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Vol. 12, #17 - Apr 30, 2007 - Issue #623
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Longhorn: A 'Minimally Disruptive' Revolution
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- Editor's Corner
- Longhorn Beta 3 Released
- CounterSpy Enterprise (CSE) Version 2.0 Released
- CSE And Ninja Get 2007 Global Product Excellence Awards
- Live Web Demo Of Ninja Email Security for Exchange
- Quote Of The Week
- Admin Toolbox
- Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without
- Tech Briefing
- Tip: Paravirtualization Explained
- Special Report: IT Managers Take On Compliance
- Tutorial: Exchange Public Folder Replication
- Windows Shops Take Slow Road To Exchange Server 2007
- A Five-Step Approach To Server Consolidation For Systems Admins
- Office 2007: A Look At Its Security Features
- Windows Server News
- Longhorn: A 'Minimally Disruptive' Revolution
- WServer Third Party News
- Released! What's New In CounterSpy Enterprise V2.0?
- WServerNews FAVE Links
- This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
- WServerNews - Product of the Week
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Is Your Network Protected against Blended Malware Threats?
Cyber criminals are now using combinations of spam, worms, trojans
and rootkits to infect your machines. You need protection against
these new nasties. The all-new CounterSpy Enterprise Version 2.0
with centralized "hybrid" antispyware technology does that.
With kernel-level, real-time protection you can feel a bit safer.
But how many of the machines in your network are infected? Find out!
Test drive the new hybrid antispyware engine that merges the 'system
cleaning' properties of traditional antispyware products with the
efficiency of powerful antivirus-based technology. Try it today:
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-CounterSpy-Enterprise
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Editor's Corner |
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Longhorn Beta 3 Released
This is now available for anyone, so you can get your hot little hands
on it too. Read the more in-depth article "Longhorn: A 'Minimally
Disruptive' Revolution" in the 'Windows Server News' section below.
CounterSpy Enterprise (CSE) Version 2.0 Released
This was a massive upgrade and there are a slew of new features.
See more about those in the Third party News section. But there
is no better way to show you than to let a system admin talk:
"It's a great upgrade. I've been testing 2.0 since the public beta and
it's a vast improvement over 1.8. What's most impressive, I think, is
the memory management and scan speeds over the previous version. The
auto-deployment feature is a welcome enhancement too. Although we use
Trend for our AV protection, I will be interested to see Sunbelt's new
offering later this summer. Thanks."
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-CounterSpy-Enterprise
CSE And Ninja Get 2007 Global Product Excellence Awards
Info Security Products Guide has named CounterSpy Enterprise and Sunbelt
Messaging Ninja winners of the 2007 Global Product Excellence Customer
Trust Awards in the Anti-Spyware and Email Security categories. This
customer trust honor shows that both products are ahead of the curve when
it comes to the best-of-the-best products that can provide the highest
security against spyware, messaging threats, and other malware. More than
18,000 end-users and prospective customers worldwide were invited to vote
for the products that they trust the most when it comes to protecting
their digital resources.
Live Web Demo Of Ninja Email Security for Exchange
Join us for a Live Web Demonstration of Sunbelt Messaging Ninja for Microsoft
Exchange with Alex Eckelberry, President and Greg Kras, VP of Product Management
for Sunbelt Software on Tuesday, May 1st at 2:00pm EDT. Learn about the features
of this robust email security product including:
- Policy-based plug-in management for antispam, AV, and attachment filtering
- New policy-based and global disclaimers
- Fast deployment in Exchange environments
- Superior spam detection using two antispam engines
- Aggressive virus detection and elimination using two AV engines
- Custom rules for content inspection and attachment filtering
- Powerful reporting options for all plug-ins
- And more...
When: Tuesday, May 1, 2007 2:00 PM (EDT)
To join the day of the event please visit:
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-Ninja-Webinar
Meeting ID: 92SSQC
Attendee Meeting Key: XR*mw9Z
Audio: Toll free: 888-468-4618
Toll: 620-782-8200
Participant code: 104764
Quote Of The Week
"A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given
by his fathers, but borrowed from his children." - John James Audubon
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Tech Briefing |
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Tip: Paravirtualization Explained
Paravirtualization allows multiple operating systems to run on hardware
at the same time by making more efficient use of system resources, such
as processors and memory, through effective resource sharing. Find out
more about the benefits and also drawbacks of paravirtualization, when
and where to use this technology, and product considerations.
(registration required)
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-Paravirtualization
Special Report: IT Managers Take On Compliance
The complexity of adhering to compliance regulations can make any IT
manager's head spin. This special report will help you navigate the murky
waters of compliance. (registration required)
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-Compliance
Tutorial: Exchange Public Folder Replication
Exchange MVP Brien Posey offers an overview of the Exchange public folder
replication process and explains the methodology behind it. He then walks
through how to decide what content you should replicate, and describes
step-by-step how to create and configure Exchange public folder replicas
in Exchange System Manager.
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-Replication
Windows Shops Take Slow Road To Exchange Server 2007
Windows managers are content with older versions of Exchange Server, so it
could be a while before Exchange Server 2007 migrations are in full swing.
Read more in this exclusive article.
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-Exchange-2007
A Five-Step Approach To Server Consolidation For Systems Admins
What does server consolidation mean to you today? Are you waiting for a magic
solution to your server sprawl problems? How do you define your approach to
consolidation? Here are some tips that can help you reduce the total number
of servers or server locations in your organization.
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-Consolidation
Office 2007: A Look At Its Security Features
So what has Microsoft done to make sure that malware and other nasty
intruders don't mess with your important documents? This tip explains
some of the relevant security features in Office 2007.
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-Office-2007
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Windows Server News |
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Longhorn: A 'Minimally Disruptive' Revolution
Well, 'Next-generation Windows Server' is getting closer! This Wednesday,
Redmond announced the availability of what I now call W2K8 Beta 3, with new
features that were not in Beta 2. They said that it's now feature-complete,
and want to get it in the hands of as many people as possible. They are also
dogfooding it inside Microsoft where it runs on almost 1,000 servers.
Some of the most important new features are Windows PowerShell, additional
Server Core roles and Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.
Now, Redmond claims that this beta is very stable. And it may be in their
own environment. But now that everyone gets their hands on it, a multitude
of bugs will come out of the woodwork, primarily driven by thousands of
third party applications. So you want to isolate this beta in a sandbox
and run all your apps on it for a while. Do NOT take this into production.
One of the things that I think are most important, is that they did a 180
on security: Ward Ralston, a senior technical product manager said it's part
of a paradigm shift (Uh oh, I said the dreaded word) for how they view
security: "You don't lock a server down -- you unlock a server by deciding
on what role you want." I think that is the right approach, and that is
where Server Roles come in. They made the whole Windows Server modular.
Beta 3 has four extra "Server Core" roles, in addition to the roles that
were in Longhorn Beta 2 and 1. Server Cores are stripped-down, small
footprint versions of W2K8 server that are task-specific, less resource-
intensive than the full version and thus more secure as the attack surface
is smaller. Three of the new cores are Print Server, Streaming Media Server
and AD Lightweight Directory Services. Some other cores are DHCP, File, AD
and DNS, and Terminal Services Gateway. Another advantage of Server Cores
is less reboots, since the patches are less (you only need the patches for
those 'roles').
You can set up these Server Cores through the new Server Manager, which
Ralston called "our one-stop shop for server configuration". It is true that
with W2K and W2K3 you could screw up in this area. With W2K8 and its new
Server Manager this will be easier and less mistakes can be made. Also,
the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is now turned on by default.
That means you need to turn it off to install components, but it makes the
server more secure which I think is a plus. The Server Manager centralizes
server management under one MMC. Server Core installation can still be
managed remotely using existing Microsoft and third-party tools, while
local admin tasks can be done through command line utilities.
Windows PowerShell is the command-line shell we have heard so much about.
It basically allows all tasks to be scripted. It's a feature that many admins
have been asking for, because this is the kind of thing that's always been
there on Unix.
More Security Features
It's hard to list them all, but one super interesting feature is the
Network Access Protection (NAP). They totally redid this puppy. NAP
prevents infections. It does that by stopping traveling or remote users
from logging onto the network -- and potentially spreading malware -- by
first quarantining and cleaning up that user's machine. But there are
more security related features, Beta 3 it includes:
- The last update of the Public Key Infrastructure software
- BitLocker encryption technology
- Improved Event Logging
- Read-Only Domain Controllers
- Dual-Layer IPv4 and IPv6 (however that is a debatable improvement)
- Windows Server Firewall
The Last 32-bit OS
W2K8 is the last 32-bit OS that Microsoft will produce. Similar to Exchange
2007, future releases will be 64-bit or even higher. You might be worried
about legacy systems but by the time this new OS will come out, you like
will hardly be running a lot less 32 bit hardware, and no one will be
making any either. Longhorn also has simpler failover clustering, dynamic
partitioning and auto-tuning networking features to automatically manage
system resources. I think it will make sense for many of you to investigate
the W2K8 Terminal Services as well.
Active Directory
Another important new feature is Active Directory Federation Services, which
lets you implement new policies and make it easier to set up a relationship
between trusted partners. And another new feature is the long awaited Group
Policy Management Console. With W2K8 you can run the wizard, and the last
screen shows a button that allows you export the configuration, and out
comes the script, very handy.
Some Problems Remain
Windows guru Mark Minasi, who has been reviewing the most recent community
technology preview mentioned that Longhorn may have some problems with AD,
and still missing are the Single Instance Store (SIS) domain controller
along with some features in the Domain Name System (DNS) Server.
W2K8 is scheduled for release to manufacturing (RTM) in the "second half of
2007." Expect to see at least one Release Candidate (RC) before RTM. By the
way, Longhorn and Windows Vista SP1 will ship together. And 180 days after
the RTM, more apps for W2K8 will ship, like the Windows Server Virtualization
code, and Version 2 of Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) and
the Identity Lifecycle Manager (ILM). Both ADFS and ILM are parts of
Redmond's identity management strategy.
You can bet on Redmond promoting W2K8 heavily at the Windows Hardware
Engineering (WinHEC) Conference next month and the June TechEd show in
Orlando. You can get the W2K8 Beta 3 here:
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-Longhorn-Beta
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WServer Third Party News |
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Released! What's New In CounterSpy Enterprise V2.0?
Here is the new stuff that CSE 2.0 has:
Deployment Wizard Improvements:
- Ability to run pre and post install actions
- (Ability to be configured by Support as well)
Performance and Scalability:
- Support up to 5000 Agents on a single server basic server (over 5x perf increase)
- Performance monitors at key locations in the Services
Agent:
- New Threat Engine (lower memory footprint)
- New Active Protection
- Blocks changes from happening
- Reduced CPU time
- Allows admin to specify custom "allowed" active protection items
- Allows admin to specify custom "blocked" active protection items
- Incremental threat definition updates
Console:
- Persist some UI config and grid settings
- UI Enhancements to Agents Grid
- Massive speed increases when managing agents and viewing history
- UI changes for new AP settings, simplified configuration
- Display version threat was added/changed in database
Reporting:
- New database layout so that custom reports could be written directly from the database
- Allow user to export to HTML
- Large increase in speed of reports
- Fix reports for new schema
Find out how many machines in your network are infected. Get the new V2.0 NOW
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-CounterSpy-Enterprise
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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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What IS Blended Malware?
Cyber criminals are now using combinations of spam, worms, trojans
and rootkits to infect your machines. You need protection against
these new nasties. The all-new CounterSpy Enterprise Version 2.0
with centralized "hybrid" antispyware technology does that.
With kernel-level, real-time protection you can feel a bit safer.
But how many of the machines in your network are infected? Find out!
Test drive the new hybrid antispyware engine that merges the 'system
cleaning' properties of traditional antispyware products with the
efficiency of powerful antivirus-based technology. Try it today:
http://www.wservernews.com/070430-CounterSpy-Enterprise
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