This post is totally not tech related. Sorry...
For some reason, hotels in Europe do not seem to have irons in the room. This is just super when you are on the second leg of a trip, and your clothes are starting to look a lot like this:
If I was smart, I would pick up a travel iron, but in a pinch here's a trick. Put the wrinkled shirts on hangers, hang them up on the towel rack in the bathroom, shut the door, and then take a really long, really hot shower. The steam will take care of most of the wrinkles, so that it will not look like you are living out of your suitcase (even if you are!)
Alright... we're going into serious pocket-protector territory here, but the TCP/IP Registry Values for Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 guide is available for download.
If you have been just dying to know how to configure the W2K8 TCP/IP stack to use either RFC 793 or RFC 1122 to interpret the value of the Urgent Pointer field in the TCP header... (and why wouldn't you?) while now you can! Some of the gems included look like:
TcpUseRFC1122UrgentPointer Key: Tcpip\Parameters Value Type: REG_DWORD—Boolean Valid Range: 0, 1 (false, true) Default: 0 (false) Description: This value determines whether TCP uses RFC 793 or RFC 1122 to interpret the value of the Urgent Pointer field in the TCP header. RFC 793 defines the value as indicating the first byte of normal data. RFC 1122 defines the value as indicating the last byte of urgent data. These two interpretations are not interoperable. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 TCP/IP defaults to the RFC 793 interpretation (used by BSD-derived systems).
Key: Tcpip\Parameters
Value Type: REG_DWORD—Boolean
Valid Range: 0, 1 (false, true)
Default: 0 (false)
Description: This value determines whether TCP uses RFC 793 or RFC 1122 to interpret the value of the Urgent Pointer field in the TCP header. RFC 793 defines the value as indicating the first byte of normal data. RFC 1122 defines the value as indicating the last byte of urgent data. These two interpretations are not interoperable. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 TCP/IP defaults to the RFC 793 interpretation (used by BSD-derived systems).
Try using some of those sentences at a bar sometime! See how that goes for you ;)
First saw this over on Jeremy's Blog and had to try it myself...
88 words
So... top that!
Some good resources on Windows Server 2008 Application Compatibility over at Venkat's Blog:
Microsoft has made several resources and tools available for Solution developers create better solutions that run on Windows Server Operating systems. Some of them are listed below in this article.
Microsoft has made several resources and tools available for Solution developers create better solutions that run on Windows Server
Operating systems. Some of them are listed below in this article.
1) Windows Server 2008 Application Compatibility cookbook - Download this
The Cookbook covers the most common application compatibility issues and provides tips how to modify applications or redesign them to help provide a quality experience with Windows Server 2008 and/or the Windows Vista operating system.
The Cookbook covers the most common application compatibility issues and provides tips how to modify applications or redesign them
to help provide a quality experience with Windows Server 2008 and/or the Windows Vista operating system.
2)Top 10 Issues for Developing Applications on Windows Server 2008 Download
This document details the top 10 compatibility issues when developing applications for Windows Server 2008.
3)Works with Tool Download
This highly-automated tool will help quickly determine baseline compatibility with Windows Server 2008.
4) System State Analyzer Tool Download
Create two snapshots of fixed drives, registry settings, drivers, and services at different points in time and compare them to view differences.
Create two snapshots of fixed drives, registry settings, drivers, and services at different points in time and compare them to view
differences.
5) Certification Tool Download
A wizard style tool to help walk thru the requirements and tests in the Certification program. Users can take advantage of the built-in automation and results tracking features and collaborate and track progress easily.
A wizard style tool to help walk thru the requirements and tests in the Certification program. Users can take advantage of the built-in
automation and results tracking features and collaborate and track progress easily.
The good,better and best of demonstrating quality of your application. Here are the ways in which application's quality and compatibility can be highlighted to Customers and the world: Good Tell Customers about the application's readiness for Windows Server 2008 Announce compatibility by signing up on www.InnovateOnWindowsServer.com | Announce here Better Achieve the 'Works with Windows Server 2008' designation for the application Use and benefit from the "Works with Tool". Download here Sign up for the program and receive the 'Works with Windows Server 2008' designation for the application. Best Get the application Logo Certified for Windows Server 2008 Use and benefit from the "Certification Tool" and sign up to Certify the application to achieve the "Certified For Windows Server 2008" Logo. More details on the Windows Server 2008 application compatibility and Logo program is available here: Innovate On Windows Server. Need more information? Got questions? Visit us at www.InnovateOnWindowsServer.com
Here are the ways in which application's quality and compatibility can be highlighted to Customers and the world:
Good Tell Customers about the application's readiness for Windows Server 2008 Announce compatibility by signing up on www.InnovateOnWindowsServer.com | Announce here Better Achieve the 'Works with Windows Server 2008' designation for the application Use and benefit from the "Works with Tool". Download here Sign up for the program and receive the 'Works with Windows Server 2008' designation for the application. Best Get the application Logo Certified for Windows Server 2008 Use and benefit from the "Certification Tool" and sign up to Certify the application to achieve the "Certified For Windows Server 2008" Logo. More details on the Windows Server 2008 application compatibility and Logo program is available here: Innovate On Windows Server.
Good
Tell Customers about the application's readiness for Windows Server 2008
Announce compatibility by signing up on www.InnovateOnWindowsServer.com | Announce here
Better
Achieve the 'Works with Windows Server 2008' designation for the application
Use and benefit from the "Works with Tool".
Download here
Sign up for the program and receive the 'Works with Windows Server 2008' designation for the application.
Best
Get the application Logo Certified for Windows Server 2008
Use and benefit from the "Certification Tool" and sign up to Certify the application to achieve the "Certified For Windows Server 2008" Logo. More details on the Windows Server 2008 application compatibility and Logo program is available here: Innovate On Windows Server.
Visit us at www.InnovateOnWindowsServer.com
Use the MSDN forum: http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=1850&SiteID=1
Send us an email at: WSLogoFB@Microsoft.com
Martin Luther King Jr., December 11, 1964
How do I back up AD? Seize an Operations Manager role? Recover a Domain Controller? Manage SYSVOL?
There's a guide for that...
If you need guidance on a Microsoft technology, we probably have a Solution Accelerator for that! Today's guide is brought to you by the letter "authentication".
Now... If you operate in a heterogeneous environment, you may one day be tasked with making your Linux boxes talk to Active Directory. The Windows Security and Directory Services for UNIX Guide has everything you need to do so, walking you through the steps to reach one of 5 "end states".
•End State 1. UNIX clients use Active Directory Kerberos for authentication but continue to use a UNIX-based store for authorization. •End State 2. UNIX clients use Active Directory Kerberos for authentication and use Active Directory Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for authorization. •End State 3. UNIX clients use Active Directory LDAP for authentication but continue to use a UNIX-based store for authorization. •End State 4. UNIX clients use Active Directory LDAP for both authentication and authorization. •End State 5. A cross-realm trust is established between UNIX-based Kerberos and Active Directory–based Kerberos in UNIX and Windows infrastructures that remain separate. Windows and UNIX clients each authenticate to their own Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC) and (if the trust is two-way) can then access resources hosted by computers on the other side.
•End State 1. UNIX clients use Active Directory Kerberos for authentication but continue to use a UNIX-based store for authorization.
•End State 2. UNIX clients use Active Directory Kerberos for authentication and use Active Directory Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for authorization.
•End State 3. UNIX clients use Active Directory LDAP for authentication but continue to use a UNIX-based store for authorization.
•End State 4. UNIX clients use Active Directory LDAP for both authentication and authorization.
•End State 5. A cross-realm trust is established between UNIX-based Kerberos and Active Directory–based Kerberos in UNIX and Windows infrastructures that remain separate. Windows and UNIX clients each authenticate to their own Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC) and (if the trust is two-way) can then access resources hosted by computers on the other side.
From the guide:
Many organizations today include computers running both UNIX and Microsoft® Windows® operating systems in their network environments. Ensuring the security of information located on either type of network infrastructure requires validating every user's identity and specifying which network data each user can access. Currently, most organizations with heterogeneous environments maintain separate systems for Windows and UNIX to authenticate a user's identity when the user logs on to the network (or authenticates to an application server) and to determine which network resources an authenticated user is authorized to access. Maintaining these separate systems incurs administrative overhead and requires users to log on separately to each system or service that they want to access. The goal of this guide is to demonstrate that it is both feasible and advantageous to integrate Windows and UNIX more closely than the basic interoperation at the network level that is enabled by the fact that both are TCP/IP-based operating systems. Specifically, this guide describes how to integrate Windows and UNIX at the level of authentication (determining the identity of a user before allowing the user to log on) and, optionally, authorization (determining whether an authenticated user is authorized to access a given resource on the network). This chapter provides a brief introduction to the following topics: •The central role of the Active Directory® directory service in identity and access management. •Overview of authentication and authorization. •End states for integrating Windows and UNIX.
Many organizations today include computers running both UNIX and Microsoft® Windows® operating systems in their network environments. Ensuring the security of information located on either type of network infrastructure requires validating every user's identity and specifying which network data each user can access.
Currently, most organizations with heterogeneous environments maintain separate systems for Windows and UNIX to authenticate a user's identity when the user logs on to the network (or authenticates to an application server) and to determine which network resources an authenticated user is authorized to access. Maintaining these separate systems incurs administrative overhead and requires users to log on separately to each system or service that they want to access.
The goal of this guide is to demonstrate that it is both feasible and advantageous to integrate Windows and UNIX more closely than the basic interoperation at the network level that is enabled by the fact that both are TCP/IP-based operating systems. Specifically, this guide describes how to integrate Windows and UNIX at the level of authentication (determining the identity of a user before allowing the user to log on) and, optionally, authorization (determining whether an authenticated user is authorized to access a given resource on the network).
This chapter provides a brief introduction to the following topics:
•The central role of the Active Directory® directory service in identity and access management.
•Overview of authentication and authorization.
•End states for integrating Windows and UNIX.
Get the rest here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/solutionaccelerators/cits/interopmigration/unix/usecdirw/02wsdsu.mspx
Seriously. All of them. In a convenient, easy to consume OPML format:
http://blogs.technet.com/Opml.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/opml.aspx
Good stuff in this month's TechNet magazine...all about System Center and Group Policy. Get it while its hot!
Real Control with Virtual Machine Manager 2007
Virtualization allows organizations to consolidate resources and save money. But as you begin to implement increasing numbers of virtual machines, you'll want a convenient way to manage them. Here's a guide to setting up Virtual Machine Manager and using it to perform administrative tasks from a centralized interface.Edwin Yuen
Better Backups with Data Protection Manager 2007
The latest version of Data Protection Manager offers many new features, delivering a powerful and flexible solution for managing your backups. Here's an overview of how DPM can protect everything from Exchange and SQL Server to branch offices and SharePoint sites.Calvin Keaton
Online Services Help Simplify Software Inventory
Software asset management is an essential task for every business—large or small. But with the amount of software businesses now purchase and deploy, getting a handle on those assets can feel next to impossible. Find out how the new Asset Inventory Service from Microsoft can help.Paul Bourgeau
Inside ADM and ADMX Templates for Group Policy
ADM files are both necessary and often confusing. Don't let this slow your Group Policy efforts. This guided tour will help you better understand what's inside ADM files and the new ADMX format, which tools you can use to handle them, and how you can make the best use of these files.Jeremy Moskowitz
Optimizing Group Policy Performance
All Group Policy is not the same, and knowing the differences between types can help you fine-tune performance on your systems. Explore monolithic and functional GPs, learn how to process Group Policy, and find out what happens when Group Policy changes occur.Darren Mar-Elia
Dive into Advanced Group Policy Management
AGPM, or Advanced Group Policy Management, is a handy tool that lets you work with Group Policy Objects in ways that other tools don't. And it's now available to members of the Microsoft Software Assurance program. Check out how you can use AGPM to edit GPOs offline, delegate administration, track changes, and more.Derek Melber
I wrote my "Why I love working at Microsoft" post nearly a year ago, but Dare Abasanjo (author of RSS Bandit) has great retrospective of his 5 years at Microsoft, and ends with a graphic from Scott Hanselman's post about joining Microsoft. Not to mention Gretchen's recent Flexible Working Arrangement post, and even MiniMSFT is semi-contented with how things are going on the mother ship.
Great reading, and Scott's picture nicely summarizes why I get out of bed each morning.
If you are a certification junkie like me, you have been anxiously awaiting information on the last of the Windows 2008 Certification Exams that replace the venerable MCSE. Information on the Technical Specialist exams has been available for a while, but as Trika notes, there is FINALLY INFORMATION posted on the MCITP:Server Administrator (Focuses on day-to-day operations and management) and MCITP: Enterprise Administrator (Validates your skills focused on Windows infrastructure design) Certifications. Huzzah!
So...
Hit up Trika's Blog for more info and links.
or, to save an extra click..
Transition your MCSA and MCSE on Windows Server 2003 skills to Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 all-up certification page (not the official title...)
Review the preparation guide for Exam 70-646: Pro: Windows Server 2008, Server Administrator
Review the preparation guide for Exam 70-647: Pro: Windows Server 2008, Enterprise Administrator
You can also click on the pictures below to get a pretty map that you can hang on your wall showing the path to your MCITP
Just got this from Jeff on the Windows Virtualization Team:
Hyper-V Question of the Day:
Q: I’d like to install the Hyper-V MMC on Windows Server 2008 to remotely manage another Hyper-V System. How do I do this? Can I do this on Windows Server 2008 x64 and x86 Editions?
A: Yes. This solution works for both Windows Server 2008 x64 and x86 Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Editions.
Here are the steps:
1. Launch Server Manage from the Start Menu
2. Click Add Features
3. Under Remote Server Administration Tools --> Role Administration Tool -->
a. Enable Hyper-V Tools and click Next.
4. Click Install.
5. After the reboot, go to Administrative Tools in the Start Menu and you will see the Hyper-V Manager.
Figure 1: Enabling just the Hyper-V MMC on Windows Server 2008
After you install the Hyper-V Tools and reboot here’s the Hyper-V MMC!
Figure 2: Hyper-V MMC
I see that Keith has some pretty sweet webcasts coming up for all those of you that live in a heterogeneous world. This is all part of the Windows Server Compare series of screencasts and webcasts that are coming out.
You can register for the webcasts here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/compare/windows-server-comparison-screencasts-and-webcasts.mspx
By no means a comprehensive list, today's Best Practices are brought to you by the letter "security".
TechNet Security Home
Assess Your Environment
•The Security Risk Management Discipline module
•The Assessing Network Security book
•The SANS Security Policy Project
Protect Your Network
•The Deploying Virtual Private Networks with Windows Server 2003 book
•The Using ISA Server 2006 with Exchange 2007 guide
•The Using ISA Server 2004 with Exchange Server 2003 guide
•The Microsoft Network Security Guidance
•The Microsoft Guide to Securing Wireless LANs
•Using IPSec to Help Secure an Internal Corporate Network Server
Protect Your Servers and Clients
•The Security Management Service Management MOF guide
•The 2007 Microsoft Office Security Guide
•The Windows Vista Security Guide
•The Windows Server 2003 Security Guide
•The Windows XP Security Guide v2 (updated for Service Pack 2)
•The Exchange Server 2003 Security Hardening Guide
•SQL Server 2005 Security Best Practices
•Scenarios and Procedures for Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003: Security
•SharePoint 2007 Security Features
•The Microsoft Identity and Access Management Series
•The Antivirus Defense-in-Depth Guide
•The Microsoft Guide to Security Patch Management
•The Improving Web Application Security Guide
•The Writing Secure Code book
•The Threat Modeling book
Monitor Your Environment
•The Microsoft Threats and Countermeasures Guide
•The Service Monitoring Guide
•The Responding to Security Incidents Guide
I am in India for the next week or so, and it really is quite beautiful here (and much warmer than Seattle)! The panorama below (stitched together with the killer Windows Live Photo Gallery) shows some features (palm trees and blue skies) not typically found close to the Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond, WA.
While the weather and people are beautiful, the most difficult cultural adaptation for me is without a doubt the driving. As my Indian friend neatly summarized, "Indians can drive anywhere in the world, while only Indians can drive in India".
He was right... I would not give Mario Andretti car keys over here.
For one thing, safety equipment is rarely utilized. Every time I get in a taxi, I have to dig into the seat to find the seatbelt receptacle that was never taken out of the plastic from the factory. Motorcycle riders only occasionally wear helmets, and it is not unusual for an entire family of five to ride on a single Motorcycle.
Another concept that has been difficult for me to wrap my head around is the usage of the road. There are rules as to where you can drive, but they are not the same as they are back in the States. First of all, the white divider line between lanes does NOT separate traffic into two separate lanes. It actually serves as a guide for where you should put the center of your car. Unless there is heavy traffic, drivers will go right down the middle of both lanes. If there is traffic, the next rule of positioning relates to the size of your vehicle. If you are a large vehicle (like a bus or an SUV), you can actually use both of your lanes, and then one of the lanes on the other side of the road. Motorcycles and small cars in oncoming traffic will get out of your way.
The horns on every vehicle are constantly used, and basically serve as sonars. You can tell how close you are to being hit by the volume of the horn that is honking at you. When merging from side streets onto major thoroughfares, the protocol is to lay on the horn and merge without stopping (or even checking for oncoming traffic).
Remarkably, however, I have to say that the system works quite well. As long as everybody operates by the same set of expectations, accidents are a very infrequent occurrence. John Adams showed in a 1981 study that increased seatbelt usage actually led to more dangerous driving. Since unbelted drivers in India are fully aware of the potential harm that would befall them in an accident, they drive quite conscientiously and with great awareness of their surroundings.
Something to think about the next time you strap on your seatbelt and prepare to drive while exhausted, talking on your cell phone, or putting on your makeup.
Speaking as one to another... (sorry, I don't have any other cool place to show off my Windows 2008 certs and cool button from the Microsoft Certification Logo Builder), I just heard from Trika that you can sign up for notification as to when the new Windows 2008 certs go live here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/windowsserver/offer/default.mspx
Not only will you get a cheery email letting you know that the certifications have gone live, but for a limited time (operaters are standing by), if you call in the next 15 minutes, you will also get:
•Same-day notification when the three Windows Server 2008 technology exams are available, plus a 40 percent savings code to use on any one of these three exams
•Same-day notification when the two Windows Server 2008 professional-series exams are available, plus a second 40 percent savings code to use on one of these two exams
If you want to get the cool certs that I already have, you can take the 70-649 test (if you are currently an MCSE) and pick up all three TS exams, or if you are an MCSA, you can take the 70-648 and pick up the AD and Network Infrastructure certifications.
Now Trika, will you please update the MCITP site with more information on the Enterprise Administrator and Server Administrator certifications? Pretty please? With a cherry on top?
Until then, I suppose I will just hang out at the Windows Server 2008 Learning Portal, or read some of these books <sigh...>
Awesome collection of training on Windows Presentation Foundation (free of course!). Three whole days worth of recorded sessions, labs, demos, PowerPoints....
http://www.visitmix.com/university/wpf/wpfbootcamp.htm
and a ton more training on Silverlight, ASP.NET AJAX, Gadgets, Expression, etc at the VisitMix University: http://visitmix.com/university/
In case you are interested… I was initially just going to show the top 10, but then you would have missed some of my favorites like Keith Combs, Virtual PC Guy, or the Mac Mojo Blog! So, without further ado, I give you the top 25 blogs on TechNet and MSDN J
TechNet
MSDN
http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie
http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver
http://blogs.msdn.com/saraford
http://blogs.technet.com/msrc
http://blogs.msdn.com/livesearch
http://blogs.technet.com/koalra
http://blogs.msdn.com/excel
http://blogs.technet.com/technetplussubscriptions
http://blogs.msdn.com/outlook
http://blogs.technet.com/sysinternals
http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing
http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver
http://blogs.msdn.com/access
http://blogs.technet.com/sbs
http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh
http://blogs.technet.com/wsus
http://blogs.msdn.com/chris_pratley
http://blogs.technet.com/eileen_brown
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint
http://blogs.technet.com/keithcombs
http://blogs.msdn.com/powershell
http://blogs.technet.com/technetczsk
http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar
http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization
http://blogs.msdn.com/inside_office_online
http://blogs.technet.com/dmelanchthon
http://blogs.msdn.com/joe_friend
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf
http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile
http://blogs.technet.com/steriley
http://blogs.msdn.com/macmojo
http://blogs.technet.com/momteam
http://blogs.msdn.com/rmauceri
http://blogs.technet.com/security
http://blogs.msdn.com/brada
http://blogs.technet.com/jhoward
http://blogs.msdn.com/tims
http://blogs.technet.com/kevinremde
http://blogs.msdn.com/coding4fun
http://blogs.technet.com/steve_lamb
http://blogs.msdn.com/brian_jones
http://blogs.technet.com/mu
http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy
http://blogs.technet.com/matthewms
http://blogs.msdn.com/larryosterman
http://blogs.technet.com/uc
http://blogs.msdn.com/ericlippert
http://blogs.technet.com/kclemson
http://blogs.msdn.com/michael_howard
Assuming Shaun Alexander steps up his game (or they let Maurice Morris spend some more time with the ball), and if Matt Hasselbeck can limit the number of times he throws the ball to Packers ;)
GO HAWKS!!!
(and now back to your regularly scheduled technical content :)
Alright... this is probably not something that you would implement as an IT Pro at a company with 15 employees, but for companies with thousands of employees, Identity Management is very critical. You have line-of-business applications that depend on Active Directory, Siebel, PeopleSoft, Oracle, Unix... People login with usernames, passwords, smartcards, tokens... How do you keep identities consistent across different systems created by different vendors? The Microsoft solution in this space is Microsoft Identity Lifecycle Manager 2007 (ILM 2007). You can read more about it in the ILM Datasheet. While ILM is incredibly powerful, it is also not the easiest application to use. Why do I bring all of this up?
If you would like to have a chance to play with ILM, and get your hands dirty, the product team has just released a Virtual Server/VPC Image of ILM 2007. From the download page:
Microsoft Identity Lifecycle Manager 2007 (ILM 2007) provides an integrated and comprehensive solution for managing the entire lifecycle of user identities and their associated credentials. It provides identity synchronization, certificate and password management, and user provisioning in a single solution that works across Microsoft Windows and other organizational systems. As a result, IT organizations can define and automate the processes used to manage identities from creation to retirement. This fully functional pre-configured VHD provides you with a trial software that will automatically expire after 30 days. This is a preconfigured virtual machine contained within the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format. A virtualization product that supports the VHD format is required to use this virtual machine. Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Virtual Server are provided for free and can be used with these VHD based virtual machines. Please refer to the system requirements section for more details.
I know, I know... another post with a bunch of links from Sean. You may even scroll past this post to get to the latest Lolcats pic in your newsreader.
Here.
Here's a cute kitty with a witty caption. Is that good enough? Did you get it out of your system? Good. Let's get back to my post.
Alright... If you run an IT shop, and would like to run a tighter ship; or if you just started at the Help Desk and would like to understand the different functions of running a well managed IT Shop, or if you are the kind of person that clicks on every "free e-books" link from DIGG, you will want to read through the guides below. My standard "these are great for getting smarter, passing certifications, or going into job interviews" still apply.
In short, the Microsoft Operations Framework includes 22 (unless I counted wrong) Service Management Functions. These functions (such as Security Management, Workforce Management, Capacity Management, etc) will be found in most IT shops (although if you work in a small enough company, you may serve as the Security Manager, Infrastructure Manager, and HR Generalist... these guides are still useful).
Pick one, read it, and you will be smarter when you are done. If you like the one you read, you can download the rest of the chapters to read offline (or online... whatever floats your boat).
Service Management Functions (SMFs) provide operational guidance for Microsoft technologies employed in computing environments for information technology applications. SMFs are a core part of Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF), which provides guidance through courses, services, guides, and other media that enable organizations to achieve mission-critical system reliability, availability, supportability, and manageability of IT solutions.
Download individual chapters of the SMF Operations Guide
See full-sized image.
Listed below are chapters of the SMF Operations Guide:
•Availability Management
•Capacity Management
•Change Management
•Configuration Management
•Directory Services Administration
•Financial Management
•Incident Management
•Infrastructure Engineering
•Job Scheduling
•MOF Service Management Function Overview
•Network Administration
•Problem Management
•Release Management
•Security Administration
•Security Management
•Service Continuity Management
•Service Desk
•Service Level Management
•Service Monitoring and Control
•Storage Management
•System Administration
•Workforce Management
I was just browsing the IT Pro course catalog over at http://www.microsoftelearning.com, and noticed that there are a TON of free courses relating to Security. There are some non-security free courses as well (related to SQL Server 2008, Windows Server 2008, and a few others), but the price is sure right. Go check it out!
Clinic 2801: Microsoft® Security Guidance Training I
Summary: This online clinic provides students with introductory knowledge and skills essential for the design and implementation of a secure computing environment. It also provides students with prescriptive guidance on security update management and best practices for implementing security on Microsoft Windows® server and client computers.Audience: IT ProAvailable Offline: YesPrice: FREESubscription: 1 year
Clinic 2802: Microsoft® Security Guidance Training II
Summary: This online clinic builds on existing knowledge of server and client security and provides students with the knowledge and skills to apply best practices to implement perimeter and network defenses and enhance security for applications and Microsoft® Windows Server System™ components. It also provides students with prescriptive guidance to enhance security for Microsoft Windows® server and client computers and practical strategies for implementing security for wireless networks.Audience: IT ProAvailable Offline: YesPrice: FREESubscription: 1 year
Clinic 2803: Microsoft® Security Guidance Training III
Summary: This online clinic builds on existing knowledge of server and client security and provides students with the knowledge and skills to apply security best practices for Microsoft® Exchange Server and to use Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 to improve security at the network perimeter. It also provides students with prescriptive guidance to implement layered defenses against malicious software and measures to increase security for Microsoft Windows NT® 4.0 and Windows® 98 network clients. Audience: IT ProAvailable Offline: YesPrice: FREESubscription: 1 year
Clinic 2804: Microsoft® Security Guidance Training IV
Summary: This online clinic provides students with prescriptive guidance that builds on their knowledge of security essentials to help them improve security for their infrastructures. Audience: IT ProAvailable Offline: YesPrice: FREESubscription: 1 year
Clinic 2806: Microsoft® Security Guidance Training for Developers
Summary: This online clinic provides students with knowledge and skills essential for the creation of applications with enhanced security. Students will learn about the need for implementing security at every stage of the development process and best practices for applying security principles. Students will also learn how to use established threat modeling methodologies and tools with other best practices to minimize vulnerabilities and limit damage from attacks. Finally, students will learn how to implement security features to enhance security for Web applications and Web services that are built by using Microsoft ASP.NET.Audience: DeveloperAvailable Offline: YesPrice: FREESubscription: 1 year
Clinic 2807: Microsoft® Security Guidance Training for Developers II
Summary: This clinic discusses best practices for building security into the design, development, testing, and deployment phases of the software development life cycle. It is targeted towards individual with at least one to two years of programming experience. The course will provide developers with the skills and knowledge to design and develop more secure Microsoft solutions.Audience: DeveloperAvailable Offline: YesPrice: FREESubscription: 1 year
Clinic 2808: Microsoft® Security Guidance Training V
Summary: This clinic builds on existing knowledge of server and client security and provides students with the knowledge and skills to apply best practices to securing Microsoft® Exchange Server clients, protecting e-mail and data content, securing services and critical accounts, and securing administrative accounts and remote access using smart cards. Audience: IT ProAvailable Offline: YesPrice: FREESubscription: 1 year
Clinic 2855: Managing Security Enhancements in Windows Server™ 2003 Service Pack 1
Summary: This online clinic will show systems administrators and system engineers how to implement, deploy, support, and configure Windows Server 2003 SP1 security enhancements. It will provide in-depth information on the security changes in SP1 over previous versions.Audience: IT ProAvailable Offline: YesPrice: FREESubscription: 1 year
Clinic 6078: Deploying Microsoft® Forefront™ Client Security
Summary: This online clinic will provide the knowledge necessary to understand the key features of Microsoft Forefront Client Security, as well as the considerations for deploying Forefront Client Security in a network environment. Audience: IT Pro Available Offline: Yes Price: FREESubscription: 1 year
Clinic 6079: Managing and Troubleshooting Operations in Microsoft® Forefront™ Client Security
Summary: This online clinic will provide the knowledge necessary to manage Microsoft Forefront Client Security in a networked environment, as well as how to troubleshoot issues that may occur in a Forefront Client Security deployment. Audience: IT Pro Available Offline: Yes Price: FREESubscription: 1 year
Clinic 6080: Deploying Microsoft® Forefront™ Server Security Products
Summary: This online clinic will provide the knowledge necessary to understand the key features of Microsoft Forefront Server Security for Exchange, and Microsoft Forefront Server Security for SharePoint. Audience: IT Pro Available Offline: Yes Price: FREESubscription: 1 year
Although I now use live.com as my default search engine (it's searchier!), I just noticed that Google has a Microsoft-specific search. Very cool!
http://www.google.com/microsoft.html
I see over on TUAW that Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac is now available for pre-order from Apple and Amazon, with delivery scheduled on January 15th. It really is a sweet release. You'll want to check out the official Product Site and the Mac Mojo blog, which have lots of information, screenshots, etc.
Pick it up, even if only for the new Smart Art ;)
As Microsoft is a global company, it is not uncommon to have meeting scheduled that include participants from a number of different regions. The more time zones that are represented in the call, the harder it is to schedule. Invariably, someone is going to end up calling in from home at the crack of dawn, or a super-late hour.
I had just one such call this morning, and found a great tool to help schedule the call. You input the day of the call, and the participant cities, and it will generate a nice chart showing business hours in each region (green), waking hours outside of business hours (yellow), and time when people are typically sleeping. Although someone will always end up with the short end of the scheduling stick, this can help take some of the sting away.
Check it out! http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html
(Site is not associated with Microsoft, use at your own risk, it may eat all the cookies in your house for all I know, but I have found it to be a very useful site ;)