WindowsNetworking.com - December 2010 Newsletter

-----------------------------------------
WindowsNetworking.com Monthly Newsletter of December 2010
Sponsored by: Manage Engine <http://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/download.html?utm_source=wown&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_term=dec10>
-----------------------------------------

Welcome to the WindowsNetworking.com newsletter by Debra Littlejohn Shinder <http://www.windowsnetworking.com/Deb_Shinder/>, MVP. Each month we will bring you interesting and helpful information on the world of Windows Networking. We want to know what all *you* are interested in hearing about. Please send your suggestions for future newsletter content to: dshinder@windowsnetworking.com

1. Three Things I Want from Microsoft in 2011
---------------------------------------------------------

Wow! Is this really the last newsletter of the year? Time seems to be going faster and faster each year. And from all the snow I see reported all over the world this season, it looks like it's going to be a very cold winter. That means many admins will be staying in the server room to stay warm if their superiors allow them to turn off the cooling equipment! While sitting in the server room soaking up the heat from those big machines, you might be thinking about what you'd like to see happening to Windows in the next year. While I don't think we'll be seeing Windows 8 in 2011 (at least not in final form), that doesn't mean I can't wish for new things from Microsoft. The trick is keeping my wish list to just three things.

Here are the top three things I want from Microsoft in the next year:

*I want to know what Microsoft's Cloud Plans actually are*

If you've seen the new Microsoft commercials, you'll notice that many of them are related to the cloud. A woman or man has a personal or business challenge and then something spins and he or she says "to the cloud". Then the man or woman uses a rich client computer with a rich client application to solve the problem. The rich client computer and rich client application connects to an online site or service and the problem is solved. Is this what the "cloud" is all about for Microsoft? Is the cloud-play nothing more than online services like those we've had for the last ten plus years? Surely there's more to it than that - but these ads, while cute, don't communicate that "something more" very well. I think Azure is part of the answer - but I would like Microsoft to explain how Azure is going to influence our on-premises datacenters, because I don't see our server rooms ever going away. I do believe the "private cloud" is going to be a big thing in the upcoming years - and that means more and different types of virtualization. This brings us to number two:

*I want Microsoft to enable Private Cloud features comparable to VMware*

Private cloud is a term used a lot these days. The way I understand it, the Private Cloud is all about using the same technologies that public cloud providers use, but in a "gated community." That means heavy use of virtualization and dynamic resource management of the virtualized datacenter. VMware ESX does this very well, using a number of technologies such as Dynamic Resource Allocation, dynamic moving of virtual machines, high availability, automatic provisioning and tear down of virtual machines, automatic migration of entire datacenters and more. Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager and related technologies have some of these features, too, but not all of them, and many admins feel that they're not as elegantly managed as the VMware solution. My wish is for Microsoft to get on par with ESX within the next year when it comes to the Private Cloud. After they get to that point, we can talk about Public Cloud integration.

*I want a Killer Windows Tablet*

The tablet space should have belonged to Microsoft. It was Bill Gates' dream over a decade ago, and Windows tablets have been on the market for years. But they never really caught on - perhaps because they were too expensive, too big and heavy, and not touch friendly enough. Then along came the iPad and suddenly everybody wants a tablet. I even broke down and bought an iPad myself, when it was the only light, thin, affordable slate available. Android is in the game now, with the Galaxy Tab (which I also own and love) and others. Meanwhile, we think Microsoft has a big winner on its hands with the Windows 7 Phone. The interface is innovative and it's not just another "me too" iPhone clone. The "metro" interface would be ideal for a Windows 7 tablet, as well - but Microsoft has restricted tablet vendors to using Windows 7 - at least for now. While the Galaxy Tab solved many of the issues I had with the iPad (the size is better, it has removable storage, it runs Flash, etc.), I suspect it would be sitting on top of my abandoned iPad getting neglected itself if I had a Windows Phone 7 based tablet. Please Microsoft! Give me the tablet we've all been waiting for - if not running the WinPhone 7 OS, then run the Metro UI on top of the Windows 7 kernel. I want a Windows tablet that's designed to be touched!

That's it - my three wishes for 2011 from Microsoft. How about you? What do you want to see from Microsoft in the next year? Let me know! Send me a note at dshinder@windowsnetworking.com and I'll publish the best wishes in my blog. Thanks! - Deb.

By Debra Littlejohn Shinder, MVP
dshinder@windowsnetworking.com

=======================
Quote of the Month - "It's not over until it's over" - Yogi Berra
=======================

2. ISA Server 2006 Migration Guide - Order Today!
---------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Tom Shinder's best selling books on ISA Server 2000 and 2004 were the "ISA
Firewall Bibles" for thousands of ISA Firewall administrators. Dr. Tom and his
illustrious team of ISA Firewall experts now present to you , ISA Server 2006
Migration Guide
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1597491993/isaserver1-20/>. This book
leverages the over two years of experience Tom and his team of ISA Firewall
experts have had with ISA 2006, from beta to RTM and all the versions and builds
in between. They've logged literally 1000's of flight hours with ISA 2006 and
they have shared the Good, the Great, the Bad and the Ugly of ISA 2006 with
their no holds barred coverage of Microsoft's state of the art stateful packet
and application layer inspection firewall.

Order your copy of ISA Server 2006 Migration Guide
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1597491993/isaserver1-20/>. You'll be
glad you did.

3. WindowsNetworking.com Articles of Interest
---------------------------------------------------------

* Securing Wireless Network Traffic (Part 3) <http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Securing-Wireless-Network-
Traffic-Part3.html>

* Microsoft's cloud plays, in English <http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Microsofts-cloud-plays-in-English.html>

* How to get certified on Microsoft System Center <http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/How-get-certified-Microsoft-System-Center.html>

* Customizing the Default User Profile in Windows 7 (Part 2) <http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Customizing-Default-User-Profile-Windows-7-Part2.html>

* Blast from the Past: Troubleshooting WINS Clients <http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Blast-from-Past-Troubleshooting-WINS-Clients.html>

* Lansweeper - Voted WindowsNetworking.com Readers&#146; Choice Award Winner - Network Inventory <http://www.windowsnetworking.com/news/WindowsNetworking-Readers-Choice-Award-Network-Inventory-Lansweeper-Oct10.html>

* Microsoft System Center Service Manager - Part 3: Initial Configuration <http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Microsoft-System-Center-Service-Manager-Part3.html>

* Customizing the Default User Profile in Windows 7 (Part 1) <http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Customizing-Default-User-Profile-Windows-7-Part1.html>

4. Administrator KB Tip of the Month
---------------------------------------------------------

*Why DNS Works on TCP and UDP*

DNS and some other Services work on both the TCP and UDP Protocols. The two protocols are different; TCP is a connection-oriented protocol whereas UDP is a connectionless protocol. TCP requires the data to be consistent at the destination and UDP does not require the data to be consistent or does not need to establish the connection with the host for data accuracy.

- DNS uses TCP for Zone Transfer over Port: 53
It is necessary to maintain a consistent DNS database between DNS Servers. This is achieved by the TCP protocol. This communication happens between DNS Servers only. The Zone Transfer feature of DNS Server will always use the TCP protocol. The connection is established between the DNS Server to transfer the zone data and Source and Destination DNS Servers will make sure that data is consistent by using TCP ACK bit.

- DNS uses UDP for DNS Queries over Port: 53
A client computer will always send a DNS Query using UDP Protocol over Port 53. If a client computer does not get a response from a DNS Server, it must re-transmit the DNS Query using the TCP after 3-5 second intervals.

For more administrator tips, go to WindowsNetworking.com/WindowsTips
<http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/WindowsTips/>

5. Windows Networking Tip of the Month
---------------------------------------------------------

*Tweak the Command Prompt to Support Names*

The Command Prompt includes a file-name and folder-name completion feature. For example, you start entering a command and press Tab (the default completion character). When you do that, the Command Prompt will suggest the next file or folder name that&#146;s consistent with what you&#146;ve entered. You can try this for yourself by changing to a folder that starts with the letter Q, you can type cd q and then press the folder-name completion character as many times as necessary until the folder you want appears.

By default, the completion key for file names and folder names is the Tab key. You can configure a different key by changing the CompletionChar and PathCompletionChar values in the HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor registry key. These are DWORD values that specify the file and folder completion keys for the current user. You can change the keys for all users by changing the same values in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor.

If CompletionChar is set and PathCompletionChar is not there or is set to 0x40, the CompletionChar setting will work for both file completion and folder completion. In all cases, the completion keys are configured as hex numbers&#151;such as 0x9 for Tab, 0x4 for Ctrl+D, 0x6 for Ctrl+F and 0xC for Ctrl+L.

You can override the registry settings for a Command Prompt session by starting the session with Cmd /F:on or Cmd /F:off. Cmd /F:on starts a Command Prompt session with Ctrl+D as the path-completion character and Ctrl+F as the file-completion character, disabling the completion characters set in the registry. Cmd /F:off starts a Command Prompt session with no completion characters, regardless of your registry settings. Cmd /F:on and Cmd /F:off both disable the Tab key as a completion character.

6. WindowsNetworking Links of the Month
---------------------------------------------------------

* The Cable Guy: The Authenticated Internet Protocol <http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.10.cableguy.aspx>

* Scalable Networking
<http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/network/bb545631.aspx>

* Netsh Technical Reference
<http://technet.microsoft.com/library/cc725935(WS.10).aspx>

* How to set up IPv6
<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fd7e1354-3a3b-43fd-955f-11edd39551d7&displaylang=en>

* Network Monitor (NetMon) version 3.4 <http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=983b941d-06cb-4658-b7f6-3088333d062f>

* Reducing Bandwidth Utilization with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 BranchCache
<http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=183295>

7. Ask Sgt. Deb
---------------------------------------------------------

* QUESTION:

Hey Deb,

Happy Holidays! I&#146;ve got a question. I hear that Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 is coming out soon. I&#146;m using Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM Hyper-V. What does SP1 bring to the table when it comes to Hyper-V? Thanks! &#150; Pete.

* ANSWER:

Hi Pete!

Good question. Here&#146;s a list of things you can expect with Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V SP1 :

* Support for Live Migration
* Support for up to 64 host logical processors by hypervisor
* Up to 384 VMs on the host, limited by physical resources
* New "Processor Compatibility" option for VMs used in Live and Quick Migration
* Jumbo Frame Support
* Hot Add/Remove of storage (VHDs and Pass Through Disks)
* Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) processor support for both Intel (EPT) and AMD (RVI)
* Core Parking
* Improved VHD performance for dynamic and difference disks
* Improved network performance via VMQ (specific hardware NICs required)

Find out more about SP1 RC and download it at <http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/ff183870.aspx>

TechGenix Sites
---------------------------------------------------------

MSExchange.org <http://www.msexchange.org/>
WindowSecurity.com <http://www.windowsecurity.com/>
ISAserver.org <http://www.isaserver.org/>
VirtualizationAdmin.com <http://www.virtualizationadmin.com/>

--
Visit the Subscription Management <http://www.techgenix.com/newsletter/>
section to unsubscribe.
WindowsNetworking.com is in no way affiliated with Microsoft Corp.
http://www.techgenix.com/advert/index.htm for sponsorship
information or contact us at advertising@windowsnetworking.com
Copyright c WindowsNetworking.com 2010. All rights reserved.