Another in the “this is too good NOT to post” category…

I used to be a Music Student.  Seriously.  I was a Theory and Composition major at the University of Minnesota (Go Gophers!).  So I have a lot of respect for creativity in music… and this one really floors me.  I love it!

“Jim of Seattle” (I’m not sure if he wants his name out there) won a recent “Song Fight” at www.songfight.org.

Here’s his entry: “Welcome to _______”. 

New Microsoft Certifications!

That’s right!  Microsoft is changing the certification program.

“Huh?  I’m an MCSE!  Why are they changing things?”

I’m an MCSE, too.  But what are your specialties?  You’re obviously an IT Professional.  You’re not a developer (or perhaps you are), but other than that, what do you do, really? 

If you’re certified on a particular technology, let’s call you a Microsoft Certified Techology Specialist. 

If you’ve proven that you’ve mastered several techologies relating to being an IT Professional, then let’s call you a Microsoft Certified IT Professional. 

If you’re a developer (and you know who you are), maybe you should/could be a Microsoft Certified Professional Developer.

And if you’re even more skilled than that, and if you can stand before a panel of experts and actually answer some tough questions about IT Architecture (whether IT Pro or Developer), we’ll call you a Microsoft Certified Architect.

Here are some more reasons – straight out of an internal email that was forwarded to me:

Increased Value through Relevance, Efficiency, and Alignment

Today’s announcement marks a milestone toward the increased value of our certification program and its positive influence on deployment and satisfaction with Microsoft.

• More relevant: aligned with expertise on technology, job roles, and usage scenarios
• Easier to distinguish: three simple series of credentials; clear logos and branding
• More targeted: shorter, cost-effective exam paths that are more focused and rigorous 
• Outstanding return on customer investment: straightforward exam and upgrade paths; continued recognition of old credentials
• Tightly aligned with the business: redefined certification requirements in the Microsoft Partner Program and deep collaboration with the Visual Studio and SQL Server BGs; similar partnerships are in development for BizTalk Server, Office, Vista, Exchange, and beyond.

Here’s the press release about it all.  And the best information about certifications, as always, is found at the “mcp” page of the Microsoft Learning site.

Questions?  Concerns?  Comments?  Give me a comment, or contact me.

“Kevin, why are you bringing up Virtuality?”

I think you mean “Virtualization”. 

I’m bringing it up because there has been a cool announcement about Virtual Machine Technology from Microsoft – specifically around licensing.

“What is this Virtual Machine Technology of which you speak?”

From the Microsoft Virtual PC – FAQ page:

A. Virtual machine technology applies to both server and client hardware. Virtual machine technology allows multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a single machine. In particular, the Virtual PC and Virtual Server products allow one or more legacy operating systems to run on the same computer system as the current Windows operating system. Today, many older x86-based operating systems are supported by Virtual PC and Virtual Server. Virtual PC for Mac allows for one or more Windows operating systems to run on the Macintosh operating system, allowing users to run a Windows operating system and Windows applications on a Mac.
 
Also, here’s a description of what makes up a VHD (Virtual Hard Disk).

“But what about licensing?”

“Effective with the release of the December 2005 PUR, customers will be able to take advantage of new flexible licensing use rights impacted by virtualization technology. Apart from per processor server licensing, all other Microsoft servers will no longer specify the number of times the software can be installed and used on a server. Rather, each license enables customers to run a certain number of instances of the software on a server at a time.”

Ah yes.  As I read it, we’re clarifying and simplifying how software is licensed in a virtual environment.  For example – if I buy a product (a “Software License”), I can now legally install a specified number of virtual “instances” of that software in virtual machines, as  long as all of those instances from that software license are running on the same server.

The updates also allow you to store unlimited numbers of “non running” instances of virtual machines on file servers or storage media, so you can easily run them on “ANY of your licensed servers”. (emphasis is mine)

For example, if you have purchased Windows Server 2003, you can run it as the host OS on a server, AND you can run any number of instances of that product on that server.  As long as you have one software license per physical server (and note that “each hardware partition or blade is a separate physical hardware system, and therefore a separate server”), you can run as many virtualized instances as you want.   That’s huge!

There are some limitations and other considerations (when AREN’T there?), so you’ll want to go through the information carefully to understand what applies to you.  In particular you’ll want to look into what version of the “Product Use Rights” (PUR) you’re covered under.  You may have to update some licenses to be covered this way.

“Why is Microsoft doing this?”

Well… think of the possibilities in the near future with virtualization!  It’s exciting!  I’d like to have a big server or several blades with processing power to spare… So when I suddenly need to add more power, or if one of my “servers” (likely virtual) has problems, I have a hyperactive supervisor (heck, let’s call it a “Hypervisor”… because that’s what Microsoft is calling it) dynamically launch additional “instances” of machines that can take on the required workload. 

“Sweet!”

Here is the announcement, and the  Virtualization Licensing Brief for your reading enjoyment.

Questions?  Give me a comment, or contact me.

Yep.  I blame myself.

If Windows Vista heads to OEMs on July 25th, 2006, then I’m responsible.  I, like many Microsoft employees, am running new Windows Vista builds whenever I get the chance.  And I’m submitting bugs as I find them.  Heck… most of the time I’m submitting bugs I don’t even KNOW I’m submitting bugs.  (The system is WAY smart about sending back information when things stop, hang, crash, or even faintly hiccup.)

But according to http://www.thehotfix.net/ and others, unofficially (and as yet unconfirmed by Microsoft as far as I know), July 25th is when Windows Vista will be available to OEMs so they can start testing and building systems in time for the 2006 Holiday season.

I'm currently playing with 5247.  What build are you running?

Bill Steele says that prices are down to $2.33 where he lives.  They’re actually down to around $2.21 near me, after hitting $3.00 only about 2 months ago. 

We complain so much in the U.S., because to us, these are still very high prices compared to what they were earlier this year.  But compared to the rest of the world, we’re still getting our gas really cheap.

Now someone please tell me why we have to deal with all of this up-and-down prices nonsense….  I have yet to hear a good, believable explanation.

I just learned from Chris Avis’ blog that there is a new Windows XP Security Guide out. 

This is Chris:  

And this the overview text from the Security Guide:

Overview
The Windows XP Security Guide has been updated to provide specific recommendations about how to harden computers that run Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) in three distinct environments:

• Enterprise Client (EC). Client computers in this environment are located in an Active Directory directory service domain.
• Stand-Alone (SA). Client computers in this environment are not members of an Active Directory domain.
• Specialized Security - Limited Functionality (SSLF). Client computers in this environment are subject to extraordinary security concerns. These concerns are so great that a significant loss of functionality and manageability is acceptable.

Yes indeed… as a frequent user of Microsoft LiveMeeting for doing our TechNet Webcasts I’m thrilled to see this new video.  Very funny!

(Saw first on Eileen Brown's and Michael J. Murphy's blogs.)

 Canadian IT Pro Advisor and Blogger Rick Claus has written a write-up (?!) on some resources available for helping with the Novell-Netware-to-Microsoft-Active-Directory migration process.

You’ll find his article here. 

Yep.  You could say that when it comes to Information Technology, Microsoft is full of IT. 

A question I get asked a lot – and in fact one that I always wondered when I was managing IT at a software company, was, “How does Microsoft do their own e-mail/security/backup-restore/software distribution/blah/blah/blah?”

Here’s a webcast series that will help answer that question (for you AND for me.)

The description from the series’ landing page follows:

The latest internal experiences of Microsoft are at your service in the ongoing How Microsoft Does IT series of webcasts. Presented by top authorities from the Microsoft IT organization,these topical presentations illustrate how Microsoft deploys and manages its own worldwide enterprise environment.

You can register to watch live presentations using Microsoft Office Live Meeting or search the archives for previous presentations below. You can also view related whitepapers, access case studies and listen to streaming audio presentations simply by clicking on the appropriate links on this page. We hope you find this insight beneficial and look forward to sharing more experiences with you.

Many of you who have been to my live events recently have seen this great video done by our Microsoft TechNet counterparts in the UK.  I haven’t been able to share it with you until now – now that I’ve just learned that they’ve made it available for online viewing, anyway.

Enjoy!

And remember: We Share Your Pain! 

(Thanks to UK SQL Specialist and blogger Mat Stephen for sharing this.)

Yes indeed, SP2 for Exchange Server 2003 went live yesterday (Oct 19, 2005). 

Here’s where you can get it, as well as find additional information.

  The schedule of Microsoft Webcasts for November is ready to go. 

I’ve posted the entire schedule, complete with breakdowns by topic or product/technology, as well as full descriptions, as an article HERE. 

See you there!

  Yep.  I’m coming to you right now via text at several thousand feet up in the sky, on my way to Dallas, TX.  There, in the Las Colinas office of Microsoft, building 1, we’re holding a week of team meetings and training. 

Should be fun.  I get to meet my new boss for the first time.  Also my new boss’s boss’s boss.  And my new boss’s boss’s boss’s boss.  Seriously… I’m not making this up.

(I’d include links to them above if I knew what their blog addresses were – or if they have them.) 

I’m also currently typing this message into BlogJet, installed on Windows Vista (build 5238).  I wonder if people around me are seeing some cool stuff for the first time.  (I’m being careful not to open anything TOO new around here. They’re all sleeping near me anyway.  <heh>)  Or perhaps they think I’m using a Mac.  

I’m probably the least Mac-experienced person around.  I used one once… but was frustrated trying to figure out how to get the stupid floppy disk out.  For all I know that disk is still stuck in there.  And so I don’t know what it is about the new AERO (Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, Open) user interface that has people exclaim, “Oh… wow.. it looks more like a Mac now.”  Just shut up.

So anyway.. I get into DFW at around 10:00AM CDT.  I tried to get to town early enough to go golfing with some teammates, but they decided to do a 7AM tee time.  <sigh>  So I guess I’ll be heading for the hotel early.  Hopefully they’ll have a room ready, and I can plug in and get some work done (the date of this posting should be an indication of what time I finally got connected). 

Happy landings!

 PS – If you attended one of my TechNet Events in Chattanooga or Knoxville, keep watching this space.  I haven’t forgotten your questions, and will have the answers here soon.  Sorry for the delay!

Doesn’t this guy look happy?  He’s found WSUS!

I had a couple of really good WSUS questions in email recently, and I wanted to share them with you here.

Dan P. writes:

“I am interested in chaining WSUS servers and have tried in a lab environment, but wasn't sure if correctly. Can you answer me this? Will the downstream WSUS server receive all downloads and metadata from the upstream WSUS, or only those updates approved by the primary WSUS? Can the downstream WSUS therefore only distribute or approve the already approved updates of say WSUS01, the update location.”

Well, I have found some documents that may help you (if you haven't seen them already):

This one is on "Choosing a Deployment Type":
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/library/WSUS/WSUSDeploymentGuideTC/ccf5da8c-62c3-4dfd-a5a4-b4da50f0b2ff.mspx

The way I see it, there are two issues: Setting up the Chain (which is simply a transport for ALL update metadata - not any information about the approval information) and the "Management Style". 

Here's a document on the why's and how's of "Choosing a Management Style":
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/library/WSUS/WSUSDeploymentGuideTC/ccf5da8c-62c3-4dfd-a5a4-b4da50f0b2ff.mspx

So your choices are to create "Replica" WSUS Servers (Centralized Management), or "Autonomous" ones (Distributed Management).  Autonomous servers still get the updates and update metadata from the upstream servers, but they do not get any approvals forced down to them.  Replicas also receive the approval information.

As to the issue of when the updates are actually transported down the chain, you could use the "Deferred Download of Updates" option.  In that case, only approved updates would then be downloaded and transported down the stream (in the Centralized Management Scenario).

Here is the WSUS Deployment Guide:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=E99C9D13-63E0-41CE-A646-EB36F1D3E987&displaylang=en

And the Operations Guide:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=E26BCDB4-EF0B-4399-8A71-9B3B00C4F4CD&displaylang=en

Hope you find this useful, Dan!

I was browsing the TechNet web site for solutions to a couple of great WSUS questions I received in e-mail, when a search result caught my eye:

“End to End Update Management – How Windows Vista Reduces the Pain of Update Management”

Here’s the paper’s “executive summary”:

“This white paper describes how the Microsoft Windows operating system Windows Vista improves the update management experience for both information technology (IT) professionals and end users. The Microsoft four-phase update cycle highlights the changes in the end-to-end update experience of IT professionals. The paper also addresses the changes to the end-user experience resulting from the new Microsoft Update (MU), Microsoft Windows Update Agent (WUA), the new version of Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), and the reduction in reboots required when updating the Windows Vista client.”

My take on the paper:

It lays out quite nicely the goals of improving the update experience, for end-users and IT Pros alike.  Easy assessment and detection tools.  Smaller updates.  Quicker transfers.  Fewer reboots.  Overall – less disruption.  The article is worth the read if only to understand that Microsoft is trying to make the process better, and has the tools for you to do it.

“Wow.. I can hardly wait to get my hands on this stuff, Kevin.  Do I have to wait for Windows Vista to improve our Update Process?”

Emphatically – NO! 

Okay… I have to say I’m a bit dissappointed at the way this article mixes how much better it will be when Windows Vista ships.. and “blah blah blah in the Windows Vista timeframe blah blah”, with the technologies and tools that are already available. 

Many of the technologies and improvements that the article describes are available NOW!  Microsoft Update is HERE!  And WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) gives you the flexibility and power as the article describes, TODAY!  Please don’t wait for Windows Vista.  Read the article and investigate these great resources if you haven’t done so already.

“There’s got to be something new in there, though, right?”

Yes, there are a couple of great tidbits.  For example – Windows Vista is a single binary (hardware and language independent), which means you have fewer images to patch, so less time patching and testing prior to rolling patches out.  New technology supporting fewer reboots is hinted at.  The Windows Update Agent (WUA) is going to be a standalone application, for a “more consistent and reliable end-user experience”.  BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) is improved to resume downloads based on state that now carries over even after a reboot or disconnect, and Windows Vista will include a download manager that can help you manage current download jobs. 

My favorite new feature is going to be WIM (Windows IMages), which is a disk image format that can be patched directly.  Yep.. you heard me… you’ll be able to have images of installed Operating Systems that you can patch directly into… so your distributable images will be kept up-to-date without having to build a machine, patch it, and re-capture the image.  That’s HUGE!  (And it’s just a small taste of what WIM will be able to do.)

So… read the article with the understanding that a lot of what it talks about is already here, and that things are definitely going to get even better!

—

And the disclaimer at the end of the article applies to my posting as well:
“Note: Features discussed on this site are subject to change. Some may not be included in the final product due to marketing, technical, or other reasons.”

Yep… today is the 2nd Tuesday of the month, which means that when they are available, new updates and security patches go live.  And today there are a couple moderate, several important, and even a few CRITICAL updates now available to download, test, and install.

More information here.

There is also an updated Malicous Software Removal tool.

There are NO “high-priority, NON-security updates”. 

Hmm… maybe I should clarify…

Bill Steele shared with our team a very interesting situation he ran across while installing Office 2003 on a rebuild of his Tablet PC.

Let’s all play “SPOT THE IRONY”!

Steve made some big announcements the other day about future product lines and services all around security – how Microsoft is going to take some of the security technologies recently purchased and developed (okay.. purchased) and roll them out in the coming months.

Good stuff!

Here’s the Press Pass article all about it.

As promised to the attendees of my Exchange Server 2003 SP2 talk I gave at the HP Exchange Academy yesterday, here is the slide deck:

File Attachment: 20051005 Exchange SP2 Talk (cleaned).ppt (3842 KB)

Windows Server 2003 R2 Webcast Series – Extend Connectivity and Control in Your Environment

Did you know that there is a new version of Windows Server 2003 coming?  Did you know there are new features coming in Windows Server 2003 that will help you extend your connectivity and control your management costs?  Windows Server 2003 R2 is almost here.  In this webcast series for IT professionals, Microsoft subject matter experts walk through the new R2 enhancements.  For details and to register, visit the webcast series website.

The sessions include:

Excellent!

Peter Jackson, the producer/director behind the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy has agreed to be the executive producer of the new “Halo” film, based on the game of the same name.

Here’s the story at MSNBC.

Hmmm…. I wonder…

• Will it be “Halo 2” right away?  Will they then have to make a pre-quel at some later date? 
• Don’t those Covenant fighters look suspiciously like orcs?
• Since when did Master Chief start carrying that big staff? 

The Cable Guy’s article from last month talks about the new, “Next Generation” TCP/IP stack that has been built for Microsoft Windows Vista and the next version of Microsoft Server (codename: Longhorn Server). 

The article lists a number of improved features as well as nearly a dozen new ones.  It also includes an architecture diagram showing the components and their APIs.

I’m currently sitting in an airplane on my way to Philadelphia.  My trip this week is made possible by the Exchange Team, who needed a speaker to talk about the upcoming Service Pack at an HP Exchange 2003 Academy Conference.  And since I just delivered an SP2 talk at the newly formed Minnesota Exchange Users Group, I am well prepared. 

Harold Wong was going to do it, but he couldn’t make it. 

Anyway… I’m really excited about many of the new features.  One in particular that I’m excited to try out is the Custom Weighting Feature in IMF.  This gives you the ability to create an .XML document that adds your own text and weightings for what you would consider to be spam. 

Here’s some text from the release notes:

—

Sample XML File

The following sample XML file and the table of values demonstrate how this feature can be used, and how the behavior of Intelligent Message Filter can be customized.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>

<CustomWeightEntries xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/2005/CustomWeight">

     <CustomWeightEntry Type="BODY" Change="1" Text="foo1"/>

     <CustomWeightEntry Type="BODY" Change="-1" Text="foo2"/>

     <CustomWeightEntry Type="BODY" Change=”5" Text="the quick brown fox"/>

     <CustomWeightEntry Type="BODY" Change="-9" Text="über sentence"/>

     <CustomWeightEntry Type="SUBJECT" Change="MIN" Text=" ?????"/>

     <CustomWeightEntry Type="BOTH" Change="MAX" Text="J’aime Français!"/>

</CustomWeightEntries>

—

The new version of the Intelligent Message Filter (IMF version 2.0, now included IN the service pack) will read this file as the service starts up and add your text to the text it watches for.  Very cool!

See the Custom Weighting Feature section of the Exchange Server 2003 CTP Release Notes for more information.

Oh... and there are a couple of blogs you should watch if you're interested in more Exchange information.

One is Eileen Brown's Weblog.  She's an IT Pro Evangelist and Manager in the UK, and one of the top "Microsoft Bloggers". 

The other is the Exchange Team's Weblog: "You Had Me At EHLO..."

If you're not watching these, or subscribing to them using RSS, you should.

Below are some additional resources for the “Understanding Group Policy - Part 1” webcast I delivered on October 3, 2005.

Hope you find them useful!

-Kevin

—

Directory Service Operation Guide
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/wssra/raguide/DirectoryServices/igdrog.mspx

Introduction to Group Policy in Windows Server 2003
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/techinfo/overview/gpintro.mspx

Implementing Common Desktop Management Scenarios with the Group Policy Management Console
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/technologies/management/csws2003.mspx

Staging Group Policy Deployments
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/library/DepKit/e5288e42-62b8-4f9e-a665-95b6e02389a3.mspx

Administering Group Policy with the GPMC
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/gpmc/gpmcwp.mspx

Group Policy Infrastructure (White Paper)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d26e88bc-d445-4e8f-aa4e-b9c27061f7ca&displaylang=en

Group Policy Manangement Console (Download)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=1&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d0a6d4c24-8cbd-4b35-9272-dd3cbfc81887%26DisplayLang%3den

SQL Server 2005 Tidbit 028

This tidbit comes as an answer to a really good question asked at a recent TechNet Event:

“When creating a Maintenance Plan, you showed that you can set up the entire plan to launch at a particular time or on a schedule.  Can you schedule the individual steps in your plan?”

No, I don’t see a way to do this.  You should really think of a plan as some entire set of work that should be launched at a particular time.  If you need different tasks scheduled differently, then they should be part of another plan.

—

Got an IT question?  Give me a comment, or contact me.