Discovering Windows 2008 Official release.
Posted by themsguru on Jun 26, 2008
Hi Everyone,
I have just installed Windows 2008 today to evaluate it & Test it for future use in production. The version I decided to use is the Windows 2008 Enterprise 64-bit. I have the test running on IBM X3650 with a dual Core Single CPU & 2 GB of RAM, which was available in our test enviornment.
The first thing which surprised me is the installation process. It barely requested any information during the installation. The only questions I have seen during installation was the Product Key and If I agree to their License agreement. After the installation went on its own for 30 minutes before it finished (to be honest I went and had my lunch during that 30 mins so it might took a bit shorter). What I like of this comparing to earlier versions of Windows that Windows usually bug you with so many questions during installation, which if you are not running unattended installation you would have to be standing by the screen waiting for the next question (which most of it really can be changed & configured after installation). In windows 2008 all I had to do is answer the license Key and agree to the license and the installation went on its own (I believe Microsoft has heard for all the knocking about their earlier installation process).
After the Installation has been completed the Initial Configuration Tasks Panel has openned up. It looks just like the following image:
<the Initial Configuration Tasks Panel>
From this Panel I were able to install & Configure most of my desired options. I have started by fixing the network configuration (Including my IP & So on) from configuring network. I then have changed my computer name & joined it to our test enviorment domain using provide computer name & Domain. That was easy like a breaze. What I further noticed while testing my network connection, the IE included into Windows 2008 has Java by default. As I were able to browse websites which run Java applets which worked out of the box. Not the case with Windows 2003.
The next step was to setup our server as a webserver. So All I had to do is hit the add a role in the initial configuration Tasks Panel. Then check mark “web server (IIS)” and what was great & different than earlier version it had pointed the dependencies for me and asked me if it should install it. I believe this has been inspired of Linux distributions. The image below show just that.
<Windows 2008 adding IIS webserver role>
The next step for me which any webmaster will guess is to install the .net 3 framework. As IIS does not do much without it. To install it Instead of going to add/remove programs in earlier windows versions and look for it all I had to do is click “add features” from the initial configuration tasks then check mark “.net framwork 3.0 features” and as well choose to add the dependency required for it. The image below show just that.
<Installation .net framwork 3.0 features>
The next step was for me to enable remote desktop, which I have done by clicking “Enable Remote Desktop” from the Windows 2008 Initial Configuration Tasks Panel then check mark “Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop (less secure)”. hmmm, yes I choose the less secure one in here as its only a test enviornment. Try to keep up with the secure one in production.
So the total process of Installation & Configuration of a new Windows 2008 webserver took me around 1 hour to do. I found the interfaces very familiar as its very similar to Windows 2003 as functionality and to Windows Vista as graphics. At the end I will leave you with an image of how Windows 2008 look like which could seems to you a Windows Vista for the first moment. I hope this introduction was useful.
<Windows 2008 Graphical interface>
Microsoft Windows Cluster Services For Windows 2003 & Windows 2008
Posted by themsguru on Jun 8, 2008
I thought its highly desirable to assemble a list of interesting links on the Microsoft Clustering services and often seek information regarding MS Clustering Services as they tend to hide when you need them the most.I hope these links will help you find out all the info you need about Microsoft Clustering Services. These links point to papers covering all versions of the MS Cluster Server (MSCS) Services.
For those who do not know what I am talking about, Cluster, is a service that offers “High Availability” to services. Ooops, not to be confused with Fault Tolerant, that is another entirely different concept. Raid 1array is a good example of Fault Tolerant, if a harddisk in Raid one Configuration break the system keep operating on the other one without any interruption. High Availability instead is a service that is responsible for giving the highest uptime of an application or service. In case the first node fail there will be a court of service but is minimal since it is the time it takes to initiate such application or service in a second server. Below is my Magical MS Cluster Services Information Links list
Server Clusters: Architecture Overview (Windows 2003)
Server Clusters: Rolling Upgrades (Windows 2003)
Server Clusters: Storage Area Networks (Windows 2000 and 2003)
MSCS Troubleshooting and Maintenance Guide (NT 4.0)
Troubleshooting Windows Server Clusters (Windows 2003)
Server Cluster Frequently Asked Questions (Windows 2003)
Server Clusters: Majority Node Set Quorum (Windows 2003)
Server Clusters: Geographically Dispersed Clusters (Windows 2003)
Quorums in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Clusters
Server Clusters: Cluster Configuration Best Practices (Windows 2003)
Server Clusters: Network Configuration Best Practices (Windows 2003)
Server Clusters: Storage Best Practices (Windows 2003)
Server Clusters: Backup and Recovery Best Practices (Windows 2003)
Server Clusters: Security Best Practices (Windows 2003)
Server Clusters: Quorum Options (Windows 2003)
How to turn on cluster logging in Microsoft Cluster Server
What’s New in Failover Clusters in Windows Server 2008 (Windows 2008)
Validating Hardware for a Failover Cluster in Windows Server 2008: Step-by-Step (Windows 2008)
Step-by-Step Guide for Configuring a Two-Node File Server Failover Cluster in Windows Server 2008 (Windows 2008)
Step-by-Step Guide for Configuring a Two-Node Print Server Failover Cluster in Windows Server 2008 (Windows 2008)
Failover Cluster Quorum Configuration Step-by-Step Guide (Windows 2008)
Failover Clustering and Active Directory Configuration Step-by-Step Guide (Windows 2008)
Network Load Balancing Deployment Guide (Windows 2008)
Microsoft High Availability Strategy White Paper (Windows 2008)
Overview of Failover Clustering with Windows Server 2008 (Windows 2008)
Quick Migration with Hyper-V (Windows 2008)
Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering Architecture Overview (Windows 2008)
WS2008 Failover Clustering Datasheet (Windows 2008)
WS2008 Multi Site Clustering (Windows 2008) Step-by-Step Guide for Testing Hyper-V and Failover Clustering
Those links were based on documents and links to Technet with relevant information about the service or Cluster Failover Cluster depending on the version of Windows. Now I would like to make some links with tools or utilities that may serve to work with Microsoft Cluster service.
Cluster Server Recovery Utility (ClusterRecovery.exe) Cluster Diagnostics and Verification Tool (ClusDiag.exe)
Microsoft Cluster Configuration Validation Wizard (ClusPrep) Microsoft Product Support’s Reporting Tools (MPSReport) for Cluster
If a link does not work please leave me a comment so that I can solve the problem. I hope these links will be helpful for someone who wants to set up a Cluster or supporting it. I was served a lot by these links and would like to share it. If you have another good link and would like to share it please post it in the comment as well. Thanks
Embarrassing Limitations for Windows 2008 Server Core
Posted by themsblogger on Jun 8, 2008
Windows 2008 Server Core has some truly embarrassing Limitations. In this Article I will try to cover few of them.
For example I read that a core installation can be used to run a web server with IIS 7 but then:
“As Internet Explorer being a prerequisite for. NET Framework, you can not use Powershell or run any managed Application (note: nothing. NET), although IIS is supported it can not be used to publish web applications based on ASP.NET, but Only html based sites. ”
How? Only sites based on HTML? Both true, I say nothing web server.
And nothing Powershell? But for the peppa, I have only the line of command and I also take away the Powershell?
It is not over, continuing with quotes:
You can not upgrade from an earlier version of Windows Server.
Right! Better format. : o (
“You can not upgrade mode Server Core mode from full graphical interface, but you will need a new installation.”
Great! OK! Choose well immediately otherwise: zak! formats the distribution if you want Explorer.
I understand, vai installation standards as before.
I need to say I find very good the idea that they offer a minimal installation, although undoubtedly it need to be improved (who said the service pack?). Maybe for the moment will be mainly used in embedded devices.
The point of this article. Before deciding to go all the way with your infrastructure on Windows 2008 Server Core, Please test rigidly as it has a lot more limitation than Windows 2008 with Graphical interface.
I hope this would help and warn many new comers to Windows 2008.
SEO Glossary - Seo Common Terms Definitions
Posted by themsblogger on Jun 3, 2008
These days SEO Buzz words are floating on the web. To help new joiner to digest these I have compiled the following list of SEO Buzz words and tried to explain it with as much simplicity as I can. I have even thrown related tips.
AdWords
See Sponsored Links on most sites (Featured Links on the left side of this one).
Algorithm
A complex mathematical formula used by search engines to assess the relevance and importance of websites and rank them accordingly in their search results. These algorithms are kept tightly under wraps as they are the key to the objectivity of search engines (ie the algorithm ensures relevant results, and relevant results bring more users, which in turn brings more advertising revenue).
Article PR
The submitting of free reprint articles to many article submission sites and article distribution lists in order to increase your website’s search engine ranking and Google PageRank. (In this sense, the “PR” stands for PageRank.) Like traditional public relations, PR article also conveys a sense of authority because your articles are widely published. And because you’re proving your expertise and freely dispensing knowledge, your readers will trust you and will be more likely to remain loyal to you. (In this sense, the “PR” stands for Public Relations.)
Article Submission Sites
Websites which act as repositories of free reprint articles. These are sites where authors can submit their articles free of charge, and where webmasters can find articles to use on their websites free of charge. Article submission sites generate revenue by selling advertising space on their websites. See also article PR.
Backlink
A text link to your website from another website. See also link.
Copy
The words used on your website.
Copywriter
A professional writer who specializes in the writing of advertising copy (compelling, engaging words promoting a particular product or service). See also SEO copywriter and web copywriter.
Crawl
Google finds pages on the World Wide Web and records their details in its index by sending out ’spiders’ or’ robots’. These spiders make their way from page to page and site to site by following text links. To a spider, a text link is like a door.
Domain Name
The virtual address of your website (normally in the form
www.mecarz.com). This is what people will type when they want to visit your site. It is also what you will use as the address in any text links back to your site.
Ezine
An electronic journal. Most publishers of ezines are desperate for content and gladly publish well written, helpful articles and give you full credit as author, including a link to your website.
Flash
A technology used to create animated web pages (and page elements).
Free Reprint Article
An article written by you and made freely available to other webmasters to publish on their websites. See also article PR.
The search engine with the greatest coverage of the World Wide Web, and which is responsible for most search engine-referred traffic. Of approximately 11.5 billion pages on the World Wide Web, it is estimated that Google has indexed around 8.8 billion. This is one reason why it takes so long to increase your ranking!
Google AdWords
See Sponsored Links on most sites (Featured Links on the left side of this one).
Google PageRank
How Google scores a website’s importance. It gives all sites a mark out of 10. By downloading the Google Toolbar, you can view the PR of any site you visit.
Toolbar
A free tool you can download. It becomes part of your browser toolbar. It’s most useful features are it’s PageRank display (which allows you to view the PR of any site you visit) and it’s AutoFill function (when you’re filling out an online form, you can click the AutoFill, and it enters all the standard information automatically , Including Name, Address, Zip code / Postcode, Phone Number, Email Address, Business Name, Credit Card Number (password protected), etc..) Once you’ve downloaded and installed the toolbar, you may need to set up how you ‘ d like it to look and work by clicking Options (setup is very easy). NOTE: Google does record some information (mostly regarding sites visited).
HTML
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the coding language used to create much of the information on the World Wide Web. Web browsers read the HTML code and display the page as described by the code.
Internet
An interconnected network of computers around the world.
JavaScript
A programming language used to create dynamic website pages (eg interactivity).
Keyword
A word which your customers search for and which you use frequently on your site in order to be relevant to those searches. This use known as targeting a keyword. In fact most websites usually target ‘keyword phrases’ because single keywords are too generic and it is very difficult to rank highly for them.
keyword Density
A measure of the frequency of your keyword in relation to the total wordcount of the page. So if your page has 200 words, and your keyword phrase appears 10 times, its density is 5%.
Keyword Phrase
A phrase which your customers search for and which you use frequently on your site in order to be relevant to those searches.
Link
A word or image on a web page which the reader can click to visit another page. There are normally visual cues to indicate to the reader that the word or image has a link.
Linking Path
Using text links to connect a series of page (ie connects page 1 to page 2, page 2 connects to page 3, page 3 connects to page 4, and so on). Search engine ’spiders’ and’ robots’ use text links to jump from page to page as they gather information about it, so it’s a good idea to allow them traverse your entire site via text links.
Link Partners
A webmaster who is willing to put a link to your website on their website. Quite often link partners engage in reciprocal linking.
Link Popularity
The number of links to The number of connections
Your website. Link popularity is the single most important factor in a high search engine ranking. Webmasters use a number of methods to increase their site’s link popularity including article PR, link exchange (link partners / reciprocal linking), buying links, and link directories.
Link Text
The part of a text link that is visible to the reader. When generating links to your own site, they are most effective (in terms of ranking) if they include your keyword.
Meta Tags
A brief note with a header in the HTML of your web page describing some aspects of that page. These meta tags are read by search engines and serve to assess the relevance of a site for a particular search.
Natural Search Results
The ‘real’ search results. The results that most users are looking for and which take up most of the window. For most searches, the search engine displays a long list of links to sites with content which is related to the word you searched for. These results are ranked according to how relevant and important they are.
Organic Search Results
See Natural Search Results (as its equivalent to it).
PPC (Pay-Per-Click Advertising)
See Sponsored Links on most sites (Featured Links on the left side of this one).
PageRank
See Google PageRank.
Rank
Your position in the search results that display when someone searches for a particular word at a search engine.
Reciprocal Links
A mutual agreement between two webmasters to exchange links (ie they both add a link to the other’s website on their own website). Most search engines (Google certainly) are sophisticated enough to detect reciprocal linking and they do not view it very favorably because it is clearly a manufactured method of generating links. Websites with reciprocal links risk being penalized.
Robot
See Spider.
Robots.txt File
A file which is used to inform the search engine spiders which pages on a site should not be indexed. This file sits in your site’s root directory on the web server. (Alternatively, you can do a similar thing by placing tags in the header section of your HTML for search engine robots/spiders to read.
Sandbox
Many SEO experts believe that Google ’sandboxes’ new websites. Whenever it detects a new website, it withholds its rightful ranking for a period while it determines whether your site is a genuine, credible, long term site. It does this to discourage the creation of SPAM websites (sites which serve no useful purpose other than to boost the ranking of some other site). Likewise, if Google detects a sudden increase (ie many hundreds or thousands) in the number of links back to your site, it may sandbox them for a period (or in fact penalize you by lowering your ranking or blacklisting your site altogether).
SEO
Search Engine Optimization. The art of making your website relevant and important so that it ranks high in the search results for a particular word.
SEO Copywriter
A ‘copywriter’ who is not only proficient at web copy, but also experienced in writing copy which is optimized for search engines (and will therefore help you achieve a better search engine ranking for your website).
Search Engine
A search engine is an online tool which allows you to search for websites which contain a particular word or phrase. The most well known search engines are Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
Sitemap
A single page which contains a list of text links to every page in the site (and every page contains a text link back to the site map). Think of your site map as being at the center of a spider-web.
SPAM
Generally refers to unwanted and unrequested email sent en-masse to private email addresses. Also used to refer to websites which appear high in search results without having any useful content. The creators of these sites set them up simply to cash in on their high ranking by selling advertising space, links to other sites, or by linking to other sites of their own and thereby increasing the ranking of those sites. The search engines are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and already have very efficient ways to detect SPAM websites and penalize them.
Spider
Google finds pages on the World Wide Web and records their details in its index by sending out ’spiders’ or’ robots’. These spiders make their way from page to page and site to site by following text links.
Sponsored Links
Paid advertising which displays next to the natural search results. Customers can click on the ad to visit the advertiser’s website. This is how the search engines make their money. Advertisers set their ads up to display whenever someone searches for a word which is related to their product or service. These ads look similar to the natural search results, but are normally labeled “Sponsored Links”, and normally take up a smaller portion of the window. These ads work on a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) basis (ie the advertiser pays only when someone clicks on their ad).
Submit
You can submit your domain name to the search engines so that their ’spiders’ or’ robots’ will crawl your site. You can also submit articles to ‘article submission sites’ in order to have them published on the Internet.
Link Text
A word on a web page which the reader can click to visit another page. Text links are normally blue and underlined. Text links are what ’spiders’ or’ robots’ use to jump from page to page and website to website.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator. Uniform Resource Locator. The address of a particular page published on the Internet. The address of a particular page published on the Internet. Normally in the form http://www.mecarz.com/0-index.html
Web Copy
See copy.
Web Copywriter
A ‘copywriter’ who understands the unique requirements of writing for an online medium.
Webmaster
A person responsible for the management of a particular website.
Wordcount
The number of words on a particular web page. The number of words on a particular web page.
World Wide Web (WWW)
The vast array of documents published on the Internet. It is estimated that the World Wide Web now consists of approximately 11.5 billion pages.
Please post in the comment if you think I have missed a good one.
Please post in the comment if you are confused about any one I had explained.
I hope it was useful for everyone.
How to Move Microsoft WSUS services to another server
Posted by themsblogger on Jun 2, 2008
Hi,
Most companies who use Microsoft WSUS Services will hit the time when they will need to move the WSUS service to a new server due to capacity constrain on the old one or just to decomission an old hardware that is out of warrenty & avoid the high maintenance cost. no matter what is the reason is all will need to look for the easiest and most reliable approach to do so. As I just have been through this last week and I had to cut and paste procedure from many places I decided to compile my own and share it on here.
Moving Microsoft WSUS Services to a new one server consist of five major steps as below:
- Step 1: Install WSUS on the new Server just as you would in a new Vanilla Installation check here for reference
- Step 2: Matching Advanced Options on the old WSUS Server & the new WSUS Server
- Step 3: Copying Updates from File System of the old WSUS Server to the new WSUS server
- Step 4: Copying Metadata from Database on the old WSUS Server to the new WSUS Server
- Step 5: Point your Clients to the new WSUS Server.
Below is the details of each step:
Step 1: Install WSUS on the new Server just as you would in Vanilla new Installation check here for reference
Step 2: Matching Advanced Options on the old WSUS Server & the new WSUS Server
Ensure that the advanced synchronization options for express installation files and languages on the old Microsoft Windows Server Update Services server match the settings on the new Windows Server Update Services server following the below steps.
To ensure that advanced synchronization options on the old WSUS server match settings on new WSUS server.
1. In the WSUS console of the old WSUS server, click the Options tab, and then click Advanced in the Update Files and Languages section.
2. In the Advanced Synchronization Settings dialog box, check the status of the settings for Download express installation files and Languages options.
3. In the WSUS console of the new server, click the Options tab, and then click Advanced in the Update Files and Languages section.
4. In the Advanced Synchronization Settings dialog box, make sure the settings for Download express installation files and Languages options match the selections on the old server.
Step 3: Copying Updates from File System of the old WSUS Server to the new WSUS server
Copy updates from the file system of the old WSUS server to the file system of the new WSUS server. These procedures use the Windows Backup or Restore Wizard, but you can use any utility you like. The object is to copy updates from the file system on the old WSUS server to the files system of the new WSUS server.
***Important:
The initial settings for access control lists differ between Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003. If you are copying content from Windows 2000 Server to Windows Server 2003, you have to manually add the Network Service group to the access control list for the folder where updates are stored. Give the Network Service group Full Control.
To back up updates from file system of old WSUS server to a file:
1. On your old WSUS server, click Start, and then click Run
2. In the Run dialog box, type ntbackup. The Backup or Restore Wizard starts by default, unless it is disabled. You can use this wizard or click the link to work in Advanced Mode and use the following steps.
3. Click the Backup tab, and then specify the folder where updates are stored on the old WSUS server. By default, WSUS stores updates at WSUSInstallationDrive:\WSUS\WSUSContent\.
4. In Backup media or file name, type a path and file name for the backup (.bkf) file.
5. Click Start Backup. The Backup Job Information dialog box appears.
6. Click Advanced. Under Backup Type, click Incremental.
7. From the Backup Job Information dialog box, click Start Backup to start the backup operation.
8. Move the backup file you just created to the new WSUS server.
To restore updates from a file to the file system of the new server
1. On your new WSUS server, click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Run dialog box, type ntbackup. The Backup or Restore Wizard starts by default, unless it is disabled. You can use this wizard or click the link to work in Advanced Mode and use the following steps.
3. Click the Restore and Manage Media tab, and select the backup file you created on the old WSUS server. If the file does not appear, right-click File, and then click Catalog File to add the location of the file.
4. In Restore files to, click Alternate location. This option preserves the folder structure of the updates; all folders and subfolders will appear in the folder you designate. You must maintain the directory structure for all folders under \WSUSContent.
5. Under Alternate location, specify the folder where updates are stored on the new WSUS server. By default, WSUS stores updates at WSUSInstallationDrive:\WSUS\WSUSContent\. Updates must appear in the folder on the new WSUS server designated to hold updates; this is typically done during installation.
6. Click Start Restore. When the Confirm Restore dialog box appears, click OK to start the restore operation.
Step 4: Copying Metadata from Database on the old WSUS Server to the new WSUS Server
Export update metadata from the database on the old WSUS server, and import it into the database on the new WSUS server. The WSUS Setup program copies WSUSutil.exe to the file system of the WSUS server during installation. You must be a member of the local Administrators group on the WSUS server to export or import metadata; both operations can only be run from the WSUS server itself.
Important:
Never import exported data from a source that you do not trust. Importing content from a source you do not trust might compromise the security of your WSUS server.
Note:
During the import or export process, the Update Service, the Windows NT service that underpins the WSUS application, is shut down.
To export metadata from the database of the old Microsoft Windows Server Update Services Server
1. At the command prompt on the old Microsoft Windows Server Update Services Server server, navigate to the folder that contains WSUSutil.exe.
2. Type the following:
wsusutil.exe export packagename logfile
For example:
wsusutil.exe export export.cab export.log
That is, WSUSutil.exe followed by the export command, the name of an export .cab file, a space, and the name of a log file.
The package (.cab file) and log file name must be unique. WSUSutil.exe creates these two files as it exports metadata from the WSUS database.
3. Move the export package you just created to the new Microsoft Windows Server Update Services Server.
To import metadata to the database of the new Microsoft Windows Server Update Services Server.
Note:
It can take from 3 to 4 hours for the database to validate content that has just been imported. Please be patient.
1. At the command prompt on the new WSUS server, navigate to the directory that contains WSUSutil.exe.
2. Type the following:
wsusutil.exe import packagename logfile
For example:
wsusutil.exe import export.cab import.log
That is, WSUSutil.exe followed by the import command, the name of export .cab file created during the export operation, a space, and the name of a log file.
WSUSutil.exe imports the metadata from the old WSUS server and creates a log file of the operation.
Step 5: Point your Clients to the new WSUS Server.
Are not you glad its over??? I was when I finished mine 
I bet its about time to GO HOME !!!!!