Browse by Tags

We had a great event this morning!  I promised you all that I would post the PowerPoint slides.  Here you are.  Get Ready for Tomorrow Today! Private Cloud 201

I love my Lenovo W510 Laptop ! I use it to run Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V. I run all kinds of Virtual Machines on the W510 because it has 16GB of physical RAM. There are however a few hiccups in the process of using a Windows Server Machine to do demonstrations. This is one of the first I encountered...

  Download AutoRuns here. One of the things about being an IT guy is that everyone asks for technical support.  I have worked out a general understanding with my neighbors and friends that I will gladly help them with their technical support challenges, even making house calls, as long as they...

Type 2 Hypervisors (Virtual PC, VMware workstation, Virtual Server 2005R2 etc.) all have one thing in common.  They all have 2 Hardware abstraction Layers (HALs,) which means in a nutshell that they are useless for any kind of infrastructure workload.  When I say infrastructure workload what...

I have said before and i will say it again, “TechNet Plus direct is the best value for money in the Microsoft World.”  If you are an IT professional or a budding Network guru you need a TechNet Subscription.  Full Version Microsoft Products! (Sorry No Visual Studio)  No time bombs! A ton...

This week Microsoft began allowing the modification of the terms of some of its Enterprise licensing agreements to allow large customers in the United States to run their Windows Servers in the Amazon Cloud.  Larry Dignan at ZDNET posted a great article on the details of the process and the potential...

I get so excited about the IT Pro Momentum projects I thought I would share just one more with you.  Actually in this case it is more like 2 projects that are being set up in a single organization.  I met Rob at one of my live speaking engagements and he mentioned he was interested in participating...

I am hearing great things from the IT Pro Momentum Program.  Today our focus is on a school district who is using the IT Pro Mo0mentum program to pilot Windows Server 2008.  Like the two previous Momentum examples I shared with you I was able to ask some questions to the IT Pros running the...

  “In tough times, the good will survive, but only the best will Thrive!  Are you thriving?  Visit the Thrive site and learn how to enhance your technical skills, advance your career, and elevate IT as the business leader.  These strategies and skills will not only help you...

There are three main options for integrating server virtualization and high availability: •Failover clustering of virtual machines. Hyper-V enables the option to create a failover cluster, and then configure a virtual machine as a clustered application. With this option, when a node in the cluster...

I am delivering a webcast on High Availability with virtual machines as part of the Virtualization webcast series.  It is a good overview of server clustering for Windows Server 2008 and an introduction to using a virtual machine as a clustered resource.  The material is excellent! I have recorded...

We have talked before about some of the cool new features of Active Directory in Windows Server 2008.  John Baker has recorded a great video on how to configure the central store for ADMX files.  He actually walks through step by step the process of creating and populating the store. ...

Since the release of Windows Server 2008 I have been focused on showing IT administrators how some of the changes to Windows Server can really make their lives better. One key area of change is in the world of Group Policy Preferences. Group Policy preferences make it possible for me to set computer...

Since I published the video on creating custom WinPE images I have received a whole bunch of questions centered around deployment tools.  Many of you have asked how to customize the contents of the actual .wim image.  I recorded a quick video segment on using Image X to mount and customize...

Ever since the release of Windows Vista folks have been asking me about the details of creating custom Windows Pre Installation Environment (Win PE) images.  There is some great information on the subject that is available at the TechNet web site, and to the Windows Automated Installation Kit guide...

I went to a neighborhood picnic this week. After a delicious T-bone steak and some home made chocolate ice cream I had some time to talk with a friend that I have know for a number of years. Brian works in IT and manages a fairly sizeable piece of an enormous network. He asked about the printer operators...

Raise your hand if you are an MCSE. I got my first certificate back in the early 90's. We are all familiar with the traditional structure. Pass one test get an MCP. Pass all 7 and get your MCSE. Then the world changed. We added specialties. MCSE + Internet. MCSE + Messaging. MCSE + Security. I understand...

This is the best deal in the Microsoft World! TechNet Plus Direct is the subscription of choice for the IT professional. TechNet Plus Direct offers full version non time bombed Microsoft software. Windows Vista, Office 2007, Exchange 2007,SQL, ISA, Windows Server, and so much more. Subscribers can...

Keith Combs Blog is showcasing what I think is the only screencast currently available demonstrating the latest Virtualization bits to be included with Windows Server 2008. Want to know what a hypervisor is? Ever heard of Veridian? What the difference between a parent VM and a child VM. If you would...

We all wish we could control the network usage patterns of our networks. Imagine if you could specify which computers could use 10MBsec of a gigabit Ethernet network, and which could use 1MBsec. Even better would be to be able to set aside or prioritize bandwidth to allocate it to necessary applications...

Virtualization is upon us. It is not trivial to think of managing large number of virtual machines. In response to the obvious need Microsoft introduces System Center Virtual Machine Manager. My friend and coworker Keith Combs has recorded a great screencast called Everything You Need to Know About SCVMM...

As an IT professional I remember the days of having to move from tool to tool inside the Windows Interface in order to successfully manage my servers. Even with the use of the Microsoft Management Console there was still way to much maneuvering for my liking. If you are in the same situation then Windows...

As you are all aware one of the key changes that was introduced with Windows Vista is the use of User account Controls . These controls segment the user access token, and then manage access to local resources based on the standard user portion of the token. When elevated access is necessary User account...

I love Active Directory! I have loved it since it was introduced to the Microsoft world with Windows 2000 Server. Active Directory provides so many opportunities to the network administrator. The control features of Group Policy are so encompassing and emporwering! There is one question that I hear over...