SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2: Extending the Functionality of Your SQL Server 2005 System

Download SQL Server 2005 SP2

Download SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP2

Download the Updated SQL Server 2005 Books Online
--> Well books online.

Download SQL Server 2005 Feature Pack (February 2007)
--> The Feature Pack is a collection of standalone install packages that provide additional value for SQL Server 2005. It includes: latest versions of redistributable components for SQL Server 2005, latest versions of add-on providers for SQL Server 2005, latest versions of backward compatibility components for SQL Server 2005

Download Updated Samples and Sample Databases
--> 100 over new samples for all SQL 2005 services (Database Engine, including administration, data access, Full-Text Search, Common Language Runtime (CLR) integration, Server Management Objects (SMO), Service Broker, XML, Analysis Services, Integration Services, Notification Services, Reporting Services, Replication

Download SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies ---> this download allows you to run complete reporting functions within a SharePoint site. No need for report center site that is provided by SRS 2005 installation.
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/02/19/microsoft-sql-server-2005-sp2-reporting-services-integration-with-wss-3-0-and-moss-2007.aspx


Download SQL Server 2005 Data Mining Add-ins for Microsoft Office 2007
--> Provides Excel and Visio add-in for Data Mining and Table Analysis

Two SharePoint must haves announced on the SharePoint Team Blog

The first is a cross browser compatible replacement for the rich text editor in MOSS 2007 that was mentioned on the SharePoint Team blog about 6 weeks ago.

The second is an offline reader for WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 sites, which is highly recommend for staying up to date with frequently updated sites such as the SharePoint Community Portal.

They are both available for free!

SQL Server on VM

In case you are wondering about running production SQL Servers on a VM (VMWare or Microsoft's Virtual Server), here is a good blog post.
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/rick_heiges/archive/2007/02/16/sql-server-on-vm.aspx

With all the DST issues with Calendering..

Here is a good read about DTS basis.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2068994,00.html

Enterprise Search and Integrating SharePoint Server Search and Windows Desktop Search

Some interesting read at the SharePoint Team Blog and other SharePoint Blogs on SharePoint Search, Desktop Search and Internet Search.

Tips to Enable SharePoint Intranet Search using Windows Desktop Search 3.0 RTW
http://blogs.msdn.com/joelo/archive/2006/12/08/tips-to-enable-sharepoint-intranet-search-using-windows-desktop-search-3-0-rtw.aspx

Microsoft Enterprise Search 101: Technology and SKU breakdown
http://blogs.msdn.com/arpans/archive/2006/07/29/682715.aspx

Difference Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Search, Standard vs. Enterprise, and between the MOSS 2007 Standard and Enterprise editions (search focused)
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointsearch/FX102063541033.aspx

Microsoft's Business Intelligence

First there was Office Business Scorecards Accelerator from Microsoft. Then there was the Business Score Card Manager 2005 (BSM 2005). Now there is Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007. It gets bigger and better (and maybe $$: Office Business Scorecards Accelerator was free).

Q&A: Microsoft’s Business Intelligence Strategy
Microsoft Business Intelligence Blog
Chris Webb's BI Blog
Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 Home Page

Note: The Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005 Home Page will redirect the MS Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 Home Page

Word works with open file styles

Microsoft has released tools that should make it much easier for users to share and save text-based files

Read more...

Version 1.0 of the Open XML Translator is now available for download from SourceForge.net, and on Microsoft's Web site here and here.

32-bit Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2007 MP support for MOM 2007(Operations Manager 2007)

For your information, there is currently a MP for Exchange 2007 for MOM 2005 SP1. This can be converted to a OpsMgr 2007 with some tools from the MOM 2005 ResKit and from the OpsMgr 2007 RC2 installation media. Here are the steps:
Mgmt Pack Convert from 2005 to 20071) Export them from MOM2K5 with Administrator Console2) Use MP2XML from MOM2K5 resource kit to convert the AKM file into a XML file3) Use MPConvert from Ops Mgr installation media to convert the MOM2K5 XML file into a Ops Mgr XML file4) Use Ops Mgr Operator Console to import the XML file as a management pack
Next, i used a 32-bit version of Exchange 2007 Eval edition. All worked well, but then i saw no updates or any information on the Exchange 2007 show up on my OpsMgr 2007 Console.
So i thought it was because i was running a 32-bit version of Exchange. Later i found out, even the 64-bit version of Exchange would have issues. Here are some more details from Microsoft.

---------------------------------
32-bit Exchange 2007: This is not officially supported, I believe there are some RTM builds out there (for demo purposes, or to run in a VM). The final word is that Exchange 2007 is 64-bit only.
Exchange 2007 converted on OM 2007: There are a number of issues with the conversion, and the test team is looking at the details (even if it converts and imports – it currently doesn’t work).
Some of the issues may be related to the fact the MOM 2005 Exchange 2007 MP runs on a 32-bit (emulation) MOM agent monitoring the 64bit Exchange server, while the converted MP with OM 2007 uses an 64-bit agent to monitor Exchange 2007. In theory, all should be fine since the helper object (accessing the hosted Powershell) is available in 32 and 64bit, however that the theory only. There may also be some registry issues (looking up the keys in the 32 bit emulation registry). Our team is working with the Exchange team to resolve.

The bottom line is that we have to see what the investigation brings. Right now the plan is to deliver a converted Exchange 2007 MP for OM 2007 RTM
--------------------------------------------------

To summarize:
1. MP for Exchange 2007 won't work in MOM 2007 (Ops Mgr 2007) until RTM (in March 2007, i think)
2. MP for Exchange 2007 works well on MOM 2005 SP1.
3. Forget about 32-bit Exchange 2007, unless you wanted to do a quick Exchange 2007 ONLY demo.

Maybe you should know what a BitLocker.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsvista/aa906017.aspx

Why SQL 2005 ROCKS and ORACLE Years Behind.

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/bigdata/default.mspx

HP advances fight to keep Moore's Law healthy

Hewlett-Packard Co. researchers may have figured out a way to prolong Moore's Law by making chips more powerful and less power-hungry.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9008078

Things to Consider Before you Deploy Full Disk Encryption

Read this article on Full Disk Encryption. Sure looks like a best practise kind of document for people considering full disk encryption.

What if you have encrypted a Petabyte of data with your secure storage solution and you then learn either the key or the algorithm is not strong enough? Article by Peter Giannoulis advises computer security managers to consider the lifecyle of the system several years after it is deployed.
http://www.sans.edu/resources/leadershiplab/pitfalls.php

SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 CTP released.

Users say Outlook 2007 boosts e-mail management

Article on Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant

Pretty good article on http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Exchange-Troubleshooting-Assistant.html about Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant in Exchange 2007.

Good enough to get you up and running with Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant efficiently.

/Gill

MOSS 2007 Available for download from MSDN (Subscribers only)

Note there are special version of MOSS 2007, like the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Search version.

Read more the search version (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointsearch/FX101729721033.aspx)

A Hard Lesson in Privacy

Read this article at Security Focus about how this guy purchased a second-hand laptop and found some porn stuff in the laptop belonging to the owner and then it turns out the owner is a very popular tv hostess.

Read more..

SQL Server 2005 Waits and Queues:SQL Server Best Practices Article

This paper approaches the complex area of Microsoft® SQL Server™ performance tuning using a methodology called Waits and Queues.

Top 10 SQL Server 2005 Performance Issues for Data Warehouse and Reporting Applications

Relational Data Warehouse or Reporting work loads are characterized by low volumes of very large transactions. These applications are often identified as having predominately read workloads (e.g. Decision Support, Analysis, and Reporting) with periodic feeds or batch loads. It is important to keep these characteristics in mind as we examine the significance of database design, resource utilization and system performance. The top performance bottlenecks or gotchas to avoid for Data Warehouse or Reporting applications are outlined in this article at Mirosoft's TechCenter SQL Server site.

Article about DataWarehousing on Avoiding the Metadata Pitfalls

Summary: By doing a bit of groundwork and effectively controlling the scope of the metadata repository continuously throughout the project, few problems should arise.

Microsoft is often unfairly slammed for security issues, says NGSS

November 25, 2006 (Computerworld) --

Microsoft Corp may be taking the most heat among software vendors for security problems, but it's not always the one with the worst record.

A comparison of vulnerabilities in Microsoft's SQL Server database with Oracle Corp.'s relational database management products by Next Generation Security Software Ltd. (NGSS) shows that the latter vendor's products to have far more vulnerabilities than do products from Microsoft.

Read more...

BusinessValue Summit '06 (in Singapore)

SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 CTP

CTP for SQL 2005 SP1 can be downloaded from SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 CTP (November 2006).

The CTP for SP2 adds data compression, increased business intelligence functionality, adds security updates and support for Windows Vista and Office 2007. Excel, Excel Server and Sharepoint have all been integrated with SQL Server, allowing for Excel data analytics to be done within SQL Server.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition

Overview (from microsoft.com)

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition offers essential relational database functionality in a compact footprint ideal for embedding in mobile and desktop applications including a new generation of occasionally connected dynamic applications.
Sharing a familiar SQL syntax and common ADO.NET programming model with other SQL Server Editions, and management via SQL Server 2005 Management Studio, SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition allows developers and administrators to apply their existing skills and be immediately productive.

In addition, SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition enables scale-up of an application, either via a robust synchronization with other SQL Server Editions, or by moving to a higher edition of SQL Server. SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition allows you to extend your integrated data management platform deeper into your enterprise and into your mobile workforce. Download SQL Server Compact Edition Release Candidate 1 (RC1).

The SharePoint 2007 went RTM yesterday.

Announcing Process Monitor v1.0

Regmon and Filemon is now combined into a single tool, Process Monitor. Also included is other monitoring tools like process, thread and DLL monitoring.

There are all sorts of information displayed, including some basic data mining capabilites.

/Gill

Sysinternals Suite Now From TechNet

MS TechNet has rolled up the entire set of Sysinternals Utilities into a single
Suite of tools. This file contains all the individual tools & help files. The
whole thing is just 8MB.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/sysinternalssuite.mspx

Find a career with Dell! The Dell Careers Blog is Open

Source: msexchange.org

Zune another kind of four-letter word in Hebrew: Microsoft Zune: Doesn't sound sweet to everyone

October 20, 2006 (IDG News Service) -- Microsoft Corp.'s forthcoming digital music player, dubbed Zune, may make some Hebrew speakers gasp. The name for the device, which will take on the Apple iPod when released later this year, sounds like a vulgarity, specifically the "f" word, in Hebrew.

Read more.

IE7 Gold has gone live

Microsoft has released IE7 to the general public and is available from:http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/default.mspx

2006 January through September Vulnerability Trends

A compiled a large database of information covering vulnerabilities identified at http://cve.mitre.org and http://nvd.nist.gov that includes, among other things, sources concerning dates of public disclosure and references to the disclosures. With this database, it is possible to examine vulnerability trends over time and look for interesting events through the first 9 months of 2006.

Microsoft releases Windows Vista RC2

October 06, 2006 (Computerworld) -- Microsoft Corp. today released what it expects to be the final release of Windows Vista before the operating system is sent to manufacturing for distribution.

Windows Vista Release Candidate 2 (RC2), which is build number 5744, is being made available to 100,000 Customer Preview Program (CPP) participants, as well as to subscribers and members of TechBeta, TechNet, TAP and MSDN.

The company said that this newest build includes bug fixes, performance improvements, better application compatibility and "fit and finish" work -- tweaks to the look and feel of the operating system.

Microsoft also said that it is on target for making Windows Vista available to volume licensing customers in November and to consumers in January 2007. However, it added that "the final delivery will be based on quality" -- in other words, if it finds serious issues with the operating system, it would delay its planned launch. The company does not expect that to happen, however.

The company will continue to support RC1 through the official Windows Vista launch, and adds that RC1 can be used as the basis for logo certification.

Microsoft Research Builds BrowserShield

from: webappsec@securityfocus.com

"With BrowserShield, Wang argues, many such attacks could be blocked. BrowserShield can be used as a framework that rewrites HTML pages to deny any attempt at executing harmful code on browsers.

"We basically intercept the Web page, inject our logic and transform the page that is eventually rendered on the browser," Wang said. "We're inserting our layer of code at run-time to make the Web page safe for the end user."

URL: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2011765,00.asp

Windows Vista goes on sale at Amazon

Online retailer taking preorders; says software due Jan. 30

Toshiba to make Microsoft's Zune

Microsoft says Japanese firm Toshiba will make its Zune portable music player, due out later this year.

Microsoft Standard User Analyzer Beta 1

Summary:

The UAC team has just released the first beta version of the Microsoft Standard User Analyzer (SUA) tool. SUA is a tool that independent software vendors (ISVs) and IT developers can use to diagnose and identify possible application compatibility issues when migrating applications from running as administrator on down level Windows operating systems to Windows Vista which even with administrators run most programs with standard user privileges by default.

Microsoft will distribute Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority

Microsoft will distribute Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates soon after the final version is released for Windows XP, planned for the fourth quarter of 2006.

/Gill

Hands On: How to Install Windows Vista Beta

July 12, 2006 (Computerworld) -- Microsoft last month made Windows Vista Beta 2 publicly available for download or delivery on DVD via its Windows Vista Consumer Preview Program (CPP). The CPP closed to new registrations on June 30, and it appears Microsoft will not reopen it when Vista Release Candidate 1 arrives, but all registered CPP users will be offered RC1 as well.
What's the best way to install and test Windows Vista? There are three main ways to do so gracefully. There are also one or two tricks of the trade.

Read the rest of the guide..

very comprehensive list of Windows Update error codes

Phishing Attack Defeats Two-Factor Authentication

from: The SANS Institute [NewsBites@sans.org]

(13 & 10 July 2006)
Phishers are targeting Citibank Citibusiness customers using a man-in-the-middle attack to exploit people's trust in two-factor authentication. The scheme, if successful, would provide the phishers with Citibank Citibusiness customers' names and passwords in addition to temporary passwords generated by security tokens. The scheme passes on the customers' entered information to the legitimate site to see if it authentic. In a real-time attack scenario, the temporary passwords could be used before they expire. The phony site has reportedly been shut down.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2160250/phishers-crack-two-factor
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/07/citibank_phish_spoofs_2factor_1.html

Legendary hacker and author Kevin Mitnick has produced a whitepaper

Legendary hacker and author Kevin Mitnick has produced a whitepaper in which he details several scenarios in which social engineering exposed significant vulnerabilities that lead to corporate attacks.

People who have read Kevin's books and who like his style of writing will also enjoy the paper. What I find most valuable about this paper is that Mitnick remains neutral in his approach when he outlines his "Best Practices" approach to protection. He does a thorough analysis of various techniques and methodologies for mitigating risk and locking down endpoints, while allowing users enough flexibility to perform their jobs.

People can download the whitepaper in PDF format from www.appsense.com/mitnick
It's a good read, I would recommend it for anyone security inclined even if you just download it and save it for a rainy day :o)

resource:security-basics@securityfocus.com

The Depressing State Of Computer Security

From WServerNews.com newsletter.

Perhaps you know Roger Grimes. He's an InfoWorld Test Center Contributing Editor, Writes for WinITPro Mag, and is a Foundstone Ultimate Hacking instructor/consultant teaching Windows, Linux, Unix, and Solaris security.
His column this week was as depressing as it was interesting. He puts all his 10 fingers smack in the middle of many sore spots.
It was revealing and entertaining to read his admittedly gloomy perspective on security, but he did say that next week's column will point to some solutions. In the mean time, read this and get yourself trained as an IT security specialist. There will be a lot of work for -years- to come !

Microsoft opens up on file styles

How can I add root certs to my Windows Mobile 5.0 device?

and ...
OEMs or mobile operators provide certificate installers.
MSFP Deployment Guide.
adding root certs
adding root certs

Microsoft details unified communications road map

Main items include:
Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, which is Microsoft's new name for its Live Communications Server. It will include voice-over-IP call management, as well as audio-, video- and webconferencing and instant messaging communication with and across software applications and devices.

Microsoft plans to release its Office Communicator 2007, a unified communications client that works with Communications Server 2007 to provide enterprise VoIP through a softphone. Microsoft also announced Office Live Meeting, which includes audio and video capabilities for conferencing from a PC and is due out at about the same time.

A new product: Office RoundTable.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is also expected for release in late 2006 or early 2007, and Microsoft Speech Server 2007 will be available in late 2006

Partnerships with other communications vendors and includes plans for IP desktop phones that run Communicator software. The vendors named were Polycom Inc., LG-Nortel Co. Ltd. and Thomson Telecom. Microsoft also announced interoperability with or partnerships with Hewlett-Packard Co., Siemens AG and Motorola Inc.

/Gill

Microsoft offers online tests of Office 2007

Microsoft for the first time allows you to test pre-release/beta software without you having to download it first :)

Office components offered include:
Microsoft Office Access 2007
Microsoft Office Excel 2007
Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007
Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager
Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access
Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007
Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007
Microsoft Office Visio 2007
Microsoft Office Word 2007
Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services
Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 (coming soon)
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Go ahead. Click http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/testdrive.mspx.

Firefox, iTunes, Skype Top Most Dangerous List

No wonder i don't use most of them.... and here is Sukhdev telling me to get Skype.

Bill Gates: I salute you .

Analysis: Look for change at Microsoft after Gates

'You can't help but see some level of change,' says one analyst.

Microsoft outlines post-Gates transition plans

Gates will step aside in two years; Ray Ozzie named chief software architect

Reports of Excel 0-Day (NEW)

from SANS - Internet Storm Center - Cooperative Cyber Threat Monitor And Alert System.

Reports of Excel 0-Day (NEW)
Published: 2006-06-16,Last Updated: 2006-06-16 06:02:01 UTC by Scott Fendley (Version: 1)
Microsoft has received a report of a new 0-day vulnerability involving Excel. They are currently investigating this issue and will issue more information on workarounds as it becomes available. They are currently blogging about it at http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2006/06/16/436174.aspx so check that site for more information as it becomes available.In the meantime, we continue to recommend the same defenses we recommended with the Word 0-day from last month located at http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?storyid=1347. These very general best practices should help alleviate the danger until Microsoft releases a patch or more specific workarounds.

The ‘Longhorn’ forums were launched recently.

The longhorn forums are at :
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/default.aspx?ForumGroupID=161&SiteID=17

Article on Password cracking tools for SQL Server

Kevin Beaver has a quick article on Password Cracking tools for SQL Server. Here is the summary

Tools:
1. SQLPing2 and SQLRecon from sqlsecurity.com
2. Cain and Abel
3. NGSSoftware's NGSSQLCrack
4. Application Security's AppDetective


Word(password) Dictionaries
http://packetstormsecurity.nl/Crackers/wordlists
ftp://ftp.ox.ac.uk/pub/wordlists
ftp://ftp.cerias.purdue.edu/pub/dict
http://www.outpost9.com/files/WordLists.html
http://www.elcomsoft.com/prs.html#dict

/Gill

Microsoft SQL Server I/O subsystem requirements for the tempdb database

Finally some best practices for performance guide for tempDB on MS SQL.

/Gill

Guide to Computer Security Log Management

Guide to Computer Security Log Management
(http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/drafts/DRAFT-SP800-92.pdf).

ADModify.NET: Workspace Home

Overview
ADModify.NET is a tool primarily utilized by Exchange and Active Directory administrators to facilitate bulk user attribute modifications. See http://blogs.technet.com/exchange/archive/2004/08/04/208045.aspx for launch details

Tech-Ed 2006 Webcasts: Power to the Pros

If you have already registered for Microsoft TechEd 2006, tune in to this series of webcasts and get the most out of your time while you're there. Haven't yet decided if you'll attend TechEd 2006? This webcast series will give you a preview of what you can learn June 11-16, 2006, in Boston, Massachusetts. Plus, attend a pre-TechEd webcast by May 12 and you could win a free pass to TechEd 2006. See the official rules for details.

IIS 6.0 Security and Hardening Resources

Windows 2003/IIS 6.0 DMZ Hardening Guidelines http://www.shebeen.com/win2003/

Securing Internet Information Services 6.0 http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/support/articles/sec_iis_6_0.mspx

IIS 6.0 Security Best Practices
http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/Library/ace052a0-a713-423e-8e8c-4bf198f597b81033.mspx

Security in IIS 6.0 (links to resources) http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/Library/354f4539-982a-418c-bfe7-4d5155b83f4a1033.mspx

Checklist: ASP Security (IIS 6.0)
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/d2e896b5-97af-4b74-89be-55a30e1030e2.mspx?mfr=true

Microsoft IIS Hardening Checklist
www.uchsc.edu/is/security/IISHardeningChecklist.pdf

Microsoft Updates Roadmap at MMS

Microsoft snags Canadian asset management firm

Also read about the road map for the System Center family of management software.

Monad is called Windows Powershell

The blog location for Windows Powershell is at http://blogs.msdn.com/powershell/default.aspx.

Read more here about the presentation at the MMC event where the announcement was made.

Microsoft debuts new Explorer beta

Microsoft releases new IE 7 Beta ..

Free MOM 2005 MP for Virtual Servers

Last week, Microsoft made available a free management pack for download for server virtualization software. Note you still need to have MOM 2005 running already.

The pack helps keep tabs on computers running the software and the virtual machines hosted by the software.


The Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack can run on Virtual Server 2005 and on Virtual Server 2005 R2. Microsoft said the management pack provides monitoring and reporting capabilities. Follow the download link for more information on the capabilities.

Microsoft Makes Virtual Server R2 Free

SQL Injecting RFID Readers

Read an interesting post at a security mailing list. Here are the links related the
"SQL Injection RFID Readers"

http://www.rfidvirus.org/payloads.html
http://www.rfidvirus.org/worm.html

Kimberly Tripp's SQL 2005 ITPro Webcasts : 1st session done.

The 1st webcast from Ms. Tripp was vastly popular. She blogged about the session and also offered demo scripts for download and some valuable additional resources.

Here is her blog entry for the first session :
http://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/kimberly/PermaLink.aspx?guid=f66a8646-bf9d-4f3e-b46e-dbce22be2f96

Beginning this March from Microsoft:Kimberly L. Tripp SQL Server 2005 ITPro Webcast Series

If you're an IT professional wanting solid, valuable content and help with SQL Server 2005, your ship has landed in the form of an 11-part Webcast series brought to you by Microsoft. Kimberly L. Tripp of SQLSkills.com, a Microsoft MVP and Regional Director, is going share her knowledge and passion around building robust, recoverable and reliable SQL Server 2005 systems. Join the free Webcast every Friday starting March 10, 2006.

Visit here for more information.

Vista Versions Finally Finalized

It looks like Microsoft has made up its collective mind about the editions of Vista that will be offered, and as expected, there'll be no more Tablet PC or Media Center Edition.

The six core versions include: Starter Edition, Enterprise Edition, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate. There will also be two "N" versions (Home Basic N and Business N) that are customized to comply with the European Union's orders not to include Windows Media Player with the operating system.

Office 12 is Office 2007

Microsoft Corp. today announced the lineup of its upcoming 2007 Microsoft® Office system products, previously code-named Microsoft Office "12".

Details about the 2007 Microsoft Office system products, including press releases and white papers on new Office products, application naming, suite packaging, server lineup, and U.S. estimated retail prices, can be found online at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/2007office/default.mspx and http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview.

Microsoft buys FutureSoft Web-filtering software

FEBRUARY 09, 2006 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - Microsoft Corp. Thursday said it was buying Web-filtering software called DynaComm i:filter from FutureSoft Inc.

DynaComm i:filter allows IT administrators to filter content coming through a company's network that has been deemed inappropriate or bandwidth-hogging. The software also protects users against spyware by blocking the download of executable files through Web browsers.

Exchange 12" beta will be in TechNet March Shipments!

Big news for TechNet Subscribers!

March disc shipments will include a special treat: a special beta release of the upcoming version of Exchange Server code-named “Exchange 12”.

Get over to http://www.microsoft.com/technet/subscription !

The Security Monitoring and Attack Detection Planning Guide

Found this Guide while reading a thread on Windows Log management.
Here is a quick brief description:

This guide is designed to help organizations plan a security monitoring and attack detection system based on Windows Security Event logs. It highlights how to interpret the events and which events indicate the possibility that an attack is in progress.

Overview
The Security Monitoring and Attack Detection Planning Guide is a practical support document for business and information technology professionals who are working to develop systems to monitor security on a network and to detect intruders. Its primary goals and objectives are to:

1. Introduce the concepts of security monitoring and attack detection.
2. List applications that can provide event log correlation.
3. Describe best practice activities and processes for developing a security monitoring and attack detection system.
4. Identify business, technical, and security issues for:
   Detecting policy violations
   Detecting external attacks
   Implementing forensic analysis
5. Design a security monitoring and attack detection solution that can identify when attacks on the network take place.
6. Provide the ability to implement data retention for Forensic Analysis.

Download it and start reading it. If not all, some parts of it maybe useful, for sure. Imagine starting to understand Forensic Analysis using Windows Log!!

Got domain logon problems ?

Get the tokensz. You could view propery of the Security TOken that is created during logon.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4a303fa5-cf20-43fb-9483-0f0b0dae265c&DisplayLang=en#top

How do you estimate what a database size will be?

Windows XP SP3 Due Out in Second Half of 2007

(18 January 2006)

Microsoft has set a tentative release date of the second half of 2007 for Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) the professional and home editions.
Windows XP SP2 was released in 2004. Microsoft reportedly pushed back the release date for XP SP3 to allow them to concentrate resources on Windows Vista, which is scheduled to be released later this year.
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/printfriendly.htm?AT=39305800-39000001c
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/18/windows_xp_sp3_delay/
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/servicepacks.mspx

From sans.org

The Smart Card Deployment Cookbook

Overview
Typically, a cookbook is a collection of recipes, or instructions, that explain how to do something and what you need to do it. This "cookbook" is a set of "recipes" for deploying smart cards in an enterprise that is deploying Microsoft Windows 2000 Active Directory. The white papers in this series will help you understand the principal smart card concepts and guide you through the planning tasks.
The cookbook is divided into three sections:
On This Page

About This Cookbook

Who Should Read This Series

Section 1: Smart Card Backgrounder

Section 2: Smart Card Deployment Planning Considerations

Section 3: Smart Card Deployment Scenario

Related Materials

Tool for creating packets

Engage Packet Builder:
http://www.engagesecurity.com/downloads/#engagepacketbuilder

You also need WinPCap for running Engage:
http://www.winpcap.org/install/default.htm

NEMESIS: http://www.packetfactory.net/projects/nemesis/
HPING: http://www.hping.org/

and google
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=packet+generation+tools+linux&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

When To Upgrade: Tips For Taking Best Advantage Of Microsoft's Release Cycle

Two Avanade consultants outline ways to calculate when to adopt an
operating system upgrade and when it's better to let new software pass
you by.
http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/184636/1448126/4116/0/

MBSA 2.0 Scripting

Sample scripts that illustrate how to extend MBSA 2.0 for greater scalability during scanning and report rollup.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3b64ac19-3c9e-480e-b0b3-6b87f2ee9042&displaylang=en

SNARF Articles

SNARF Articles

"Too Many E-Mails? SNARF Them Up!" by Rob Kreis. Microsoft Research News & Highlights. November 30, 2005.
"Microsoft Research tool 'snarfs' up unwanted e-mail" by Elizabeth Montalbano. Computerworld. December 1, 2005
"SNARF Makes Social Sense of E-Mail" by Susan Kuchinskas. InternetNews. December 1, 2005.
"SNARFing your way through e-mail" by Ina Fried. CNet News.com. December 2, 2005.

Created within Microsoft Research, the Social Network and Relationship Finder, or SNARF

Microsoft tool 'snarfs' up unwanted e-mail.
The software prioritizes mail from friends and regular contacts

Step-by-Step Guide to Clustering Windows 2000 and SQL Server 2000

Article by Brian Knight at sqlservercentral.com

Summary:
In this next article of the SQL Server in the Enterprise Series, we'll explore how to cluster Windows 2000 and SQL Server 2000 in a step-by-step manner. After this article, you should be able to cluster a SQL Server 2000 machine for failover availability in an Active/Active cluster.

Windows Leads As Server Market Booms

For the first time, Microsoft Windows was the leading operating system in new servers in the third quarter, as the overall worldwide server market grew a robust 8.1%, IDC said Tuesday.


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Enterprise firewall configuration for Exchange ActiveSync Direct Push Technology

&A: Microsoft’s Flessner touts ‘game changers’ in SQL Server 2005

NOVEMBER 11, 2005 (COMPUTERWORLD) - SAN FRANCISCO -- Paul Flessner, senior vice president of server applications at Microsoft Corp., said the “game changers” that will set SQL Server 2005 apart from the competition’s databases are the integration of the company’s Visual Studio development environment and business intelligence capabilities. Flessner spoke with Computerworld here at this week’s launch event for SQL Server, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 2005. Excerpts follow:

Microsoft Previews Windows Live and Microsoft Office Live

Microsoft Corporation today previewed two new sets of software-based services that utilize the Internet to deliver rich and seamless experiences to both individuals and small businesses. Windows Live and Microsoft Office Live are two new offerings that combine the power of software plus services and provide natural complements to the Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office products. In particular, Windows Live helps bring together all the elements of an individual's digital world while Office Live will help small companies do business online. With over 40 million small businesses worldwide, partners will be able to tap into the tremendous opportunity to use Office Live as a platform for extending their own small business solutions in a scalable and cost-effective manner as well as apply their expertise to customize and extend solutions for Office Live.

System Center Capacity Planner 2006 (Beta) Overview

Microsoft System Center Capacity Planner 2006 (Beta) helps size and plan deployments of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 by providing you with the tools and guidance to deploy efficiently while planning for the future by allowing for "what-if" analyses

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SyncToy v1.0 for Windows XP

Microsoft has released a tool called SyncToy. Written for WinXP and W23K. It keeps any two pairs of folders in sync.

Microsoft Seeks to Mobilize With Exchange SP2

Microsoft Seeks to Mobilize With Exchange SP2 By Clint Boulton

Microsoft is offering upgrades to Exchange Server 2003 with a new software pack that stresses better mobile messaging, improved spam blockers, and increased e-mail and mailbox storage capacity.

New mobile messaging tools in the Exchange Server Service Pack 2 (SP2) will help hardware partners and content providers deliver a device that "meets the demands of the end user for a rich mobile messaging experience."

For example, new direct push technology eliminates the need for SMS to notify and ensure a mobile device automatically retrieves new e-mail from an Exchange server. SP2 uses an HTTP connection to push new e-mail messages to the device.

The new version also provides greater control over mobile device security, including policy settings that let a user unlock a device with a password; local wipe, which dictates how many incorrect log-on attempts are permitted before your data might be at risk; and remote wipe, which allows administrators to remotely delete information from lost or stolen mobile devices.
Such features are big because research firms say business users are increasingly taking their work with them on the road in the form of handheld computers and smartphones. Such policies help to ensure that corporate data and applications are not compromised when devices are lost or get into the wrong hands.

Some partners have already announced plans to deliver devices that support SP2. Palm's Treo and Motorola's Q Windows Mobile 5.0 devices will be available in early 2006 and will include the MS Windows 5.0 Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP) and support for SP2. Also, DataViz' mobile Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync-enabled client, RoadSync, will offer support for key mobility features of SP2, including Direct Push and Remote Wipe on Symbian OS.

Customers are hip to the benefits of the new mobile technologies in SP2, too. HP is planing a companywide rollout of SP2 in the near future, Microsoft said.

On the security front, Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 adds Sender ID support and updates the Exchange Instant Message Filter to help businesses thwart spam, spoofing schemes and phishing.

Sender ID helps prevent unwanted mailbox phishing and spoofing schemes by verifying the IP address of the e-mail sender against the purported owner of the sending domain.
The result of the Sender ID check is used as input to the Exchange Intelligent Message Filter, which is based on the same SmartScreen filtering technology now used in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, MSN Internet Software and Services, and Hotmail.

To fortify the Exchange mailbox in the face of the growing glut of data that users are creating, Exchange Server 2003 SP2 Standard Edition will increase the mailbox storage size limit to 75 gigabytes.

A new offline address book offers significantly improved performance when Outlook clients are operating in cached mode. Users can also now force clients into cached mode to help improve performance and increase the number of active users per server.

Customers who already have Exchange Server 2003 can download SP2 for free.

The release comes as Microsoft is prepping for its largest launch of the year: the Nov. 7 release of SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006.

The SHAREPOINT COMMUNITY

http://james.wss.bcentral.com/sharepoint/default.aspx

SQL 2005 Webcasts for Oct 2005

Twenty-four new webcasts are scheduled for October, covering such topics as SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services, SQL Server 2005: Facts and Features, A Primer to Proper SQL Server Development and more.


MSDN Webcast: Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Part 1 of 6) (Level 200)
Monday, October 03, 20059:00 AM Pacific TimeThis six-part series presents a comprehensive introduction to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services for developers. In the first webcast, we provide an overview of Reporting Services.

MSDN Webcast: Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Part 2 of 6) (Level 200)
Wednesday, October 05, 20059:00 AM Pacific Time This second webcast looks in depth at techniques for delivering canned reports to end users, including URL access, subscriptions, and the Web service.

MSDN Webcast: Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Part 3 of 6) (Level 200)
Friday, October 07, 20059:00 AM Pacific Time This third webcast focuses on the Report Builder, a tool for ad hoc reporting.

MSDN Webcast: A Primer to Proper SQL Server Development (Part 8 of 10): Data Loading and Aging Strategies (Level 200)
Friday, October 07, 200510:00 AM Pacific TimePart eight in our series on Microsoft SQL Server 2005 development shows you how to use batch strategies to make data loading and aging more efficient.

MSDN Webcast: Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Part 4 of 6) (Level 200)
Monday, October 10, 20059:00 AM Pacific Time In this fourth webcast, we examine some more advanced ideas surrounding report design. Learn how to create tabular reports, matrix reports, linked reports, charts, and sub-reports.

TechNet Webcast: Minimize Blocking with New Snapshot-Based Isolation Levels in SQL Server 2005 (Level 200)
Monday, October 10, 20051:00 PM Pacific TimeAre deadlocks giving you grief? Tune into this webcast and learn how you can increase the availability of your applications to your end users.

MSDN Webcast: Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Part 5 of 6) (Level 200)
Wednesday, October 12, 20059:00 AM Pacific Time This fifth webcast focuses on SQL Server Reporting Services extensibility. We demonstrate a custom data source for SQL Server Reporting Services that reads data that is not accessible through SQL queries.

SQL Server 2005: Facts and Features (200-300)
Wednesday, October 12, 200510:30 AM Central TimeLearn about the three fundamental advancements SQL Server 2005 brings to the Market: Enterprise Data Management, Developer Productivity, and Business Intelligence.

SQL Server 2005: Facts and Features
Wednesday, October 12, 200512:00 PM Eastern Time Learn about the three fundamental advancements SQL Server 2005 brings to the Market: Enterprise Data Management, Developer Productivity, and Business Intelligence.

TechNet Webcast: An Introduction to How SQL Server 2005 Can Help You Deliver Highly Available Database Systems (Level 200)
Wednesday, October 12, 20051:00 PM Pacific TimeThis webcast discusses the various features in SQL Server 2005 that can help you deliver high availability: Failover Clustering, Database Mirroring, Peer-to-Peer Replication, Database Snapshots, Snapshot Isolation, and Online Index Operations.

TechNet Webcast: Level Database Mirroring: Why, When and How? (Level 300)
Thursday, October 13, 20058:00 AM Pacific TimeIn this webcast, you will learn how to use Database Mirroring as a solution within the broader range of SQL Server 2005 high availability options such as Log Shipping, Clustering, and Replication. You will examine various deployment scenarios, and the considerations and best practices associated with each. Finally, you will learn about the best practices that are based on the experiences gained by internal testing.

MSDN Webcast: Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Part 6 of 6) (Level 200)
Friday, October 14, 20059:00 AM Pacific TimeIn this sixth and final webcast, we concentrate on security and manageability, beginning with a look at the Reporting Services security model, the sources of security information, and the security roles associated with reports and servers.

MSDN Webcast: A Primer to Proper SQL Server Development (Part 9 of 10): Profiling for Better Performance (Level 200)
Friday, October 14, 200510:00 AM Pacific Time This webcast, part nine in our series on proper Microsoft SQL Server 2005 development, focuses on the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Profiler and its capabilities.

TechNet Webcast: Optimize Your SQL Server Environment for Availability with Storage Foundation for Windows (Level 200)
Wednesday, October 19, 20059:00 AM Pacific Time Join this webcast to learn how to use VERITAS Storage Foundation High Availability for Windows to optimize your SQL Server environment.

TechNet Webcast: How You Can Achieve Greater Availability with Failover Clustering Across Multiple Sites (Level 300)
Wednesday, October 19, 200511:30 AM Pacific Time In this webcast, learn how to turn a server cluster into a geographically-dispersed cluster whose nodes reside in different physical sites.

An Overview of SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services and Analysis Services
Wednesday, October 19, 200512:00 PM Eastern TimeDiscover how you can finally offer a unified and integrated view of all your business data in your enterprise reporting environment. See some of the best reasons to get excited about SQL Server 2005.

TechNet Webcast: Disaster Recovery Best Practices for SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 (Level 200)
Thursday, October 20, 20059:30 AM Pacific Time This webcast presents a variety of best practices around maximizing SQL Server uptime and availability, while minimizing service disruption to your customers, using Quest's SQL LiteSpeed.

TechNet Webcast: Minimize Blocking Through Snapshot-based Isolation Levels (Level 200)
Friday, October 21, 20058:00 AM Pacific TimeJoin this webcast to learn how these new isolations eliminate blocking, including deadlocks between readers/writers. You will also learn how isolations provide a transactional consistent snapshot of a database at transactional and statement levels. This webcast will focus on basic concepts, managing row versions, and troubleshooting.

TechNet Webcast: Building Highly Available Database Systems that Scale with Peer-to-Peer Replication (Level 200)
Tuesday, October 25, 200511:30 AM Pacific TimeThis webcast provides an overview for how you can use Peer-to-Peer Replication in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 to create geographically dispersed redundant copies of a database to improve both scalability and availability for database applications.

SQL Server 2005: Facts and Features
Wednesday, October 26, 200512:00 PM Eastern Time Learn about the three fundamental advancements SQL Server 2005 brings to the Market: Enterprise Data Management, Developer Productivity, and Business Intelligence.

MSDN Webcast: A Primer to Proper SQL Server Development (Part 10 of 10): Most Common Roadblocks to Scalability and Reliability (Level 200)
Friday, October 28, 200510:00 AM Pacific TimeThis is the final webcast in our ten-part series on proper Microsoft SQL Server 2005 development techniques.

TechNet Webcast: A Technical Overview of SQL 2005 High Availability Features (Level 200)
Monday, October 31, 20058:00 AM Pacific Time This webcast examines some of the features of Microsoft SQL Server 2005-the next release of the SQL Server product-that can help you overcome some of these barriers. This webcast reviews several specific areas: database server failure or disaster, user or application error, data access concurrency limitations, and database mirroring and clustering.

TechNet Webcast: Optimize Performance with Maximum Uptime by Creating and Maintaining Indexes Online with SQL Server 2005 (Level 200)
Monday, October 31, 20059:30 AM Pacific TimeSee how in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 you can create indexes online using data definition language operations such as CREATE/ALTER/DROP index which can be executed concurrently with Data Manipulation Language operations.

TechNet Webcast: How to Increase Availability Using Database Mirroring in SQL Server 2005 (Level 200)
Monday, October 31, 20051:00 PM Pacific Time This webcast provides guidance and offers considerations for operational deployments of database mirroring in Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

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Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

Deployment of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool in an enterprise environment http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891716/

ADModify.NET 2.1 Released!

ADModify.NET 2.1 Released!

Here is a list of the added functionality:
- Added MAPI user enable/disable (requires Exchange 2003 SP2)
- Fixed bug in variable parser to allow literal /% and /' strings
- Fixed killmail code to include all attributes listed in KB 307350
- Added "Update Email address on General Tab" option for both cmd and gui versions, for updating the mail attribute when a primary SMTP address is added
- Added wildcard search ability when removing email addresses
- Added "do not remove primary" option when removing addresses
- Added Wireless OMA/UIS/UTD options in GUI Some of the requested changes did not make it into this build as they would have pushed the release date back even further.

Rest assured that these options are still being considered as additions to the tool. Any issues or feedback with the 2.1 release, please email
admodify@microsoft.com.

http://www.gotdotnet.com/workspaces/workspace.aspx?id=f5cbbfa9-e46b-4a7a-8ed8-3e44523f32e2

Office 2003 SP2 And Outlook 2003 Junk Mail Filter Update Available

Office 2003 SP2
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=57e27a97-2db6-4654-9db6-ec7d5b4dd867&displaylang=en
Outlook 2003 Junk Mail Filter Update
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3fd48098-97f4-4173-9ba7-eef85bf5c935&displaylang=en

Windows Server System Reference Architecture (WSSRA)

Ever wanted everything that you need to get a Windows Server in various roles. I am taking about templates and blueprints, guides, tools, documents for taking a server deployments from design, lab testing to deployment to management ? Welcome to WSSRA.

Overview (from TechNet)
Windows Server System Reference Architecture is a technology architecture that has been rigorously tested and proven in a partnered lab environment to provide exceptional planning and implementation guidance that addresses fundamental infrastructure issues such as availability, security, scalability, and manageability of the platform.

WSSRA consists of the following downloadable packages:
Overview Documents
Architecture Blueprints
Implementation Guides
Deployment Toolkit

The Overview Documents provide the supporting information that will aid the understanding of the documentation set and ensure its most effective use within IT infrastructure. The documents included in this download package are as follows:
Getting Started
Introduction

Lab Implementation Architecture Blueprints provide IT professionals with a common understanding of overriding principles prior to leveraging guidance on specific IT services. This download package includes the following:
Introduction to Architecture Blueprints
Network Architecture Blueprint
Management Architecture Blueprint
Application Infrastructure Architecture Blueprint
Security Architecture Blueprint
Storage Architecture Blueprint

The Implementation Guides provide fully integrated sets of service-specific guidance for each of the services covered as part of WSSRA. Each implementation guide package contains an introduction document, a service blueprint, a planning guide, a build guide, and an operations guide.

The Deployment Toolkit provides all of the low-level scripts, plans, and configuration settings used to build the environment that was used to establish and test the Windows Server System Reference Architecture. The download package contains the following:
Build Order Project Plan
Equipment Configuration Matrix
Low Level Diagram of Services and Components
Equipment and Software List
Test Scripts
Build Scripts
Setup Information

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Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 released

Check out http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891861. It is mentioned "Update
Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4 was released June 28, 2005."

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SQL Server 2005 Hands-On Labs are online now.

SQL Server 2005 hands-on labs give you the opportunity to try out the new and improved features and technologies that the new version will make available to database developers.

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Microsoft SQL Server is now at TechCenter too.

The SQL Server has it's own TechCenter at TechNet. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/default.mspx.

Just as MSDN DevCenters focus on providing information to developers, TechCenters focus on providing information to IT Professionals such as DBAs. Exchange Server and Windows 2003 Server is also on TechCenter.

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Exchange 2003 SP2 is coming

Here are some information which is currently public about service pack 2 for Exchange 2003.

http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/downloads/2003/sp2/overview.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/Jun05/06-06SFPWindowsMobilePR.mspx

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Step-by-Step Guide to Migrating from Software Update Services to Windows Server Update Services

Overview
Step-by-step guidance on how to migrate from Microsoft Software Update Services (SUS) to Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). You will find step-by-step procedures for installation and configuration of the WSUS server on the SUS server as well as procedures for migration of approvals and updates from the SUS server.

System Requirements
Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1

Other SUS Resources:

Overview of WSUS.

Getting started with WSUS on Windows Server 2003

Getting started with WSUS on Windows 2000


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