Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions

jhoward — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:36:00 GMT

OK, so I'm a couple of months behind the times.... but in case you aren't already aware, there's a free 400+ page Microsoft Press E-Book available online. It makes interesting reading and has an all-up view of Microsoft virtualization covering Hyper-V, System Centre Virtual Machine Manager, Application Virtualization, Desktop Virtualization and VDI.

You can download the book from here.

Cheers,
John.

MS Press Book on Group Policy

jhoward — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 12:34:00 GMT

The Group Policy book from the Windows Server Resource Kit has recently been made available through MS Press as a seperate book. Although the resource kit has loads of great information, many people often only want one book. This is one of the best books from the resource kit (well, actually, they're all good). It was co-written by industry-expert Darren Mar-Elia, Derek Melber, William Stanek, and the Group Policy Development team. I've included the description below:

Get the in-depth information you need to use Group Policy to administer your enterprise system—direct from industry experts and the Microsoft Group Policy team. With Group Policy and Active Directory® directory service, administrators can take advantage of policy-based management to streamline the administration of users and computers throughout the enterprise—from servers running Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server to workstations running Windows XP Professional or Windows 2000 Professional. This essential resource explains how to simplify and automate administrative tasks, including policy enforcement, system updates, and software installations, as well as how to centralize the management of network resources. The CD provides essential utilities, custom ADMs, GPO spreadsheets, and more. It’s everything you need to help increase your efficiency while bolstering user productivity, security services, and system reliability.

For more information, check out the book’s web page.

Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit - UK Promotion Offer....

jhoward — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 07:23:00 GMT

The Windows Server 2003 resource kit will be hitting the streets next month. This is a fabulous resource to have to hand, and is now a full seven volumes covering the entire Windows Server family. The good news for UK people is that by pre-ordering now you can get a 40% discount from Computer Manuals - well worth the saving.

About the Book....

Get practical guidance on managing and tuning system performance to help optimize speed, reliability, and efficiency.
•Implement proactive monitoring practices and procedures
•Use Performance Monitor, event tracing, load testing, and other tools to measure performance and capacity
•Set up logs, alerts, and reports
•Use baseline performance data for troubleshooting and capacity planning
•Learn to interpret key performance indicators and analyze bottlenecks
•Diagnose and resolve common performance problems
•See when to use advanced configuration and tuning techniques

MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER 2003 TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE

Apply expert strategies to troubleshoot your Windows Server 2003 network—and quickly resolve system issues and conflicts.
•Use Windows troubleshooting tools to identify and resolve problems
•Resolve startup issues, including failures and hardware conflicts
•Review stop errors, including memory dump files and common stop messages
•Troubleshoot disks, volumes, and file system issues
•Identify and resolve TCP/IP communication problems
•Manage system services, including configuration and monitoring

MICROSOFT WINDOWS GROUP POLICY GUIDE

Extend your administrative control with Group Policy—simplifying user and computer management and automating routine tasks.
•Design, implement, and modify Group Policy Objects (GPOs)
•Manage GPOs and policy settings; learn best practices for deployment
•Administer user settings, system configuration and access, and software installation and maintenance
•Customize administrative and security templates; create custom environments
•Manage IPSec, public key, and Windows Firewall policy settings
•Use Resultant Set of Policy tools and Group Policy logs to troubleshoot problems

MICROSOFT WINDOWS SECURITY RESOURCE KIT, SECOND EDITION

Learn how to help protect your Windows-based clients, servers, networks, and Internet services.
•Design security-enhanced Active Directory® objects, domains, and forests
•Utilize the Security Configuration Wizard and Windows Update Services
•Configure TCP/IP, 802.1x authentication, and the Windows Firewall
•Define security settings for domain controllers, IIS 5.0 and 6.0, and DNS, DHCP, WINS, RAS, and certificate servers
•Implement the security advances in Microsoft Office 2003 Editions, IIS 6.0, and the latest service packs
•Perform security assessments and respond to incidents

MICROSOFT WINDOWS INTERNALS, FOURTH EDITION: MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER 2003, WINDOWS XP, AND WINDOWS 2000

Delve inside the Windows kernel—for the inside details and architectural insights you need for better design, debugging, and performance.
•Understand the key mechanisms that configure and control Windows
•Explore the Windows security model
•Observe how Windows manages virtual and physical memory
•View the Windows networking stack from top to bottom, including mapping, APIs, name resolution, and protocol drivers
•Troubleshoot boot problems and perform crash analysis
•Experience Windows internal behavior firsthand with hands-on experiments

MICROSOFT WINDOWS REGISTRY GUIDE, SECOND EDITION

Understand how the registry works, its role in Windows configurations, and how to customize Windows to run the way you want.
•Learn best practices to back up, restore, manage, and modify the registry
•Customize group and system policies to manage multiple PCs and users remotely
•Track down registry settings and script changes
•Optimize server services, including network connections and authentication
•Deploy user profiles and Microsoft Office program settings
•Configure security services, including Windows Firewall, templates, and service pack features
•Troubleshoot the registry—resolve common problems and corruption issues

Your Resource Kit CD includes:

More than 300 essential tools, utilities, and resources:
•120+ Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit tools for configuring, optimizing, monitoring, and troubleshooting Microsoft Windows®-based servers and clients
•80+ ready-to-use, customizable scripts for automating Windows administration tasks
•VBScript Essentials videos
•20+ tools and scripts from the Microsoft Windows Security Resource Kit
•Utilities, templates, and job aids for Group Policy
•100+ registry files for customizing operating system appearance and behavior

Microsoft Press® eReference Library:
•eBooks of all 7 Resource Kit volumes
•Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Resource Kit eBook
•Microsoft Windows Scripting Self-Paced Learning Guide eBook
•Microsoft Encyclopedia of Networking, Second Edition, eBook
•Microsoft Encyclopedia of Security eBook
•Trustworthy Computing: Reliable in Operations eBook
•Sample chapters from Assessing Network Security and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 PKI and Certificate Security

Windows Server 2003 Technical References:
•Active Directory® Collection
•Core Operating System Collection
•Group Policy Collection
•High Availability and Scalability Collection
•Networking Collection
•Storage Technologies Collection
•Windows Security Collection

Windows 2000 ADSI Scripting for System Administration

jhoward — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 20:42:00 GMT

Although published a few years ago, one of the most useful books I keep coming back to is "Windows 2000 ADSI Scripting for System Administration" by Thomas Eck. As an IT Professional with a development background, this book has proved invaluable time and time again. Even with no development background, it never hurts to have a little more insight. Note that most of the content applies equally as well to Windows Server 2003.

Futher details are on amazon

John Howard - Senior Program Manager in the Hyper-V team at Microsoft : Books

Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions

MS Press Book on Group Policy

Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit - UK Promotion Offer....

Windows 2000 ADSI Scripting for System Administration