Windows Server 2008

A Server Core installation provides a minimal environment for running specific server roles, which reduces the maintenance and management requirements and the attack surface for those server roles. A server running a Server Core installation supports the following server roles: Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) DHCP Server…

One of the neat things about the way that Windows Server 2008 was designed is that many aspects of the operating system can be managed from the command line. If you happen to need to define a RAID array, it is usually easier to point and click your way through the process using the Disk…

Although VPN connections have been a staple of enterprise environments for many years now, security concerns have increased exponentially in recent years. Some of those concerns are related to the various federal regulations affecting IT departments, but many more of the concerns have to do with the machines from which users connect to the network….

In my previous articles (see list below) I have written about how, in Windows Server 2008,  Server Core installation does not include the traditional full graphical user interface (GUI). Therefore, once you have configured the server, you can only manage it locally at a command prompt, or remotely using a Terminal Server connection. Read more…

MSDN and TechNet subscribers now have access to Service Pack 2 (SP2) beta for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. The beta version of SP2 is also supposed to be available to the general public. Prior to that, Microsoft began testing SP2  with just a small group of testers first before making it more broadly…

  Active Directory snapshots in Windows Server 2008 allow an administrator to either manually, or programmatically, create snapshots of the Active Directory database at a given time. With Active Directory snapshots, you can view the data inside such a snapshot on a domain controller without the need to start the server in Directory Services Restore…

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 is the next generation of the Windows Server operating system, scheduled to be officially released during Q1 2008. Formerly known as “Longhorn Server”, Windows Server 2008 is designed to help IT Professionals to maximize control over their infrastructure, while providing enhanced availability and management capabilities, leading to a significantly more secure,…

Today I’ve delivered an interesting session for Microsoft in the Israeli Get Ready for Windows Server 2008 event that took place in the Hilton Tel-Aviv hotel. The session was presented in front of approximately 700 people and was also recorded for offline viewing. Although I do not yet have the recorded presentation, I will post…

Update: As of June 2008, this bug has been acknowledged and a private fix is already available. I was informed by the product group that a public fix will be shortly available. Stay tuned for more info. A couple of days ago I was teaching a Windows Server 2008 course and I got to the…

System and software downtime frequently mean lost revenues, lowered employee productivity and reduced customer satisfaction. Despite the fact that companies are investing in high-availability systems and performance monitoring solutions for data centers, many are failing to follow best practice procedures to avoid human errors. Do you use any social networks? Follow ObserveIT on Facebook, Linkedin…