Author: Tom Finnis

We're talking serious storage specification! Learn more as we go into virtualization and an overview of IOPS (Input/Output Operations per Second).

Learn how to configure the Out of Office (OOF) message for any user with the Exchange Management Shell.

There are two popular and mutually incompatible virtual disk file formats in common use today: VMware's VMDK format and Microsoft's VHD format. In order to attach a VHD disk to a VMware virtual machine, or vice-versa, you have to convert it first. This guide by virtualization and storage expert Tom Finnis explains how to use Starwind's V2V Converter utility to do just that, with a detailed example explaining how to convert a VMDK virtual disk to VHD format and then mount it in a Windows system in order to edit the files it contains.

As fast as hard drive capacities grow, so does the amount of data users expect to store on them. In this post, storage expert Tom Finnis shows how to re-size existing drives in Windows, when what may have seemed like plenty of storage when you first installed a Windows VM is now not enough.

AutoDiscover in Exchange is often overlooked but can provide some excellent functionality to your users, making it easier to setup new mail clients and smartphones. Tom Finnis explains how to configure AutoDiscover for Exchange 2007 and 2010 as well as covers some common problems to look out for.

ESXi5 is the latest version of VMware's virtualization hypervisor, which enables multiple virtual machines to run simultaneously on a single physical host, and is free to download and use. In this article Tom Finnis describes the new features in this version and discusses how you might benefit from installing it, whilst covering the basics like hardware requirements and the installation procedure.

In this second part of Tom Finnis' article on deploying printers on your network he explains how to assign your printers to specific users and computers using Group Policy and the Active Directory. He also covers in depth how to avoid the most common problem encountered, the lack of built-in support for GPO printer deployment in Windows XP

Exchange 2010 has made the process of upgrading much easier, and now includes a simple wizard to assist with moving mailboxes to your new server. SBS and Exchange expert Tom Finnis provides a guide for moving mailboxes to Exchange 2010, including step-by-step instructions for using the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) to override the BadItemLimit when moving large mailboxes.

In this article Tom Finnis explains how to add the Print Services role to a Windows 2008 Server and then shows you how to use the Print Management console to share printers on your network.

vSphere based backup solutions such as VMware Data Recovery and Veeam Backup and Replication v5 rely on vSphere's snapshot technology to backup live VMs, which excludes Fault Tolerant VMs as they do not allow snapshots. In this article, Tom Finnis explains how to use custom scripts to work around these restrictions and enable regular scheduled backups of Fault Tolerance protected Virtual Machines.

Virtually every modern email client supports the IMAP protocol. In this article, Microsoft Exchange expert Tom Finnis looks at the main reasons for implementing IMAP support on your Exchange Server and explains how to configure it with Exchange 2003 and 2007.

Ever needed to manage an ESXi server when a vSphere Client isn't available or refuses to connect to it? VMware specialist Tom Finnis explains the various options available to you from the ESXi console, including several unofficial commands that will let you control your virtual machines directly.

In this article VMware expert Tom Finnis continues his evaluation of vSphere4 with a look at the new Data Recovery feature. This adds a comprehensive disaster recovery solution to the vSphere suite, providing full and incremental Virtual Machine backups all managed via a vCenter plugin. Read on to learn more....

Tom Finnis explains how to configure the Data Recovery appliance, schedule backups and restore a virtual machine from a backup. Also covered are advanced features such as VSS integrated file level backups and data de-duplication.

Whether you're planning on virtualizing the majority of your existing servers or just using it as part of your infrastructure, vSphere4 represents a major investment for most SME IT managers. This article is aimed at helping you plan for implementing your own vSphere4 Infrastructure, from meeting system requirements to choosing appropriate licensing options, and all options in between.