As you’ve no doubt heard by now, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 reached RTM today.   More info on that at the Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 Team Blogs.   So what does this mean for me?   Well, I’m thrilled about the new version of Hyper-V, the new version of Media Center, and especially Direct Access.   What else does it mean to me?   Over the next few weeks I’ll be spending some time at home doing some new OS Installs.   I’ve got 2 virtualization hosts that will now need Windows Server 2008 R2 so that I can setup Live Migration with Hyper-V, my Media Center PC needs to be rebuilt with Windows 7 so that I can take full advantage of the new HDHomeRun digital TV tuners that arrived today, my work laptop and old work tablet need to be reinstalled at Windows 7, and my wife has decided that the 7+ year old computer she is running has finally gotten too slow, so I’m going to be ordering her something and installing Windows 7 on it as well (once it hits the Company Store).

I’m booked solid for 8 of the next 10 weeks.   The next 4 weeks in Portland Oregon, a week not currently dispatched, a week in Boise Idaho, a week not currently dispatched (with the Company Meeting this week and then a family camping trip the following weekend), 2 more weeks in Portland, then a week in Lima Peru.   I’m sure I’ll find time somehow to get all of those OS installs done somehow.   I’ll likely be doing installs while I’m home between trips, then configuring the machines remotely in the evenings from my hotel.

But before all that can start, I still have to finish out this week.    I’m attending a training class this week on Microsoft Forefront Protection Suite (formerly known as Microsoft Forefront Codename “Stirling”).   Since Forefront Client Security is one of the technologies that I support, this week on what is coming in the next version is a good thing for me.   But I’m not much of a morning person, and traffic between my house and the training room on the Redmond Campus has been horrible.   It has taken me an average of more than 90-minutes to get there in the mornings and about 90-minutes each evening to get home.   This might not be so bad, except that the class starts at 8AM.   Did I mention that I’m not a morning person???

In between everything else, I’ll also try to update this blog with more tech info on what I’m doing, what is new, and what you should be doing (or not doing, depending on the particular thing).  To start off that line of thinking…Remember, Windows Server 2008 R2 is 64-bit only, so only x64 and Itanium versions are available.   If you’re not already installing x64 editions of Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008, you need to be whenever possible.   x64 gives you much greater limits on Paged Pool memory, Non-Paged Pool memory, and System Page Table Entries.   If you’re running a DC, File Server, or pretty much anything else, you should be doing it on x64.   Exceptions to this would be things that do not run on x64 (Exchange 2000/2003, ISA 2006, SQL 2000, etc.), but for things that do (File Servers, DCs, SQL 2005, Exchange 2007, etc.) you should be giving x64 a shot and enjoy the benefits of x64.   For more about why you should be running x64 instead of x86:   http://blogs.technet.com/cotw/archive/2008/04/07/symptoms-lack-of-free-system-page-table-entries-ptes-system-wide-delays-i-o-request-failures-and-low-on-paged-pool-memory-and-or-non-paged-pool-memory-on-32-bit-windows.aspx

I almost titled this “My 4th of July was better than you’re 4th of July” but thought better of it.

So I realize that it has been awhile since I last posted on this blog…OK, ‘awhile’ is an understatement, the first two posts were in April 2007 and there has been nothing since then.  But I figured I’d try a making a new post and see if maybe this helps drive traffic.   Using keywords like “fireworks”, “ordinance”, “explosives”, & “Benihana” should help me in the Bing search results.  

My July actually started out in mid-June when as a combined Birthday & Father’s Day gift, my wife & Son got me the “You Be The Chef” experience from Benihana.   In my travels as a Premier Field Engineer, I’ve somehow managed to dine at nearly every Benihana that has been near any of the customer sites I’ve visited.   I nearly always get the same thing:   an Ala-Carte Hibachi Chicken, an Ala-Carte Hibachi Chateaubriand, and 2 orders of the Chicken Fried Rice.   I’m not a fan of veggies, shrimp, or the soup (I’m told they are great at Benihana, I just avoid those things in general), so ordering ala-carte allows me to only get what I want, avoid wasting food that I won’t eat, and saves quite a bit on the bill.    For the “You Be The Chef” everyone at the table received “Land ‘N Sea” and we added the Chicken Fried Rice.    On the afternoon of June 30th, I arrived at my local Benihana for my training.   I spent about 90 minutes with my chef who helped me learn the finer points of providing The Benihana Experience to my guests, this included the right way for preparing the shrimp appetizers, the steak, the scallops, the fried rice, as well as proper use of the spatula, fork, and knife.   I also was able to practice flipping the shrimp tales into my hat.   This is not only much harder than it looks, but at 6’3”, I was a bit taller than the bottom of the range hood and had to work extra hard to get the shrimp tale all the way to the top of the hat.    I returned the following evening (July 1st) with my wife, my son, and my mother so that I could cook the dinner for the 4 of us.   Everyone said that I did a great job with the presentation and the cooking, though to be honest, with the high quality of the ingredients that they use, it would be extremely difficult to have had it taste anything but fabulous.    Pictures of the event are posted at my SkyDrive.

My July continued being great because of this blog post that I ran across in May.   I was able to assist with the setup of the 4th of July Fireworks Show at the Des Moines marina, which is about 30-minutes from my house.    We worked for about a half-day on July 3rd getting the pier prepared for the fireworks by setting up the mortars and such, and then all day on July 4th loading the ordinance into the mortars and wiring the mortars and the other fireworks up to the firing board so that Greg could shoot the show.    We had many mortars as well as boxes called “cakes” which are pre-configured with various types of explosives similar to those little multi-shot boxes you’d find at a fireworks stand, only these are much larger with many more rounds.   Once we had finished testing all of the connections, we patiently waited until it became dark and the show could start a little after 10PM.    I’ve posted my still pictures of the event here, and the two videos I took are here (two of the three videos are mine, the third is one that Greg took) and embedded below.

Here is my tour of the Fireworks Pier after we finished setup:

My video from the shore during the fireworks show:

And what has to be one of the most amazing camera angles was this one that Greg took with a camera that was next to the 3” mortars and looking skyward as the fireworks went off all around it:

So while I can’t say “My 4th of July was better than your 4th of July” and have it be true 100% of the time, my July has definitely stated off with a bang.   My July will conclude with me attending a week-long class on Microsoft Forefront Protection Suite (FPS) (formerly known as Microsoft Forefront Code Name “Stirling”) in Redmond, WA, and delivering a Windows Server 2008 Directory Services workshop in Portland, OR.   I will endeavor to post a bit more frequently, especially as things like Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 reach RTM.

And for anyone wondering…YES, I still have all 10 fingers attached where they belong.   There were zero injuries sustained at either Benihana or the 4th of July show.   The chef was good about teaching me the proper way to prepare the meal safely and Greg was the consummate professional when it comes to the safe setup, handling, and discharge of fireworks.