer 7 is here! It’s time to upgrade

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Internet | Comments Off

There are several sites promoting IE7 , or even better use IE 8. I know why not using firefox or etc. Well I like IE and i here you oh it is insecure I know but you say this also for Vista and a Firewall and there for in the binary 0+0+1= 1 so Yes I am save and a happy user.

So Get It now , even Yahoo says so.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/download-ie.aspx

Yahoo! Home – Help

Internet Explorer 7 optimized for Yahoo!

Internet Explorer 7 is here!

It’s time to upgrade

Stay safer online with enhanced security
Upgrading is simple, fast, and free
Favorite Yahoo! services are 1 click away

The new Internet Explorer 7

optimized for Yahoo!

Download Now

By clicking Download Now, you agree to the Software License and Privacy Policy for the Yahoo! Toolbar.

Optimized for Yahoo!, with:

2 home pages: Yahoo! & Yahoo! News
Yahoo! Search as your default
Yahoo! Toolbar

Additional features of IE 7:

Simpler to get around with a new streamlined design
Faster and more organized surfing with Tabs
Keep your IE6 favorites and bookmarks — they’ll come along with you

System Requirements

Operating Systems supported:

Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Windows XP Professional x64
Windows Server 2003 SP1

Memory and disk space:

64 MB of RAM (minimum)
12 MB disk space

The new Internet Explorer 7: Download Now

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/download-ie.aspx

2009-2

Windows(R) Image to Virtual Hard Disk (WIM2VHD) Converter

Category: System Center | Tags: Hyper-V, System Center, The New Efficiency, Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios | Comments Off

during my very busy week I can’t post a lot but There is one tool that is very handy.

Check it out.

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/wim2vhd

http://blogs.msdn.com/mikekol/

Introduction

The Windows(R) Image to Virtual Hard Disk (WIM2VHD) command-line tool allows you to create sysprepped VHD images from any Windows 7 installation source. VHDs created by WIM2VHD will boot directly to the Out Of Box Experience, ready for your first-use customizations. You can also automate the OOBE by supplying your own unattend.xml file, making the possibilities limitless.
Fresh squeezed, organically grown, free-range VHDs – just like Mom used to make – that work with Virtual PC, Virtual Server, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Windows 7′s new Native VHD-Boot functionality!

Requirements

A computer running one of the following Windows operating systems:
- Windows 7
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V RTM enabled (x64 only)
The Windows 7 Beta Automated Installation Kit (AIK) or Windows OEM Pre-Installation Kit (OPK) installed.
A Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 installation source, or another Windows image captured to a .WIM file.

I guess it wasn’t last call – register those Windows Vista Promo Kit PINs Teched 2008 EMEA

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Microsoft Vista | Comments Off

Last Call Register You Vista Copy

I would imagine some of you attended Microsoft events last year. At some of those events we handed out or raffled off NFR copies of Windows Vista Ultimate SP1.

Here’s a pretty picture of the kit I grabbed from one of those events.

Many of you ran home and cracked the seal on the kit and immediately followed the instructions. Those instructions told you to go to the website at http://www.registerwindowsvistasp1.com/ and plug in your PIN (the one inside the kit), your information and submit the request. After you submit the request, an email is sent to you with a valid product key for installation. The process worked perfectly until the deadline. That’s the good news.

The deadline WAS 12/31/2008.

Repeat, WAS.

For those of you that missed that deadline, it has now been extended until June 30, 2009.

So if you still have a kit and didn’t register it, please go do it now and have the product ID emailed to you.

Don’t expect the deadline to be extended again. Get over there and get this done. Please.

Source: Keith Combs’ Blahg Ramblings from another nerd on the grid

But Remember Not All Vista copy’s needs the Pin code. My copy’s are with the right product key )

2009-2

Veeam Monitor 3.0 Free Edition

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center, VMWARE | 1 Comment

In my new test lab I run hyper-v and Vmware today I looked at a free tool to monitor the ESX enviroment. I must say If you don’t have SCOM this is a welcome add on to see what is going on. I am no ESX expert ( yet ) so this is my opinion.

The Veeam Monitor Free Edition is an easy-to-use VMware monitoring solution designed to meet the day-to-day needs of VMware administrators who need real-time performance monitoring and alerting. Built from the ground up specifically for the virtual world, Veeam Monitor provides a bird’s-eye view of key performance metrics across your virtual ESXi infrastructure.
With Veeam Monitor, you can view real-time resource usage data for any virtual infrastructure object or collection of objects, as well as known infrastructure events, all on a single screen. This allows you to finally see your virtual infrastructure as a unified entity, not just a collection of isolated hosts and guests.

Veeam Monitor 3.0

http://www.veeam.com/esxi-monitoring-free.html

2009-2

Live Maps v3 available

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

We are very proud to announce the general availability of Live Maps for Operations Manager version 3. The new release greatly enhances IT organizations’ ability to conceive, build and maintain large-scale monitoring maps. New view types, wizards and templates allow IT professionals to quickly construct dynamically updated business process maps and executive dashboards. These new map types ensure that employees at all levels, from the IT operator to the business executive, have access to the map needed to proactively manage IT problems that affect business operations.

What’s new in version 3?

· Application and Network Topologies: Live Maps v3 allows you to create true end-to-end diagrams of your applications and network from within the Live Maps Authoring console with real Operations Manager objects. Simple drag and drop operations combined with Live Maps v3 new advanced drawing controls make it simple and fast.

· Business Process Monitoring: Using the new business process shapes in Live Maps v3 you can easily model your business process and map them to the IT infrastructure that supports them, giving everybody, IT manager, end- user and the business process owner, instant insight into the health of a business process.

· Auto-updating Geographical Maps: By combining any of the over 300+ built-in maps with the new rule-based dynamic list Live Maps v3 lets you create maps that automatically keep up to date while your IT environment evolves. The built-in ability of Live Maps to create unlimited levels of maps ensures you will never lose overview.

· Dashboards: Dashboards are easy to understand top level views of the state of your environment. And you can take any perspective, locations, business process, IT services, whatever fits your needs. Using the built-in drilldown feature you can still get to the root cause of the problem within a few simple clicks.

What others are saying…

“I consider Savision Live Maps as the number one gotta-have OpsMgr extension.” says Cameron Fuller, OpsMgr MVP

“With Live Maps v3, we are able to rapidly deploy maintenance-free monitoring maps for our 800 locations,” says Diego Zamora, IT Manager at one of the world’s largest shipping companies. “The new version allows us define simple rules that help dynamically build and update maps. Using the new site wizard, we were able to create hundreds of geographically connected maps in an hour. And, these maps are automatically updated as our environment changes. Live Maps has allowed us to build maps that truly unlock our investment in Microsoft Operations Manager.”

What should you do next?

Check out an online demo of the new version at www.savision.com/demo. If you like what you see, and we believe you will, request a fully functional evaluation copy of Live Maps v3 at www.savision.com/eval.

Technorati Tags: www.savision.com,demo,Live Maps,v3

2009-2

ISCSI – VMWARE – Cluster tips from the field part two

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center, VMWARE | Comments Off

Technorati Tags: Cluster,news,groups,ISCSI,target,windows 2003,datacenter,edition,VMWARE,Hyper V,Initiator

Ok below is the disk layout and the hardware layout , as you can see the ISCSI software is in place. ( setup next, I agree,finish )

Below You can see the configured Services ( all default )

Sample screen shot from the configured ISCSI targets ( disks) the iscsi disk are vhd file !

For performance reasons I did a NLB on the NIC’s both nic’s are GBit and during a copy I got 39 % network load on one nic after the NLB i had only 10 % max, in this case I did Not use the ISCSI option in the HP nic. I will show you this in the next post.

The Disk layout. and the ISCSI Software MMC

Setting up a new ISCSI Disk used for the VMware server. Right mouse on the Server Create new virtual disk (vhd )

Watch out With the disk size it is in MB WHO uses a MB disk size I’m not so 1 GB = 1000 MB First time I did not read the stuff just next next Finish until the OS install I had only 15 MB disk size ;-(

Give the Disk a name so it is easy to find if you have more than one disk.

On the VMWare Server you have to check out several things. Go to the VMWARE server and configuration , Storage adapter.

You have to enable the ISCSI channel

After this you put in the ISCSI Server that you just create the virtual disk. Then Do a Rescan on the Adapter

If you don’t see the disk than you forgot to add the Service console ISCSI, it is in the manual but easy to forget. And give it an IP number but do not use the Gateway !! this is default the case just remove the Gateway.

So go to the Storage add Storage and it is a disk lun you can see this also in the iscsi server LUN 0- xxx

So after this you must see the disk and it is ready for use.

There is more than one software tool to get ISCSI running. I’m only use this to show how you can do this.

2009-2

Forefront Threat Management Gateway Beta 2

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Forefront | Comments Off

Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway is a comprehensive secure Web gateway that helps protect your corporate assets and employees from Web threats. It also delivers easy-to-use, unified perimeter security to protect networks from attack.

Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway is a comprehensive secure Web gateway that helps protect Web-using employees from threats on the Web with an enterprise-class Web proxy and anti-malware functionality. Forefront TMG helps ensure that encrypted Web sessions (SSL) are protected from threats. It also delivers simple, unified perimeter security to protect networks from attack by providing an integrated application and network-layer firewall, intrusion prevention, VPN connectivity, and management of e-mail security. It enables you to easily maximize existing information technology (IT) investments by improving network security and performance. The newly added protection technologies will help you inspect e-mail traffic for spam and malware and enforce content policy compliance in your organization. Furthermore, Forefront TMG protects the organization from zero-day-attacks, and inspects outbound HTTP and HTTPS traffic to improve Internet security for your organization.

Forefront TMG Beta 2 can help you:
• Protect users from Web browsing threats (Secure Web Gateway)
• Control network Access at the edge (Firewall)
• Protect users from e-mail threats (E-mail Protection)
• Protect desktops and servers from intrusion attempts (Network Inspection System, Security Assessment Sharing)
• Enable users to remotely access corporate resources (VPN, Secure Web Publishing)
• Simplify management and deployment
• Integrate with the Forefront Security Suite (codename Stirling) to provide a unified security solution for protecting all of the assets in your organization
Note: Connecting Forefront TMG to a Stirling Server is supported only with the public Beta 2 of Forefront Codenamed Stirling

System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2008

• A computer with a 64-bit processor.
• 2 gigabytes (GB) or more of memory
• 2.5 GB of available hard disk space. This is exclusive of hard disk space that you want to use for caching or for temporarily storing files during malware inspection.
• One network adapter that is compatible with the computer’s operating system, for communication with the Internal network.
• An additional network adapter for each network connected to the Forefront TMG server.
• One local hard disk partition that is formatted with the NTFS file system.

This software requires Windows Server 2008 64-bit software to run.

Technorati Tags: Forefront,Threat,Management,Gateway,Beta 2,public Beta 2,Forefront Codenamed Stirling

2009-2

Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios | Comments Off

We are pleased to announce that this Solution Accelerator has now been released to TechNet and is now available now on the Microsoft Download Center: http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/B/C/5BC966BC-47D8-41DF-95F2-FA9A2D816258/Windows_Optimized_Desktop_Scenarios.zip

The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios relate the IT and user business requirements for a flexible, efficient, and managed desktop environment to sets of complementary Microsoft technologies. It accomplishes this by defining and using five standard user scenarios that map business requirements to technology solutions. These core scenarios cover most desktop user situations. They are: Office Worker, Mobile Worker, Task Worker, Contract/Offshore Worker, and workers who need to Access from Home. Each scenario puts a different emphasis on applications, security, and networking. In this way, these scenarios provide a flexible, adaptable desktop experience that meets the business requirements of each of these users.

Solution Accelerator Components

This accelerator includes the following components:
. Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Assessment (a guide)
. Windows Optimized Desktop Scenario Selection Tool

The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Assessment Guide:
The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Assessment describes the five user scenarios defined for the Windows Optimized Desktop and further describes the Microsoft products and technologies that underpin each scenario solution. Additionally, this document guides you through an assessment of the user profiles in your organization to identify which scenario or scenarios best meets their needs.

Windows Optimized Desktop Scenario Selection Tool:
The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenario Selection Tool is designed to help you identify applicable scenarios, based on user and business requirements, for each user segment within your organization.

Download This Tool

You can download the IPD Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Assessment Guide and Tool here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/B/C/5BC966BC-47D8-41DF-95F2-FA9A2D816258/Windows_Optimized_Desktop_Scenarios.zip
This is the latest Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guide in a growing popular series which cover deployment, product integration and virtualization among other IT Pro subjects. Read more about the IPD series here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd408383.aspx

Additional Resources

Solution Accelerators on TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/default.aspx
Infrastructure Planning and Design, Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios, Executive Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd334417.aspx
Windows Optimized Desktop: Overview on MS.COM: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/optimized-desktop/default.aspx

Regards
The Solution Accelerator Team

2009-1

The Stig is ben Collins from Top Gear

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Fun | Comments Off

The Top gear mask driver is in real life Ben Collins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Collins_(driver)

Technorati Tags: Top Gear,ben,collins,stig,auto,car,driver,bike,fast,speed

2009-1

Clustering Access-based Enumeration (ABE)

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Clustered Access-based Enumeration (ABE) | 1 Comment

I Saw this newsgroup post how to do this and what to do.

Remember ABE needs to setup on ALL Cluster nodes !!

First We set up the Access-based Enumeration (ABE) on the nodes.

Do this on all the nodes !!

First We need to create a File share that We will use for Access-based Enumeration (ABE)

Start the Cluadmin and create New fileshare

Now that the File share is in place we move on to the next step.

In the Cluster admin

So Now that the Cluster Resources are online lets check the status of the file shares, first the share that runs on the cluster but without the abe

As you can see the box in not checked

The ABE created file share

ABE is enabled

Below are some Items about the Cmd tool

Syntax

abecmd [/enable | /disable] [/server <ServerName>] {/all | <ShareName>}

Parameter Description

/enable Enables ABE on the shared specified resource or on all shared resources.

/disable Disables ABE on the shared specified resource or on all shared resources.

/server <ServerName>

Apply the action (making ABE enabled or not enabled) for shared resources on a server instead of the local computer.

/all Apply the action (making ABE enabled or not enabled) for all shared resources.

Note: If /all and a ShareName is specified, the ShareName is ignored.

<ShareName> Designates the shared resource to which ABE will be applied or removed.

Note: Either /all or ShareName must be specified.

Performance Sheets

1 Chart comparing folder access times with ABE not enabled and enabled, in turn

2 Detail of the first comparative chart focusing on smaller folders, filtered for disk reading

The data in Figure 72shows the same information as the data in Figure 1, narrowed down to smaller directories: the chart only shows information for directories with 500 to 16,000 files.

Note that accessing the shared folder can sometimes be slower with ABE not enable. The server cache was primed before these test runs, enumerating the shared folders with ABE not enabled in order to read things like security profiles from the hard disk. This was done in order not to skew the test results: reading information from the hard disk is much more time-consuming than enumerating a shared folder with ABE enabled (as evidenced by Runs 1 and 2, both of which still had to read some information from the hard disk). Most importantly, with less than 15,000 files in the shared folder, access time for a server with ABE enabled and not enabled is indistinguishable—less than one second. While enabling ABE can certainly affect access time for particularly large folders, it represents a near trivial performance loss for smaller folders.

Technorati Tags: Access-based Enumeration (ABE),Fileshare,Microsoft,Cluster,Windows 2003

2009-1

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: MDT | Comments Off

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010

Deploy Windows 7 beta with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010. Join the beat and download MDT 2010 now at http://connect.microsoft.com.
MDT 2010 is the next version of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, a solution accelerator for operating system and application deployment. New features like flexible driver management, optimized transaction processing, and access to distribution shares from any location simplify deployment and make your job easier. Deploy faster and easier with MDT 2010. Join the beta now.
Tell us what you think! Join the beta and send us your honest feedback. We appreciate your input.
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit is the fourth generation deployment accelerator from Microsoft. It is the recommended process and toolset to automate desktop and server deployment. MDT benefits you by providing:

Detailed guidance and job aids for every organized role involved with large-scale deployment projects.
Unified tools and processes required for desktop and server deployment in a common deployment console and collection of guidance.
Reduced deployment time, standardized desktop and server images, along with improved security and ongoing configuration management.

Tell your peers about MDT 2010! Please forward this mail to anyone who wants to learn more about Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.

2009-1

Infrastructure Planning and Design Guides-Release Announcement Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 SP1

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: DPM | Comments Off

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has released a new guide, Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 SP1.
Looking to protect your organization’s data but not quite sure how to do this? This guide leads the reader through the process of planning a Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2007 SP1 infrastructure. Work through the infrastructure design process in a logical, sequential order. This guide enables the reader to quickly identify what types of data will be protected, what the recovery goals are, and the protection strategy to achieve those goals. Other benefits of using this guide include best practice design guidance from the product group and an optimized infrastructure to best meet the business requirements.
Download the guide by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/ipd and selecting "Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 SP1" under the Guidance section, toward the top of the page.
Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning process by:

Defining the technical decision flow through the planning process.
Listing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.
Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.
Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

Related Resources
Check out all the Infrastructure Planning and Design team has to offer! Visit the IPD page on TechNet, http://www.Microsoft.com/ipd, for additional information, including our most recent guides.

2009-1

Happy 2009

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

Happy 2009

2008-12

Operations Manager 2007 R2 Interop Connectors

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center, System Center Operations Manger R2 Setup | Comments Off

Hello Operations Manager Community,
We are excited to announce the release of the Operations Manager 2007 R2 Interop Connectors (Beta 2) to Connect.
This package contains the beta software for System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Interop Connectors.
The following Connectors are included:

Operations Manager 2007 R2 Connector for Tivoli Enterprise Console
Operations Manager 2007 R2 Connector for HP OpenView Operations
Operations Manager 2007 R2 Universal Connector

https://connect.microsoft.com/
Title Operations Manager 2007 R2 Interop Connectors – Beta 2
Release Date 12/19/2008
Size 122.95 MB
Version 1.0.0.0
Category Build
Milestone Beta 2

2008-12

How To Windows 2008 NLB Part 1

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Windows 2008 NLB | Comments Off

Using NLB is very handy on several configurations ( but remember there is a lot of broadcast trafic ) so the nlb network should be in a different subnet than your own production network.

First add the feature in windows 2008 , start up the NLB mmc on the server.

In my care I have 3 nic , one production , two DHCP.

I did new cluster and the wizzard starts. I did pick the second nic.

The warning is I NEED a fixed IP !! so i put in a fix IP and added the cluster IP address

Most of the times You don’t need every port on the nic , for webservers it is only one or two ports. I my case I used the opsmgr webconsole basic port 51908.

Now One host is ready to go.

I went to my IIS 7 MMC

For changing the IP you do on the website edit bindings get the default. And Edit the settings.

As you can see the NLB cluster IP is there I did not config a second IP for the NLB . So I put in the NLB IP and now the website is listening on the NLB IP. AND NOT on the default IP from the server.

So If you want to add a second IP to the NLB go back to the NLB config an do edit on the cluster properties

as you can see the IIS config shows the second IP

This could be handy for large webfarms that uses hostheaders.

For Setting up the Second , thirth node just add the machine in the cluster Add host and settings are deployed to the other server.

Fixed IP is needed !!

Technorati Tags: windows 2008,NLB,IIS7,Cluster

2008-12

Blog item on Microsoft.com

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: blog post | Comments Off

Ok this has nothing to do with anything, just it is nice to have some credit put things on the web and see where it is landing. everyone is googling or yahooing seeking 4 stuff to solve the problem or seeking 4 info. bloggers living on that blog hits and reposting.

Today the funny thing on 5-12-2008 my blog post is on the microsoft site. It is about clustering and how to setup this thing.

I plan to do a series about clustering so maybe I see you at my blog.

2008-11

MOM 2005 latest agent version 5.0.2911.52

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: MOM 2005, MOM 2005 Agent | Comments Off

Technorati Tags: MOM 2005 agent,5.0.2911.50,5.0.2911.52

Still there are a lot of MOM 2005 sites all waiting to be transferred to Opsmgr. But sometimes the old site needs be be running for some old really apps and sometimes you break some thing on the agent. the last hotfix for the MOM 2005 agent was Article ID: 942736 – Last Review: November 13, 2007 – Revision: 1.2 but I had some problem with some agents and it turned out there was a fix

Article ID: 930770 – Last Review: August 9, 2007 – Revision: 2.3

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930770/

Event ID 9014 and Event ID 9015 are logged, and MOMservice.exe stops unexpectedly after you configure a Collect Specific Events (Collection) rule in Microsoft Operations Manager 2005.

This problem may occur if the Collect Specific Events (Collection) rule is configured to collect security event parameters. In this scenario, the Collect Specific Events (Collection) rule may occasionally collect more parameters than requested. This behavior may cause the MOM service to stop.

this brings the agent to build 5.0.2911.50

But now there is build 5.0.2911.52.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949874

In Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005, the MOM service (Momservice.exe) may crash when you run the discovery process on many agent computers. Therefore, the functionality that this service provides is lost.
When this problem occurs, the following event is logged in the System log:

Source: Service Control Manager
Date: Date
Event ID: 7031
Level: Error
User: N/A
Computer: Computer Name
Description: The MOM service terminated unexpectedly. It has done this 1 time(s). The following corrective action will be taken in 60000

Additionally, the following events are logged in the Application log:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Microsoft Operations Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 9014
Date: Date
Time: Time
User: N/A
Computer: Computer Name
Description: The Microsoft Operations Manager service (MOMService.exe) terminated due to an unhandled exception. It will attempt to restart itself.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Microsoft Operations Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 9015
Date: Date
Time: Time
User: N/A
Computer: Computer Name
Description: The Microsoft Operations Manager service (MOMService.exe) received an unexpected exception.
Thread Id: ID
Thread Name: Name
Exception code: 0x00000000c0000005
Exception description: Access Violation
Exception address: address
Exception flags: 0×0

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949874

2008-11

MOM 2005 latest agent version 5.0.2911.52

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: MOM 2005, MOM 2005 Agent | Comments Off

Technorati Tags: MOM 2005 agent,5.0.2911.50,5.0.2911.52

Article ID: 930770 – Last Review: August 9, 2007 – Revision: 2.3

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930770/

Event ID 9014 and Event ID 9015 are logged, and MOMservice.exe stops unexpectedly after you configure a Collect Specific Events (Collection) rule in Microsoft Operations Manager 2005.

this brings the agent to build 5.0.2911.50

But now there is build 5.0.2911.52.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949874

Additionally, the following events are logged in the Application log:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949874

2008-11

Garmin 765T

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Holliday | 1 Comment

I have this new navi tool the garmin 765T and I must say it is fast with calculations, see where i wanna go. not so good feature is the “ i do not wanne ride this road “ and that my car clock is not that good when i drive 235 it is only 222 ;-(

In time I will check it at a larger speed.

From Snow to Java/Bali

2008-11

OpsMgr 2007 Cross Platform Extensions

Category: System Center | Tags: SCOM, SCOM & TUX, Security, Service Manager, System Center, System Center Operations Manger R2 Setup | Comments Off

SCOM R2 has this new feature Monitoring TUX boxes here are screenshots

This is a cool thing get the latest MP direct from microsoft Catalog. but first installing the TUX addon

As you can see the Tux MP’s and the TUX agents are in place.

Adding Tux Machines to the SCOM RMS

Get the info TO microsoft TUX overview

Download the MP’s direct from the Catalog no more what do I need, it is all here.

Do an add and the product list is here

A TUX session is not far away….

2008-11

System Center Operations Manager Setup R2

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: System Center Operations Manger R2 Setup | Comments Off

For those who can’t setup SCOM R2 here are the Screenshots

Just Run the Setup , In my case I used Windows 2008

As you can see several errors and warnings. The 2 gb memory.

But more important the ASP,NET 3,5, Ajax ( not the Soccer team )

ASP.NET Ajax Extensions 1.0 are not found.

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=89064&clcid=0×409

Install SQL Server 2005 trial version from the link provided and run prerequisite checker again http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=53192

Install ASP.NET Ajax Extensions 1.0 for ASP.NET 2.0 from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=89064&clcid=0×409

I used the 500 Mb switch the DB will be much faster created

As You can see I fully trust Microsoft IMHO I think that only with these settings we can help to improve the product. !

And then there was an error ????? WHAT is that SQL rights. yes remember the UAC (User Account Control (UAC))

I did not do this. so I repeat all the steps and I’m done So remember this !

Technorati Tags: Setting Up,SCOM R2

So We have to make a backup for the RMS Key !! If you ever want to restore the RMS server. I have no intention to do this but in case someone meshed up my server

So this is the Setup

2008-11

Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Windows Optimized Desktop | Comments Off

The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Assessment Guide
The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Assessment Guide describes the five user scenarios defined for the Windows Optimized Desktop and further describes the Microsoft products and technologies that underpin each scenario solution. This document guides you through an assessment of user groups in your organization to identify the scenario or scenarios that best fit your environment.

Windows Optimized Desktop Scenario Selection Tool
The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenario Selection Tool is designed to help you identify applicable scenarios, based on user and business requirements, for each user segment within your organization. The tool is included with this guide in the download package.

Get it on the connect site.

The Business Challenge. IT organizations constantly need to adapt to meet changing requirements such as lowering cost, increasing security, adhering to regulations and going green. In particular, the way desktop users interact with the enterprise is changing rapidly with new technology and workplace innovations.

The Windows Optimized Desktop. New desktop technologies from Microsoft offer more choices to optimize desktop flexibility, richness, and cost. To help you make the best technology choices for your desktop users, Microsoft has classified user needs in five different scenarios based on user profiles: Office workers, Mobile worker, Task worker, Contract or offshore worker and Access from home. These scenarios reflect different user needs which can be optimally met by different combinations of desktop technologies.

Task Worker Office Worker Mobile Worker Anywhere Worker Contract Worker

Solution Accelerator Components. This new Solution Accelerator includes a guide and a tool that are designed to help you understand what is meant by these different scenarios, and to help you identify the best fit for your organization.

Windows optimized Desktop Scenario Assessment. This guide offers an approach to segmenting user populations by characteristics such as the types of computers and applications they use, where they work, and the nature of their workflows. This segmentation – the five common desktop scenarios – can then become the basis of creating an infrastructure that “optimizes the desktop” of each individual user.
Windows Optimized Desktop Scenario Selection Tool. This tool is a decision-making tool that maps business requirements to the most appropriate scenario for a group of desktop users. This tool will help you understand the relationship between desktop business requirements and the technologies suggested for each scenario.

2008-11

Microsoft Web Platform Installer (Release Candidate)

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Microsoft Web Platform Installer (Release Candidate) | Comments Off

http://www.microsoft.com/web/channel/products/WebPlatformInstaller.aspx

Microsoft Web Platform Installer (Release Candidate)

The Web Platform Installer (Web PI) is a simple tool that installs Microsoft’s entire Web Platform, including IIS7, Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition, SQL Server 2008 Express Edition and the .NET Framework. Using the Web Platform Installer’s user interface, you can choose to install either specific products or the entire Microsoft Web Platform onto your computer. The Web PI also helps keep your products up to date by always offering the latest additions to the Web Platform.

New Updates! Now supporting Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, Web PI makes it easy to install and stay up-to-date with the Microsoft Web Platform. This updated release lets you install ASP.NET MVC, Visual Studio Tools for Silverlight, and much more!

System requirements

Supported Operating Systems are: Windows Vista RTM, Windows Vista SP1, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008
You must have administrator privileges on your computer to run Web Platform Installer
.NET 2.0 Framework
Supported Architectures: x86 and 64-bit

Installation Steps

Install Web PI in 3 easy steps:

Click on the "install now" button on this page to install and launch the Web Platform Installer.
Choose the profile that meets your needs or choose "Your Choice" for full control on you what you install.
Confirm and watch while Web PI downloads and installs what you need.

Once you have completed your platform installation, you can immediately start developing your Web solution. Support for Web Platform Installer can be received by visiting the Web Platform Installer Forum to discuss issues and suggestions.

2008-11

Service Manager Beta-1

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Service Manager | Comments Off

Service Manager Beta-1 is now ready for download on the connect site.

System Center Service Manager links IT to the business by enabling IT organizations to respond to changing business needs while delivering reliable and cost-effective IT services. Service Manager is an extensible platform that delivers out-of-box workflows to automate IT operations around incident and problem resolution and change management. Leveraging a model-based CMDB, Service Manager complements Configuration Manager and Operations Manager by serving as the central hub through which all IT assets and processes are tracked, playing a critical role in driving the value of IT services to the business.

Welcome to the Service Manager Public Beta Program

Welcome to the Service Manager public beta
Here is our overall schedule between now and when the product is completed:

Beta 1 H2 Calendar Year 2008
Beta 2 H2 Calendar Year 2009
Release to Manufacturing (RTM) 1H Calendar Year 2010

2008-11

Operations Manager 2007 R2 Beta 1 – Released

Category: System Center | Tags: SCOM, System Center, Teched 2008 | Comments Off

The System Center Operations Manager team is excited to announce the availability of the Operations Manager 2007 R2 beta, which is ready for you to download through Connect today! Operations Manager 2007 R2 introduces key new and enhanced functionality, including:

Enhanced application performance and availability across heterogeneous platforms
. Delivers monitoring across Windows, Linux and Unix servers-all through a single console.
. Extends end to end monitoring of distributed applications to any workload running on Windows, Unix and Linux platforms.
. Maximize availability of virtual workloads with integration with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008.

Improved management of applications in the data center
. Delivers on the scale requirements of URL monitoring of your business.
. Meet agreed service levels with enhanced reporting showing application performance and availability.
. More efficient problem identification and action to resolve issues.

Increased speed of access to information and functionality to drive management
. Faster load times for views and results.
. Improved and simplified management pack authoring experience

The Operations Manager 2007 R2 beta integrates the functionality delivered within the Cross Platform Extensions Beta. New betas of the Interoperability Connectors will available shortly through the Operations Manager R2 Connect program.

2008-11

Servers @ Teched EMEA 2008 get into the Cloud

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Teched Keynote | Comments Off

In the keynote there was a Item about System Center Operations Manager ( great tool R2 rocks ) But the way the Opsmgr demo was given this was way to fast for a real shot. was it a recorded demo ? , Flash Demo, Or a really tuned Server ?

Yes It was a real live demo on a sponsored Server By HP and I must say I would love to have this at home

It is just a single server little memory and disks , small processor. bear minimum specs. On the Upside of the list.

So where is the server ?

P1010690

With a lot of disks you can get lots of disk IOPS

Thanks to Microsoft for the Photo’s

2008-11

SKYDRIVE 25 GB of free online storage

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

If you don’t want 25 gb of free online storage then leave now

Skydrive is very handy for foto’s or files anything goes. checkit out.

Six months ago, we announced our last update to SkyDrive right here on the SkyDrive team blog. Although we’ve been pretty hush-hush since then, the team has been working diligently to bring you new features and improvements across SkyDrive and the rest of Windows Live based directly on your feedback.

While we work on the finishing touches, here’s a taste of what’s to come.

Even more free online storage
People are taking more photos than ever—50 billion in 2007—we figured you could use a little more storage space. How much? You told us you liked the last fivefold increase, so we’re doing it again, bringing the grand total to 25 GB of free online storage.

More control over your online data
You asked us to make it easier to organize and download your files, so we’re answering you with four key new features to address your needs:

Download photos directly to your Windows Live Photo Gallery.
Download as a .zip file. Download an entire folder in one compressed file (initially available only in the United States, Denmark, and Ireland).
Move files between folders.
Copy files to multiple folders.

Photos rule!
We love photos just as much as you do, that’s why we’ve added over 20 new features, improvements, and tweaks to make photos pop on SkyDrive. Here are a few of our favorites:

Bigger thumbnails. We’ve increased the display size your photos throughout the site.
Order prints. Order prints of your photos right from SkyDrive.
A gorgeous online slide show. Works with any browser, but works even better if you have Microsoft Silverlight installed.
People tags. Tag your friends and family.

Sharing should be easy
We’ve dramatically renovated the sharing experience to make it easier to share the stuff you care about.

Share your files and photos without requiring friends and family to use Windows Live ID
Organize your contacts by category for easy repeat sharing, or share with your entire network or extended network.
Share links to your favorite websites using Windows Live Toolbar. The links are stored on your SkyDrive.
See what your friends have shared lately all in one place.

Plus much, much more
Hold tight, we’re updating your SkyDrive sooner than you know it with dozens more improvements. Things like:

Keep your Internet Explorer favorites in sync between computers, and access them anywhere from your SkyDrive.
Make comments work the way you want them to with HTML, new comment options, and spam control.
A complete overhaul of the look and feel to match the look and feel of Windows Live.
More countries and regions: Arabia, China, Hong Kong, Israel, South Africa, Vietnam and 13 new languages: Basque, Catalan, Guajarati, Hindi, Indonesian, Kannada, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Serbian-Cyrillic, Tamil, Telugu, and Vietnamese.

When can you expect to see the changes? Soon. We’ll let you know the minute it’s available right here on the SkyDrive team blog.

http://skydriveteam.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!977F793E846B3C96!11672.entry

2008-11

http://www.systemcenterforum.org/

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Blog | Comments Off

System center forum updated there website.

A fresh layout and RSS feeds,and a very nice overview for downloads.

nice job pete.

2008-11

Intelligent Application Gateway (IAG) 2007 SP2

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Intelligent Application Gateway SP2 | Comments Off

I find IAG a nice product SSL VPN, application Dashboard, ok It is not that easy to handle but it is fully adjustable if you know how. easy manipulate files and it works. but now there is a sp2 coming and there will be a VHD. See below for the fully features.

Going Virtual! IAG NOW available as a Virtual Machine– (Hyper-V Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008)

Interoperability – Significantly enhanced support for Firefox, Linux and Mac
Enhanced Application Support
Dynamics CRM Web
OCS Web Client
Improved KCD/User Experience
Improved Performance
Getting Started Wizard
Incorporates all updates:
SharePoint Fix
WMI-based detection leveraging the Detection Center
IP based logging of Network Connector
Runs on Hyper-V Server 2008 or Windows 2008 with Hyper-V.
Minimal performance overhead
Appliance-like TCO & Security
Flexible hardware deployment
Easy disaster recovery, site replication and backup and restore
Virtual DMZ Architecture for customers with Virtual Data Server Farms to eliminate the need for physical network separation

No limitation to Microsoft shops
Capabilities
Detection capabilities – New
Cache cleaning – New
Port forwarding – Existing
Full tunnel – Not supported for now, use IP VPN instead
Experience
Some changes to Policy Admin UI
End user will get a Java security pop-up instead of our Download Manager UI
Newly supported Browsers & Platforms
Firefox, Safari
Windows, Linux, Mac
Host application detection
Support for a very wide selection of client security applications
Support of new versions of client products is pro-active, will get periodic updates from Microsoft

2008-11

Teched EMEA 2008

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Teched 2008 | Comments Off

So Teched is over, and as always it was fun. there were a lot of party’s but the Dutch party rocks ! at the lotus. I was early in the morning back in the hotel.

The down side at Teched 2008 was the food this S*cks realy lunch bags if you was to late the food was all gone, only ( left overs ).

But the good part is there were a lot off nice sessions. But the main course was System Center almost in every session there was a wink to SCOM / SCCM / SCSM / SCDPM etc etc .

The SCOM version R2 in coming soon and I must say there are a lot of new stuff there.

OpsMgr 2007 SP1 is mature and ready for prime time!
OpsMgr 2007 R2 is on track for release in Q2 2009
OpsMgr 10 will be a major new release in H1 2011

And the TUX connector Rocks. More to come later

Also SCCM R2 OS Deployment is very cool deploying vista or Windows 2008 R2 is easy to do.

•Application Virtualization Management
•Seamless integration to Microsoft Application Virtualization
•New OSD capability
•Additions of Multicast and Unknown Computer Support
•Client Status Reporting
•Client summary rollup of key performance indicators
•SQL Reporting Services Integration
•Migration of ConfigMgr reports to robust reporting platform
•Forefront Client security integration
•Configuration Pack knowledge of the Forefront client status

Later this week I will post more about new items and more….

See You at MMS or Teched Emea 2009

2008-11

Shift GRC efforts to Microsoft technologies

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

Download Now!

Use this new Solution Accelerator to shift your governance, risk,
and compliance (GRC) efforts from people to technology.

The Microsoft IT Compliance Management Guide helps
you better understand how an IT management framework can
help you implement controls to address GRC requirements
that apply to your organization.

The IT Compliance Management Guide is a
Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) 4.0-based
expansion of the Regulatory Compliance Planning Guide.

IT Compliance Management Resources provides an
extensive inventory of GRC-related configuration and
management guidance organized by Microsoft product name.

IT Compliance management guide Stack

Microsoft has created numerous
resources that help address GRC
requirements for Microsoft products
and solutions.

The IT Compliance Management
Guide is accompanied by the
IT Compliance Management
Resources workbook, which
provides job aids to locate
these resources and conduct
changes to your IT infrastructure.

Download Now!
www.microsoft.com/itcompliance

IT Compliance management guide excel

2008-10

MS08-067 Exploits In The Wild

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: McAfee | Comments Off

Here is an Excellent post from the McAfee blog.

Technorati Tags: mcafee,microsoft,MS08-067

First Glimpse into MS08-067 Exploits In The Wild

It has been over 2 years since I last wrote about malware exploitation of a major vulnerability in the Windows Server Service (MS06-040) by malware.

In 2006, worm authors were quick to adopt the remotely executed exploit in just 4 day following a security update released as part of the regular Patch Tuesdays – IRC-Mocbot, W32/Sdbot, W32/Spybot, W32/Opanki, et ceteras.

Now in 2008, we are faced with malware authors, motivated by profits, more organized, and are more likely to target zero-day vulnerabilities, as we have reported on several critical incidents we have discovered since 2006. Like déjà vu, Microsoft released an out-of-cycle security update today to address in-the-wild attacks against a new MS08-067 vulnerability targeting the same Windows Server Service.

Attacks seen in the wild so far seem to have come from variants of the Spy-Agent.da trojan. When run, it may not be immediately apparent to the victim that it was using any exploits. Taking a quick glimpse into the binary code of basesvc.dll (Spy-Agent.da.dll), one of the DLL components installed by Spy-Agent.da, one can see strings that would look very familiar to those familiar with MS06-040.

On closer analysis, Spy-Agent.da.dll seeks out potentially vulnerable Windows machines in the local network, and sends maliciously crafted DCERPC requests to exploit the Server Service (SvrSvc).

When successful, hardcoded shellcode embedded within the malware, is executed on the targeted machines to download Spy-Agent.da (or possibly other variants or files) from a web server hosted in Japan.

(shellcode after decoding)

Just hours following the patch release, public source code has already been seen distributing on the Internet. What more can I say ? Patch your systems ! Yes, NOW !

Spy-Agent.da and Spy-Agent.da.dll are now detected using the current 5414 DATs. See Dave’s blog for McAfee’s coverage.

(thanks to Joey Koo and Xiaobo Chen for providing analysis data and packet dumps used in this blog)

McAfee Avert Labs / Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:53:55 GMT

2008-10

Download the urgent security update for Microsoft Windows.

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Security | Comments Off

Get the latest security updates

Microsoft urgent security update for October 2008

Here is the new security update:

•MS08-067 – addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows (KB 958644)

General Information

Executive Summary

This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in the Server service. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if an affected system received a specially crafted RPC request. On Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability without authentication to run arbitrary code. It is possible that this vulnerability could be used in the crafting of a wormable exploit. Firewall best practices and standard default firewall configurations can help protect network resources from attacks that originate outside the enterprise perimeter.

This security update is rated Critical for all supported editions of Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and rated Important for all supported editions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting the way that the Server service handles RPC requests. For more information about the vulnerability, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) subsection for the specific vulnerability entry under the next section, Vulnerability Information.

Recommendation. Microsoft recommends that customers apply the update immediately.

Known Issues. None

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Security,Windows

2008-10

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 3.2 Beta Now Available!

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 3.2 Beta Now Available!
Many of our customers do not know what computers are in their IT environment or what applications have been deployed. The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 3.2 Beta makes it easier for customers and partners to quickly identify what servers, workstations, and network devices are in their IT environment. MAP also provides specific and actionable IT proposals and reports to help customers get the most value out of Microsoft products and infrastructure. Over 500,000 Microsoft customers and partners have already used MAP and its prior versions including Costco Wholesale Corporation, Continental Airlines, and Banque de Luxembourg.
Introducing Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit

MAP is a scalable and agent-less assessment platform designed to make it easier for our customers to adopt the latest Microsoft technologies. In this version, MAP has expanded its assessment capabilities to include SQL Server 2008, Forefront/NAP, and Microsoft Online Services migration, as well as providing a Power Savings assessment to help your customers "go green."

In summary, MAP 3.2 assessment areas now include:

SQL Server 2008 Migration Proposals and Reports (NEW!)
Forefront/NAP Readiness Proposals (NEW!)
Microsoft Online Services Migration Surveys, Proposals, and Reports (NEW!)
Power Savings Proposals (NEW!)
Server Migration Reports and Proposals (Windows Server 2008 and "virtualized guests by hosts" reporting) (NEW!)
Server Consolidation Reports and Proposals (Virtual Server 2005 R2 and Hyper-V)
Desktop Security Assessment to determine if desktops have anti-virus and anti-malware programs installed and up-to-date, or if the Windows Firewall is turned on
Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 Hardware Assessment Reports and Proposals

Toolkit Features

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit performs key functions that include hardware and device inventory, compatibility analysis, and readiness reporting.

MAP utilizes an enterprise-scale, agent-less architecture that enables users to inventory their servers, desktops, applications, and network devices without installing any software agents on each machine being assessed. This tool has the ability to discover all computers within Active Directory, and most importantly, non-IT managed machines such as workgroup members.

Additionally, MAP can generate localized desktop readiness reports in seven languages including North American English, German, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Benefits to Customers and Partners

Fast and Agent-less. MAP provides secure network-wide assessment of environments of up to 100,000 computers in a matter of hours instead of days, all without deploying any software agents on each inventoried machine.
Saves Pre-Sales and Planning Time. For most IT consultants and Microsoft Partners, a detailed network inventory and assessment of servers and desktops often takes days of manual labor. With MAP, they can now drastically reduce the time it takes for the same inventory to a matter of hours; allowing them more time to focus their efforts on critical pre-sales engagement tasks. For IT professionals, MAP can significantly reduce the time it takes to gather the information necessary to make the business case for client and server migration, as well as for their upcoming virtualization projects.
Actionable Recommendations and Reporting. MAP offers valuable inventory and readiness assessment reports with specific upgrade recommendations and virtualization candidate reports that make it easier for IT migration and deployment projects to get off the ground and running.
Coverage from Desktops to Servers. MAP provides technology assessment and planning recommendations for many Microsoft desktop and server products including SQL Server 2008, Forefront/NAP, Microsoft Online Services, Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2, Windows Vista, 2007 Microsoft Office, Microsoft Application Virtualization (or App-V), System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007, and more.

Next Steps – How to get MAP?

Download Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 3.2 BETA and give us your feedback (Live ID login and registration required)
Learn more about MAP on TechNet

Read MAP Toolkit Case Studies: See how Costco Wholesale Corporation, Continental Airlines, and Banque de Luxembourg benefitted from using the MAP Toolkit

Read the MAP Team Blog
Listen to TechNet webcasts on MAP
Join the TechNet Forum Community for MAP
MAP is a member of the family of Server, Desktop, and Virtualization Solution Accelerators.

2008-10

HP ProLiant Server Sizer for Microsoft Exchange Server

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

Technorati Tags: HP StorageWorks Sizer,sizing exchange,How to correctly size the different Exchange Server 2007 roles,Exchange Server Sizing and Tuning,Microsoft Exchange Server,Sizers,calculators and configurators for HP StorageWorks products

Ever need to calculate the disk IOPS for how big your Exchange site must be.

with 100 users there is no need for this but with more then 5000 or in my case almost 20k on mailboxes this could be very handy.

http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/576785-0-0-225-121.html

You can find the tools here :

Choose the right tools for better business results

Here’s a sampling of currently available storage tools. Check ActiveAnswers for a complete list of tools.

» HP ProLiant Server Sizer for Microsoft Exchange Server

2003—downloadable tool that generates server configuration recommendations for deploying Microsoft Exchange 2003 Server on HP ProLiant servers

» HP Sizing and Configuration Tool for Microsoft Exchange

Server 2007—provides HP ProLiant server and HP StorageWorks storage sizing guidelines for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 solutions

» HP Storage Planning Calculator for Microsoft Exchange

Server 2003—addresses critical performance and capacity planning for the storage subsystem within Exchange server design

» HP StorageWorks Sizer—downloadable tool that simplifies

the storage solution design process

» HP Transaction Processing Storage Planning Calculator for

Microsoft SQL Server—helps determine the appropriate storage solution for your Microsoft SQL Server deployment

» Library and Tape Tools—robust diagnostic tool ideal for

customers who want to verify their installation, ensure product reliability and achieve faster resolution of device issues through expert diagnostics

» SAN Designer—complementary utility that helps you configure

and design a customized SAN based on: performance, cost, and future growth requirements; reporting feature generates topology diagrams, required components, and additional recommendations

» SAN Visibility—complementary software utility that helps with

SAN Analysis, SAN Diagnostics and SAN Optimization and provides a quick and accurate view of your SAN topology

»Storage Product Selector—allows you to navigate through the

vast portfolio of HP StorageWorks products visually reducing the number of storage options, based on your selected criteria

» Storage Security Self-Assessment Tool—helps you

understand how well your business is prepared for managing risk to sensitive data in your storage and backup environment

» Tape Media Compability Tool—fastest and easiest way to find

compatibility information between HP storage media and HP Storage hardware devices

2008-10

Microsoft Small Business Summit

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Microsoft Small Business Summit | Comments Off

Watch the Microsoft Small Business Summit.

Live Webcast October 14-16, 2008 (12 P.M. EDT/9 A.M. PDT)

Mortgage meltdowns … credit crunches … sky-high gasoline prices … large bank bailouts by the federal government … The financial news has been dismal, and small business owners have every reason to wonder, “If the big guys can’t survive, how am I going to make it?”
Here’s some good news for small business: For three days in mid-October, you can get help from experts in sales and marketing, finance, productivity, and technology. Mark your calendar so you won’t miss the FREE online Microsoft Small Business Summit: Three days of business wisdom, just when you need it most! Learn more at www.sbsummit.com.

Below are some of our featured speakers.
A more detailed guest lineup is available at www.sbsummit.com/guests.

Appearing Every Day

Rieva Lesonsky

Rieva to the Rescue
Rieva Lesonsky has been offering guidance and inspiration to small businesspeople and aspiring entrepreneurs for more than two decades. As an author and editor, Rieva has written and shaped countless articles and books on small business. Join Rieva as she fields questions from YOU on sales and marketing, business productivity, and financial management. Send your questions for Rieva to answer live on-air to questions@sbsummit.com.

2008-9

Never Ending Discovery

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

Originally posted at http://msmvps.com/blogs/jfhann/archive/2008/09/19/opsmgr-2007-never-ending-discovery.aspx

While trying to install agents in a OpsMgr 2007 SP1 environment, we had a never ending discovery issue. Not matter which type of discovery we selected from the Discovery Wizard, they all just ran and ran and.

There did not appear to be any events or alerts related to this issue, so we were stumped. After search Microsoft resources, we found the answer. SQL Broker. It wasn’t activated nor enabled on the OperationsManger database.

We used the following SQL statements to get it going:

USE master;

CREATE ENDPOINT BrokerEndpoint

STATE = STARTED

AS TCP ( LISTENER_PORT = 4037 )

FOR SERVICE_BROKER ( AUTHENTICATION = WINDOWS ) ;

ALTER DATABASE

OperationsManager SET ENABLE_BROKER

-JFH

Posted by jfhann at Ops Manager – John Hann

2008-9

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 with R2

Category: System Center | Tags: MOM 2005, SCOM, sysadminday, System Center, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007

IPD Guide – Now Available for Download

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has been working on a new guide – Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 with R2. Get the beta guide here.

This guide targets key information to bring your infrastructure up to date, thereby enhancing user experience and delivering business benefits. Find out how new features like Application Virtualization management support and support for Windows Server® 2008 clients will assist decision making in the planning of your Configuration Manager infrastructure. Follow detailed steps and graphics as you redesign your infrastructure, examining roles to be deployed and upgrade strategies to be used, along with designing sites and hierarchies.

Use this guide to determine the scope of the services to be provided and choose to partially or completely redesign your infrastructure. Have confidence in knowing that the steps in each phase are described in detail and that the necessary tools are provided to manage the process.

Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning of a Configuration Manager infrastructure by:

Defining the technical decision flow through the planning process.
Listing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.
Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.
Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

Join the Beta

Additional Infrastructure Planning and Design series guides are available as beta releases on the Connect Web site. They are open beta downloads. See below for instructions on how to access the beta guides.

To join the Infrastructure Planning and Design Beta, follow these steps:

Visit the Infrastructure Planning and Design Beta on the Microsoft Connect Web site.
Sign in using a valid Windows Live ID to continue to the Invitations page.
Scroll down to Infrastructure Planning and Design.

If you have not previously registered with Microsoft Connect, you might be required to register before continuing with the invitation process.

If the link in step 1 does not work for you, copy the link and paste it into the Web browser address bar.

Related Resources

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 with R2

System Center Operations Manager 2007

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008

2008-9

New Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide – Now Available for Download!

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Application Virt | Comments Off

Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) version 4.5

Infrastructure Planning and Design guides have been updated with the introduction of Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) version 4.5. Download the entire IPD series or download the individual guide.

This guide provides you with key information to bring your infrastructure up to date, saving you time and money. Find out how App-V’s HTTP streaming of virtual applications from an IIS server will impact your performance and scalability decisions. Using App-V 4.5 with its many new features to strategically plan your application virtualization infrastructure can help you avoid problems before they begin, allowing you to serve your customers more accurately and reliably.

Use these guides to determine the scope of the services to be provided and choose to partially or completely redesign your infrastructure. Have confidence in knowing that the steps in each phase are described in detail and that the necessary tools are provided to manage the process.

Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning process by:

· Defining the technical decision flow through the planning process.

· Listing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.

· Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.

· Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

Join the beta

To join the Infrastructure Planning and Design Beta, follow these steps:

1. Visit the Infrastructure Planning and Design Beta on the Microsoft Connect Web site.

2. Sign in using a valid Windows Live ID to continue to the Invitations page.

3. Scroll down to Infrastructure Planning and Design.

If you have not previously registered with Microsoft Connect, you might be required to register before continuing with the invitation process.

If the link in step 1 does not work for you, copy the link and paste it into the Web browser address bar.

Related Resources

Microsoft Virtualization

App-V 4.5 Overview

Microsoft Deployment

2008-9

Network Monitor 3.2

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

We are so excited about this release. The team put a lot of effort into this version, adding many of the requests we heard from our customers, while simultaneously fixing bugs and stabilizing the product. We hope you enjoy this release! Please feel free to leave feedback on http://blogs.technet.com/netmon or participate in our Network Monitor survey

Now, let’s deep dive into some of the details of Network Monitor 3.2

Where are the bits?

Externally Network Monitor 3.2 is available on Microsoft.com. The link is: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f4db40af-1e08-4a21-a26b-ec2f4dc4190d&DisplayLang=en.
They are also available in the downloads section on the Connect site.

Network Monitor 3.2 will also be offered as an optional feature package in the next few weeks via Microsoft Update if you have a previous version of Network Monitor 3.x installed. To check for updates, click on Help>Check for Updates from the product menu (versions 3.1 and higher) or visit the site http://update.microsoft.com/Microsoftupdate.

So What’s New in Network Monitor 3.2?

§ Process Tracking: Now you can identify rogue applications sending network data! View all the processes on your machine generating network traffic (process name and PID). Use the conversation tree to view frames associated with each process.

§ Capture engine re-architecture to improve capture rate in high-speed networks. Network Monitor 3.2 drops significantly fewer frames that Network Monitor 3.1.

§ Find conversations: You asked for this. Many of our users found conversation tracking to be difficult to use as the view grew hard to manage, and it was difficult to correlate the frames they were seeing with the conversation nodes in the tree. Now, you can quickly isolate frames in the same network conversation. Just right-click on a frame and select a conversation to track, and you will see all the frames in that conversation. View TCP streams, HTTP flows etc.

§ Extensive parser set: Parsers for over 300 protocols! As before, the parsers are fully customizable.

§ Better parser management: By default only a subset of parsers are loaded. You can load the full parser set by going to Tools>Options>Parser and choose Full vs. Stub implementations.

§ CodePlex Ready: In the upcoming months, we plan to place all our Windows parsers on the Microsoft open-source CodePlex site and allow the community to modify and contribute parsers. You can find out more information on this here. This version of Network Monitor seamlessly integrates new parser packages.

§ Network Monitor API: Create your own applications that capture, parse and analyze network traffic!

§ More extensive documentation of the API and NPL. Access the documentation from Help > NPL and API Documentation.

§ IA64 builds.

§ PCAP capture file support*.

§ ContainsBin Plug-in: Search frames for arbitrary byte sequences or strings.

§ . and more. See our Release Notes in the Help directory of the installation folder for a complete list of new features and known issues.

2008-9

How to read the defrag log file

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

Sometimes in mom 2005 you want to know the value thats in a log file.
In this Sample I do a step by step how to read / email the defrag Log file to a MOM 2005 alert / event.

Create a batch file. called srvdefrag.cmd

This is a sample batch file for defrag your server. For emailing this log file I used BLAT.
srvdefrag.cmd:
@Echo off
set version=3.00
CLS
Rem *** Customer Settings ***
set mailsrv=mail server
set remail=defrag@domain.com
set semail= defrag@domain.com defrag
set log=defrag.log
set progdir=c:\defrag
:Start
c:
cd %progdir%
EFRAG
REM Add more defrag volumes as needed (:d1, :d2, :d3 etc.). /a = Analyse only ; /v = Verbose; /f = Force
Echo Defrag version: %version%
Echo Computer: %ComputerName%
Echo Program Directory: %progdir%
Echo Mailserver: %mailsrv%
Echo Log file sender: %semail%
Echo Log file receiver: %remail%
Echo Logfile: %log%
Echo.
Echo *** Defrag in progress ***
Echo Press CTRL-C to Terminate Job
Echo.
Echo Start Defrag Log computer: %ComputerName% > %progdir%\%log%
Echo Defrag version: %version% >> %progdir%\%log%
DATE /T >> %progdir%\%log%
TIME /T >> %progdir%\%log%
:d1
SET volume=C:
Echo Starting defrag on Volume %volume%
Echo. >> %progdir%\%log%
Echo. >> %progdir%\%log%
Echo *** Defrag Volume %volume% >> %progdir%\%log% ***
Echo. >> %progdir%\%log%
EventCreate /T INFORMATION /SO Defrag /L application /ID 1 /D "Defrag started on volume %volume%"
%SystemRoot%\system32\defrag.exe %volume% /v >> %progdir%\%log%
EventCreate /T INFORMATION /SO Defrag /L application /ID 2 /D "Defrag ended on volume %volume%"
Echo. >> %progdir%\%log%
Echo. >> %progdir%\%log%
Echo End Defrag Log computer: %ComputerName% >> %progdir%\%log%
DATE /T >> %progdir%\%log%
TIME /T >> %progdir%\%log%
goto MAIL
:MAIL
Rem Mail latest defrag log file to me
Echo *** Sending latest defrag log file ***
%progdir%\blat.exe mail.txt -to "%remail%" -s "Defrag Report %ComputerName%" -mime -server %mailsrv% -f "%semail%" -attach "%log%"
GOTO END
:END
EXIT

Go to your MOM administrator Console and add a new provider.

Choose Application log file

Filin the logfile directory and the logfile name

Now Create A management pack that kicks the Rule. Create a new rule and choose the just created Provider. in our case the defragmentatie

Remember use parameter 4 and the text must be 100% the same as in your log file, and the rule reads only the first log line. Text is case sensitive.

Tags van Technorati: System Center,Scom,Microsoft,Management pack,Logfile,Build you Management packs,MOM 2005

2008-9

How To repair Your MRAS. MOM 2005 Availability Management Pack

Category: System Center | Tags: MOM 2005, SCOM, System Center | Comments Off

Tags van Technorati: Tags van Technorati: repair,MRAS,MOM,Availability,Management Pack,scheduled task,stop running

How To repair Your MRAS. MOM Availability Management Pack, sometimes the scheduled task wil never stop running. So you need to fix this. But what can you do so many tables so little time. first we check the version. but In my case I removed the Availability Reporting just to make sure.

First step :Check your version

Use SystemCenterReporting

SELECT * FROM MRAS_MRASInstallVersion

The procversion should be 1.8 this indicates that you are using the latest available MP version

Which versions of the Availability MP are affected

Remember always use the latest version this is MP 05.0.5000.0001

Second Step :check if you have Orphaned Servers

Use SystemCenterReporting

Select uidServer as ComputerID,nvcServerName as OrphanedServer from mras_server A where A.uidServer not in (Select ComputerID from sc_computerdimension_table)

Output :If the above query does return rows it is most likely the Orphaned server column contains the server names of those servers missing from reports or containing stale data.

Third step :The Fix For this run the SQL query.

Use SystemCenterReporting

Select uidServer into #Orphans From MRAS_Server a Where a.uidServer Not In (Select ComputerID From SC_ComputerDimension_View)

Declare @uidToRemove uniqueidentifier

Declare uidCur cursor forward_only for

Select uidServer From #Orphans

Open uidCur

fetch next from uidCur into @uidToRemove

while @@FETCH_STATUS = 0

Begin

exec MRAS_pcDeleteServer @uidToRemove

Delete From MRAS_Server Where uidServer=@uidToRemove

Fetch next from uidCur into @uidToRemove

End

Drop table #Orphans

Re running de query

Next step is use the report cleaner from clive. you can download it here

Reinstall the Reporting not the MMC UI

Now this is done I checked the Scheduled task yeb it is there.

And started the MMC for my reports.

So I kicked the task else I have to wait. and it is running Remember the first run can take some time.

Yeb and done with a 0×0

Just wait a few day’s to see the Reports.

2008-9

Microsoft Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates Commercial

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/windows/featureStories.aspx?story=660dee9e-9606-4e77-843e-ed81d83c0bfe

See the video on youtube " target="_blank">’ target=_blank>Microsoft Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates Commercial

REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 4, 2008 — “This is the Conquistador,” explains Jerry Seinfeld, showing a befuddled Bill Gates a brown loafer. “They run very tight.”

After seeing the new ad from Microsoft, which debuted today, some may wonder what Jerry Seinfeld helping Bill Gates pick out a new pair of shoes has to do with software. The answer, in the classic Seinfeld sense of the word, is nothing. Nevertheless, the spot is the first and most visible sign of an ambitious effort by Microsoft’s Windows business to reconnect with consumers around the globe.

The new campaign will highlight how Windows has become an indispensible part of the lives of a billion people around the globe — not only on PCs but also now online and via mobile devices. It will illustrate how Windows integrates consumer experiences across PCs, online and on mobile phones through Windows Vista, Windows Live and Windows Mobile. Microsoft is working with retail partners and PC manufacturers to enhance the experience consumers have with Windows at every touch-point:

2008-9

The System Center Configuration Manager has been Released To Manufacturing (RTM).

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2

Download an evaluation version of ConfigMgr07 R2 from Microsoft Download Center.

Overview

The following features are new to Configuration Manager 2007 R2:

Application Virtualization. For more information, see About Virtual Application Packages.
Forefront Client Security Integration. For more information, see About Forefront Client Security Integration with Configuration Manager 2007 R2.
SQL Reporting Services Reporting. Provides the ability to manage, browse, and run SQL Reporting Services Configuration Manager reports from the Configuration Manager console.
Client Status Reporting. Provides a set of tools and Configuration Manager 2007 reports to assess the status of client computers, sometimes referred to as "client health." Clients that show a change in activity patterns might need administrative intervention.
Operating System Deployment (OSD) Enhancements. The following enhancements are included in Configuration Manager 2007 R2:
- Unknown computer support—In Configuration Manager 2007 R2, you can deploy operating systems to computers using a PXE service point without first adding the computer to the Configuration Manager database. For more information, see About Unknown Computer Support for Operating System Deployment.
- Multicast deployment—Configuration Manager R2 will support multicast of operating system images to Windows PE, simplifying the deployment process in this scenario. Multicast can make more efficient use of network bandwidth when deploying large images to several computers at the same time. For more information, see About Multicast for Operating System Deployment.
- Also new within the OSD feature set is the ability to specify credentials on Run Command Line task sequence action. This provides “Run As” capability for applications, such as SQL Server, that should be installed under a specific account.

Feature Bullet Summary:
Virtual Application Packages
Configuration Manager 2007 supports running sequenced applications created using the Microsoft Application Virtualization Platform. Virtual application packages run on Configuration Manager 2007 client computers without having to install the software application on the local computer. Target computers must be running Windows XP or above to run virtual application packages.

Forefront Client Security Integration with Configuration Manager 2007 R2
Microsoft Forefront Client Security provides unified virus and spyware protection for business desktops, laptops, and server operating systems. You can use the Configuration Manager 2007 desired configuration management feature to monitor the Client Security agent on clients managed by Configuration Manager 2007 R2 sites.

SQL Reporting Services Reporting
Configuration Manager 2007 R2 SQL Reporting Services provides a set of tools and resources that help you use the advanced reporting capabilities of SQL Reporting services from the Configuration Manager console. Client Status Reporting
Client status reporting in Configuration Manager 2007 R2 provides up-to-date information on the status of client computers in a Configuration Manager 2007 hierarchy. Full documentation for the client status reporting feature is located in a separate help file, which is available when you install the feature.

Operating System Deployment (OSD)
OSD allows you to create operating system images and deploy those images to target computers. OSD also provides task sequences, which help facilitate the deployment of operating system images and other Configuration Manager 2007 software packages.

2008-8

Agent proxying needs to be enabled for a health service to submit discovery data about other computers

Category: System Center | Tags: Proxy, SCOM, System Center | Comments Off

Agent Proxying Alert

Agent proxying needs to be enabled when health service discovers instance of some managed entity type for which management context doesn’t provide information that this exact health service will also monitor this instance.

alert:

Agent proxying needs to be enabled for a health service to submit discovery
data about other computers.
Source:
Path:
Alert Rule:
Microsoft.SystemCenter.DiscoveryWriteActionModule.AgentProxyingNotEnabled.Alert
Alert description: Details:Health service (AA918247-6E40-E645-A2D2-9C8629CE0AAB) should not generate data about this managed object ( ).

Things you can do to find the error:

Execute following T-SQL against OperationsManager database:

select * from basemanagedentity
where basemanagedentityid = ‘AA918247-6E40-E645-A2D2-9C8629CE0AAB’

Make sure that proxy is enabled for health service matching Path property.

Remember every DC needs the proxy enable setting !!!

see the full name below this is the DC that needs the proxy setting !!

2008-8

Push Scom Agent To ISA 2006

Category: System Center | Tags: GPO, sysadminday, System Center | Comments Off

For pushing the Scom agent to a ISA server you need to do some things.

First we have to make a rule and a protocol rule and then you can push the agent. here is a how to do this with a "nijntje manual "

Open ISA server

Create Protocol Rule

Use Port 5723 TCP ! this is the default Scom Agent port

Go to the scom server do a discovery pick the ISA server and push the agent

As you can see it works BUT but I tricked you. if you do this it may not work.

In the scom account settings there is a setting this account is a remote local account USE this and the agent push will succeed

2008-8

Email Prioritizer

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: Exchange | Comments Off

Cool stuff. from the microsoft office lab

http://www.officelabs.com/projects/emailprioritizer/Pages/default.aspx

Project: Email Prioritizer

View Larger Image

Click here to download.

Requirements: This prototype requires Outlook 2007 running on Exchange Server

Limitations: None

Last updated: 08/18/2008

View Larger Image

Email Prioritizer is a plug-in for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 (running on Exchange Server) that helps you manage email overload. This concept test provides a “do not disturb” button that temporarily pauses new email arrival, and prioritizes email with a 0-3 star rating system. We hope this prototype helps you focus on the emails that are most important to you.

Watch Video

2008-8

HP Proliant servers

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

Maybe you did know this but the HP servers have a insight display The new tool uses leds to show the status of the hardware components within the server.

Where can you find this on the new DL360. The display is hidden. It clicks open if you push a little button on the front panel of the server.

2008-8

IIS syncronisation tool vs NLB

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: GPO | Comments Off

Cool new Features with IIS 7 for a new Scom Site ( Webbased ) I had this problem with a Website NLB. SO I tried to test this new tool.

IIS syncronisation tool – tech preview released

For all those wondering what options you have post-Application Center 2000 for synchronisation (let alone load balancing etc), the IIS Product Group has released a technical preview of a new tool: msdeploy.exe. This tool can sync or migrate:

IIS 7.0 configuration settings
Web content
Registry keys and values
SSL certificates

It supports moving configuration, content, SSL certificates and other types of data associated with a web server. You can choose to sync a single site or the entire web server. Because we know that one tool can never ‘automagically’ guess what your application relies on, we’ve tried to be pretty flexible and powerful – you can customize exactly what you want to sync using a manifest file. You can also skip sites or other objects, or you can perform regular expression replacements during a sync (like changing the home directory on the destination machine).

The goal of the tool is to help you keep servers in sync, to make deployment easier and also to help with migrating to new versions of IIS. You could use a sync on two machines in a web farm, for example. Or maybe you need to move to a new server of the same version, you can use this tool. Of course, we also enable you to do a migration from IIS 6.0 to 7.0.

Download the x86 version or the x64 version of our Technical Preview 1.

2008-8

Advanced Group Policy Management

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: GPO | Comments Off

Advanced Group Policy Management

You can use Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) to extend the capabilities of the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC), providing comprehensive change control and enhanced management for Group Policy objects (GPOs). Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management is a component of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance (MDOP SA)

With AGPM you can:

Perform offline editing of GPOs, so you can create and test them before deploying to a production environment.
Retain multiple versions of a GPO in a central archive, so you can roll back if a problem occurs.
Share the responsibility for editing, approving, and reviewing GPOs among multiple people using role-based delegation.
Eliminate the danger of multiple Group Policy administrators overwriting each other’s work by using a check-in/check-out capability for GPOs.
Analyze changes to a GPO, comparing it to another GPO or another version of the same GPO using difference reporting.
Simplify the creation of new GPOs by using GPO templates, storing standard settings to use as starting points for new GPOs.

AGPM adds a Change Control node under each domain displayed in the GPMC, as well as History and Extensions tabs for each GPO and Group Policy link displayed in the GPMC.

Advanced Group Policy Management Overview

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=993a34d0-c274-4b46-b9fc-568426b81c5e&DisplayLang=en

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb767569.aspx

For more information: Advanced Group Policy Management datasheet
Also watch the AGPM video presented by Kevin Sullivan, Senior/Lead Program Manager in Group Policy Product Team (23 min)
Or listen to the AGPM talk on Technet Radio on AGPM (15 min)

2008-8

eSATA versus USB2

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

What is faster USB or SATA with virtual servers you need disk io and memory. Stuart James did some testing with virtual server. tabels are from Ken Schaefer.

ExpressCard: http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=676511

2.5" External eSATA/USB case: http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=603610 (note that this comes with all cables you need, including eSATA to eSATA)

2.5" Hard Disk: http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=773812

Tests are performed using HD Tune 2.55 using a quick test. It’s the same disk just plugged in to a different socket so all other things (such as cache, RPM etc) are equal.

USB 2 eSATA

This tabel shows eSata is about 2x the speed of USB 2.0, provided you have a 7200 RPM disk (at the 2.5” form factor)

2008-7

System Administrator Appreciation Day

Category: System Center | Tags: administrator, guru, happy, sysadminday, System Center, Teched 2008 | Comments Off

SysAdminDay.com System Administrator Appreciation Day

Yes today is the day greetings to all. Next Year the 10 and it is always the last Friday in July

July 25th, 2008 (Last Friday Of July) 9th Annual System Administrator Appreciation Day

This is a copy from the http://www.sysadminday.com/ think about this day.

It’s a great idea to think about your SysAdmin and thank him/her for all the great work he/her have done

There are great songs :

If you can read this, thank your sysadmin

A sysadmin unpacked the server for this website from its box, installed an operating system, patched it for security, made sure the power and air conditioning was working in the server room, monitored it for stability, set up the software, and kept backups in case anything went wrong. All to serve this webpage.

A sysadmin installed the routers, laid the cables, configured the networks, set up the firewalls, and watched and guided the traffic for each hop of the network that runs over copper, fiber optic glass, and even the air itself to bring the Internet to your computer. All to make sure the webpage found its way from the server to your computer.

Fig. 1 Ted.

A sysadmin makes sure your network connection is safe, secure, open, and working. A sysadmin makes sure your computer is working in a healthy way on a healthy network. A sysadmin takes backups to guard against disaster both human and otherwise, holds the gates against security threats and crackers, and keeps the printers going no matter how many copies of the tax code someone from Accounting prints out.

A sysadmin worries about spam, viruses, spyware, but also power outages, fires and floods.

When the email server goes down at 2 AM on a Sunday, your sysadmin is paged, wakes up, and goes to work.

A sysadmin is a professional, who plans, worries, hacks, fixes, pushes, advocates, protects and creates good computer networks, to get you your data, to help you do work — to bring the potential of computing ever closer to reality.

So if you can read this, thank your sysadmin — and know he or she is only one of dozens or possibly hundreds whose work brings you the email from your aunt on the West Coast, the instant message from your son at college, the free phone call from the friend in Australia, and this webpage.

Show your appreciation

Friday, July 25th, 2008, is the 9th annual System Administrator Appreciation Day. On this special international day, give your System Administrator something that shows that you truly appreciate their hard work and dedication.

Let’s face it, System Administrators get no respect 364 days a year. This is the day that all fellow System Administrators across the globe, will be showered with expensive sports cars and large piles of cash in appreciation of their diligent work. But seriously, we are asking for a nice token gift and some public acknowledgement. It’s the least you could do.

Consider all the daunting tasks and long hours (weekends too.) Let’s be honest, sometimes we don’t know our System Administrators as well as they know us. Remember this is one day to recognize your System Administrator for their workplace contributions and to promote professional excellence. Thank them for all the things they do for you and your business.

SysAdmin Day Comedy

"SysAdmin Day Song" – Live From Las Vegas – Written and performed by Wes Borg Dead Trolls

"Internet Helpdesk" – Live – Written and performed by Wes Borg Dead Trolls

"Every OS Sucks" – Live – Written and performed by Wes Borg Dead Trolls

Best movies great stuff

2008-7

System Center Solution Whitepapers

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

System Center Solution: Managing Data Server Compliance Start download

Solution: End to End Monitoring

Managing the Dynamic Desktop

2008-7

Windows Live Messenger now available on BlackBerry

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

http://www.blackberry.com/devicesoftware/entry.do?code=wlm20

2008-7

Microsoft Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center, Teched 2008 | 1 Comment

Microsoft Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals

Microsoft Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals is the Microsoft premier technical education conference just for IT professionals. For five days, you and 5,000 of your peers will learn how to architect, plan, deploy, manage and secure a connected enterprise from Microsoft experts and industry leaders. Experience more than ever before at Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals.

Be a part of the experience

Design a personalized schedule from 11 Technical Tracks and 4 Virtual Tracks
Advance your development skills in one of more than 190 Breakout Sessions
Go deep with Microsoft experts in one of more than 95 Interactive Sessions
Take your time and drill down on a specific task in one of our Hands-on Labs

Be a part of this year’s Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals, 3-7 November 2008, in the CCIB, Barcelona, Spain.

For more information, check out the following:

Is Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals right for you? Learn who should attend.
Why you can’t afford to miss Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals. See the benefits of attending.

http://www.microsoft.com/emea/teched2008/itpro/about/default.aspx

2008-7

Microsoft Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center, Teched 2008 | Comments Off

Microsoft Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals

Be a part of the experience

Design a personalized schedule from 11 Technical Tracks and 4 Virtual Tracks
Advance your development skills in one of more than 190 Breakout Sessions
Go deep with Microsoft experts in one of more than 95 Interactive Sessions
Take your time and drill down on a specific task in one of our Hands-on Labs

Be a part of this year’s Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals, 3-7 November 2008, in the CCIB, Barcelona, Spain.

For more information, check out the following:

Is Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals right for you? Learn who should attend.
Why you can’t afford to miss Tech·Ed EMEA 2008 IT Professionals. See the benefits of attending.

2008-7

Pwnage Tool 2.0 beschikbaar voor iPhone

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: iphone | Comments Off

dutch only

source :http://www.iphoneclub.nl/8595/handleiding-pwnage-tool-mac-en-windows/

Nu Pwnage Tool 2.0 beschikbaar is, is het mogelijk om eerste generatie iPhones te upgraden naar firmware 2.0, te unlocken en te jailbreaken. Omdat er veel nieuwe gebruikers bij zijn gekomen, hebben we een simpele handleiding gemaakt waarin begrippen zoals pwned, jailbreak en unlock nog eens duidelijk worden uitgelegd. We leggen stapsgewijs uit hoe Pwnage Tool op de Mac werkt, maar ook hoe je te werk moet gaan als je Windows-gebruiker bent.
Meteen verder » iPhone Unlock handleiding

Onderaan de handleiding geven we ook een lijst met downloadlocaties en mirrors voor firmware 2.0, bootloaders en Pwnage Tool 2.0 zelf.

De handleiding gebruikt de Simple Mode in Pwnage Tool, geschikt voor beginnende gebruikers. Ben je gevorderde gebruiker en wil je vooraf instellingen van logo’s, Installer- en Cydia-packages kiezen, dan kun je beter voor de Expert Mode kiezen. Een uitgebreide handleiding daarvoor vind je op iClarified.

Verder lezen:
iPhone Unlock: Handleiding iPhone firmware 2.0 unlock (Mac OS X en Windows)

Praten over je ervaringen en vragen stellen? We hebben twee aparte forumtopics geopend waar je kunt discussiëren over Pwnage 2.0:

2008-7

New Layout

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

I cleaned up my site a bit to much ;-( so a fresh layout is here.

the Fiberman

http://fiberman.spaces.live.com/

2008-7

Addressing Problems Due to Access Token Limitation ( Kerberos )

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

Lately I was doing some testing with users and local & global groups, did you know you can’t give a user more than 1015 groups.

There is a limit in group membership. I did a yahoo and saw there a lot and lots of issues whit this problem in large sites.

Sites with more than 10k users an 500k off groups the user get a error

Excellent info is there form microsoft read it and there is no hotfix for this to fix this by software.

Don’t give users more than 1000 groups that’s a fact.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=22dd9251-0781-42e6-9346-89d577a3e74a&DisplayLang=en#filelist

Cheers,

Robert

2008-7

Service Level Dashboard Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007

Category: System Center | Tags: System Center | Comments Off

We are pleased to announce the availability of the Service Level Dashboard Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 for download on TechNet.

You can download it from the following page:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc463350(TechNet.10).aspx

An online demonstration of this solution accelerator is available at:
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=eaa26b14-35e5-4355-a69f-84cb0d207161

IT departments need ever more sophisticated tools to monitor the performance and availability of line-of-business (LOB) applications that make the organization run. These tools need to go beyond traditional server-based monitoring where server health equals service health.

The Service Level Dashboard for System Center Operations Manager is a new Solution Accelerator that addresses the need of IT service managers for end-to-end reporting on the performance and availability of their line-of-business (LOB) applications. The accelerator provides a unique view of a business application from the user’s perspective by simulating user interactions with the business application and reporting on the experience. Results are displayed on an easy to read dashboard, providing both top-level and detailed views. The top-level view reports the service level agreement (SLA) status (compliant or non-compliant) for every application being monitored. The detailed views reveal component-level information that can help administrators investigate the possible causes of noncompliance reported at the top level.

Solution Accelerator Components

This accelerator includes the following software components:

Service Level Dashboard for System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack
Sample unsealed Management Packs targeted at monitoring a Web site, Web Based Application (SharePoint) and Non-web based Application (SQL).
The accelerator provides the following guidance:

- Executive Overview on TechNet
- User’s guide
- Planning guide

In addition to the above guidance, there is also an online video demonstration available for this solution.

Overview of the Tool

The Service Level Dashboard for Operations Manager 2007 is designed to work with an existing Operations Manager infrastructure (it is assumed that Operations Manager is already configured to monitor the business-critical applications). Service Level Dashboard for Operations Manager 2007 uses the following components to gather and process additional data (see figure for reference):

- SLA definitions. The IT Manager identifies and defines the SLA agreement for a given business-critical application or service.

- Web application monitors and synthetic transactions. The IT administrator configures and deploys watcher nodes to perform the actions of a synthetic transaction, such as connecting to the Web site or querying the database. A Web application monitor runs on the watcher node and uses these synthetic transactions to perform actions to check availability and to measure performance of a Web page, Web site, or Web application. It does this by monitoring the web application and then changing the health state of an object associated with the web application based on the results of the synthetic transaction. It is this change in health state that the Service Level Dashboard records and reports on. The IT administrator configures the thresholds for identifying an error or warning state during a synthetic transaction. For the Service Level Dashboard for Operations Manager 2007, an error is equivalent to an availability exception, and a warning is equivalent to a performance exception. Because an unavailable application is by definition not performing as expected, availability exceptions are also factored into performance exceptions.

- Distributed Application model. The IT administrator uses an Operations Manager Distributed Application (DA) model to define the application or service. Using the DA model, the IT administrator groups Web application monitors and other monitors into applications and regions for the dashboard.

Operations Manager derives availability and performance percentages independently for each component object in the application model tree, based on Operations Manager’s time in state for that object. Any rollup calculations are controlled by the standard DA model health rollups.

- Dashboard interface. As soon as the Service Level Dashboard for Operations Manager 2007 components are configured and operating, you use the dashboard interface to analyze the SLA compliance data. The Service Level Dashboard for Operations Manager 2007 evaluates each application over the defined reporting period, determines whether the application was in or out of compliance during that period (and for how long). The dashboard then lists the application as compliant or non-compliant, based on defined service level targets.

The Service Level Dashboard for Operations Manager 2007 evaluates each application over the defined reporting period, determines whether the application was in or out of compliance during that period (and for how long). The dashboard then lists the application as compliant or non-compliant, based on defined service level targets.

Thank you for your interest

The Solutions Accelerator Team

The System Center Connector This weblog is all about Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Sp1 Clustering

MaxUserPort controls "outbound" TCP connections

When You Fiddle MaxUserPort

What Next? TcpTimedWaitDelay, natch

Windows 2000 End-of-Support Solution Center

Support for Windows 2003 ends on July 13, 2010!

Planning and Assessing

Planning and Assessing a Migration or Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2

Planning and Assessing a Migration or Upgrade to Windows 7

Windows 8 Prototype Machine

Windows 8 Product Cycle

Enhancing Group Policy through change management

So Set one DC to the NTP server and all others should use NT5DS

Tech·Ed Europe Returns to Berlin, 8 – 12 November

What you’ll get at this year’s event

Get a Jumpstart on Technical Learning with Pre-Conference Seminars

Three compelling reasons to use Mouse Mischief in your classroom

Read a teacher’s perspective on how Mouse Mischief impacted student learning in the classroom

What’s New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

Determine capacity and performance requirements

More information about the IPD series:

Additional Links

Why Forums?

Group Policy Search A group policy search tool for Microsoft Active Directory Group Policy Settings. gps.cloudapp.net

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1

VMST 3.0 works seamlessly with other Microsoft technologies.

What is Best Practices Analyzer?

Featured Content

Sony to stop selling floppy disks from 2011

Source :http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8643844.stm

PC Management & Security Windows Intune Beta

Try

Windows Server 2008 R2 file information note

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 R2

Desktop Deployment for Midsize Businesses

Limited Management Infrastructure

What is Windows Deployment Services?

Who should use this guide?

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010

Deployment TechCenter

Brief Description

Key Features & Benefits

Included in the Download

Key Benefits

Join the Beta Program for the Dashboard

How the Dashboard Works

Requirements for the Application Virtualization Dashboard

Windows 7 Control Panel Canonical Names

MDT Debugger

Overview

How the witness configuration affects the cluster

Quorum configuration choices

Illustrations of quorum configurations

Why quorum is necessary

System Requirements

Required Hardware: Server

Required Hardware: Client

Required Software

Cool Tools: VHDCopy, VHDCopEE and VMProv

There Is a nice tool that you can use if you are playing or implementing DirectAccess

Overview

Overview

Supported OS Versions

New Features

Download Instructions

IT’S A FIRST FOR THE MIDDLE EAST. DON’T MISS OUT

Tech·Ed Worldwide:

Tech·Ed comes to Dubai!

“…solve today’s real-world challenges…”

Solution Accelerators for every stage of Windows Server 2008 R2 migration

And remember there will be NO 32 bit windows 2008 R2 OS !

The System Center Connector
This weblog is all about Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Sp1 Clustering

Group Policy Search A group policy search tool for Microsoft Active Directory Group Policy Settings.
gps.cloudapp.net