IT idiots (mp4/iPod)

Episode 68: Windows 2008 Network Access Protection

nicky@itidiots.com — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:51:07 +0100

Network Access Protection can deny or limit your access to the network based upon the health of your system. Is there a virus checker installed? Is the firewall up? If not prepared to be restricted or automatically remediated!. In this episode we take our first look at the new Windows 2008 NAP features, specifically DHCP enforcement. A little shoddy, but hey it gets the message across I recon.

Episode 67: System Center Configuration Manager - App Deployment

nicky@itidiots.com — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:29:33 -0600

This week we turn our attention to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007. in particular its software distribution features. After a gentle introduction to SCCM we attempt to deploy Quicktime player across the ITidiots network. Okay so we got a typo in the command line, but other than that I reckon we do a reasonable job of showing you the deployment mechanism and also troubleshooting techniques by viewing status messages and log files with SCCM Trace.

Episode 66: Windows Application Deployment

nicky@itidiots.com — Thu, 22 May 2008 21:44:23 +0100

Maintaining a set of standard base applications across your network makes your life so much easier. Whatever the deployment method, System Center, LanDesk or just plain old group policies one of the main things you will need to do is achieve a silent install or at least one that requires no user intervention. In this episode we talk about Windows Installer (MSI) packages and introduce Orca, a tool you can use to customise your installation.

Episode 65: Windows 2008 - Hyper-V

nicky@itidiots.com — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:29:31 +0100

Hyper-V is a key feature of Windows Server 2008. Virtual machines now communicate through a thin layer of software called the hypervisor, instead of sitting on top of a full operating systems, as with Virtual Server. Its pretty good, and we get some amazing results from our Dell £99 server, oh yeah and of course there is plenty of irrelevant banter.

Episode 64: The Asus EEE PC running Windows XP

nicky@itidiots.com — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:48:50 +0000

Previously we showed the Asus EEE PC, in pretty much an out of the box configuration running Linux. Now Nick, or more specifically his Dad, has got Windows XP running on it, and it continues to amaze us. Despite what you might think it runs rather well, check it out......

Episode 63: Exchange 2007 SP1 High Availability

nicky@itidiots.com — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:46:05 +0000

This week we are back to Exchange 2007. We discuss the availability options across all the roles but not after a bit of a banter so be warned! Anyway when we get back to it we demonstrate SP1’s new mailbox role feature, continuous cluster replication a great way to maintain an offsite replica of your mailbox stores.

Episode 62: Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services

nicky@itidiots.com — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:18:20 +0000

We continue to look at Windows Server 2008, this time at some of the new features found in Terminal Services. RemoteApp allows an application running on the terminal server to seamlessly integrate with the users desktop (a bit like Citrix). As well as that, we can now easily deploy the RemoteApp shortcuts to the desktop via an .rdp file, an msi file (for deployment via a group policy) or users could simply click on the application from a webpage to start the execution. Just watch and all will become clear....

Episode 61: Windows 2008 Server Core

nicky@itidiots.com — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 23:44:42 +0000

Previously we upgraded our Windows 2003 domain to Windows 2008 and now we add a Windows 2008 core server. Windows 2008 server core is basically a stripped down version of Windows Server 2008, no GUI, no tools, not even solitaire! Core servers can host a number of key services, e.g. DNS, Active Directory or DHCP and when adding these roles only the required files and services are added. Minimal footprint, minimal attack surface, and minimal patching. This 2008 product is looking good!

Episode 60: The Asus Eee PC

nicky@itidiots.com — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:59:30 +0000

In this episode we get to play with Nicks’ new toy, the Asus Eee PC. Its quite amazing really, for around £200 you get an ultraportable notebook with a 7 inch colour display, ethernet, Wireless LAN, stereo speakers, microphone, webcam, 512Mb of memory, 4GB solid state drive and a full suite of applications on a Linux platform. It can even run Windows XP too! What’s going on here? It just doesn’t make any sense! You couldn’t even buy an iPhone for this kind of money, or even a copy of Vista!

Episode 59: Nick’s Small Business Server Migration Part 2

nicky@itidiots.com — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 01:07:22 +0000

Upgrading a server between Christmas and New Years was not the best idea in the world. Anyway we managed to get email up and running after a little bit of hastle, wear Christmas hats and pull a cracker. After that it was all a bit too much and we decided to have a part 3. Please note, this episode is largely devoid of technical content and enthusiasm!

Episode 58: Nick’s Small Business Server Migration

nicky@itidiots.com — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:54:27 +0000

This weeks training video screencast is a light hearted (christmas episode) look into the world of small private business. If you work in the public sector and would like to see how a state of the server setup should look like then this week's episode is not for you. Nick recently replaced his companies entire server setup with a DELL £99 special and this week we see exactly what Nicky thinks would be the best way of migrating things forward. The entire episode was filmed on location in England.

Episode 57: Upgrading to Windows 2008

nicky@itidiots.com — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:18:40 +0000

This week, using release candidate 0 of Windows Server 2008, we upgrade the ITidiots.com Active Directory domain to Windows 2008. Technically upgrading the domain is not so hard, there are just a few things you need to consider, for example the FSMO role holders, schema extensions, DNS and of course ensuring you have a rollback plan. The real challenge is ensuring there is no adverse impact your existing infrastructure, applications and services, and that we cannot help you with!

Episode 56: Windows Server 2008 - A first look

nicky@itidiots.com — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 21:59:05 +0000

Windows Server 2008 is now in release candidate and the MCSE exams are already out. I guess we had better take a look to see what has changed. In this episode we demonstrate the new Windows 2008 user interface, administration tools, and chat about some of the new features. To be honest it is looking rather good!

Episode 55: Windows Server Update Services 3.0

nicky@itidiots.com — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 00:31:59 +0100

Keeping your servers and clients up to date with the latest patches, and security updates can be a real pain, but unfortunately they are so important. WSUS 3.0 simplifies the management and deployment of updates throughout your network. It is free, simple to use, and provides some great reporting, implement it now!

Episode 54a: Ashford in High Definition!

nicky@itidiots.com — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 01:32:33 +0100

Okay you have seen our new high definition video camera, you have seen the tools we, or more specifically Nick, uses to edit now see the end result.

Episode 54: AVC HD SD1

nicky@itidiots.com — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 00:46:37 +0100

In this weeks video training screencast: We take a good hard look at the new Panasonic HDC-SD1 high definition camcorder. So what makes this so special, well lets start with the fact that almost nothing can edit the files! This new AVCHD format will allow you to record 40 mins of 1440x1080i on a 4gb SD card but how good is it as a camcorder and how do you edit with it? Nick shows us how this week using Pinnacle Studio 11 and Sony Vegas 7.0

Episode 53: Exchange 2007 Part III

nicky@itidiots.com — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:55:10 +0100

Back for the third installment of Exchange Server 2007. Previously we installed Exchange 2007, and configured it to send and receive Internet email. In this episode we introduce an Edge Transport server as a way of securing internet email and configure Edge Synchronization to ease the administration of the organization. Thats not it, next we configure Local Continuous Replication and demonstrate failure and recovery. Man we are good, if I were you I would donate now!!!

Episode 52: Joomla 1..5 Beta

nicky@itidiots.com — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 21:39:40 +0100

Hosting your own fully function and easy to maintain website is simple with Joomla! DId you know that our website uses Joomla? Anyway, in this episode Nick demonstrates the latest version of Joomla, and show you how to quickly set up great looking website in around 30 minutes.

Episode 51: Exchange 2007 Part II

nicky@itidiots.com — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:04:59 +0100

By popular demand we get back to Exchange 2007. Following on from episode 49 where we installed Exchange, we describe how Internet Email works and then go on to configure recipient email address policies, send connectors and receive connectors which enables our organisation to exchange email with Internet recipients. Follow this episode and with the help of dyndns.org and a little bit of NAT you will be able to make your Exchange Lab more realistic which will help you gain a better understanding of the product. Watch it, implement it and host your very own mail server, forget gmail!

Episode 50: iLife 08

nicky@itidiots.com — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:50:24 +0100

Well you wanted more Mac stuff so here it is..... In this episode we look at iPhoto 08 and iMovie 08 two of the main applications from Apple's new iLife suite. There are some great new features such feature rich web galleries to show off your photos and videos, a rewritten iMovie application which makes creating video and uploading to youtube a breeze and of course there is 'skimming' which you really need to see to appreciate. See our creation at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=F1tIVkwwDHI

Episode 49: Exchange 2007 Introduction

nicky@itidiots.com — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:52:12 +0100

In this episode we cover Exchange Server 2007, and talk about the new architecture and features. After installing Exchange into the ITidiots.com domain we take a look at the new management console and Outlook Web Access, the much improved web access portal. Then we randomly configure some of the new features and show you the outcome. Once again, unmissable!

Episode 48: BDD Lite Touch of Vista / Office 2007

nicky@itidiots.com — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:58:57 +0100

Continuing on the theme of desktop standardisation, we look at customising a version of Office 2007 for inclusion in our standard Vista image. Customising Microsoft Office is quite straight forward, we take you through the different ways of customising an installation of Office 2003 and Office 2007. Then we use BDD 2007 to build our Vista reference machine, deploy the customised install of Office 2007, then image the resultant machine for delivery to all workstations. Finally we test the deployment of the image using BDD light touch initiated from a WDS server. Once again pretty explosive stuff!

Episode 47: Introduction to BDD 2007

nicky@itidiots.com — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 17:34:22 +0100

There are so many advantages to maintaining a SOE, or Standard Operating Environment. Just think how easy it would be for support your workstations if you knew that they were all from the same build, also users roaming for machine to machine would get the same end user experience which surely has got to minimize support. Microsoft BDD, or Business Desktop Deployment, is a great way to achieve a SOE. In this episode we introduce BDD 2007 and discuss it potential within the ITidiots.com network, then go on to demonstrate a Lite touch deployment of Windows XP SP2.

Episode 46: Windows Server 2003 R2

nicky@itidiots.com — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 22:52:25 +0100

Windows Server 2003 Release 2 contains some great new features that help you manage your file server. Finally a quota system that you can enable on a folder and not an entire drive, it even has email reporting! Then there's file screening which can be used to prevent files of a certain type from being stored on the server. DFS replication replaces FRS which means that DFS replicas now replicate in a controlled and far more efficient manner. The list goes on, but that's all you are gonna see in this episode.

Episode 45: Managing and Implementing Disaster Recovery (070-290 Cramsession 5/5)

nicky@itidiots.com — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 00:04:08 +0100

The final part of our five part cramsession covering the MCSE 070-290 exam In this episode we cover Automated System Recovery (ASR) and use the Windows Backup utility to schedule a backup of files and the registry. Also we cover Shadow Copies which allows users to revert to a previous version of their files.

Episode 44: Managing and Maitaining a Server Environment (070-290 Cramsession 4/5)

nicky@itidiots.com — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:07:19 +0100

The fourth part of our five part cramsession covering the MCSE 070-290 exam This episode covers Event Viewer, and remote server management using Computer Manager, Terminal Services in Remote Administration mode and a little bit of IIS. Also we cover some key perfotmance monitor counters.

Episode 43: Managing Access to Resources (070-290 Cramsession 3/5)

nicky@itidiots.com — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 23:16:20 +0100

The third part of our five part cramsession covering the MCSE 070-290 exam This episode covers managing access to resources including share and NTFS permissions. Also we look at managing a Windows Terminal Server.

Episode 42: Managing Users, Computers and Groups (070-290 Cramsession 2/5)

nicky@itidiots.com — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 19:59:51 +0100

The second part of our five part cramsession covering the MCSE 070-290 exam In this episode we cover creating users, computers and groups using Active Directory Users and Computers and then using scripting. We then tackle the subject of user profiles and demonstrate local and roaming profiles.

Episode 41: Managing and Maintaining Physical and Logical Devices (070-290 Cramsession 1/5)

nicky@itidiots.com — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 17:41:13 +0100

The first part of our five part cramsession covering the MCSE 070-290 exam. Our first venture into the cramsession arena, and we want your feedback! Due to forum feedback we have decided to actually get into gear and start recoding MCSE cramsessions, this is the first one so let us know what you think. This episode covers the ‘Managing and Mainitaining Physical and Logical Devices’ section of the syllabus, including coverage of Device Manager, Software RAID, Driver Signing and BOOT.INI.

Episode 40: Performance, Logs and Alerts

nicky@itidiots.com — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 00:24:56 +0100

Did you know that Windows Server comes with its own monitoring and analysis tool? It is pretty powerful too, you can even monitor all your servers from one location! Anyway, watch us monitor our server in realtime, record information to a log file for later analysis, and create an alert to record important information when the server is busy

Episode 39: Virtual Windows Clustering

nicky@itidiots.com — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 23:47:07 +0000

Windows clustering provides ultimate fault tolerance, basically you can have two machines, called nodes, presenting a single ‘virtual’ server to the network, and this virtual server can run on any node. If one node dies, then the virtual server simply runs on the other. Testing for clustering usually involves expensive hardware but in this podcast we show you how you can set up a virtual cluster using 4 virtual machines, one domain controller, two nodes, and one VM running Linux based openfiler for the shared iSCSI storage. Use this as the basis for building your Exchange or SQL clustering test lab.

Episode 38: RAID and NAS

nicky@itidiots.com — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 23:58:00 +0000

Covering basic RAID levels and its configuration on a Windows 2003 server, followed by coverage of Openfiler, an opensource NAS solution based on Linux. One of the key differences between this and other solutions, such as FreeNAS, is its iSCSI target support. We check it out by connecting a Windows 2003 server to it using the Microsoft iSCSI initiator.

Episode 37: Routing and Remote Access

nicky@itidiots.com — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 02:01:19 +0000

Windows Server 2003 comes complete with its own routing and remote access service, funnily enough referred to as Routing and Remote Access Service, or RRAS. To be honest most organisations would probably make use of hardware solutions but RRAS can be used quite effectively for smaller organisations. In this episode we setup RRAS to receive incoming VPN connections and secure access by using a Remote Access Policy. Oh yeah, for anyone currently studying for their MCSE, RRAS and Policies form a large part of the networking MCSE exam.

Episode 36: Introducing Linux (Ubuntu)

nicky@itidiots.com — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 00:00:56 +0000

Have you ever installed Linux and wondered what to do next? Most Linux distributions ship with a full suite of great applications ready to use, but to make the ultimate desktop it is likely that you will need additional software such as video codecs, Skype and Azureus! To a new Linux user, installing additional software can be a little daunting. In this episode we show you how simple it is to download and install new applications, using APT (advanced packaging tool), Automatix and Synaptic Package Manager. We also take you through customising the visual theme of Ubuntu.