The Highlander Principle

Windows 7 DirectAccess internal network may become inaccessible

Mark Preston — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 09:21:52 +0000

Sometimes we can be guilty of making assumptions. We can enable a remote access technology without much concern for impacting operations on the internal network right? Wrong!

Because DirectAccess modifies the behaviour of the Windows7 machine you need to make absolutely certain all the ducks are in a line or you risk internally connected users being denied [...]

Windows 7 upgrade and replacement from XP and Vista

Mark Preston — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:41:41 +0000

It looks like 2010 could be the year most organisations kick start a desktop refresh. I suspect many held off on upgrading to Vista so for many it’s a Windows XP to Windows 7 upgrade path. I wanted to revisit some of the old challenges in these projects and look at some of the new [...]

Do we really need an IT Risk Control Department?

Mark Preston — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:31:07 +0000

In my experiences the difference between companies that have an effective risk control function and those that don’t is night and day. Businesses take risks, good businesses take measured risks. The same approach applies to the IT department.

A good risk controller needs to have the confidence of the business combined with complete respect from the [...]

Windows 2008 DirectAccess and Active Directory: The Contradiction Burger

Mark Preston — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:59:04 +0000

According to my good friend Martin Williams there is a take away restaurant in the North West where you can get a Vegetarian burger topped with Bacon and Cheese. It’s called the contradiction burger.

I think the new DirectAccess feature in Windows 2008 R2 is brilliant, however, the early documentation is a little short in terms [...]

Troubleshooting certificates with a focus on Windows 2008 R2 DirectAccess

Mark Preston — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:53:37 +0000

Sometimes application troubleshooting when it comes to digital certificates can lead you to doing an awful lot of reading. In a nutshell there are four things you need to have clear in your mind.

Does the certificate need to be trusted outside of your organisation? Does the certificate have a revocation list that needs to be checked [...]

DirectAccess in Windows 2008 R2 with Windows 7

Mark Preston — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:21:31 +0000

I remember a few years ago Microsoft created linkage between product releases (to generate cumulative sales?). I believe the trio were Exchange, Vista and Office. While the cumulative features had merit I don’t think there was a strong enough business driver.

So now we have a similar linkage between Windows 2008 and Windows 7. This time [...]

DataCenter Buzzword Bingo

Mark Preston — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:32:23 +0000

I recently finished an exercise defining the technical standards for one of Europe’s largest managed service providers. As part of the exercise I gathered the key capabilities across the various infrastructure silos across the Data-centre.

I found that it was a trawl to separate the facts from the fiction in the vendor marketing. I have gathered [...]

How to establish a TOGAF9 Enterprise Architecture Practice – Phase A

Mark Preston — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:15:31 +0000

TOGAF has a method called the ADM (Architectural Development Method), the good news is that the same method applies to defining any Architecture (including setting up the Architecture Practice itself).

The ADM breaks down into phases that are run iteratively (not always in a set sequence). So lets get started with Phase A:

Phase A – Setting [...]

How to establish a TOGAF9 Enterprise Architecture Practice – Phase B

Mark Preston — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:15:07 +0000

TOGAF breaks down Architecture into the following pillars:

Business Architecture Application and Data Architecture Technology Architecture

Phase B on our quest to establish an EA practice focuses on Business Architecture:

Terminology: Define a set of standards so that everyone is talking consistent language (formal term here is Ontology) Process: The ADM (architectural development method) is open to be tuned to suit [...]

How to establish a TOGAF9 Enterprise Architecture Practice – Phase C

Mark Preston — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:14:48 +0000

TOGAF uses a term “Enterprise Continuum” and I wish they would think of a different phrase as it throws me each time. It’s important we know exactly what it is as it’s the key deliverable for Phase C.

It relates to three elements:

Architecture Continuum Solutions Continuum Architecture Repository

Consider the repository as a folder full of documents, the usual [...]