Thanks much to the Microsoft Learning and MS Press folks for such a fantastic giveaway. I remember getting the pre-cursor for this book, Introducing Microsoft Windows Server 2008, before I joined Microsoft and it was a huge help in getting grounded with the then-new OS. Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2 is a deep-dive work, that'll get you up to speed on how R2's new features and capabilities work, including Hyper-V and RDS virtualization, management, IIS and the new Web application platform and, of course, all the synergistic goodness between Windows Server and Windows 7. Free for a click, so don't miss out.
Oliver Rist
Technical Product Manager
Windows Server Marketing
This article was taken from http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/
Orignally posted by Jane Lewis http://blogs.technet.com/janlewis
Well even when you are working on the floor at Teched you have the opportunity to research and deal with customer queries. So I was busy doing my flipping between the Ask the Experts and the Hands On Labs and a delegate asked me a question that deserves serious consideration.
The delegate was asking what was Microsofts recommendation around having more than one Network Card in a Domain Controller.
Well my response was and is that this is not a recommended configuration however we do realise alot of our customers do work in this configuration.
Please see below for the kbarticles and background information around this.
The reason for this is various issues which are well documented in the following articles.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/acefekay/archive/2009/08/17/multihomed-dcs-with-dns-rras-and-or-pppoe-adapters.aspx
http://forums.techarena.in/active-directory/954155.htm
Both these technical references point to kbarticles which highlight specific issues which can arise in this situation , but also highlight workarounds.
246804 - How to Enable-Disable Windows 2000 Dynamic DNS Registrations (per NIC too):
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=246804
296379 - How to Disable NetBIOS on an Incoming Remote Access Interface [Registry Entry]:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=296379
Well Rane Johnson and myself delivered our Women in Technology session at Teched yesterday. I can honestly say that it went very well and was well received by our ladies and gentlemen who attended. To say the least this was not run like a normal break out session and to the suprise of the ladies & gentlemen we made the event as interactive as possible !. There were some great networking going on which we carried on into the Community Evening where we made a point of signing the Community Lounge “Berlin Wall”.
I would like to thank Rane Johnson Microsoft Technical Audience Marketing Lead for CEE for helping me make this session a great success.
Plus also Paula Januszkiewicz ,http://blogs.technet.com/plwit and Ilse Van Criekinge of Microsoft for helping us make this event a success !
See a selection of feedback quotes ;
“ A very inspirational Session - Thankyou!”
Also from an Male attendee
“Such an inspiring session with speakers passionate about the subject. Really enjoyed that the session was interactive since it makes the session much more valuable than else. The topic is very important, also for us men, and should be emphasized more in coming events.”
So thankyou to all that attended and I look forward to meeting up with you hopefully at some event in the future !
Following the tremendously successful launch of Windows Server 2008 R2, a lot of software developers are eager to begin writing applications and drivers that take advantage of some of its new technologies. To help developers transitioning to Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft is proud to announce the release to Web (RTW) of the Platform Update for Windows Server 2008. This set of runtime libraries makes it easy for developers to target Windows Server 2008 R2 without sacrificing their customer base running Windows Server 2008.
These updates include the following:
· The Windows Graphics, Imaging, and XPS Library components for developers to leverage the latest advancements in modern graphics technologies for gaming, multimedia, imaging and printing applications. It includes updates to DirectX to support hardware acceleration for 2D, 3D and text based scenarios; DirectCompute for hardware accelerated parallel computing scenarios; and XPS Library for document printing scenarios.
· The latest Windows Automation API, which allows accessibility tools and test automations to access Windows user interface in a consistent way across operating system versions.
· The Windows Ribbon and Animation Manager Library, which contains the Windows Ribbon API, a command framework that enables developers to quickly and easily create rich ribbon experiences in their applications, and the Windows Animation Manager API, an animation framework for managing the scheduling and execution of user interface element animations.
For specific details about the Platform Update for Windows Server 2008, please visit Microsoft Product Support.
Microsoft is making the Platform Update for Windows Server 2008 available to customers via Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services and the Microsoft Download Center at no cost. Because Microsoft is making these libraries so broadly available, we expect customers will find an increasing number of applications using the new features.
Thanks
Justin Graham
Senior Product Manager
Windows Server
This blog was taken from http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/
Advanced Group Policy Management V3 
I was looking into AGPM v3 recently and thought that it would be good to put a reference to it on my Blog. The challenging thing is, this is a great tool but you have to know about it first to then realise it!.
If you like Group Policies, then you will love this tool. In brief, this will enable you to take group policy management out of Active Directory and into a separate database that you can strictly control. This gives you the ability to have change control, historical version control, group policy comparison reports and a recycle bin for group polices too. This is not a new tool, we are now on version 3 and it is rock solid.
New features in AGPM 3.0 are:
Description
Full x64 support
Both the client and server components fully support x64 architecture and operating systems. There is a 64 & 32 bit version of both the client and server. Wow64 is not be supported. This means that a 64-bit version of AGPM must be installed on a 64-bit version of the host Operating System and a 32-bit version of AGPM must be installed on a 32-bit version of AGPM. Communication between different bitness client and server is fully supported. This means that a 64-bit AGPM client can communicate with a 32-bit AGPM server and a 32-bit AGPM client can communicate with a 64-bit AGPM server.
Windows Vista SP1 & Windows Server 2008
Significant changes have been made to the GPMC in these OSs and AGPM depends on the GPMC interfaces extensively. Therefore this version of AGPM is only installable on Windows Vista SP1 with Remote Server Administration Toolkit (RSAT) or Windows Server 2008. Windows Vista SP1 does not have the GPMC integrated into the operating system. The GPMC needs to be installed on Windows Vista SP1 through an optional tool called RSAT prior to installing either the client or server.
Note: Although version 2.5 will still be available for customers who do not plan to upgrade to these operating systems, version 3.0 client or service will not communicate with the version 2.5 client or service.
Customizable permissions
Version 3.0 allows the permissions deployed to a GPO in production to be customized. The default permissions are the same as version 2.5, however, custom permissions can be configured for each domain. The permissions configured on the “Production Delegation” tab will replace any permission already on a production GPO when it is controlled or deployed from the AGPM server. Applying the above permissions to the production GPO when taken into AGPM control will prevent changes to production GPOs from outside of AGPM as soon as a GPO is controlled.
More robust change tracking
The AGPM history has been changed to track more changes made to GPOs such as when/who made a request, when/who Approved/Rejected the request, when/who made changes to AGPM delegation, etc.
Purge Historical data
This version gives the AGPM administrator the ability to purge old data by specifying on the AGPM Server tab how many historical versions to retain. Purging old data deletes the data (GPO backup) from the archive so this data is no longer be accessible. The information about the historical action is, however, retained in the history and an entry is recorded in the history that data was purged. This means that if a checked in GPO from 6 months ago was purged, reports, etc. cannot be run against it but the history view still shows that a check-in was performed.
Group Policy Preferences Support
This version fully supports the new Group Policy Preferences (GPP) functionality added to Windows Server 2008.
General UI improvements
Changes have been made to field names and ordering to better describe the information contained in the field. Additionally the order in which the fields are displayed has been changed to make more pertinent information easier to find.
Localization
Localized in 11 additional languages.
The above feature list was taken from Micheal Kieef’s blog (project manager for AGPM) I highly recommend reading more from him :) and the other PM’s on Group Polices. Check out: http://blogs.technet.com/grouppolicy/
If you are feeling a little limited in information about Windows 2008, check out the following featured components:
· AD DS: Restartable Active Directory Domain Services
Windows 2008 introduced new capabilities to start or stop directory services running on a domain controller without having to shut it down, allowing administrators to perform maintenance (offline defragmentation, security updates ,etc..) or recovery on the AD database without having to reboot into Directory Services Restore Mode
Click Me
· AD DS: Fine-Grained Password Policies
One very significant change with Windows 2008 AD DS is the ability to implement granular password polices in a single domain. Fine-grained password polices always win over domain password policy and they can be applied to groups or users. For fine-grained password polices to be implemented, all DCs must be running windows 2008 and the domain must in windows 2008 functional mode.
Click Me
· AD DS: Auditing
In Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003, Active Directory audit logs can show you who made changes to what object attributes, but the events do not display the old and new values. In Windows Server 2008 you can now set up AD DS auditing with a new audit subcategory (Directory Service Changes) to log old and new values when changes are made to objects and their attributes.
Click Me
· AD DS: Read-Only Domain Controllers (RODC)
Windows 2008 includes the ability to deploy domain controllers that hosts read-only partitions of the Active Directory® Domain Services (AD DS) database. To deploy an RODC, at least one writable domain controller in the domain must be running Windows Server 2008. In addition, the functional level for the domain and forest must be Windows Server 2003 or higher.
Click Me
· AD DS: Database Mounting Tool (Dsamain)
The active directory database mount tool (Dsamain.exe) is a command line tool that allows administrators to view snapshots of data within an AD DS database (can be used with AD Lightweight Directory Services databases also). The tool can improve recovery processes for your organization by providing means to compare data as it exists in snapshots or backups that are taken at different times so that you can better decide which data to restore after data loss. This eliminates the need to restore multiple backups to compare the Active Directory data that they contain.
Click Me
This blog has been taken from Mark Empson’s blog. Click here to read more from Mark http://blogs.technet.com/mempson/archive/2008/07/02/2008-interesting-links.aspx
After the success of hosting Girl Geek Dinners in Barcelona and London, this was the first event in Paris on Oct 27th. All the ingredients that made this event a HUGE success:
- A unique state of the art location: Hosted in the Windows Café in the centre of Paris.
- Live demonstrations with Surface, Windows 7, Windows Phone and Lips ( I have to say it’s lucky some of us have careers outside of the Music Industry after hearing some of the interesting song choices)
- 140+ geekettes attended 
Some of the powerful statements we took from the evening that proved that formula is not only successful but needed in the IT industry.
“It is really difficult to insert technology subjects in women’s press.This type of initiative should be a facilitator above all if high tech industry like MS is involved” & “I know women who would like work in technology, here is a great place if you want to meet women who are working in technical team”. 
Microsoft and Paris Girl Geek Dinner are building on our new found relationship and hope to host further events together in the future.
This was originally posted on Jane Lewis Weblog Http://blogs.technet.com/janelewis
Hi
I recently had an interesting question posed by my customer with regards to search issues within Outlook 2007 and the way WDS works in Windows Vista and Windows 7
The user in question used outlook for around 80% of their working day. This involved them search for work orders and service requests and dealing and escalating them appropriately.
The work order was the anchor point of reference in what sometimes could be a very complicated email trail. It was therefore essential they could track down the related mails via its numerical reference.
However the Service request or Work Order could be typed in various ways e.g.
W000001234 SREQ000001234 , 1234 W01234,
The common denominator in the above is the actual 4-6 numeric at the end of the string. The user stated that this was the one constant people used in either the subject or the body of the email.
However since Vista the way that searches are handle by the Operating system and how that is integrated with Outlook has changed as explained in this excellent blog by Jonas Barklund
So the major difference is the way the OS and anything integrated or sat on top of the search Engine (Windows Desktop Search) which is built into Vista and Windows 7 deals with searches.
Windows XP is Character based , XP with WDS installed, Vista and Windows 7 is normally word based. Therefore as the blog above states;
“On Windows XP search is character based. That is, if you search for a string 'test', it will find files named 'my test data.doc', 'additional testing.xls' as well as 'latest junk.txt' or (if you tell it to search also contents of files) files containing words such as 'test', 'tester' and 'fattest'.
On Windows Vista, and on Windows XP with WDS installed, search is normally word based. Searching for the string 'test' will only find documents with the word 'test' in them, or words beginning with 'test'. So it will find the files named 'my test data.doc' and 'additional testing.xls' but it will not find 'latest junk.txt'. Moreover, it will find documents containing 'test' or 'tester' but it will not find documents containing 'fattest'.”
So how does this relate to my issue ?
The user wanted to search for any 5 or 6 numeric number string e.g. 123456 in the Header and the body of the message regardless of how it was formatted or positioned in the string and get a positive hit.
Based on the above information Vista sp2 with Outlook 2007 sp2 would not do this as WDS does not execute these type of Character based searches , therefore it was not finding anything . This is by design.
So to get around this issue up steps forward Search Folders. I created within Outlook 2007 a Customised Search folder.
For instructions on how to create a work folder please see below;
Applies to Outlook 2007
1. With Outlook open, click on File > New > Search Folder… or you can hit Ctrl + Shift + (keyboard shortcut)
2. A New Search Folder dialog box will open. The box displays the different types of search folders that you can customize; in this case I selected create a custom Search Folder, then selected Choose to Name the Sarch Folder.
3.Give the Search a name such as “Work Orders Searches”
4. Now click on Criteria…
A Search Folder Criteria dialog box will open, this is where you specify which items you want the search to look for, in this case I want the folder to show me all messages that contain the numbers 1234 in the subject field and message body. (For more options you can click on the More Choices and the Advance tab). Click OK
This now then locates the messages and places them in the Search folder specified.
This search folder can be dragged and dropped into your favourites for easy access.
Note: This post was originally posted by Jane Lewis http://blogs.technet.com/janelewis
Well the time for Teched Europe is drawing near and I am really looking forward to it. I have the privilege of working at it again this year and am looking forward to visiting Berlin which is a city I have never been to before. Although I realise I may have to pack a few woolly jumpers as it will be chillier than Barcelona !
As well has a whole host of technical sessions , I am particularly looking forward to our
Women in Technology Session that I am coordinating and delivering with my Colleagues Rane Johnson of Microsoft Ilse Van Criekingese of Microsoft, and Paula Januszkiewicz who is an MVP Enterprise Security. All of us work within the I.T. industry for many years and bring a strong passion for technology and all have spoken at Teched events in the past. In fact both Ilse, and Paula are speaking at this years events and I am speaking and working on the Technical stands at the event.
However we also bring a strong belief that we wish to Attract, Retain and Develop women into the I.T. industry and to underpin that belief we are delivering the following Women in Technology session in the Europa 1 – Hall 7-3b 17:00 – 18:15
So please if you are attending TECHED in Berlin look to attend this session or encourage your colleagues to attend. We are looking to make this a VERY INTERACTIVE Session. Plus it is just not Women we are looking to attend Men are very welcome too :).
So Myself and my colleagues looking forward to seeing you there.
Article taken from http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/ visit to find more information on Windows 7….
It's been a fantastic ride: Windows 7 has hit the GA milestone. That's General Availability for the acronym-challenged, so go forth and upgrade! As of now, you'll find Windows 7 readily available from retailers as well as hardware manufacturers and business solution providers. The new operating system has
lots to admire for desktop users, but it also sports the closest relationship with Windows Server since Windows 2000. Put Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 on the same set of network cables and all kinds of new abilities are suddenly yours to command, including uber-flexible desktop and application virtualization with Remote Desktop Services, seamless remote productivity with DirectAccess, smiling branch office workers with BranchCache and happier desktop administrators who get loads of new options for managing desktops right down to the bare metal on each and every desk.
For our part, Windows Server 2008 R2 has been available through partners and OEMs, like Dell and Fujitsu, for several weeks. Our server experts have done a great job of describing Windows Server 2008 R2's many new and improved features over the past several months, but with the full availability of Windows 7 now upon us, customers and partners will be able to see all the power that a desktop-to-server Microsoft solution can have in the enterprise. You can experience much of this new functionality via online demos and presentations at our New Efficiency Virtual Launch Event (VLE) site.
Here, you can get a first-hand look at Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7's new enterprise synergies, including new management features, productivity enhancers and virtualization capabilities, via online training and info sessions, demo recordings and customer descriptions of their early adoption experiences with the new platform. Enterprise IT administrators will find lots of valuable information here, but we'd also like to remind SMB customers that both Windows Server and Windows 7 contain features specifically aimed at them. There are several New Efficiency VLE content sessions aimed at SMB scenarios currently available, and we'll be adding more in the coming weeks, so check out what's there and stay tuned for more. Again, congratulations to Windows 7 on achieving this important milestone, and look for more content on our virtual launch site as well as new events highlighting these products in the near future, including TechEd Europe and PDC in just a few weeks.
Oliver Rist
Technical Product Manager
Windows Server 20008 R2
September 2009, 5 Microsoft employees (from PFE in Services and Incubation in EPG) took part in Computer Aid’s ‘Chile Cycle Challenge’ to raise enough funds to equip a number of schools in Chile with their first ever computers.
Computer Aid International provide the highest-quality, professionally refurbished computers for reuse in education, health and not-for-profit organisations in developing countries. Computer Aid has shipped over 140,000 PCs to where they are most needed in more than 100 countries.
Anthony, Gareth, Lauren, Sarah & Wendy took part in Computer Aid’s ‘challenge’ which involved cycling for 6 days from the Andes to the Pacific ocean covering 260 miles, (125 miles off road) with 11,483 ft of total elevation gain. The ‘reward’ for the challenge was to raise as much sponsorship money as possible to assist these schools, with each £3000 raised being enough to equip a school that would otherwise be unable to gain access to IT with a complete 20-PC lab.
‘Team Microsoft’ raised over £16’000 for the Chile Cycle Challenge and had the privilege to visit one of the Chilean schools that have benefited from a PC donation to see the difference it really has made in the lives of the children that are being taught there. Many of the children live in rural areas and will now leave school with an IT literacy level that will enable them to work in the cities if they so choose, an opportunity that previously they likely would not have had.
Outside of education, Computer Aid also helps with a myriad of other projects such as providing IT to remote, rural doctors in Africa. Typically, newly qualified doctors are sent to these outer lying regions as part of their on-boarding and haven’t always had exposure to all the aliments that they will encounter. These machines allow them to get assistance with diagnosis from more experienced colleagues through the transmission of X-Rays, and the simple emailing of test results and symptoms .
Taking part in this challenge was an opportunity to give back to the worldwide community and to ‘take care’. This was made possible by the charity matching available from Citizenship and
also the volunteering days given to every permanent employee at Microsoft.
Note this was originally posted under Jane Lewis WEBLOG
A customer of mine has been enquiring about the current situation of Scalable Networking Pack in relation to Windows 2008. Out of my research I have come up with the following information plus also some recommendations.
After Windows 2003 SP2 this setting was enabled by default. Many customers experienced some issues http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948496/jp. This was related to the fact that certain NIC cards especially Broadcom had compatibility issues with Network cards using Broadcom 5708 chipsets are known to have compatibility issues w/ TCP Chimney Offload feature.
http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlprogrammability/archive/2008/05/27/sql-server-intermittent-connectivity-issue.aspx & http://blogs.technet.com/networking/archive/2008/11/14/the-effect-of-tcp-chimney-offload-on-viewing-network-traffic.aspx and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942861
It was therefore advisable to “Switch off” the SNP via this registry key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
EnableTCPA REG_DWORD 0x0 ßOK
EnableRSS REG_DWORD 0x0 ßOK
EnableTCPChimney REG_DWORD 0x0 ßOK
0 = disabled
1 = enabled default
With the release of 2008 I have been asked by my customer whether this is an issue still.
Well the answer is that potentially it could be , however to mitigate the issue ensure that you have the LATEST NIC card drivers as part of your server build, and checkout their comptibility with TCP Chimney Offload feature
Windows 2008 specific reference to Scalable Networking Pack.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951037
Many of us have a deep meaningful relationship with Netdiag and we cannot bear to let it go, even though most of the the functionality / tests are included in DCDIAG.exe since 2008.
However if you cannot bear to let it go then there are ways to extend its life dependant on what version of 2008 you are intending to run it on.
2008
Copy the Netdiag from the Server 2003 support tools and it works fine
2008 r2
Extract the version of NETDIAG from the new verion of the MPS Reports Tool.
Microsoft Product Support Reporting Tool - Alliance Edition
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=823393
Don’t know if this is any better or worse for a DC: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=cebf3c7c-7ca5-408f-88b7-f9c79b7306c0&displaylang=en
30 – 31 October 2009 - Bucuresti - Angajatori de Top
http://angajatoridetop.ro/; http://www.hipo.ro/locuri-de-munca/listaangajatoritop/1/bucuresti
· The 7th edition of the biggest career fair for young professionals;
· Over 100 top employers at each edition;
· Over 15.000 participants at our last edition;
We look forward to seeing you there!
http://targuldecariere.ro/
Over 5000 people attended this event, our team meet some greet people and wanted to thank you all for attending.
The event was aimed at a wide range of people from graduates to experienced IT professionals.
If you missed the event and would like to see the jobs that appeared on the career fair site use this link:
http://targuldecariere.ro/component/tpjobs/searchbyind/5
If you missed this event I know we attending another one later in the month, I will blog about that later…..
