Vol. 11, #42 - Oct 16, 2006 - Issue #598 Aaugh! Microsoft Moves TechEd Out Of New Orleans... EDITORS CORNER CounterSpy Enterprise 1.8.1165.0 Released Upcoming Sunbelt Seminars Quotes Of The Week ADMIN TOOLBOX Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without TECH BRIEFING Featured Article: VMware Server Support FAQ: SQL Server Query Errors And Explanations Learning Center: All About .OST files Creating Your First Virtual Server VM Can You Trust Third-party Patches? WINDOWS SERVER NEWS Aaugh! Microsoft Moves TechEd Out Of New Orleans... Redmond Rolls Out Fixes For More Than Two Dozen Flaws Microsoft Acquires Colloquis Microsoft Makes Changes to Vista in EU, S. Korea WINDOWS SERVER THIRD PARTY NEWS CounterSpy Enterprise 1.8.1165.0 Released "Microsoft Antigen Nails Viruses But Stumbles On Spam" Increase In Hacked Vulnerabilities to 20% WServerNews 'FAVE' LINKS This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff. WServerNews - PRODUCT OF THE WEEK Configuration Software For The Rest Of Us Run Exchange? Compared to your current Antispam & Antivirus... Ninja is: Much easier to manage Better multi-engine spam detection Integrated multi-engine antivirus Policy-based, great end-user control Excellent reporting And... more cost effective! Save 30-50% over your current antispam / antivirus product and upgrade to the first true third-gen messaging security tool: Ninja. http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Ninja EDITORS CORNER CounterSpy Enterprise 1.8.1165.0 Released We are happy to announce that CounterSpy Enterprise 1.8.1165.0 has just been released! The 1.8.1165.0 release of CSE is a major update to the 1.5 release and contains quite a few improvements in the backend services and console components. The reporting database structure has been radically redesigned as well to improve performance and enable simpler development of custom reports directly from the database. Below in Third Party News is a a simplified list of items that have changed or been added for this release. Upcoming Sunbelt Seminars We'd like to invite you to attend the following seminars that we are hosting: "What Every IT Manager Should Know About Centralized Backup and Protecting Microsoft SQL and Exchange"- Join Sunbelt and Double-Take Software as we discuss strategies for implementing high availability, remote availability and offsite disaster recovery solutions for SQL, Exchange and other mission critical applications using Double-Take. Hosted at Microsoft in Houston, TX on Wednesday, November 1st. Register here: http://www.wservernews.com/061016-DT-Seminar-Houston Hosted at the Hilton Austin in Austin, TX on Thursday, November 2nd. Register here: http://www.wservernews.com/061016-DT-Seminar-Austin Quotes Of The Week "There are risks and costs to any action. But they are far less than risks and costs of comfortable inaction." - John F. Kennedy "I won't say ours was a tough school, but we had our own coroner. We used to write essays like: What I'm going to be if I grow up." -- Lenny Bruce Hope you enjoy this issue of WServerNews! Warm regards, Stu  |   Email me: feedback@wservernews.com ADMIN TOOLBOX Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without Everything you always wanted to know about subnetting but were afraid to ask. Article: IP subnetting made easy at TechRepublic: http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Subnetting Tired of resetting passwords? Let end users reset their own passwords for AD and ADAM. Check out myPassword from Namescape: http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Reset-Passwords Move, copy, or clone the Active Directory database for backup, recovery, or testing: UMove for Active Directory. http://www.wservernews.com/061016-UMove Redmond Mag wants to know what your fave free tools are. Let them know and we'll report back with the bestest free-est ones! http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Redmond-Faves TECH BRIEFING Featured Article: VMware Server Support At a crossroads between the free VMware Server and ESX, a five-year veteran of server virtualization ponders whether VMware support for the free version will be enough to support his production environment. Read more in this exclusive article at SearchServerVirtualization: (free registration required) http://www.wservernews.com/061016-VMWare-Server-Support FAQ: SQL Server Query Errors And Explanations Queries in SQL Server have many facets, which at times can be daunting. To ease the pain of running a query, SearchSQLServer.com has compiled answers to a dozen frequently asked questions on the function. Here, experts address reader concerns including resolving code errors and how to avoid delays when running a query. At SearchSQLServer: (free registration required) http://www.wservernews.com/061016-SQL-Server-Errors Learning Center: All About .OST files Offline store (.OST) files are a convenient feature for Microsoft Outlook users and a valuable disaster recovery option for Exchange Server admins. Augment your .OST know-how with this compilation of tips, tools and expert advice on managing, troubleshooting and securing .OST files. (free registration required) http://www.wservernews.com/061016-OST-Files Creating Your First Virtual Server VM Microsoft Virtual Server from the ground up. If you read Anil Desai's first "Microsoft Virtual Server from the ground up" article, you already know how to install Virtual Server. It's time to create your first virtual machine! Find out how in part two of this series. http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Virtual-Server Can You Trust Third-party Patches? Convenient as off-cycle, third-party patches may seem, people who are contemplating installing them should ask themselves if the patches are truly trustworthy. Article at SearchWindowsSecurity: http://www.wservernews.com/061016-3rd-Party-Patches WINDOWS SERVER NEWS Aaugh! Microsoft Moves TechEd Out Of New Orleans... Aaugh! And we were looking forward so much to going back to Bourbon Street! [sob] EntMag came first with this bad news. More than 13 months after Hurricane Katrina came ashore, Microsoft confirmed Monday that it is moving three of its annual conferences, including two of its largest shows, out of New Orleans -- at least temporarily. Here is the sad article. Read more: http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Tech-Ed Redmond Rolls Out Fixes For More Than Two Dozen Flaws In one of its biggest patch releases in recent months, Microsoft Tuesday rolled out fixes for 26 vulnerabilities. But technical problems delayed the rollout by way of Update services. ComputerWorld has it nicely summarized: http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Patch-Tuesday Microsoft Acquires Colloquis After Thursday's close, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Colloquis, a privately held developer of natural language processing technology that enables online interaction with users. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Colloquis' technology allows its customers to automate certain customer service issues online, such as frequently asked questions, with conversational language. The company plans on offering a managed service, called Windows Live Service Agents, based on Colloquis' technology to companies with online operations. In addition, it plans on integrating it with some of its own products, beginning with the Xbox self-service support offering set for release later this year. Current customers of Colloquis include Cingular Wireless, Comcast, Cox Communications, Time-Warner and Vonage. Microsoft Makes Changes to Vista in EU, S. Korea Microsoft says it has made changes to its new operating system Vista after what it called "constructive dialog" with the European Commission and South Korea over regulatory concerns. eWEEK has the story: http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Vista-Changes WINDOWS SERVER THIRD PARTY NEWS CounterSpy Enterprise 1.8.1165.0 Released We are happy to announce that CounterSpy Enterprise 1.8.1165.0 has just been released! The 1.8.1165.0 release of CSE is a major update to the 1.5 release and contains quite a few improvements in the backend services and console components. The reporting database structure has been radically redesigned as well to improve performance and enable simpler development of custom reports directly from the database. Deployment Wizard Improvements: Ability to run pre and post install actions (Ability to be configured by Support as well) Improved deployment results screen Do not enforce unique IP addresses in Agent catalog Performance and Scalability Support up to 10000 Agents on a single server basic server Memory and CPU optimizations in all services Enhanced remoting interface to allow for more efficient use of system memory Console Persist UI configuration and grid settings UI Enhancements to Threats Grid Added agent count to Quarantine Grid Added agent count to Threat Grid Added last found date to Threat Grid Split agent status from deferred work status Updated Scan Options settings in policy settings Performance increases when managing agents and viewing history Improved Proxy support Persisted licensing information UI changes for threat actions, simplified configuration No matter what the license status is, the user is able to edit proxy, email server and database settings Reporting New database layout so that custom reports can written directly from the database Allow user to export to HTML Large increase in speed of reports Ability to run reports from command line (schedule and export) To take full advantage of these great new features, be sure to download CounterSpy Enterprise 1.8.1165.0 (direct link to .exe): http://www.wservernews.com/061016-CounterSpy-Enterprise "Microsoft Antigen Nails Viruses But Stumbles On Spam" InfoWorld Magazine just thoroughly tested Forefront Antigen. They said: "Malware protection impresses, but optional anti-spam module can't hack it" The full article is here, and it's a good read. http://www.wservernews.com/061016-MS-Antigen Increase In Hacked Vulnerabilities to 20% According to Gartner, the percentage of vulnerabilities that are attacked before a patch is released will increase from less than 1 percent in 2005 to 20 percent by 2008. This means that you need to improve your vulnerability management with a layered approach to remediation. And a recent InfoWorld Research Report on security reported that, 47% of respondents stated that a major security breach at their organization would have a serious impact on the security measures deployed at their company. Criminal organizations have organized their hacking efforts; it is no longer just "script kiddies" trying to break into your network. In the past several years, it has become apparent that there is real money to be made from criminal hacking. You need to implement a comprehensive and integrated security architecture that can keep your organization secure from external and internal threats. One of the must-have apps in that stack is a top notch vulnerability scanner. SNSI is a MilSpec, high quality scanner with a multi-platform database of thousands of current network holes. It's licensed by Admin, (so it's affordable) and the coming V2.0 will be even more easy to manage. Check out SNSI here, there is no where else where you can get this much security tool for such a low price. And it's a WinITPro 2006 Readers Choice Winner! http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Sunbelt-Network-Security-Inspector WServerNews 'FAVE' LINKS This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff. Cool videos department. This guy drives his (enormously) souped up jeep over water. No kidding. http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Water-Jeep This 4:43m video from the MIT shows a truly intelligent whiteboard. It's a GOTTA see, as it has 'real world knowledge': http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Smart-Whiteboard Geek license plates, some pretty cool ones! http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Geek-License-Plates Carl Webster, a WServerNews Reader, has a very talented son. He's asking for votes for the American Idol 2nd Chance Contest. Listen to the song, register (free) and vote thumbs up! http://www.wservernews.com/061016-American-Idol-Vote This is a painful one I don't ever want to have happen to anyone! http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Painful Did you know that on the Blinkx site you can search 6 million hours of video footage? http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Blinkx-Search High Tech wallets. And I mean high tech! http://www.wservernews.com/061016-High-Tech-Wallet Russian "Stonehenge" keyboard in concrete. Something else... http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Russian-Stonehenge What's a candle flame look like in microgravity? NASA has the shot; http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Microgravity-Flame The craziest Swiss army knife ever with - count 'em- 85 tools! http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Swiss-Army-Knife Sunbelt's Creative Director went for a photo shoot in Portland, Maine: The fall colors are spectacular... http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Fall-Foliage Sick of spam? Have another drink...of it. New energy drink called SPAM. http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Spam-Drink Now psychiatrists say that children are over medicated. Washington Post: http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Medicated Amazing Physics: Levitation of an object (no sound): http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Levitation Into Sci-Fi like I am? Ever wondered about the dimension of starships? http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Starship-Dimensions This artist makes amazing things with just one sheet of paper! http://www.wservernews.com/061016-Paper-Artist WServerNews - PRODUCT OF THE WEEK Configuration Software For The Rest Of Us WINREPORTER is a powerful scanning and reporting administrative tool, that remotely inventories software and device configuration as well as user settings. WINREPORTER facilitates network management by retrieving all indispensable data linked to the functioning of the Windows NT/2000/2003 network (LAN and WAN), and maintains retrieved information in an ODBC type central database. WINREPORTER offers a set of 37 "out-of-the-box" reports as well as the ability to customize your own reports. Eval at: http://www.wservernews.com/061016-WinReporter