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Russell Smith

Editorial Director

Russell Smith, the Editorial Director at Petri IT Knowledgebase, has over two decades of hands-on experience in IT, in both small business settings and government IT infrastructure projects.

Russell started writing for Windows IT Pro Magazine in the early 2000s. Since then, he has contributed insights to various IT publications, including Petri and CDW. His authoritative voice has resonated across industry blogs, where he dissects complex topics into an ‘easy read’.

Russell has authored over a thousand articles, each a testament to his depth of knowledge. His expertise doesn’t stop there: he wrote a book on Privilege Management and co-authored another for Microsoft’s MOAC series. Moreover, Russell’s commitment to education shines through in the courses he crafted for Pluralsight.

He is also presenter on his own YouTube channel, This Week in IT, and the current presenter of Petri Dish.

LATEST

Microsoft Announces Azure Confidential Computing

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this Ask the Admin, Russell Smith provides a brief overview of Microsoft’s Azure Confidential Computing technology and looks at how it might help persuade otherwise hesitant organizations to move sensitive data to the cloud.

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Windows Store Apps Can Compromise PC Security

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this Ask the Admin, Russell Smith explains why you should use application control to restrict which Windows Store apps users can run.

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Windows Defender Exploit Guard Replaces EMET in Fall Creators Update

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this Ask the Admin, Russell Smith looks at the technical details of how Windows Defender Exploit Guard will replace the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) in Windows 10.

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Windows Server 2016: Short-Lived Active Directory Group Membership

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In today’s Ask the Admin, Russell Smith shows you how to temporarily add users to Active Directory groups.

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Configure DNS to Enable a Trust Between Two Active Directory Forests

Last Update: Jun 05, 2025

In today’s Ask the Admin, Russell Smith shows you how to set up DNS in Windows Server so that you can establish a cross-forest trust.

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Windows Server 2016: Set Up Privileged Access Management

Last Update: Oct 28, 2025

In today’s Ask the Admin, Russell Smith shows you how to implement Privileged Access Management (PAM) in Windows Server 2016.

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Windows 10 Protected Event Logging

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this Ask the Admin, Russell Smith looks at how Protected Event Logging is implemented in Windows 10.

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Code Signing Microsoft Office Macros and Visual Basic for Applications

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In today’s Ask the Admin, Russell Smith shows you how to sign Microsoft Office VBA code and macros so that it can be distributed securely to business partners.

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Making the Small Business Case for Chromebooks

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this Ask the Admin, Russell Smith looks at Chromebooks and why they have become a popular choice for small businesses.

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Role-Based Access Control Comes to Intune

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this Ask the Admin, Russell Smith looks at how Microsoft’s Role-Based Access Control can help you manage administrator access to its Mobile Device Management service.

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Choosing Between Cloud or On-Premises Storage for Small Business

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this Ask the Admin, Russell Smith looks at the benefits of cloud storage and why a combination of cloud and on-premises solutions is sometimes a happy medium.

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Microsoft Launches the Security Compliance Toolkit 1.0

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this Ask the Admin, Russell Smith explains why SCM was killed off and how the Security Compliance Toolkit stacks up in comparison.

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