Get them while they’re hot!  Download here: Linux Integration Services v2.1 for Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V R2 .  This version of the integration services for Hyper-V supports Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP3, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 / 5.3...

Just a quick solution in case you ever get the following message when trying to open a SharePoint Document Library in explorer view from Windows Server 2008 Your client does not support opening this list with Windows Explorer. This is due to the fact that Explorer view uses the WebDav...

If you are involved in a project to plan or upgrade Active Directory in your branch offices, you may have questions such as: What type of domain controller should I use for a given branch office? Does a given branch office even need a Domain Controller? What topology should I use? How do I monitor AD...

You know… the kind of day where all of the hard drives fail on one of your domain controllers, and then the new sysadmin runs a script on your production AD environment that deletes all user accounts, and then a hurricane hits your backup datacenter and floods your server room, submerging the last few...

If you have been tasked with securing SharePoint, there  are a lot of considerations to take into account.  How do users authenticate? Does part of your farm live in an extranet or DMZ? How do you secure user-to-server communications? How do you secure server-to-server communications? ...

I’ve been waiting for this guide for a while (‘cause that’s how I roll), but if you are interested in guidance on when/how to use Active Directory in your perimeter network, the AD team has released a guide for that: Active Directory Domain Services in the Perimeter Network (Windows Server 2008) The...

Unless you are Uber-l33t, you are probably not working on your Microsoft Certified Master certification.  This is  where the best-of-the-best come visit the better-of-the-best on the Redmond Campus to learn everything there is to know about Active Directory Services , SharePoint , OCS , SQL...

Internet Explorer: What’s New in Internet Explorer 8 Everyone expects something different from their browser. Some users are most concerned with security and privacy while others are more focused on customizability. Some want full standards compatibility, and others just desire ease of use. Explore the...

On Friday, I blogged about “ Project Sundance ”, which is an upcoming release from the Solution Accelerators team that combines the Vista/XP/2003/2008/Office security guides with the Configuration Manager Desired Configuration Management (DCM) packs for security, along with the GPOAccelerator tool into...

If you are in charge of maintaining the security baseline at your company, you know that there are two key problems you face.  First of all, there are a LOT of security settings to tweak within Windows.  The services you harden and lock down on a Domain Controller are very different from those...

I love the next-generation TCP/IP Stack and SMB 2.0 . It makes for quite zippy transfers :) More on the new networking features of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb726965.aspx

I am in the process of installing SQL Server 2005 on a new Windows 2008 Server, and ran into the following warning about missing some required components of IIS: - IIS Feature Requirement (Warning) Messages IIS Feature Requirement Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) is either not installed...

As you have probably seen on every blog under the sun, Hyper-V has released . Rather than rehash the announcement, I thought I would try something fun.  How hard is it to get various Linux distributions up and running in Hyper-V? The official list of supported operating systems on Hyper-V is available...

I'm in the process of setting up a new Hyper-V server, and for some reason I was unable to connect via Terminal Services to the server... I had properly enabled the "Allow connections from computer running any version of Remote Desktop (less secure) option". However, no matter, what I did, I got the...

Download the eBook here . There is nothing particularly fundamental about this book, unless you are a CCNP or otherwise live and breathe packets. Surprisingly (to me) however, the book remains quite readable. Written by Joseph Davies (aka The Cable Guy in TechNet Magazine )... he even has an entry on...

I just ran into the following contest on a banner ad of all places... It looks like if you try out any of our current line of products (Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, DPM, and the like), you are entered to win some killer prizes! https://www.microsoft.com/Infrastructure/Evalu08/ All you have...

If you were at MMS 2008 , or if you read executive keynotes in your spare time, you heard Bob Muglia mention that we are running MSDN and TechNet virtualized, in production on Hyper-V . MSDN and TechNet are full virtualized right now with Hyper-V, and we had a dramatic cost savings when we went and did...

In case you are curious what it is like to be in charge of Security for IT at Microsoft, you get to deal with an environment where there are: Approximately 100,000 intrusion attempts each month. Approximately 1 million infected or malicious e-mail messages received each month. Over 5,000 PCs rebuilt...

I was playing around with Trika's skydrive (wait a minute, that sounded better in my head)... and see that she has uploaded three very nice looking posters showing the various courses, tests and certifications available for SQL Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008, and Windows Server 2008. Apparently she...

I see over on Matt's blog that MBSA 2.1 has been released, with the following new features: Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 compatibility New revised user interface 64-bit support Improved Windows Embedded support Compatibility with Microsoft Update, Windows Server Update Services 2.0 and 3.0,...

The latest version of the links below can be found here , or download a PDF version here . Don't ask me where they got that US-Army-looking-font in the PDF... it probably wouldn't have been my first choice ;) Group Policy Documentation Essentials These links help you get started with Group Policy. Learn...

...and awesome as always!  Check it out here . Windows Administration: Active Directory Backup and Restore in Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 and the new Windows Server Backup utility bring many changes and welcome enhancements to backing up. Here is an in-depth guide to backing up and restoring...

Aaaaah... to come full circle.  Microsoft's OSs started at the command line, went GUI, and you can now do more from then command-line than ever before.  Between PowerShell , the Windows Command Reference , and now the Netsh Technical Reference , you can script until you are blue in the face...

Not sure how I missed this, but the Windows Server 2008 Security Guide has been released! It is available online here , and for download here . As an IT professional focused on security, you know firsthand how essential your servers are to keeping your organization up and running. It’s your job to stand...

Great Stuff from SysInternals (and Mark Russinovich): Inside Windows Server 2008 Kernal Changes : Mark goes deep inside the Server 2008 kernel to describe enhancements to memory management and I/O processing, as well as how Server 2008 implements new features like Hyper-V, self-healing NTFS, SMB2, and...