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Vol. 12, #4 - Jan 29, 2007 - Issue #610
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Expect Vista SP1 In December
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- Editors Corner
- Expect Vista SP1 In December
- Come Visit Us At The RSA Show in San Francisco
- Yankee Survey: Comparing Windows To Linux Servers
- Your Coolest TradeShow Gift Ever?
- Quote Of The Week
- Admin Toolbox
- Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without
- Tech Briefing
- Optimizing Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 Series
- Updated MS Toolkit Allows Full Vista Compatibility Check
- Safe And Secure Windows Logging Practices
- Top 10 SQL Server Indexing Tips To Improve Performance
- Windows Server News
- If I Run Vista, Do I Still Need 3rd Party AntiSpyware?
- Pirated Vista: System Admin Gotcha
- WServer Third Party News
- Double-Take Is Named A Finalist For Two Industry Awards
- "CounterSpy: The ONLY Product I Could Install Via SMS"
- WServerNews 'FAVE' Links
- This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
- WServerNews - Product of the Week
- Messaging Ninja: HALF The Admin Time
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4 Days of Intensive Microsoft Advanced Infrastructure Training
By Experts for Experts. No text books, it's real world experience.
Day 1: Active Directory - Design, Implementation & Admin.
Day 2: Managing your Environment - SMS & MOM.
Day 3: The Windows System - Security, Branch Env. VServ & more.
Day 4: Exchange - Design, Migration, Security & Trouble-Shooting.
Sign up before February 9th and save $200 (promotion code WSN07)
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-Training
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Editors Corner |
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Expect Vista SP1 In December
Redmond is planning its first SP1 with bug fixes and enhancements for
the new OS. They already asked for businesses that want to be beta
testers and said: "Interested customers should contact their Technical
Account Manager at Microsoft to get nominated". And Vista for consumers
only goes into retail next week! SP1 is going to be a bunch of fixes,
as opposed to XP SP2 which was reworking major sections of the engine.
Come Visit Us At The RSA Show in San Francisco
You are invited to be our guest at RSA Conference 2007, February
5-9 in San Francisco. Stop by the Sunbelt Software Booth #2513 and
get a live demo of Ninja and CounterSpy Enterprise. Click this link
to find out what the goodie is we are giving away!:
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-RSA-Conference
Yankee Survey: Comparing Windows To Linux Servers
Reminder: We are redoing our yearly major survey comparing Windows to
Linux together with the Yankee Group. You are invited to participate.
We will make the Executive Summary of the survey available next week.
It should take you less than 3 minutes to complete. If you are in either
education or government, (MEA CULPA) these options fell out of Q3,
please indicate that in the comments section at the end? This really
is an important survey. Thanks in advance! LINK:
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-Survey
Your Coolest TradeShow Gift Ever?
I have a 2-second web survey for ya! At all the tradeshows that you have visited...
What is the coolest gift / tchotchke / give-away / swag you ever got?
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-Tradeshow
Quote Of The Week
"A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to."
-- Laurence Peter
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Tech Briefing |
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Optimizing Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 Series
General networking principals apply to virtual machines just as they
apply to physical ones. But because the host's network adapters will be
providing resources for all VMs, there are some special considerations.
In this tip, expert Anil Desai presents some ways to design networks with
virtualization performance in mind. (free registration)
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-Virtualization
Updated MS Toolkit Allows Full Vista Compatibility Check
With Windows Vista finally released to manufacturing, administrators are
bracing for the inevitability of supporting the new operating system. The
big unknown isn't whether a given machine can support Vista, but whether
a given application will run properly in Vista. And since Vista features
some of the most radical changes to Windows since Windows went 32-bit,
this is no small issue. Read more in this tip! (free registration)
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-Vista-Compatibility-Toolkit
Safe And Secure Windows Logging Practices
When it comes to audit logging, have you ever wondered what it takes
to meet all the regulatory compliance requirements? Do you enable audit
logging enough to satisfy your organization's business needs and keep
security risks at a minimum? In this expert tip, find out how you can.
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-Windows-Logging
Top 10 SQL Server Indexing Tips To Improve Performance
SearchSQLServer.com editors have tallied their most popular tips on the
topic of indexes to help DBAs weed out valueless indexes, design high
performing indexes and query your existing SQL Server indexes.
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-SQL-Indexing-Tips
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Windows Server News |
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If I Run Vista, Do I Still Need 3rd Party AntiSpyware?
In short, YES. Walt Mossberg of Wall Street Journal fame said so
last week. Why? Well, let me tell you my perspective on this.
First of all, Vista comes bundled with Defender, and that was not
built for the enterprise. You cannot manage it centrally, so forget
about it. Furthermore, Defender has two weaknesses: 1) It is not
very effective, and 2) the updates are too few and far between.
"Weak Spyware Blocking Capability"
Our respected colleagues at Webroot came out with the following
statement: "As part of the ongoing testing performed by Webroot's
Threat Research team, it was discovered that Windows(r) Defender failed
to block 84 percent of a testing sample-set that included 15 of the
most common variations of existing spyware and malware. In evaluating
its ability to block spyware and malware before it has infected a
user's machine, Webroot's Threat Research Team found the Windows(r)
Defender program's performance was not in keeping with many third-party
security applications, including Webroot's own award-winning anti-
spyware program, Spy Sweeper(r). Threats of various types - including
adware, Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs), system monitors,
keyloggers and trojans - were able to reside on the testing environment
undetected by Windows Vista(tm). One PUP tested was able to install under
administrator privileges, run and capture keystrokes without any
adaptation from its Windows(r) XP operating environment, and Defender
did not detect the installation or the running application."
Well, there you have it. You still need 3rd party antispyware even after
you deploy Vista. Microsoft marketing can now say: "Oh, anti-spyware?
Check! We got that". But don't let that fool you. You still need
the real malware specialists to get effective protection. You might
say: "Yeah, but Microsoft now also has Forefront client security"
True, but read the fine print.... the anti-malware component of
Forefront is based on Defender! (OUCH) The upshot is that your shortlist
for enterprise antispyware is either SpySweeper or CounterSpy. The
best products always win!
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-CSE
Pirated Vista: System Admin Gotcha
ComputerWorld has a story that is interesting from the System Admin
perspective. Some of your more adventurous "power' users might be
tempted to install pirated Vista versions on their systems at home
that they use to telecommute. I have seen this happen when XP came
out and do not expect it to be any different with Vista. That is of
course going to break a lot of things, but more over, it creates a
legal liability that you need to prevent. BitTorrent is used by tens
of millions of Internet users to swap digital music and movies for
free. Now pirated Vista is also available "for free". Microsoft has
quietly admitted that there are at least three workarounds for its
Software Protection Platform (SSP).
If you have a few end-user that you suspect might try this, I'd make
sure to squash that impulse before it actually gets done. Saves a lot
of time and hassle! Story at ComputerWorld:
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-Pirated-Vista
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WServer Third Party News |
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Double-Take Is Named A Finalist For Two Industry Awards
Double-Take has been named a finalist in the 4th Annual Law Technology
News Awards. The Awards dinner will be held on Monday night (January 29)
at the New York Hilton during LEGAL TECH NY. More information can be
found at:
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-Double-Take-Finalist
This year the judges of the SearchStorage Products of the Year Awards have
chosen the finalists, and Double-Take for Virtual Systems has been named
to the list. You can see the official announcement at under the Backup and
disaster recovery software category. The final storage medal winners will
be announced in the February issue of Storage magazine and on SearchStorage,
February 6th.
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-Awards
"CounterSpy: The ONLY Product I Could Install Via SMS"
Just read what a customer sent us just this week:
"Hi Dave, just wanted to let you know I spoke with a very nice gentleman
from Sunbelt support. He showed me the "unofficial" way of removing the
uninstalled(unwanted) clients from the Management/Agent console view.
Also, I wanted to let you know that we tested client package deployment
via SMS and it went off without a hitch. Of the first 3 anti-malware
products we've tested, CounterSpy is the only one that we've been able
to install via SMS without any problems. Kudos for ease of .msi package
deployment. -- J.A. Network Services - IT Specialist
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-CSE-via-SMS
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WServerNews 'FAVE' Links |
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This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
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WServerNews - Product of the Week |
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Messaging Ninja: HALF The Admin Time
A recent independent (Osterman) survey shows that Ninja Takes HALF
the time to administer, and has significantly lower cost per user.
Combined with extremely high spam filter rates, and more than 5,000
business installations of Messaging Ninja in less than 9 months, Ninja
is the system admin's favorite for antispam, antivirus and advanced,
policy based attachment filtering. You can get a 50% discount when you
upgrade to 'SearchExchange Product Of The Year' Ninja from your
existing Exchange antispam or antivirus, making Ninja super attractive.
http://www.wservernews.com/070129-Sunbelt-Messaging-Ninja
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