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Vol. 17, #50 - December 10, 2012 - Issue #909
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Christmas holidays are quickly approaching, and although one could save a lot on AC costs by locating datacenters at the North Pole, the reality is that most of us live and work in warmer climates. So this week's newsletter is all about what we'd like Santa to bring us for our server room. But what will you get from Santa this year? It all depends on whether you've been NAUGHTY OR NICE:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878654779
In the issue Log Management (Issue 907) we recommended some possible log management products to consider if your organization is looking for a solution in this area. Nick Connor, who works at Assuria Ltd. in the UK, had another product to recommend:
Please have a look at our Log Management product, Assuria Log Manager at:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878669404
If you have any questions or would any further information please do not hesitate to contact me or Terry Pudwell at Assuria.
Readers who would like me to send them Nick's email address can contact me at wsn@mtit.com.
I also mentioned in that issue that you could use Windows PowerShell cmdlets like Get-EventLog to view and manage the Windows event logs from the PowerShell command prompt or by using PowerShell scripts. Mark Berry, who is a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist based in San Diego, sent us the following helpful clarification:
I see WServerNews #907 describes Get-EventLog but doesn't explain when and why it's better to use Get-WinEvent. I had enough confusion on this last year that I wrote this article:
PowerShell: Get-WinEvent vs. Get-EventLog
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878705138
Hope that's useful!
Thanks!
We've also received one more helpful response to the questions from a reader that we included in the Mailbag section of Eye on VDI (Issue 904). This new response is to the third question posed earlier by Aaron, namely:
I'm wondering what solutions may exist and what others may be using in terms of workforce collaboration via e-mail? I'm trying to find a collaboration tool that ties together customer and staff e-mail communication (Microsoft Exchange), a customer response status dashboard, desktop dashboard access, and smartphone dashboard access (Windows Mobile/iPhone). The primary goal of the workforce collaboration tool is to funnel customer-to-staff communication into a consolidated dashboard and prevent customer communication from falling through the cracks created by staff changes and availability.
Here is what a reader named Patrick has to suggest concerning this:
I would suggest a try of the Dell Kace solution. You can save on hardware costs by downloading a preinstalled virtual machine. And you can test it almost fully for 30 days running on a vmware player.
You can find more info concerning Dell KACE here:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878728967
Ok here goes...below is our server room wish list for this year. I don't know whether Santa's sled is big enough to accommodate everything, or if his turbo-charged reindeer can handle the load, but it's fun to dream ho ho ho...
By the way, what's on your own server room wish list? Email us your recommendations at wsn@mtit.com.
Here goes. For keeping your server room cool:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878745467
Wireless monitoring of temperature in server room:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878750342
UPS to keep your servers running:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878754826
Rack 'em and run 'em with this full frame rack cabinet:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878761107
Or mount 'em on the wall using this:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878765483
Add a rackmount KVM switch with LCD screen, touchpad and keyboard:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878771248
Or a rackmount sliding keyboard tray with hide-away mousepad:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878777170
Need some 24-port Cat6 patch panels?
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878783451
Or how about a rackmount power surge strip?
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878788326
Don't forget the rackmount NAS:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878793295
Or a SAS/SATA backplane:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878798233
And a good 24-port Gigabit Ethernet switch to connect them all together:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878802514
What have we missed that's essential to a server room? Email us at wsn@mtit.com.
Here's a PowerTip from The Scripting Guy that demonstrates how you can find out which Windows PowerShell 3.0 sessions are disconnected:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878807280
You can find lots more PowerTips by binging them link this:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878811498
Got any tips you'd like to share with over 100,000 readers of this newsletter? Email me at wsn@mtit.com
Cloud Enterprise Architecture is another good title from CRC Press. The book is designed to help organizations develop enterprise architecture (EA) frameworks for implementing cloud computing solutions that can help you achieve your business strategies. Individual chapters apply EA principles to different aspects of cloud computing including architecture design, applications, supporting technologies, integration issues, management, security, and governence. The subject is covered in a standards-oriented, vendor-neutral fashion, and is good, solid reading for enterprise architects and IT decision-makers.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878831514
"Seeing isn't believing. Believing is seeing." --Little Elf Judy in the movie The Santa Clause
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878836186
Until next week,
Mitch Tulloch
BTW feel free to follow me on Twitter and/or friend me on Facebook
Hypervisor Independent VDI & Application Publishing from a Single Platform with 2X ApplicationServer XG. 30-day fully featured trial version.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1355149242464
Free tool: Hyper-V Backup by Altaro. Easy to use, fast, has your back. More info & Download:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354879645426
SolarWinds trio of free tools helps you manage and remove inactive computers and users from Active Directory, and allows you to add users in bulk. Download your three free tools today!
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354879639785
SeaTools for Windows lets you diagnose problems with Seagate HDDs:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878841905
Use HDTune to scan HDDs for bad sectors:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878845702
Contact Michael Vella at michaelv@techgenix.com to get your conference or other event listed in our Events Calendar.
Contact Michael Vella at michaelv@techgenix.com to get your webcast listed in our Webcasts Calendar.
Just for fun this issue, we have some Santa-themed tech posts for your enjoyment! But first, please help your Editor upgrade his wardrobe by helping him win a free T-shirt from the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional program! All you have to do is click the following link to where you can download the evaluation version of Windows Server 2012:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878880624
And while you're at it, why not try installing Windows Server 2012 and giving it a test drive. I'm excited about the new and enhanced features of this latest version of Windows Server, and I suspect you will be as well once you've tried them out.
And now for the Santa stuff:
This whitepaper from Microsoft Research gets to the heart of the Santa Claus Problem:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878886186
This post on the CSO blog from a few years back proves that there is no Santa Claus:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878911187
From Oracle's Ask Tom comes the following advice: "You could have connected using santa/clause as sysdba and it would have worked":
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878916062
From the Citrix Blog comes another story you want to believe:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878924390
Did you know Santa sometimes helps answer questions on the HP support forums?
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878931218
This is a nice true story from the Cisco blogs:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878937249
Virtualization enables software to become more dynamic and flexible, allowing your data center to easily adjust to whatever demands and conditions it may face. Learn more about this new software-defined data center, including how it differs from physical data centers and the benefits it can offer.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878943327
While cloud computing offers significant benefits, implementing this environment in your organization does not come cheap. Inside this resource, discover essential tips and tricks that can help you minimize your cloud’s price tag, and learn the pros and cons of in-house cloud development versus purchasing.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878947265
VMware View 5.1 is creating a lot of buzz in the IT industry. So what does the latest edition of VMware’s popular virtualization platform offer? Access this tip to explore the enhancements and features that View 5.1 brings to the table, including improvements to storage, integration, security and more.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878951343
As businesses consider migrating to Windows 8, many are wondering if this new operating system (OS) is secure enough for their sensitive information. Microsoft has tried to address these concerns by adding more security features to Windows 8, however, the vulnerabilities are still there. Find out more inside.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878957281
The coolest video of dogs decorating a Christmas tree:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878962124
The Russian Aerobatic Team performs at the air show celebrating "100 Years of the Russian Air Force".
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878966718
Amazing Christmas display with 176 channels and 45,000 lights! The show is so popular that it requires a crew of 3 people to manage the traffic.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878974515
French comedy musical group Zic Zazou plays "Love Is A Rebellious Bird" from the opera Carmen on unusual instruments.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878981250
Christmas story told through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, Google Maps, Gmail and Amazon. Times change - feelings remain the same.
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878986984
Christmas back home:
http://www.wservernews.com/go/1354878992265
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Mitch Tulloch is Senior Editor of WServerNews and is a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, deployment and virtualization. Mitch was lead author of the bestselling Windows 7 Resource Kit from Microsoft Press and has published hundreds of articles for IT pros. Mitch is also a seven-time recipient of Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for his outstanding contributions in support of the global IT pro community. Mitch owns and runs an information technology content development business based in Winnipeg, Canada. For more information see www.mtit.com
Ingrid Tulloch is Associate Editor of WServerNews and was co-author of the Microsoft Encyclopedia of Networking from Microsoft Press. Ingrid is also Head of Research for our content development business and has co-developed university-level courses in Information Security Management for a Masters of Business Administration program.
