MPECS Inc. Blog

Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate On the Way Down!

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Thu, 31 May 2012 20:11:00 +0000

The Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate is available for download here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx

LiveID sign-in is required.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

LSI SAS6160 Switch Compatibility List

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Thu, 31 May 2012 19:33:00 +0000

We are in the process of setting up a number of Intel Server System SR1695GPRX2AC units along with our soon to be two Intel Server System R2208GZ4GC units to one Promise VTrak E610sD RAID subsystem.

Out of the box we are dealing with 3Gbit/Second SAS connections with the VTrak so we are not able to use the more advanced features the SAS Switch offers.

The LSI SAS6160 Switch compatibility list can be found here:

LSI SAS6160 Switch Hardware Compatibility List (PDF)

If the link is broken then the LSI SAS6160 product page is here.

Specifically we are looking for a replacement for the Promise VTrak that will give us access to SAS 6Gbit/Second and the advanced features offered by the SAS Switch.

Now, note that the Promise VTrak E610sD requires firmware 3.36.00. Our current unit is at 3.34.00. So, we are on our way to updating the firmware in the Promise before we can draw any conclusions as far as setting things up.

As far as a replacement for the Promise the first in the above list is actually a NetApp appliance. We will be looking into their products. We have already been in conversations with IBM over their DS3524 dual controller SAS unit so we shall see where that goes.

For now, we are on the road to bringing a very flexible, high performance, and highly redundant hardware solution online to deliver Hyper-V Failover Clusters as well as a Private Cloud solution.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Current Intel Integrated RAID Module Hardware User’s Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Wed, 30 May 2012 19:20:00 +0000

The direct link to PDF documentation on the Intel Integrated RAID Modules can be found here:

Note that the above links are good as of this writing.

A relatively full list of compatible products can be found on the Intel Ark site:

Intel Server System R2208GZ4GC Compatible Products List

So, between the Technical Product Specifications, the Ark site, and the Server Configurator we get a pretty good picture on what components we can deploy with our Intel Server Systems.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Today’s Cloud Message

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Tue, 29 May 2012 16:23:00 +0000

We thought this would be an appropriate way to start off the day, though we are well into it:

Rolling Stones–Get Off of My Cloud

If the message to SMB IT providers has not come clear yet it should.

Private Cloud initiatives seem to all have a solution set around their definitions that require a number of products on top of the virtualization stack whatever that may be.

The in-house solution set based on SBS 2011 Standard is a solid product. Fortunately we have this product in place with most of our clients giving us some room to see where the Microsoft SMB strategy will be taking us over the next two or three years.

Whatever that strategy is we will always be able to figure out a way to provide value for our clients in our delivered products and services.

The business and revenue model may change in the next few years, but we are quite certain we will still be in business and still providing great value for our clients.

In the end, we are just on the cusp of all of the changes that have been in the works for the last number of years at most of our vendors.

It is going to be an interesting couple or three years folks! :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

We Remember!

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Mon, 28 May 2012 17:04:00 +0000

My father in the Canadian Navy and my Grandfather during WWII as a supply truck driver in Europe and Africa.

We remember the ones that server today to protect our freedoms.

We remember those that paid the ultimate sacrifice.

We have what we have today because of them.

Lest we forget . . .

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Thoughts on the Intel Server System R2208GZ4GC Are Excellent So Far

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Fri, 25 May 2012 22:43:00 +0000

As we go through setting up the Intel Server System R2208GZ4GC we are discovering that there are a lot of features in this server system that we appreciate.

Some are cluster specific:

Power Restore Delay

We now have a boot delay option in the BIOS. This option is absolutely critical for servers that are configured in a cluster with shared storage.

In a full power out situation the networking and centralized storage systems need to be online prior to the Hyper-V Failover Cluster nodes coming online. Otherwise there can be all sorts of issues.

Static Boot Order

We can now save the default boot order out of the box. So, when this box gets connected to a Promise VTrak E610sD RAID Subsystem with LUNs configured the 120GB Intel 320 Series SSDs in RAID 1 should still boot after a reboot with no interference.

This has yet to be tested, but we are confident that the feature will work as advertised.

Reset Static Boot Order

Important Software RAID Consideration

When using the Intel Chipset RAID feature for software driver based RAID on _any_ Intel Server Board _always_ use the Intel ESRT2 (LSI*) Mode.

The other option is the consumer chipset version of Intel’s Software RAID stack.

The major catch is that the LSI version can have an Intel or LSI RoC Hardware RAID controller plugged into the server board or PCI-E slot at a later time and have the ESRT2 (LSI*) based RAID set imported with no fuss.

This is not possible with the Intel chipset version.

So far so good. This Intel Server System is the configuration we have been asking for in the Channel for _years_ now to compete with HP, IBM, Dell, and others.

Pound for pound we will now be able to compete apples to apples with the Tier 1 vendors. And, with Intel’s available next business day on-site warranty support we can reach most major markets in Canada and Lower 48.

The Intel Server System R2208GZ4GC 2U will be our primary starting point for any 2 processor Hyper-V Failover Cluster Nodes going forward. It is an awesome product!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel Document: Basic Instructions for Using EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface)

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Fri, 25 May 2012 21:54:00 +0000

We use EFI to update the BIOS and other firmware components on Intel Server Systems and Intel Server Boards.

To work with the EFI shell we sometimes need to plug in a USB flash drive or run other commands that are not so obvious.

Intel: Basic Instructions for Using EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) for Server Configuration on Intel Server Boards and Intel Server Systems. (Link to PDF document)

The mount command:

map –r [Enter]

Then to choose the flash drive:

fs0: [Enter]

Off we go to run our updates whether in the root of the flash drive or in a subfolder.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel Xeon E5-2650 Is Pretty Large

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Fri, 25 May 2012 20:31:00 +0000

We are setting up the Intel Server System R2208GZ4GC 2U unit with its processors, RAID, storage, and SAS components.

The CPU below the E5-2650 is a Cyrix by IBM. Vintage is around the Pentium II 300 time frame which was mid nineteen nineties.

And, as a comparison with a socket 775 CPU which is fairly consistent size wise through to today’s Intel Second Generation Core processors.

Moore’s law is alive and well. :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Exchange 2010 SP1 ExFolders Error: Active Directory User Wasn’t Found

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:19:00 +0000

We needed to recover an item deleted on an SBS 2011 server with Exchange 2010 SP1.

When we opened ExFolders for Exchange SP1 we ended up with an error:

An error occurred while trying to establish a connection to the Exchange server.

Exception: The Active Directory user was not found.

A search for the error turned up the following:

TechNet Forums: EXFolders : Exception: The Active directory user wasn'f (sic) found.

The fix was to delete the CN=Servers container using ADSIEdit.msc:

First we closed ExFolders then performed the above edit.

We then opened ExFolders and were then able to recover the deleted item the user had accidentally removed in Outlook.

Note that this SBS 2011 was a migration from SBS 2003 R2.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

How to run ISInteg on SBS 2008 or Exchange 2007 Store

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Sat, 19 May 2012 22:57:00 +0000

We ran into a bit of a syntax problem trying to get the ISInteg utility to run on the Windows Server 2008 server hosing Exchange 2007 SP3.

The proper syntax to get the command to work is as follows:

isinteg –s SERVERNAME –test ALLTESTS –fix –t “X:\TempFileDestination.edb”

This was the last step before we mounted the database and were greeted with content in every folder within each user’s mailbox.

Just goes to show: Make sure the UPS attached to the server is tested for battery life and that the software that is supposed to shut the server down gracefully is receiving correct signals from the UPS!

Have an awesome long weekend! :)

Hat Tip: emalf-pc blog: Running ISINTEG on Microsoft Exchange 2007

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Exchange EseUtil /D Defragment Temp File Location

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Sat, 19 May 2012 21:24:00 +0000

In the process of working on this Exchange 2007 database recovery we ran the eseutil /d defragment on one of the recovered databases.

The notes for the utility state that it should create the temp database in the same location as the database being worked on. Exchange and its databases were installed on a dedicated E:\ partition.

In this case it did not and we needed to run the following option:

eseutil /d “E:\Exchange\Mailbox\First Storage Group\Mailbox Database.edb” /t “E:\TempDefrag.edb”

Note the quotes around the path.

We ended up needing to figure out where eseutil dropped the temp database that filled up the system partition during the first run through.

A bit of tweaking in Search and we found it:

Both the RAW and EDB files were found in System32 under the %windir%. Note the size of the temp database at 23GB.

We removed the two temp files and re-ran the eseutil defragment process using the temporary file location designation and all was good.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

SBS 2008: CAPI2 Event ID 11: Failed extract of third-party root list from auto update cab at . . . /authrootstl.cab

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:28:00 +0000

We have a few of these showing up:

Event Properties – Event 11, CAPI2

Failed extract of third-party root list from auto update cab at: <http://www.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3/static/trustedr/en/authrootstl.cab> with error: A required certificate is not within its validity period when verifying against the current system clock or the timestamp in the signed file.

Source: CAPI2
Event ID: 11

The fix is found in the following KB:

Microsoft KB 2328240: Event ID 4107 or Event ID 11 is logged in the Application log in Windows and in Windows Server

From an elevated command prompt we run:

certutil –urlcache * delete

We then need to clean out a series of folders.

LocalService:
%windir%\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache\Content
%windir%\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache\MetaData
NetworkService:
%windir%\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache\Content
%windir%\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache\MetaData
LocalSystem:
%windir%\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache\Content
%windir%\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\LocalLow\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache\MetaData

Once done the CAPI2 errors should be gone.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Lotus Notes Means No HTML ?!?

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:57:00 +0000

Boy, have we got Lotus Domino stories to tell! ;)

We were in the process of tweaking our Financial Times Daily Briefings subscriptions when:

Text only (best for BlackBerry, other Smartphones, and Lotus Notes)

An e-mail client that does not support HTML formatted e-mail is so 1990s! And early in that decade to boot.

We actually hardened Outlook to use Text Only via GPO a number of years ago when scripting became a problem behind the HTML e-mail pages and Outlook 2000/XP/2003 did not have any facility built in to block them.

Once the security measures were better in Outlook 2007/2010 we left those policies behind.

Lotus Notes users, we have an _awesome_ Hosted Exchange product we would love to talk to you about!

It even _includes_ an Outlook 2010 license!

We do in-house highly available mail solutions too! :)

Let’s talk.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

It’s My “Private Cloud” . . . No, it’s MY “Private Cloud” ?!?

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:36:00 +0000

It was inevitable.

Bing Search: Microsoft Virtualization is not “Private Cloud”

In our running about at 115% over the last few months (um, maybe years?) an article passed by that indicated Microsoft’s position on “Private Cloud” and what that “truly” is.

Windows Technologies Blog: Cloud Computing Goes Far Beyond Virtualization (Virtualization vs. Private Cloud, Part 1)

Unlike the running shoe company that has a moniker that promotes being active or a no longer Canadian beer company that promotes being Canadian and the trademark associated with those particular companies Microsoft has not taken the step to trade mark “Private Cloud” from what we can see.

Part 2 of the above article:

Windows Technologies Blog: A Private Cloud Delivers IT as a Service (Virtualization vs. Private Cloud, Part 2)

From Part 2 we find:

We see that Microsoft’s position is that virtualization of resources provides the platform upon which the “Private Cloud” is based but it is _not_ the “Private Cloud” itself.

Ultimately, what we are seeing is a marketing position to present a Microsoft suite of products to provide the ultimate “true” “Private Cloud” experience whether that Cloud is in-house or hosted elsewhere either in the client’s own DC resources or a third party’s DC (Data Centre).

What does “Private Cloud” really mean for SMB?

Realistically, for those of us at the SMB level, and maybe even the smaller side SMEs, a Private Cloud as Microsoft defines it is way beyond what is needed and/or required for a client business to generate revenue efficiently using the IT tools at their disposal.

The Cloud, or an in-house IT Solution for that matter, does make a company _with properly trained users_ a lot more agile and efficient than they were before they dropped the Quill & Papyrus.

However, the Cloud does _not_ make a significant business process/efficiency impact on a SMB/SME company that had a properly implemented and maintained in-house IT Solution with their users being trained up on its use.

Cloud Marketing Folks are promoting that a business that moves from in-house to Cloud will see a better bottom line. That, however, has yet to be proven over time plus there are a lot of additional variables that are not accounted for in this type of marketing fluff.

Newer businesses will always be on the lookout for ways to reduce their initial outlay of cash. Cash flow is King! It used to be leasing for that first in-house IT Solution. Now, that solution is more than likely to be Cloud based.

Having the Cloud as an option is certainly a good thing as the smaller company will then be less likely to encounter a consultant that deploys a poor implementation of hardware and software technologies with Microsoft and others facing the blame. No more black eye for Microsoft and others from the flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants self-proclaimed expert.

However, the more savvy business owner that has been around the block a number of times with their business will be a lot more mindful of the in-house versus out-house (pun intended) discussion and the value either or a blend of both will have for their business.

There will be no substitute for a properly designed and deployed in-house (possibly with Cloud components) IT Solution that is tailored to the business owner’s company needs.

The Cloud model is a one size fits all solution that cannot be tailored to a business’s specific needs. That is one of the main reasons that we need to be very picky about the Cloud vendors we choose to partner with.

In this case OWN’s hosted Exchange/SharePoint solution (in our case) beats Microsoft’s online solution hands down. We get to be the face behind the service and that counts for a lot despite the all of the contrary marketing fluff.

Conclusion

We are certainly mindful of all of the change going on about us and trying to keep our heads above the Clouds so to speak, we are still investing a lot of time, energy, and equipment into some of the market niches that we see as being coming about as a result of all of the Cloud marketing fluff!

We will continue to do what is in the best interests of our client’s businesses and their business processes to make sure that their IT does what it is supposed to do: Give them the tools they need to make money! It does not matter whether those tools are in-house, Cloud based, or a blend of both.

Fellow MVP Tim Barrett works his way through some of the Microsoft Cloud marketing fluff here:

NoGeekLeftBehind.com: I Am The 42%

Some further thoughts on SMB and the Cloud:

MPECS Inc. Blog: Another Nail In the In-House SMB IT Solution’s Coffin? The Death of the SBSC

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

A Couple of Virtualization Scenarios for a 150 Seat Client

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:22:00 +0000

The following is our response on the Yahoo SBS2K list to a question about whether to virtualize Exchange or not.

For a client size of 150 users we would look at deploying a 2 node Hyper-V Failover Cluster to give some resilience to the Exchange environment.

Dual Xeon E5-2640+, 96GB/Node, 120GB Intel 320 SSD RAID 1 for host OS, Intel R1208GZ 2P 1U server system, dual RS25GB008 SAS HBA for DAS connection/Node, Quad Port i350 Gigabit NIC (comes with we add another), and a few other goodies.
Promise VTrak E610sD or HP P2000MSA RAID Subsystems with dual SAS controllers loaded up with 15K SAS or 10K SAS depending on I/O needs. JBODs attached for nearline running 7200RPM SAS.

One suggested VM deployment scenario:

VM 1: DC duties and file services
VM 2: Exchange 2010
VM 3: SQL/Management
VM 4: RDS
VM 5: VDI/VDA

The servers above would be fully licensed with two Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Open Licenses that give 1+4 virtualization rights. This would be important for those times when the nodes themselves would need to be updated and thus the VMs moved from node to node.

Additional licenses would be required for Exchange, SQL, RDS, and other components. Enterprise CAL would cover much of it except SQL.

Another option would be to virtualize the four VMs on one box.

In that case two systems would need to be addressed:

RAM for VMs is paramount.
I/O for VMs along with data volume.
A high performance hardware RAID solution with flash cache or battery backup. PCI-E Gen 2 at 8x or better.

15K SAS or enterprise grade SSDs would be the request here.
24x 2.5" on board hot swap.

Secondary I/O and/or Nearline Storage:

Dual SAS HBAs
SAS based DAS like VTrak E610sD or HP P2000MSA dual SAS Controllers.
Load up with 7200RPM SAS 1TB or 2TB for nearline storage.

The above two options would be along the lines of what we would propose.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows and Windows Server Excel Spreadsheets

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:45:00 +0000

Microsoft downloads:

Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows and Windows Server

Note the new spreadsheet for Windows Server 2012 (8).

The spreadsheets support Pivot Tables so it is fairly straightforward to find a specific or group of settings. The Excel Find feature allows for a quick search of the content.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

LSI SAS6160 Switch First Look

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:33:00 +0000

We are looking to scale out our two node Hyper-V failover cluster configuration beyond the two redundant SAS connections per controller on the Promise VTrak E610sD RAID Subsystem.

So, we brought in a couple LSI 6Gbit/Second SAS switches.

LSI SAS6160 Switch Product Page

We see the possibility of going beyond the maximum six nodes in the Intel Modular Server using Intel R1208GZ Server Systems (previous blog post) with dual Intel RS25GB008 SAS Host Bus Adapters.

It will be interesting to see when we connect all four external SAS connectors on the two RS25GB008 HBAs for a total of four quad port SAS connections running at 6Gbit/Second at each port what kind of throughput, bandwidth, and IOPs we will see.

We have the switch out of the box, plugged in, and powered up. We changed a Windows 7 VM’s IP address to 192.168.1.101 so that we would be able to connect to the switch at its default static IP of 192.168.1.100.

Note that Java is required to connect to the management console.

The default username and password:

Username: admin
Password: admin
Default IP: 192.168.1.100

Once logged in we are greeted with the SAS Domain Manager GUI:

From there we went into the Operations tab so we could configure networking for management:

Now, the next step in the process is to get the firmware updated if need be.

Out of the box this particular switch has 200.10 which has the publishing date of August 1, 2011.

So, in this case it looks as though we need to run through the upgrade process as indicated in the above KB article twice to get to the most recent version. The KB is very specific about the process too!

Note that the dates must be goofy on the downloads because the April 11th download is Phase 12 with a later version number than the firmware the switch came with.

Once we have run through the firmware updates we will be plugging in the four Intel Server System SR1695GPRX2AC servers with dual 3Gbit/Second SAS connections each into the two switches we have for a fully redundant configuration.

We will start with one Promise VTrak E610sD RAID Subsystem for destination storage. We will add a second E610sD once we have worked our way through the first few rounds of configuration and testing.

More to come . . .

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Security Video: TEDx – Avi Rubin – All Your Devices Can Be Hacked

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:24:00 +0000

This video is absolutely jaw dropping.

All Your Devices Are Belong To Us

Folks that develop systems, such as on board computer networks in vehicles or medical systems, that allow access via wire or wireless need to rethink the way those systems are made.

Fellow MVP Dana Epp also has some great security related videos that include simple step-by-step instructions on how to get past system security.

It’s getting to the point where the only “secure” way to live is to build a log cabin somewhere with a faraday cage and no inbound/outbound connections whatsoever. Note that there needs to be tree cover to ~~deep~~ keep the eyes in the sky out too.

Getting to know the risks is a part of what we do.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

SBS 2011 Setup Guide and SBS 2003 to SBS 2011 Migration Guide QR Codes

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:55:00 +0000

There are so many times where we need to answer a quick question that is found or linked to in our SBS 2011 Setup and Migration Guides.

Mobile is sometimes the only way to get what we need since we prefer not to browse from the server, our laptop may not be readily available, or any other number of Murphy type situations that interfere with quick access.

The following QR Codes will make mobile access that much quicker:

SBS 2011 Setup Guide

SBS 2003 to SBS 2011 Migration Guide

Thanks again to everyone that has commented or commended us on our guides!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Automatic Script to Recreate the SEPM SEM5.LOG to Free Up Disk Space

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:19:00 +0000

We are finding that the server where the Symantec Endpoint Protection management console resides on gets its disk filled up with the SEM5.LOG over time. This is with the most recent edition that was apparently supposed to fix this problem.

Since we have Small Business Edition we are not able to trim that log using the SEP Console.

So, we set up the following script in a BAT file that we will set to run every week or day depending on log growth rate to keep that log size in check:

REM Change the extension to .BAT please!
REM Created by Philip Elder of MPECS Inc. http://blog.mpecsinc.ca
net stop SQLANYs_sem5
net stop semsrv
CD "C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\db\"
attrib -r sem5.log
del sem5.log
CD "C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\ASA\win32"
dbsrv11 -f "C:\Program Files (x86)\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\db\sem5.db"
net start SQLANYs_sem5
net start semsrv

A copy of the batch file resides in a text file here:

Symantec Endpoint Protection Database Log Reset BAT (Direct link to the TXT file so right click and Save As).

Change the TXT extension to BAT.
Right click and Run As Admin to run manually.
Set credentials and run with the highest privileges in Task Manager
Add a “Pause” underneath everything for a version of the BAT on the desktop to be used to run the script manually. Results then stay in the CMD window until we hit a key.

The BAT file nested in the Task Manager:

The log file before the script runs:

Note that the above log file was a just deleted and recreated one used in our testing.

The log file comes back in weighing in at a paltry 8KB!

We keep a copy of the file in the admin’s Downloads folder that is used to run the scheduled task with all PAUSE commands removed. We keep a copy of the file on the desktop that has PAUSE commands in it that we use to test the script and/or run it manually when we are logged into the server.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Another Nail In the In-House SMB IT Solution’s Coffin? The Death of the SBSC

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Wed, 02 May 2012 22:58:00 +0000

Eric Ligman’s announcement today:

Microsoft SMS&P Partner Community Blog: Some additional information, a Q&A, on the Microsoft Partner Network Small Business Competency

Specifically:

Question: Right now you have the Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC). What does the Small Business competency mean for SBSC now and moving forward?

Answer: The current Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) program will continue to exist and support SBSC partners for a 12 month grace period after the Small Business competency launch. During this grace period, both the Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) and the Small Business competency will reside side-by-side, and SBSC partners will continue to benefit from the SBSC program and branding. After the grace period, the Small Business Specialist Community will transform into a Microsoft Partner Network partner-to-partner community. There will be no requirements to join the community and the current SBSC benefits will go away as well. In other words, the Small Business competency will be the Microsoft Partner Network offering for Small Business starting 12 months after its launch.

The following two cartoons were created by Tim Barrett and speak largely to our sentiments behind the big Cloud push by Microsoft and others:

Have U Rebooted Yet – 055 – Death of SBSC

And:

Have U Rebooted Yet – 029 – Cloud Stampede

The Small Business Silver Competency requirement:

Exam Credentials:

1 MCP must pass 2 exams:

Required: 70-323 - Administering Office 365
And another exam from:

70-321 - Deploying Office 365
70-680 - TS: Windows 7, Configuring
70-169 - TS: Windows Small Business Server 2011, Configuring

Business Assessments:

Sign and complete: MOSPA (Microsoft Online Services Provider Agreement)+ Assessment

Training
Assessment

1 person must complete Licensing assessment
1 person must complete Business focused small business assessment

Evidence:

Must have 3 submitted customer references

Fees:

$1,850 (based on country)

That is from here:

Microsoft SMS&P Partner Community Blog: What are the requirements to earn the Microsoft Partner Network Small Business Competency?

The SBSC

The Small Business Specialist designation required the sweat of the brow and some serious application of real experience with a product, Small Business Server, and then an online competency test that may or may not have asked questions that were relevant to the environment we work in: SMB.

The SBSC gave us the ability to establish our company as a legitimate player. It gave us the ability to state very clearly, with the backing of Microsoft, that our company had a good handle on the SMB IT Solutions we were going to suggest and/or deploy.

The SBSC stood out very distinctly from the other Microsoft Partner Competencies as a unique offering specifically for SMB.

No longer. In a year or so the SBSC Program and Logo will be retired as it is being replaced by the Microsoft Partner Network Small Business Competency.

Office 365

We have absolutely no inclination to learn Office 365 Administration to the point where we would pass an exam. Though with what we have done with the online offering so far we may get by. But why? Where is the benefit to our clients and to us?

We Choose OWN For Hosted Solutions

Own Web Now is our partner of choice for hosted Exchange and SharePoint. We have a great team of folks to deal with that we know on a first name basis. And, Vlad is an all around astute business man that operates with a level of integrity that is difficult to find in today’s business environment.

Marketing Fog Feeds The Cloud

A quote:

There are over 148 million SMB businesses worldwide needing relevant technology solutions, out of which approximately 50% are Small Business organizations - this areas is a huge opportunity for our Microsoft partners to tap into as trusted advisors and quality technology providers to this customer base.

From:

How you can earn the MPN Small Business Competency Julie Bennani, General Manager, Microsoft Partner Network

Another quote:

There are 148 million small business customers around the world. According to IDC, two thirds of small businesses were expecting to use Software as a Service by mid-2011. This represents a $ 94B opportunity for Microsoft partners. A big number, yes, but what does a small business competency have to do with it?

From:

Why you should care about the Small Business competency: Jon Roskill, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group

With all due respect to the authors of the above two articles and to Eric Ligman whom we have great respect for we have heard this all before.

The Same Message Over And Over And Over And Over Again

Perhaps it is because the various product and marketing teams have no continuity with the histories of their teams that we keep getting the same messages over and over again.

We received the same marketing flog for the release of Small Business Server 2003 (which was one of the best most anticipated SBS versions EVER), then for SBS 2003 R2, then for SBS 2008, then for SBS 2011, and now for Office 365 and the Cloud.

We were, and are, encouraged to seek out that great untapped number of small businesses that could use a small business server solution for their company. This was realistic because the client would win (in the case of an IT Solution put together by a competent consultant), Microsoft would win with licensing sales, and the consultant and their company would win. Win-Win-Win. This was a good thing.

Now, we are encouraged to seek out those great number of small businesses that could use a Cloud solution and _hand them over to Microsoft_ with but a pittance for our efforts.

Is there any wonder why there has been a fairly consistent and strong push-back by the small IT Shops against all of the Cloud market flog?

Silver Small Business Competency Still Needed

As we have mentioned before, the last economic downturn, that is still ongoing, with its inherent risks on this continent and with our neighbours across the Pond did a great job of weeding out a lot of the fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants type consultants that cobbled together solutions that may or may not have worked and always gave Microsoft and other vendors a black eye when they didn’t.

The Small Business Specialist Community certification went a long way to differentiate between the legitimate consultants and the seat flyers. The Silver Small Business Competency may also do so but at a great additional cost in time and money.

In the end, the IT Shop that needs to differentiate themselves from the other shops should bite the bullet and gain the Silver Competency. It will be one more cost of doing business to keep one’s status as a legitimate player in the IT Solutions world.

As for us, we may hold our nose and dive into the Administering O365 exam just to get by it. But, that, and the $1,850 fee will wait until our SBSC status has officially been laid in the grave and covered ...

Or sitting on a beach half buried by the ages!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Confirmed: Intel Server System R1208GZ Integration For Our 2 Node Hyper-V Failover Cluster Is A Go Plus RemoteFX Compatibility!

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:36:00 +0000

We mentioned that we were looking at the new Intel Xeon E5-2600 series 1U and 2U server systems.

MPECS Inc. Blog: New Intel Server System R1208GZ Integration Notes for 2 Node Cluster Deployment

We now have it on good authority that an external LSI based SAS connector is available in the Intel RAID Controller RS25GB008:

Not only that we have the nVidia Tesla C2070 series and the PNY nVidia Quadro 6000 series graphics processors showing as being compatible with this particular server system.

We would be utilizing a 2U configuration if we were going to run with RemoteFX capabilities for our client’s VDI needs though. These boards are quite large so won’t fit in t 1U chassis depending on the add-on components are installed on the server board.

Since these particular adapters show up on the R1208GZ series 1U we checked to see if the R2208GZ series 2U configuration has them:

They do indeed.

Now to see if we can gain access to either of the graphics products to run some tests on our own setups! They are quite expensive. :)

We are one step closer to Private Cloud and RemoteFX based VDI!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Production Hyper-V Failover Cluster on an Intel Modular Server Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:08:00 +0000

The following are some shots of one of the Intel Modular Server based Hyper-V Failover Clusters that we have deployed.

This particular three node Hyper-V Failover Cluster is set up with 14x 146GB 15K Seagate SAS drives configured in three Storage Groups in the built-in IMS SAN. One for the Hyper-V OSs, one for VM OS partitions, and another for a high I/O SQL database setup.

The IMS has both SAS Storage Controllers and both Ethernet Switch Modules installed. Each Compute Module has a mezzanine card installed to bring the total Gigabit NIC connections to four.

The Promise VTrak E310sD was added about a year later to open storage up for the SBS 2008 VM and also add Windows Desktop OS based VMs for a VDI deployment.

There are two Trip-Lite Rack Mount enclosures in this deploy. Unfortunately APC did not have a 24U unit available when this deployment was done so we had to run with them. APC is the vendor of choice for our rack enclosure and UPS needs.

The IMS, Intel Server System SR1630HGP 1U 1P that provides standalone DC services, the Promise VTrak, and the backup destination drives are housed in one.

The second APC Rack Mount enclosure has all of the APC UPS components:

A 6000KV head unit with four additional 192V battery packs give the cluster about 8-10 hours of run time. Near the top of the stack is the 208V to 120V transformer. A network management card is installed in the UPS head unit for total power control and monitoring.

A separate set of SUA1500RM2U APC UPS units are used for the networking, 1U DC, and the backup destination drives to give us some power control granularity.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Video: Crack the Cred: Get into a Windows System/DC when the Domain Admin Password is Unknown/Lost/Changed

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:05:00 +0000

Fellow MVP Dana Epp goes through the steps to change the domain admin’s password on a DC where that password is not known or lost in episode 105 of Crack the Cred.

Scorpion Software: Crack the Cred

If there is a newer episode on the site then hover over the Playlist to get to episode 105.

It is very easy to do.

This is five minutes of any IT administrator’s life that is well spent. Period.

As Dana notes, the only way to protect that DC is by having the system partitions encrypted by BitLocker. Physical security for that DC is a close second.

We explain this situation to all of our clients and potential clients as a part of our IT Solutions Vision. Securing their systems is always a part of the conversation especially since many folks have those servers running in closets that are shared with anything from copiers to stationary!

Awesome job Dana!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

New Intel Server System R1208GZ Integration Notes for 2 Node Cluster Deployment

noreply@blogger.com (Philip Elder SBS MVP) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:52:00 +0000

We are in the process of working on some new additions to our 2 node Hyper-V Cluster setups based on the new Intel E5-2600 Xeon Processor series.

The one we are focused in on at the moment is the Intel Server System R1208GZ. It is a dual CPU server in a 1U form factor.

Intel Server System R1200GZ Family Product Page

This particular 1U Server System gives us two PCI-E full height slots thus allowing us to install two LSI SAS Host Bus Adapters for our redundant storage connections. We are in the process to find out which LSI SAS HBAs have been given the green light for use in this Intel Server System.

Since it is so new the Tested Hardware and Operating System List is a bit shy on third party components at this time.

It is important to note that the bus connection for the second PCI Riser slot is directly connected to CPU 2. Thus it will only function if a second CPU is present!

The same is true for the DIMM slots associated with CPU 2. DIMMs can only be accessed in the slots designated for CPU 2 if there is a CPU present in that socket!

We have four Intel i350 Gigabit Ethernet NICs out of the box with the ability to add in a Quad port 1Gbit I/O Module based on Intel Ethernet Controller i350 if there was a need. 10Gbit Ethernet and other connectivity options are also available.

We would be adding the Intel Remote Management Module 4 LITE plus the dedicated NIC option for the RMM to give us total out-of-band access to the server’s baseboard management controller (BMC) as well as KVM over IP.

A pair of 120GB Intel 320 Series SSDs set up in a RAID 1 array would round out the configuration.

By default we will always be installing two Intel Xeon Processors along with a minimum of 48GB (3x 8GB Kingston Intel Certified ECC) of RAM at 1333MHz for the mid-level Xeons and 1600MHz for the top tier CPUs.

Some further reading on the new server systems (pages with PDF download links):

Intel Server System R1000GZ/GL Family Technical Product Specifications
Intel Server System R1000GZ/GL & R2000GZ/GL Family Spares/Accessories List and Configuration Guide

Every Intel based option available for this product family is in this list. If an Intel part number isn’t in there it isn’t supported!

Drivers and Product Downloads for the R1000GZ/GL and R2000GZ/GL Family

Note that there are already firmware updates available for the Server Board.

This new line looks to be a promising 1U form factor addition for our Hyper-V Cluster configuration offerings.

We just need to wait and see what happens with LSI compatibility.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer