May 2009 - Posts
Server Fault Public Beta Launches - Blog - Stack Overflow
All you IT Professionals out there need to check out Server Fault – if it is as successful as its sister site Stack Overflow, then it is going to sweep away sites like Yahoo Answers and Experts Exchange to become the de facto standard site for IT system administrator questions and answers. And it’s free.
Now that the site is in public beta, you can sign up and start contributing and building up your reputation. I’ve personally found it helpful in resolving some very technical issues and the response is amazingly quick. I want to encourage as many of the SBS, SBSC and MVP communities as possible to take part in this. Stack overflow has been really successful in the developer world and now Server Fault is set to do the same for IT pros. If you believe in the power of Community, you’ll want to be associated with this. There have even been cases of people being offered jobs based on their Stack Overflow reputation.
Via Nick King: Two new courses available from Microsoft Learning, covering the implementation and administration for Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008:
MSL news: SBS and EBS 2008 Courses Now Available
From the MSL Born To Learn web site:
Implementing and Administering Windows® Small Business Server 2008 (course number 6445):
This five-day instructor-led course provides you with the knowledge and skills to plan, implement, and manage Windows Small Business Server 2008. The course helps prepare you for the MCTS: Small Business Server 2008 Configuration (exam 70-653) certification.
Implementing and Administering Windows® Essential Business Server 2008 (course number 6446):
This five-day instructor-led course provides you with the knowledge and skills to implement and administer Windows Essential Business Server 2008. The course helps prepare you for the MCTS: Essential Business Server 2008 Configuration (exam 70-654) certification.
I just spent a very enjoyable bank holiday weekend doing loads of cycling, mainly in the Bath/Bristol area along the Bath Bristol Railway Path, aka National Cycle Network route 4. At one point along the route I stopped to chat with a couple of guys from Sustrans. I think it was Joe Beck I spoke to. He convinced me I need to join Sustrans and here’s why.
Over the last couple of decades, Sustrans has been the driving force behind 12,000 miles of the National Cycle Network. Cycle paths that run the length and breadth of Britain, following the routes of old canals and railways and along purpose built cycle paths. Sustrans has been creating a vision of healthy, sustainable transport long before politicians were understanding the necessity. I have personally had a great deal of good use out of the work of Sustrans, mostly along the route known as The Taff Trail, which runs from Cardiff to Brecon through the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Because of their work, I am able to commute to work on my bike in relative safety and I get to cycle along relics of the industrial revolution, such as Richard Trevethick’s tramroad – the site of the first ever use of a steam locomotive to haul freight - that runs from near my offices in Abercynon.
Sustrans is a charity and to do all this good work, they rely on donations and grant aid. So if you’re a cyclist, or even if you’re not and just support green initiatives, please consider donating or becoming a Sustrans supporter.
If you live or work in Wales you might be interested in this free Microsoft event being held at Conference Centre, Technium 2, Kings Road, Swansea, SA1 8PH on 10th June.
UK ISV Developer Evangelism Team : Announcing free Microsoft Web & Cloud Computing technical event in Swansea, June 10th 2009
The briefing will include the following technologies and topics: Building rich, interactive and scalable web applications with ASP.NET and Silverlight; SQL Server, Data Mining, Business Intelligence, and designing high performing data access systems; Windows Azure and Microsoft’s utility cloud computing platform.
If you’re having a hard time running your unit tests in Visual Studio 2008, you’ll be amazed to discover that there is a bug that is triggered if your computer name is in lower or mixed case. Setting your computer name to ALL UPPERCASE enables unit tests to run again. I spent a whole day trying to work out what was wrong with my tests!!!
Here’s my answer on Stack Overflow:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/50746/visual-studio-2008-randomly-hangs-on-test-run/888372#888372
Windows® Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 2008) is an integrated server solution that helps you protect your business data, increase productivity, and present a more professional image to customers. Windows Small Business Server 2008 delivers enterprise-class technologies for data backup and restore, e-mail, remote access, file and printer sharing, internal Web sites, and support for mobile devices—in one fully integrated solution. Here are the top ten reasons why SBS 2008 is perfect for your business:
1. Get a comprehensive, all-in-one solution.
Windows Small Business Server 2008 takes the guesswork out of selecting software for your network. It brings together the Microsoft® product technologies that businesses need most into a single solution. These technologies are integrated
into one product, making it easy for you or your IT consultant to install and manage.
2. Stay connected to your customers, vendors, and suppliers.
With access to contacts, appointments, and files from any Internet-connected PC or mobile device, you can be responsive to customers, vendors, and suppliers even when you’re not in the office.
- Access the facts you need, in real time.
- Respond to customer inquiries more quickly and accurately.
- Stay connected while on the road with remote access capabilities from a Windows Mobile® phone.
3. Protect your business and prevent data loss.
Windows Small Business Server 2008 helps protect your vital business information from loss by backing up the data on your network, and enabling you to recover accidentally deleted files. SBS 2008 also enables you to recover data on your network in the event of disaster. With easy-to-use interfaces, you or your IT consultant gain better control of your data, PCs, and network.
4. Access business information and resources from virtually anywhere at any time.
Be productive whether you’re out of the office, at home, or on the road. Windows Small Business Server 2008 gives you
secure access to business contacts, calendars, e-mail, files, your desktop, and even shared resources from any Internet-
connected PC, from virtually anywhere at any time.
5. Increase your business capacity.
Streamline business processes and improve day-to-day efficiency with Windows Small Business Server 2008. It helps
automate daily processes by providing a central repository for storing and sharing information more easily—and helps
simplify communications with familiar Microsoft technologies.
6. Stay safe with antispam and antivirus protection.
Windows Small Business Server 2008 is designed to work with antispam and antivirus technologies to help protect your business information and your intellectual property from malicious attacks, viruses, and spam.
7. Keep your network healthy and up-to-date.
Windows Small Business Server 2008 provides you with the latest updates to minimize downtime and help ensure network health by keeping your PCs and servers current. Easy-to-read “green check” reports give you a quick view of Microsoft software updates, PC and server status, antivirus status, and backup progress.
8. Take advantage of powerful technologies designed and priced for small business.
Windows Small Business Server 2008 includes multiple technologies optimized specifically for small businesses — at an affordable price. It enables you to share resources and equipment, such as Internet access, printers, and fax machines,
so you get the most value from your technology investment.
9. Get the flexibility and scalability you need.
As your business needs change, Windows Small Business Server 2008 enables you to grow. You can easily add users,
servers, and applications. It supports your critical line-of-business applications and is designed to integrate with your
existing Microsoft technology.
10. Create a bigger presence in the market.
Differentiate your business and present a more professional image to prospects and customers. Windows Small Business
Server 2008 offers e-mail marketing capabilities, business Web sites, and tools for creating your own Web site.
“Our ability to access information—whether on the road or working from home—is much better. Our ‘shared resources’ are now actually shared and used.”
Rob Harris, Media and Marketing, Robby Gordon Motorsports
“By using Windows Small Business Server 2008, we’ve eliminated a lot of wasted time. Having cutting-edge software allows us to operate leaner and compete better globally.”
Dave Benson, CFO, Epicurean Cutting Surfaces
“With Windows Small Business Server 2008, we can do more with the people we have and at the same time increase customer loyalty. Our productivity and customer service are going up, which helps us grow the business.”
Tom Brooks, Owner, Carson Valley Golf Course
TiGra Networks – The Small Business Server Specialists Recommended by Microsoft
Our SBS engineer is one of only three in the UK to have been awarded Microsoft’s prestigious Most Valuable Professional award for technical excellence with Small Business Server. TiGra Networks is your ideal technology partner to help you plan, install and support your Small Business Server 2008 network. You can be confident of a professional job and the industry’s top expertise looking after your information systems.
Microsoft Software – Dell Servers – TiGra Networks:
The Dream Team
No, I haven’t had a falling out with Windows 7, we’re still friends. But, I did have a little problem I needed to solve that left me unable to log in. I’m using Windows 7 RC in a Small Business Server domain with Active Directory, I guess this would apply equally to any network with a domain controller.
This problem occurred after a failed attempt to install SQL Server 2008 Express and using System Restore to roll back the install. After System Restore has done its stuff, when attempting to log in I was presented with the error message:
Windows could not log you in. The trust relationship between this computer and the primary domain failed.
This also logs a NETLOGON event 3210 in the system event log. The standard advice is to leave the domain and re-join it, but I found a quicker way, provided you have access to a domain account that has permission to join computers to the domain (you would need that anyway to follow the standard advice of leaving and re-joining the domain). In my technique, you don’t leave the domain – you just re-join it. This saves you a reboot and possibly the need to backup and restore your user profile.
- Unplug the network cable.
- You should now be able to log in with cached credentials.
- Reconnect the network cable and verify that you can ping the domain controller.
- Click Start and right click Computer, select Properties from the menu.
- In the section titled Computer Name, Domain and Workgroup Settings, click the Change Settings link. Respond to the UAC prompt.
- In the System Properties dialog, click the Network ID… button.
- The default option will be This Computer is part of a Business Network. Leave it selected and click Next.
- My company uses a network with a Domain. Next. Next.
Type in valid domain credentials that have permissions to join a computer to the domain. You should receive confirmation that the computer account has been found. Respond that Yes, you do want to use it. - On the next screen, you’ll be asked if you want to add a domain user account. You don’t need to because it’s already present and you’re logged into it, so respond Do not add a domain user account.
- The next screen reminds you that you have to restart the computer. Click Next then Finish, and OK on the System Properties dialog. At the dialog, select Restart Now.
That’s it. Upon restarting, you should be able to log in again.
Microsoft Office 2010 is almost ready for technical preview, which is by invitation only. Early indications are starting to arrive of what we can expect. Some things to look forward to:
- The product formerly known as Groove (which came to Microsoft through their acquisition of Groove Networks) is to be renamed SharePoint Workspace. This name is a tantalizing hint that the product may be much more integrated with SharePoint.
- Office 2010 will have both 64 and 32 bit versions (Office 2007 had only a 32-bit version). This underscores the fact that 64-bit computing is fast becoming mainstream and offers the hope that Groove (sorry, SharePoint Workspace) will work properly on 64-bit computers.
- Office 2010 will be supported on Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista and Windows 7.
- You will not need to upgrade your computer. If it runs Office 2007, it will run Office 2010.
- OneNote and SharePoint Workspace (Groove) will be included in the Professional Plus edition, previously you needed to purchase the Ultimate or Enterprise editions to get both products.
TiGra Networks will be participating in the Technical Preview – we continue to live on the bleeding edge so our customers don’t have to, and so that we’re ready to support you on day 1 after release. I’ll be blogging about the new product as and when it becomes available, so check back for updates or subscribe to the RSS feed (RSS for Office 2010 only).
This has all got me thinking about what our computers will be looking like a year from now. What hardware should I be thinking about so that I’m ready for the next innovation tsunami? What technology and features should we be expecting? What I’m reading into this so far is this:
- Now is a good time to purchase Software Assurance.
- 64-bit is clearly going mainstream. Anyone buying a new computer should buy it with a 64-bit operating system preinstalled (64-bit Office Ready PCs are available from TiGra Networks).
- Many new computers and even laptops are already coming with 4Gb installed but a 32-bit operating system only lets you use just over 3Gb of that; 64-bit unlocks the extra memory and enables expansion beyond 4Gb. New computers should probably have at least 4Gb of RAM with room for expansion to at least 8Gb. You may wonder how you’re going to use all this memory right now, in the same way that many people couldn't see the need for high speed, always on, always connected internet, but the uses are already emerging. Windows 7’s XP Mode, for example, uses virtual machine technology to run an entire Windows XP computer on top or Windows 7. In the future, virtualization is going to become much more commonplace. Larger and higher resolution screens and OLED displays are also going to become more common and use up more memory, which in modern computers is often taken from the system memory instead of being built onto the graphics card.
- SharePoint is going to continue to be a cornerstone of the Microsoft solution stack and Office 2010 will have even better integration. Users and IT consultants should embrace SharePoint and make it a key part of their strategy to streamline business processes and collaboration between staff.
- Be ready for ink and multi-touch input. When buying a laptop, consider a tablet PC supporting ink and multi-touch such as the Dell Latitude XT2. OneNote is the killer application for tablet PCs and Windows 7’s support for multi-touch is going to change the way we interact with our computers.
Biz Stone seems to be off with the birds, as his company Twitter, in a surprise move today, angered many of its users by removing a popular feature (#fixreplies #twitterfail). The removed feature was, arguably, the most important social networking aspect of its service – the ability to “overhear” conversations of those you follow. If you followed person A, when Person A @replied to Person B, you would see that reply, even though you didn't follow Person B. This feature enabled you to “discover” new interesting people through your network. Previously, this feature was controllable though a user preference, but Twitter removed all access to the feature today.
Twitter initially issued a statement that the feature had been removed because it was “undesirable and confusing” but later amended the statement to say that there were technical problems with the feature and that they’d be looking into new ways of surfacing the lost functionality.
Why would a social networking service remove a big social networking feature? There can really be only two reasons. Either they’re having an “out of mind experience” or their infrastructure is in trouble. It wouldn't be the first time.
Windows 7 Release Candidate (build 7100), 32-bit (x86) version has a serious bug due to incorrectly set ACLs (file permissions) on the root folder. This could cause some applications not to work, or some installs to fail.
In the English version of Windows 7 Release Candidate (build 7100) 32-bit Ultimate, the folder that is created as the root folder of the system drive (%SystemDrive%) is missing entries in its security descriptor. One effect of this problem is that standard users such as non-administrators cannot perform all operations to subfolders that are created directly under the root. Therefore, applications that reference folders under the root may not install successfully or may not uninstall successfully. Additionally, operations or applications that reference these folders may fail.
For example, if a folder is created under the root of the system drive from an elevated command prompt, this folder will not correctly inherit permissions from the root of the drive. Therefore, some specific operations, such as deleting the folder, will fail when they are performed from a non-elevated command prompt. Additionally, the following error message appears when the operation fails:
Access is denied.
Furthermore, the missing security descriptor entries protect non-admin file operations directly under the root.
For full details see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/970789. This is why we have betas, folks! The fix is being pushed out through Windows Update. To verify whether you have the hotfix installed, look in Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs and look for a hotfix that references this KB number 970789.
This is one to watch for the IT professionals out there. ServerFault is a new community driven Q&A specifically for system administrators. It’s from the same stable as StackOverflow, an amazingly successful site aimed at software developers. ServerFault is currently in beta and you have to be a StackOverflow user in good standing to get onto the public beta, but I predict this is going to be a very popular destination for SBSCs. I’ve asked a few questions on StackOverflow and got really insightful, authoritative responses within seconds – literally. Compare that to some of the offering’s we’re currently used to which might get you a response the next day. This holds a lot of promise.
The sites are very “Web 2.0” with tags and the ability for users to vote on questions and answers, even edit the original question. There’s an all-important reputation system that determines what you’re allowed to do on the site.
These sites successfully tap into the power of community in exactly the same way that Wikipedia has done. The company is a collaboration between Joel Spolsky (a personal hero of mine) and Jeff Atwood. Read Joel’s explanation of the concept in his own words for background on the whys and wherefores.
I’ve been predicting the arrival of Solid State Drives (SSD) for a while now. It doesn't seem like much of a prediction any more, we must surely be close to the tipping point where most computers will begin to ship with an SSD. The reality is almost here for people with ‘ordinary sized pockets’. Devices are available today in sensible sizes and at affordable prices. All that remains is for both things to happen together, then we will all benefit from a massive performance boost for our computers.
Microsoft has engineered Windows 7 to recognise SSD drives and optimize itself appropriately. It used to be that adding a memory upgrade to your computer was the single biggest performance increase you could give it. That could be about to change – but I’m not sure if adding an SSD counts as a hard drive upgrade or a memory upgrade!
Woa, I want one of these:
I saw this image posted on Daniel Moth’s blog. Daniel, I can feel the geek vibes being given off by that box all the way from Wales. I hope you’ve got it running something useful, like SETI@Home.
The magic word is “4 Gigabytes”. That’s the maximum amount of memory addressable by a 32-bit processor. So you might think that 64-bit becomes a sensible choice when you want more than 4Gb of RAM in your computer and 32-bit for 4Gb or less. We know from experience that 4Gb is a very comfortable fit for a fully-loaded computer running Windows Vista or Windows 7, so a new computer with 4Gb seems like a hand-in-glove fit. But there is a problem. With the availability of 2Gb memory modules, lots of computers are coming onto the market with 4Gb of RAM already installed, but when you look at the available memory in Windows, only 3Gb is reported! So what happened to that other Gigabyte?
In PC architecture, all of the devices in the system, from the graphics card to the keyboard and mouse, are mapped into the memory address space. This architecture was designed when 4Gb of memory was an impossible dream, so the designers tucked it ‘out of the way’ at the top of the memory map where they thought no-one would ever look. It’s worked fine for a decade or so, but now memory sizes have increased to the point where memory and other hardware are coming into conflict. The result is that the memory manager just doesn't use that top 1Gb of RAM. In a 32-bit computer with 4Gb of RAM installed, the chances are you’ll only actually get 3Gb of free memory; the top 1Gb is wasted.
But wait, don’t you need a bigger processor for 64-bit? Probably not. If you have an Intel Core 2 Duo or Quad core processor (or equivalent), you’ve already got 64-bit capability laying dormant. Install a 64-bit operating system, and that potential is unleashed; that top 1Gb of memory magically reappears, because Windows can now map memory into the physical address space above 4Gb. You’ll instantly get a 1Gb memory upgrade, with the option to go even higher as software demands increase. Increasing popularity of virtualization is partly due to the falling cost of large amounts of memory. Developers now can have an array of test PCs installed as virtual machine. Windows 7’s new Windows XP Mode may also benefit from the additional memory and supports 64-bit.
Windows Vista’s enhanced graphics and aero theme makes it quite memory hungry. The minimum sensible amount of memory with Vista is 2Gb and to be comfortable, 4Gb is a reasonable target. Windows 7 introduces virtualization features and will place even more demands on memory. So if you’re buying a new computer today, the right choice is probably a 64-bit operating system. Three years from now you’ll probably need that headroom and 64-bit will be commonplace.
Sidebar
For an in-depth examination of theoretical and practical limits on memory allocation for various architectures, see Mark Russinovich’s article Pushing the Limits of Windows: Virtual Memory. According to mark, the theoretical maximum address space of a 64-bit process is 16 Exabytes (2^64). However, in practice, Windows currently limits that to a ‘mere’ 8 Terabytes. A 32-bit process has a paltry theoretical limit of 4 Gigabytes (2^32) but in practice is limited to 2 Gigabytes (depending on how Windows is configured). Mark’s article covers all the gory details.
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