Windows Server 2003 TechCenter

Greetings,

Previously, I had provided Microsoft Technology TechNet website URLs (e.g. SharePoint / Exchange). Now here is the Windows 2003 TechCenter. This is your point of start to learning / understanding / deploying / securing / managing / implementing / articles / how-tos and many other TechNet information on Windows Server Systems and the associated technologies. Not only that, you could browser by alphabetically arranged index on technologies that run on Windows 2003.

Whatever, this makes looking for technical resources easier for you. Do provide feedback to the folks who run the TechCenter, so they could continuously improve their site to better meet your needs.

/Sarbjit Gill

Windows 64-bit computing.

From the w2knews:

Microsoft will ship the Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions this month. They will be sold with new server hardware. Why would you want this? There are some very good reasons actually. First, the 64-bit architecture has more memory address space which means better performance: bigger memory, page files, cache etc.

Second, soon all the new hardware you can get will be 64-bit by default. Third, soon there will be x64-based versions of SQL Server, Exchange, and Office. And Visual Studio 2005 will support native x64 development of code. Fourth, 64-bit machines and software will have a longer shelf life. Think it through for a moment, these machines may not need replacement for 5-6 years instead of the 3-4 year replacement cycle most of us are on now.

The one major problem? Device drivers. You have to make sure that all the devices you hook up to your systems are compatible.

Paul Thurrott's supersite has a good overview of the different 64-bit Windows editions and a great grid that explains which flavor supports how many processors and RAM. Recommended.
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winserver2003_editions.asp

Cheers
Sarbjit Gill

SharePoint Products and Technologies on TechNet

Greetings,

At the TechNet's new site for Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies, you'll find technical resources, tools, and other information designed to help IT professionals deploy, maintain, and support SharePoint Products and Technologies.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sppt/default.mspx

As for non-Microsoft SharePoint resources (where there are tons of them), i will start with the WSS FAQ. Is it the ultimate FAQ for Windows Sharepoint Services. It is created originally by Mike Walsh but right now it is a collaborative contribution from the community.

I will be posting more resources related to SharePoint Products and Technologies.

Regards
Sarbjit Gill

The NTLM Authentication Protocol

Abstract
This article seeks to describe NTLM at an intermediate to advanced level of detail, suitable as a reference for implementors. It is hoped that this document will evolve into a comprehensive description of NTLM; at this time there are omissions, both in the author's knowledge and in his documentation, and almost certainly inaccuracies. However, this document should at least be able to provide a solid foundation for further research

/Sarbjit Gill

TechNet Virtual Lab

Ever wanted to test Microsoft's newest software in a sandbox environment? Wouldn't it be great to be able to test new servers immediately, without formatting hard drives or dedicating one or more computers to the project? Now you can, with the TechNet Virtual Lab.

Technologies included in the virtual labs are:
Desktop Deployment
Security
Windows Server 2003
Exchange
SQL Server
Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005
Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003
ISA
Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005

Enjoy !
Sarbjit Gill

Top client/server support issues in Microsoft Exchange

Greetings,

This might be helpful. Following at the top client/server support issues in Microsoft Exchange Microsoft Product Support and Services encountered.

Keep this as your resource for troubleshooting your Exchange Server and client installation.

/Sarbjit Gill

Some cool Exchange Tools/Utilities

Firstly is the Exchange Server Topology Diagramming Tool (ExMap).

"Creating topological maps of your Exchange sites, servers, and the connectors belonging to your organization can be a time consuming process. By using the Exchange Server Topology Diagramming Tool (ExMap), you can automatically generate a Microsoft Visio® diagram of your site topology"
http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/downloads/2000/ExMap.asp

The second is a Exinfo.exe.

Exinfo.exe, which is a information collection and diagnostics tool that provides a range of Exchange 2000 Server system state and Active Directory information. Here is the link: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305816#kb1


Note: Both of this tools are for Exchange but they work fine on Exchange 2003.

/Sarbjit Gill

Did you know "How Microsoft Does IT?"

Greetings,

Did you know Microsoft has a section on TechNet which is a Showcase that gives IT professionals a unique, insider view into Microsoft's process of developing, deploying, and managing its own enterprise solutions.

Here you’ll find technical case studies and white papers, direct from Microsoft IT, that highlight Microsoft’s key business applications, deployment strategies, early adopter experiences, best practices, and initiatives.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/msit/default.mspx

Cheers
Gill

MS SQL 2000 Security Best Practices and Lock-Down

For those who are new to SQL Server and want some good guides for locking down and security best practise, click "SQL Server 2000 SP3 Security Features and Best Practices". It includes:
•SQL Server 2000 Security Model
•Implementation of Server Level Security and Object Level Security
•Secure Multi-tier Deploymnt
•Checklist: Security Best Practices

The other link you should look at is SQL Server Security Tools.

Cheers
Gill

Administering, monitoring, and managing Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 environment.

Greetings ,

Learn about the different aspects of administering, monitoring, and managing your Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 environment.

Contents include:
Documentation
Administration
Disaster Recovery
Monitoring
Performance
Additional Resources (includes DEMOS)
Toolbox (Exchange Server 2003 Operations Tools)
Knowledge Base Articles

Under the Performance categories, you would find the "Exchange Server 2003 Performance and Scalability Guide". The entire site is a must for any exchange installation.


/Gill

Exchange 2003 Disaster Recovery

Greetings,

Recently I was reading lots of queries on Disaster Recovery with Exchange messaging servers. Here is a complete list information from TechNet, including presentations/demos in Windows Media format.

TechNet Briefings Presentations --> Exchange 2003 Disaster Recovery

/Gill

Overview of Anti-Spyware tool from Microsoft (with screenshots)

Greetings folks,

Here is a URL with link to a nice background history and review of
Microsoft's Anti-SpyWare Tool.
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/ms_antispyware_preview.asp

/Gill

Windows XP Service Pack 2: The Inside Story

Greetings,

Here is the backstage story of Windows XP SP2 during development. Great read. Read what the program manager and his mates went through during Windows XP SP2 development. Very interesting. You would appreciate SP2 so much better. A comment from the article:

"Jim [Allchin] said, we're going to do it big, and we're going to do it once. If we're going to break everything, let's break everything once, but let's fix the problem."

/Gill

The Eight Rules of Security

Greetings

Read a blog from Dana Epp, recently about eight components of any good security decision. It is not about Firewall, antivirus, lockdown etc. Read it here.

/Gill

Windows Server 2003 SP1 RC

Greetings,

If you are evaluating RC version of Windows 2003 Service Pack1, this is for you, read on.

One of the best way to test/evaluate/look-see the SP1 RC would be to use it in a Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Virtual Server. Hence having a Windows 2003 OS CDROM with SP1 RC slipstreamed in it would be great. Here, IT Pro Evangelist, John Howard, has easy steps to follow to slipstream SP1 RC.

/Gill

Microsoft Licensing: 7 Steps to a Better Bargain. It would save you LOTS of $$$

This is great read at Redmond Magazine (previous MCP Magazine). You get some overview on licensing (if you are not into reading the lengthy licensing guides at Microsoft website). Then you get a drilldown on cost saving when negotiating software licenses.

Links:
http://redmondmag.com/features/article.asp?editorialsID=441 (the article)
http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/default.mspx (Microsoft Licensing WebSite)


/Gill

The New ISA Server and Exchange Deployment Kit

Greetings folks,

For those working on ISA2004 and Exchange 2003, here is a latest document from Microsoft on "ISA Server and Exchange Deployment Kit". There are lots of information on all possible deployment of ISA and Exchange server.

Note, the document is 11MB and about 700 plus pages.

Cheers
Gill


Here is the short link : http://tinyurl.com/47qun or click the title.

.Net Framework based CLI (nothing like what you have used/seen before)

Jeffrey Snover, architect on the Monad (MSH-Microsoft Shell) team, demonstrates and discusses Monad.

It is one awesome CLI (command line interface). Imagine doing a "dir" on Active Directory, Registry Key, list of installed certificates or list of processes, and awhole bunch of other cool stuff.

It will be available in Longhorn but since it is .Net Framework specific technology, you could download the beta now and run it on a current OS with .net on it.

This link, http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6c1191af-892f-46d5-94b6-b97521d5a0cd&displaylang=en&displaylang=en will take you a Windows Media video presentation about the tool.

Think what you want, write it down, and get what you want. Unix folks hold on to your jaws.

A couple of reasons why you should use this tool:
1. Strong Naming (manage 80% of the system with under 50 verbs)
2. Help (just like the "man")
3. It is a object-based system i.e. the help is a reflection of a Help Object
4. SQL type utility (select, sort, condition, present)
5. Pipelining concepts

Just watch that video!!

To download the tool, goto http://beta.microsoft.com/, use a passport account to login, then to get the tool use account id: mshPDC.

Cheers
Gill

The other command line tool

A little history on WMI first.

Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is a component of the Microsoft® Windows® operating system and is the Microsoft implementation of Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM), which is an industry initiative to develop a standard technology for accessing management information in an enterprise environment. WMI uses the Common Information Model (CIM) industry standard to represent systems, applications, networks, devices, and other managed components. You can use WMI to automate administrative tasks in an enterprise environment.

Where applicable WMI can be used in all Windows-based applications, and is most useful in enterprise applications. System administrators can find information about using WMI on TechNet, and in various books about WMI.

Lots of folks may not know this, but, there is this great command line tool in Windows XP (yes !!Windows XP. Was originally written for Windows 2003 but is it released with Windows XP as well) and above (Windows 2003 and SBS 2003). WMIC.exe gives you access to WMI on your Windows machine. The information you could collect now is simple amazing.

Here is a link to "A Description of the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Command-Line Utility (Wmic.exe)" support article at Microsoft.com

References:
Microsoft's msdn website.


/Gill

Using Netsh: the coolest Windows command line utility (besides WMIC.exe)

At recent newsletter from WindowsNetworking.com, author Robert J. Shimonski wrote about Netsh, a Windows based command line tool that if you master, can be very helpful in quickly getting your network setting changed from the command line without having to navigate the GUI for all your setting changes.

The Netsh tool once mastered can make life much easier for you and your administration of systems on your network or at home. In this article we will also look at how to create files to simplify changes further.

Link: http://www.WindowsNetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Netsh-Part1.html

You will truly appreciate this tool. Changing network settings is just one of the functionality. You could also work with anything from IPSec to Windows Firewall (Win. Xp SP2)

/Gill