|
-
-
As noted in a previous post, I deployed a demo environment leveraging Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V. While this worked pretty good, I wasn't able to run all of the virtual machines at the same time due to insufficient memory (yes, even 8 GB wasn't enough), so I decided to leverage some additional laptops that I had lying about. And even use another machine that's pretty decent and currently used as my home Windows Home Server machine (it has plenty of extra power). So here is what the new deployment looks like: - Name: HomeHyperv01
- Dell Precision 690 (Intel Quad-Core, 8GB RAM) [Workstation]
- Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V in Full Installation (Plan on changing this to Server Core when Hyper-V goes RTM)
- Images
- DPM01
- IW01 - Exchange Server 2007 (will look at replacing this soon as this copy is based on Win2003 + Exch2007 x32 Trial Edition)
- MGMT01 - All System Center, MDOP, and ForeFront products
- Plat01 - Windows Server 2003 (Virtual Server 2005 R2)
- SQL01 - SQL Server 2005
- Name: HomeHyperv02
- Dell Inspiron (AMD Turion64, 2 GB RAM) [Laptop]
- Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V in Full Installation
- Images
- AD01, Domain Controller for DemoCorp
- HomeDC, Domain Controller for Home Network
- Name: HomeHyperv03
- HP Compaq nc8430 (Intel Core Duo Centrino, 4 GB RAM) [Laptop]
- Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V in Server Core
- Images
- IW02 - MOSS & OCS
- SQL02 - SQL Server 2008
- Name: Server
- Custom Machine (Dual CPU, Intel Xeon 2.8 Ghz, 4 GB RAM) [Workstation]
- Windows Home Server
- Images
- WinXP01 - Windows XP
- Vista01 - Windows Vista
In order to help with my overall management, I put all of the servers in a Domain called "Home.local", except for the server named, "Server" which is my "Windows Home Server" as WHS can't join a domain. Bummer. My next project/blog post is to deploy Microsoft ForeFront Client Security. I of course want to protect my client machines, even though it's just for demo. Once I have that done, I'm going to deploy a Windows Server 2008 server in order to enable Network Access Protection in my environment. Once I have that, I can then show off how Windows Server 2008 with NAP + Windows XP SP3/Windows Vista + ForeFront Client makes for a very well secured environment for my network and my desktops. After that I plan on using System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM) to capture and deploy a copy of those images on demand. Lots of cool stuff. I plan on sharing and then recording a demo of the finished product. Let's just hope it doesn't take me 3 months to get around to it. Hey, I do have a day job. :)
|
-
Each week there are a number of interesting questions that I get from my own internal Microsoft team, our Microsoft Partners, and even our customers. Many of these responses I send through the tunnels of communication like Email, Instant Messaging, phone, and even (can you imagine) face-to-face conversations. While getting this time sensitive information out the people who are asking the questions is important to meet some end goal like closing a deal, kicking off a project, or just gathering data, it really doesn't help anyone else out in the blogosphere. So I'm making an attempt (notice I didn't say commitment) to provide a weekly update to my blog with some of the useful information I come across. So here goes the first one.... This weeks topics: - Mix08 Sessions Online
- Silverlight 2 Beta 1
- Silverlight for Mobile
- Hardcore Demo Laptop
- System Center Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1
- Apple licenses Microsoft ActiveSync for the iPhone
- Microsoft Virtual Desktops
- SQL Server Data Services
- Microsoft Zumobi
Mix08 Sessions Online: The Microsoft Mix08 event in Las Vegas produced a ton great sessions. Those sessions are all available for your geek out pleasure at: http://sessions.visitmix.com/ Silverlight 2 Beta 1 is now available: There are so many great things about Silverlight it's tough to figure out where to start. I guess I should shoot off some of the things I find some cool about the technology: - Leverage your .NET Development skills to build rich interactive web applications (yes, like Adobe Flash) using the same IDE (Visual Studio 2008 & BLOCKED EXPRESSION and languages that you've come to learn, know, and trust.
- Cross Platform (Windows & Mac...not like the commercial) and Cross Browser (Internet Explorer, FireFox
- Build high quality application that includes things like High Definition video!
Hard Rock has a HUGE memorabilia collection all over the world. Using Silverlight 2, they bring this collection to the Internet world in a very cool way. Check it out: http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/ Silverlight on Mobile Devices: That's right, you will soon be able to use the Silverlight 1.0 platform on mobile devices. That includes Nokia phones as Microsoft and Nokia announced that last week in Las Vegas. I must also make note that one of our local customers in the Washington D.C. Metro Area was on stage during the keynote and showed off their very cool Silverlight for Mobile application. The customer is AWS Weatherbug and the application brings weather information to your mobile device in a very rich fashion. Here is a link to the application. You can try it out today on your browser using Silverlight 1.0: http://sl.weatherbug.com/?zip=98052 Hardcore Demo Laptop: Dell is now selling a laptop that carries 8GB of RAM! Now that makes for either a fantastic mobile development environment and/or demo machine. It says the machine can have 8GB of RAM, but the online order form only allows you to select 4GB. I think you'll have to call this order in yourself. http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/precn_m6300?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04#tn3 Service Pack 1 for System Center Operations Manager 2007 is now available: You can download SP1 AND watch the videos of the latest additions. Don't forget to checkout the earlier getting started videos. They are a great way to learn your way around the system when you're, well, just getting started. :) Here are some additional readiness material on the product (Webcasts, Virtual Labs, & Podcasts): http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/technetmms.aspx Apple has licensed ActiveSync for the iPhone: This further points out the massive growth in the Microsoft Exchange Server platform within the Enterprise (large and small) space. This will, however, open the door for the iPhone to enter into the corporate market space. That said, the Windows Mobile marketplace is still a growing and popular space. The power of the Windows Mobile platform is one where we provide a great application platform WITH the phone, but we give the consumer and business user a tone of choice in form factor, price, phone operator, and more. Plus with the upcoming releases of System Center Mobile Device Manager (which will provide a great way to manage and connect devices to your corporate resources) and Silverlight for Mobile, consumer and business users will continue to get a rich and well managed device to carry in their pocket, purse, or whatever. Microsoft Virtual Desktops: There isn't a product from Microsoft called, "Microsoft Virtual Desktops", but the technology and licensing is available to make this work. And just how FAR you want to virtualize depends on the organizational needs. So here is a quick run down of the components: - Licensing: Before you can even think of deploying the technologies to do this, you first have to ensure that you're properly licensed. Where many of the Microsoft server products have virtualization built into their licensing models, the client OS doesn't have that nearly as tied in. Well, in the beginning that is. There is now a licensing model that enable an IT department to run as many copies of a Windows Client OS (e.g. Windows XP and Windows Vista) within a virtual machine on any number of back end virtual servers. This is called, "Vista Enterprise Consolidated Deployment" (VECD). VECD is licensed per device. The device being the end user computer or thin- client (different prices for a Fat/Rich or Thin client). Each device can connect to any four virtual desktops at a time. Can you leverage the OS licenses from a retired computer and stick it on a virtual server without needed to use VECD? No, because that Windows Client OS is tied to the machine. This remains true whether you decide to leverage Microsoft's virtualization technologies or not. The license can't be transferred to another machine. You can learn more about VECD here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/enterprise/benefits/licensing.mspx
- Virtualization Technologies: Now in order to run a Windows Client OS on the server side, you'll need to leverage a server virtualization technology to do that. There are two flavors from Microsoft to enable this. The first is Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 (VS2005R2) which is a free product and available for download. It runs on both Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. It can run on an x86 or x64 platform and can host a number of different platforms including Windows XP and Windows Vista. There are some drawbacks to VS2005R2, such as it can not host x64 guest machines, only one virtual CPU per virtual machine, and more. With the release of Windows Server 2008 comes a new virtualization technology called, "Hyper-V". There are a number of reasons why Hyper-V is a great technology choice for the IT market place. First, this brings the server virtualization technology and puts it into the hands of all Windows focused engineers as it's just another role within Windows Server. It also provides true 64-bit support for guests, up to 4 CPU's per VM (depends on the OS), can manage up to 2 TB of RAM for the machine, and much more.
- Application Virtualization: Within the Windows Client OS, there is always a challenge in Software Distribution. Especially for mobile users as applications can't just be "Presented" to the desktop via Windows Terminal Services or Citrix Presentation Server. At the same time, IT departments don't want to just dump a ton of software on users desktops that they don't need. So there is a requirement to enable the targeting of applications to people (versus targeting machines), enable on-demand deployment, and reduce the overhead and issues with traditional software installations on client machines. This is where Microsoft Application Virtualization (formerly Microsoft Softgrid) comes into action. More information can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/softgrid/default.mspx
- Virtualization Management: Now that you have all of this virtualization in your environment, you'll assume that you need a whole new management platform to manage it. Well this is partially true, but with a twist. Microsoft has a management platform and brand named, "System Center", which provides a collection of management products that focuses on separate scenarios. The big difference that "System Center" has over other products is that it managed physical and virtualized platforms in the same way. This reduces the number of technologies an IT department has to purchase, train their people, update their systems, and purchase support for. From a "Virtual Desktop" perspective, this enables you to leverage a single management platform to manage not just your virtual desktops, but also within the desktop itself AND the server platforms they leverage. Here is more information on the System Center Products: http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/
For more information on Microsoft Virtualization as a whole: http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/default.mspx SQL Server Data Services is announced: Microsoft release released information about a new service that they will host on the web. This is a large Internet Scale database platform leveraging SQL on the back end. If you're like me, you find yourself writing a ton of very interesting applications. Some may be just a private project or perhaps it's a production service. Regardless, you need a place to stick that database. So in order to run a data-driven application on SQL, you'll need to either host it yourself or outsource that server, monitoring, and more to a third party. Will Microsoft is now providing their own way of doing this. Learn more here: dataservices AND here: http://blogs.msdn.com/ssds/ Microsoft Zumobi Goes Live: Zumobi is a Windows Mobile application that delivers rich content to your phone in a very cool way. Download it today: https://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/domore/zumobi.mspx Well this post turned out to be a bit longer than expected, but I guess that meant I had a long and productive week. I hope to see you back next week! - Conrad
|
-
This looks like a great webcast to attend. I have it on my radar to attend! Microsoft Technical Fellow and desktop guru Mark Russinovich will be hosting an interactive virtual roundtable—broadcast LIVE over the Internet on Wednesday, March 5th. The subject? Windows Vista adoption and deployment. On the panel with Mark will be independent industry experts and IT pros from organizations that have already deployed Windows Vista—all openly discussing known challenges, solutions and workarounds, and sharing tips & tricks. But this event is really focused on the “virtual” participant—you! Visit http://ms.istreamplanet.com/events at 9:00am Pacific Time on March 5th and ask your questions live during the event. Want to submit your question in advance? You can do that too by e-mailing your question to vrtable@microsoft.com anytime between now and the day of the event. The panel will answer as many questions as they can during the 60-minute event so take advantage of this opportunity to ask the experts and find out what you want to know about Windows Vista adoption. For additional guidance, resources, tools, and straight-talk articles to help address your Windows Vista adoption questions, visit the Springboard Series for Windows Vista.
|
-
One of the challenges of being a good technical sales resource for Microsoft is staying fresh with the technology. Many times we get some great resources (Hands On Labs, Demo VM's, and On Demand Live Meeting technical sessions) within Microsoft corporate by providing us in the sales field some pre-baked labs. But it doesn't always give you that "Getting your hands dirty" feeling. So I decided to bite the bullet and build my own lab. And not just a lab that focuses on a single group of technologies, but I wanted to have a lab that deployed a large number of technologies.
If you've ever read some of my previous blog posts before, I try to give you a feeling of what I went through, including major issues and how to resolve them. I hope to make this a Blog Series and give you updates as I deploy new technologies, go through some updates, and develop new tools as needed.
Hardware
First off, I should point out the hardware that I'm using to do this. I've been fortunate to get a pretty strong workstation from work to do this. Here are the specs
- Model: Dell Precision 690
- CPU: Intel Xeon Quad-Core
- RAM: 8 GB
-
Disks
- 0: OS, 200GB (Split Partition: Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008)
- 1: Data, 640GB
- 2: Western Digital My Book, 500GB
- OS: Windows Server 2008 RC1 with Hyper-V Beta (x64)
Platform
In order to build pseudo-realistic lab, I need to host a number servers to give a good distribution of servers. In order to do this, I needed to go Virtual to make it work. When I first started to build the lab, I built it using Microsoft Virtual Server R2 with Service Pack 1 applied. The lab ran pretty well, but I wanted to run on the latest virtualization technology by Microsoft. So I then rebuilt my machine with Microsoft Windows Server 2008 RC1 with Hyper-V (Beta). At this point, Windows Server 2008 is in Release Candidate mode (So we'll be ready to ship that soon) and Hyper-V is in Beta mode (This actually came out early as it was due to ship with Windows Server 2008 RTM).
When I did the deployment of Windows Server 2008, I wanted to try out the Server Core installation to see how the performance would be, but at the time I didn't have the documentation to do this from the command line since there isn't a GUI in Server Core mode. So I went with the "Full Installation" as part of the setup.
Virtual Machines
Here are the virtual machines that I created and their specs.
|
Server Name |
Role |
Platform |
Network |
CPU (qty) |
RAM (MB) |
Disk |
|
AD01 |
Domain Controller, Certificate Server |
Win2003 R2 Ent. |
Internal (192.168.200.5)
External (DHCP) |
1 |
768 |
0 |
|
Client01 |
Vista |
Win2003 |
Internal (192.168.200.6)
External (DHCP) |
1 |
512 |
1 |
|
Client02 |
XP |
Win2003 R2 Ent. |
Internal (192.168.200.7)
External (DHCP) |
1 |
512 |
2 |
|
DPM01 |
System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 |
Win2003 |
Internal (192.168.200.8)
External (DHCP) |
1 |
1024 |
1 |
|
IW01 |
Exchange Server 2007 |
Win2003 R2 Ent. |
Internal (192.168.200.9)
External (DHCP) |
1 |
1024 |
1 |
|
IW02 |
Office SharePoint Server 2007 |
Win2003 |
Internal (192.168.200.10)
External (DHCP) |
1 |
1024 |
2 |
|
MGMT01 |
System Center: Operations Manager 2007; Configuration Manager 2007;Virtual Machine Manager 2007, SoftGrid Server |
Win2003 R2 Ent. |
Internal (192.168.200.11)
External (DHCP) |
1 |
2048 |
0 |
|
Plat01 |
Virtual Server 2005 R2 |
Win2003 R2 Ent. |
Internal (192.168.200.13)
External (DHCP) |
1 |
512 |
1 |
|
Plat02 |
Rights Management, Files Services, Network Policy and Access, Print Services, Terminal Services (RemoteApp Manager, Web Gateway), UDDI, Web Server (IIS7), Windows Deployment Services |
Win2008/Hyper-V |
Internal (192.168.200.14)
External (DHCP) |
1 |
512 |
2 |
|
SQL01 |
SQL Server 2003 |
Win2003 R2 Ent. |
Internal (192.168.200.12)
External (DHCP) |
1 |
1024 |
1 |
|
SQL02 |
SQL Server 2005
(Not yet built) |
Win2003 R2 Ent. |
Internal (192.168.200.15)
External (DHCP) |
1 |
1024 |
1 |
As you can see, there are quite a bit of virtual machines and technologies. So due to the lack of RAM, I can only start a few at a time. This has an impact of what I can show at any given time, but still allows me to have quite a bit going when I need it.
Deployment
I started the deployment by first doing a typical Windows Server 2003 R2 installation in a Virtual Machine. Once that was done, I installed all of the latest service packs, hotfixes, and whatever else Windows Update told me to deploy. With that completed, I always like to install the Support Tools found on the product CD. This gives me some handy tools whenever I need it. Not a good idea to do in a production system as a standard installation, but it suites me just fine in my lab.
The next step was to prepare the server for imaging. Well, I'm not really going to image them. What I did was used the SysPrep tool to wipe the server of all its unique information. Once this was done, I stopped the virtual machine and saved a copy of that VHD file (This is the virtual hard drive for the virtual machine) and made a number of copies of them. I know I could use Windows Deployment Service which is a core component of System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Windows Server 2008, and a solution accelerator (Microsoft Deployment), but that's a later blog post.
Active Directory
All of the servers are in a single forest/domain in Active Directory. I also created a specific OU for Service Accounts which were required by many of the server product installations (more on that in another post). By putting them all in a single OU, it makes it easier for me to keep track of them as I go along.
I also stored all of the user accounts I would create as standard corporate users in a different OU as well. This should keep my overall AD design a bit cleaner (I hope).
Networking
Each virtual machine has two network interfaces. One of them is assigned to an "Internal Only" private virtual network. This keeps all of the lab communication within that network. I then hook up a separate network interface(all DHCP) to a public network so that I can directly download other components. I'll shut that off once I setup an ISA server for the front end network. That's a task for a later date.
Next Steps
Now that everything is ready to go, I now need to install some backend components. I'll start off with some System Center products (Operations Manager 2007, Configuration Manager 2007, Virtual Machine Manager 2007, and Data Protection Manager 2007), SQL Server 2005, SoftGrid, and more. I'll describe this as a move along and post the results soon.
Have a question or suggestion for the DemoCorp series? Submit them to the DemoCorp Forum:
http://agramont.net/forums/34.aspx
|
-
I was fortunate enough to be asked to contribute to a new book focused on IIS 7.0. I thought this would be a great way to dive deep into the product which would in turn help me sell the platform as Windows Server 2008 comes out (although the book focuses on Windows Vista). The final name of the book is “How to Cheat at IIS 7 Server Administration“. The target audience for this book is the IT generalist that is looking to quickly learn IIS 7 and perform the standard operational and support function. This was my first time contributing to a book and it was quite the effort. It took up many nights and weekends, plus I had a two week deadline (that was rough). I may contribute again in the future, but I’ll have a better idea of what I’m getting into and plan accordingly (with my family that is). Chris Adams was the Technical Editor and I was one of the contributing authors and I produced Chapter 6: Troubleshooting 101. Although I’m not listed as an official author, my name is printed on the cover of the book and I’m listed as a contributor within the book as well. - Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Syngress (May 28, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1597491551
- ISBN-13: 978-1597491556
- Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
Here is a blog post by Chris Adams as he gives a brief overview of the book: http://blogs.iis.net/chrisad/archive/2007/07/13/first-it-pro-focused-iis7-book-hits-market-how-to-cheat-at-iis7.aspx Get your copy today! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1597491551?ie=UTF8&tag=agramontnet-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1597491551 
|
-
There has been much advertisement around the new System Center brand and all of the great things the suite of products will provide to customers, but one of those products has quietly shipped. System Center Essentials 2007 (SCE) is a new product focused on the small to mid-market customer who has 1-3 IT Generalists. Essentials 2007 is a new management solution in the System Center family of IT systems management products specifically designed for midsized businesses (up to 500 PCs and 30 Servers). Essentials 2007 provides a unified management solution that enables IT professionals in midsize organizations to proactively manage their IT environment with increased efficiency. SCE leverages the components from System Center Operations Manager 2007 and WSUS 3.0, but puts it all into an easy to deploy and single UI management console. It typically takes only a half-day to deploy, configure, and use in a product environment. Here's a quick list of things SCE can do for an organization (Taken from the "Top 10 Reasons to Purchase Essentials 2007". Visit the page for details on each of these topics): - Unify your IT management experience (Essentials 2007 provides a single console for your core management needs.)
- Keep your applications and your network up and running (Essentials provides multiple views of the application data in your network...)
- Troubleshoot problems more quickly (Essentials provides a rich knowledge base out of the box ...)
- Simplify your Patch Management (Essentials 2007 provides integrated patch management ...)
- Deploy Applications easily (Deploying applications has never been so easy...)
- Keep track of hardware and software assets (No more spreadsheets to maintain ...)
- Improve your users up-time (Reduce the time you spend dealing with end-user issues ...)
- Get up and running fast (Deploying Essentials 2007 couldn't be easier...)
- Gain visibility into your IT environment (Start your day with a Daily Health Report...)
- Get an affordable comprehensive IT Management solution designed for you (Essentials is priced for the budgets of midsize businesses...)
For an organization with 15 servers and 20-400 clients, this is a slam dunk of a product! For partners, this is a great addition to your services and solution offerings. In most Windows Infrastructure deployments, an SI will add in a half day to deploy WSUS. Now that time should be used to deploy SCE. There is also a managed service component that is currently in Beta that will allow an SI partner/Hoster to manage a collection of customer deployments of SCE via Operations Manager 2007! This is very exciting as the customer will have their own management product on premise, but the SI partner/Hoster can provide high level management services (and ongoing application deployments, management, and issue resolution) from their own datacenter. In this model, the Partner is paying for their own OpsMgr deployment and the customer is licensing SCE on their own. You can download the 90-day trial version and then upgrade it to the Full Version by using a tool that comes with the product (after you purchase it of course). http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/eval/sce/default.mspx Here is some additional information on System Center Essentials 2007 Make sure to check out the upcoming webcast on System Center Essentials on May 24th: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032336458&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US
|
-
System Center Operations Manager 2007 will NOT be available via MSDN or TechNet download. An evaluation version of OpsMgr 2007 is a currently available for immediate download. If you're interested in purchasing the product, you can upgrade from evaluation to RTM using a tool that comes with the RTM version (on the DVD). The RTM bits are available for download on MVLS now, and will be in the May VL media kits. Upgrading from Eval to RTM should not have any impact on the client machines. Note that this is the case for English only, as the other languages won’t have the eval upgrade utility included until a later date (Summer 07) Download the System Center Operations Manager 2007 evaluation (~280 MB): http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/eval/scom/default.mspx
|
-
-
-
One of my favorite features within Windows Vista is the new built-in Search. Sure there has been "Search" in previous versions of Windows AND there were even some indexing features, but Windows Vista provides a much richer experience to the user AND it searches more than just the local files. First off, Windows Vista Search is now a built in feature of the operating system. There is a version of the search engine that's available to Windows XP users, but you won't have the same user experience as you will in Windows Vista. The main application, today, that uses the Windows Desktop Search on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 is Microsoft Outlook 2007. By the way, if your a Microsoft Partner and using the latest Demo Showcase for Windows Vista, this blog post provides a nice "Lap" around this subject. Many customers like seeing this demo. It typically only take about 3-5 minutes to do the demo. Getting started with Windows Vista Search is pretty easy. Let's take a more screenshot approach to explaining all of this. To get started, click on the Windows button (this replaces the "Start" button in previous versions of Windows) 
After clicking on the Windows button, the cursor will now be set in the new search textbox within the Windows menu. From here you can start typing for what you're looking for. 
In the following example, I typed in the work "Virtualization". As you can see, I get a nice subset of search results from my "Favorites and History" (this is using the new Add-In for search. Check the Downloads section at the end of this blog), Files, and Communications (this is pulling from my Outlook 2007 email). 
At this point you'll get a Windows Explorer window with all of the results from you search. But let's say that I always seem to look for the same type of information, but the content changes each week or month. Instead of going through the manual steps of defining a search query (our example of "Virtualization" was simple, but we could have a more complex search query), we can actual save the current query by clicking on the "Save Search" button. 
Now whenever we want to pull out a "Saved Search" (aka Search Folders), we just navigate to the location where stored that search and open it up. 
So what kind of control do you have over search anyhow? Well it turns out that we have a number of options to choose from. Within the Control Panel (using Classic View), double-click the "Indexing Options". 
From here you'll see a list of all the locations that are indexed by Windows Vista. 
To manage this list, you click on the Modify button. You'll now see subset of items that were defined in the previous list. This list is based on the current user. This will allow a user to opt-out of having their email and local documents to be searched. 
To add, modify, or remove an indexable location, click on the "Show all locations" button which will also require administrative rights (Thus you'll be prompted by User Account Control (UAC) in order to proceed). From here, you have a great amount of control to define what data you'd like indexed. 
Going back to the main Index Options control panel window, click on the "Advanced" button (again you'll be prompted by UAC). From here you can further control the behavior of the Indexing service as well as the behavior of search. One very interesting features is the "Treat similar words with diacritics as different words" option. This options is to improve search to work with non-English characters that use special symbols. For more information on diacritics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacritic. You also have the option of changing the location of the index. This could be useful if your current OS partition is starting to get full or just slow. 
Using the "Add UNC Location" tab, you can add a UNC Path (E.g. Network location or Mapped Drives) to the index). 
Keep in mind that this is NOT a replacement to a centralized Enterprise search server such as Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS) 2007. Using MOSS, you no longer need each desktop to search the same network content. This is a bit of a waste of space in a medium or large business. However, in a small workgroup of 5-10 users, you could get away with just Windows Vista, but it also depends on the amount of new content and the size of that content. But wait….there's more… Within Windows Explorer (Windows button > Computer), you have even more Search options. Click on the Organization button and select "Folder and Search Options" 
Within the Search tab, you have additional options to control search on your desktop. 
In the "What to search" section, the default value ("In indexed locations, search filenames and contents. In non-indexed locations, search file names only." will work on the options that we defined in the "Index Options" windows via the Control Panel. We can override this behavior, but the search may now also look for results even within non-indexed locations. Not sure why this would be useful, but I'm sure there is some dude who needs it and loves it. Me not that dude. J An interesting option is the "Use natural language search" which allows you to use searches like "email from suzie from last week". If you use this feature, be sure you have a CPU with some muscle! An Intel Centrino Duo will do just fine. Here is another good blog post on this subject: http://mike.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!FBABF8E542F5D5DB!7837.entry For more information on Windows Vista search, checkout this Microsoft Help page: http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/73106209-6df0-432a-8cb7-df5d8ce02ec61033.mspx Preview Pane Whenever I get into the subject of Searching, I typically show off the new Preview Pane within Windows Explorer as it helps with the whole "Finding the right content" task. Using Windows Explorer (Windows button > Computer), click on the Organize>Layout menu option. Then select "Preview Pane". 
Now within Windows Explorer you'll have a third pane on the right hand side. When you select a document, you'll get a "preview" of that document. This removes the need to open a given document just to "peak" at it to see if it's what you're looking for. Very cool! 
Downloads:
|
-
For many Microsoft Certified and Gold Partners out there, they often overlook a very useful resource that is made available to them as part of their "Partner Box" which they should get each quarter. That resource is the "Demo Showcase". The Demo Showcase is a collection of pre-created demos that could be used as part of a sales engagement. These demo's aren't just Flash or PowerPoint Demos, although those are available to partners as well, but are actual virtual machine images that you run using Virtual PC to drive a real-time demo. Most partners today will create their own demo and invest a great amount of time to install, configure, and test a cool demo. While this may still be required as Demo Showcase won't fit every demo need, there are many of the common scenarios that are covered in the Demo Showcase or you could build a new demo scenario using the images that already exist. The Demo Showcase provides the virtual machines, supporting content (files, emails, etc.), and a demo script. The demo script has a detailed step-by-step set of instructions as well as an explanation of what each step is doing and its business impact. The core scenarios that are covered in the Demo Showcase are: - Information Worker
- Business Intelligence
- Infrastructure
- Microsoft Dynamics AX
Within each core scenario above, there is a collection of individual scenarios that have their own set of demo scripts. The scenarios used within a demo are more than just showing off a given product. Instead it focuses on a business issue such as RPF creation and collaboration and how people/roles within an organization work through a given business issue using Microsoft Products. So you may have a scenario that requires touching Windows Vista, Office SharePoint Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007, and Office 2007. By driving a demo this way, it removes the direct selling of a given product (at least at this stage) and focuses the customer at seeing how Microsoft products and assist people in solving real world business issues. So, to get started with the Demo Showcase today, check your partner box or visit the Demo Showcase site to order the DVD's. When you get the DVD's, had them to your technical sales person or engineer as they'll be the best one that will get the demo up and running. Learn more about the Demo Showcase here: https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40029037?msp_id=Demoshowcaseconrada Microsoft Mid-Atlantic Partner Site: http://www.microsoftmaa.com/
|
-
Microsoft has released Service Pack 2 for Windows Server 2003. This Service pack can be used for R2 and non-R2 versions of Windows Server 2003. Below are some items that I find quite interesting in this service pack:
- RIS out and WDS in – Remote Installation Services is now replaced by the Windows Deployment Service which was first found as part of the Windows Automated Installation Kit and used as part of the Business Desktop Deployment solution accelerator. WDS can still be used outside of SP2 and will be included in Windows Server Longhorn.
- XmlLite – There is a new API for XML data parsing that is very fast, but it's only available via C++ and is not a managed class (bummer). More information on XmlLite.
- Improvements to…
- Networking Performance, IPSec, MMC, Virtual Server performance, SQL performance, and additional languages, and more.
Resources:
|
-
Recently Microsoft announced a new consumer product called "Home Server" which, as its name implies, is a server for the home. Home Server isn't the typical server as one would use at an office or school. Instead it's more of a data and management hub for the multi-computer home. For newer homes that have a central network patch panel in the basement, this may be the new home for your "Home Server". Here are some of the very cool features of Home Server (this is not the complete list and may change by RTM): - Headless - Now monitor, keyboard, or mouse is needed. All you need to do is give it network and power.
- Centralized Backup – Home Server will back-up all of your home computers on a daily basis. And the restore will allow you to restore specific files or folders as well as the entire computer.
- Centralized Storage – Now all of your files, music, videos, etc. can be stored on one massive storage device in the home.
- Centralized Users – Home Server allow you to have multiple user accounts so each user can have their own private content as well as access shared folders.
- Dynamically Growing Storage – As your shared drive space reaches maximum capacity, you can add additional External or Internal disks and Home Server will add that to the entire pool of available storage. This removes the need for users to move their data from volume to volume. Home Server makes the entire storage look like one large disk that just keeps growing. I think this is the coolest feature! By the way, this is not a RAID type of solution. You can add any type of drive at anytime.
- Remote Access – Home Server provides a web based UI in order to remotely connect into the server and download items on the share OR to remotely connect into a give home computer. This makes it easy to download or upload pictures when on the road or access an application while at the office.
- Monitoring – Home Server can connect to each Windows Vista machine and check the health and security status of the machines.
- Xbox 360 Support – You can even use an Xbox 360 to listen to the music or watch the videos on your Home Server.
When Home Server releases, you'll be able to purchase a "Home Server" via a hardware vendor such as HP who is calling their "MediaSmart Server" (checkout the link below). There are several sites where you can learn more about Home Server: Here are some Video Demos of Home Server
|
-
There is some great innovation going on in Windows Server code-named Longhorn for Virtualization. There is now a video on MSN Soapbox that shows off some of the cool new features. In this demo you will see: - Windows Server Virtualization running on a Server Core installation managed remotely from another Windows Server Longhorn box
- 64-bit and 32-bit virtual machines running concurrently
- SUSE Linux 10 running in a virtual machine
- An 8-core virtual machine
- System Center Virtual Machine Manager
- System Center Operations Manager
- Monitoring the VMs on the Server Core box
- Fire off a PowerShell script to hot-add another NIC to a SQL VHD Image
[SoapBox: 5119240c-6579-4827-8338-7f5539930402]
|
More Posts Next page »
|
|
|