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Vol. 12, #37 - Sep 24, 2007 - Issue #643
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Do The The Bad Guys Never Sleep?
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- Editor's Corner
- Quick Reminder: SFP $10 Offer Ends Sept 30
- Microsoft Defeat In Europe - What Does It Mean?
- SMB Messaging Summit Webinar 2007
- Quote of the Day
- Admin Toolbox
- Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without
- Tech Briefing
- Free Server Optimization & Virtualization Seminar
- Process Explorer V11.0 Adds Windows Vista Capabilities
- Podcast: Why You Should Plan Security Tests For Windows Networks
- Tip: The Scoop On 64-Bit Windows
- Symantec: Bank Account Details Fetch $400 Online
- Malware Becoming More Sophisticated, Warns IBM
- Windows Server News
- Viridian Out In Test Next Week
- More About Virtualization Prices
- Microsoft Ships PerformancePoint Server 2007
- WServer Third Party News
- Ninja Kills Spam For Integrated Community Services
- Run VMware? Update That VMCode!
- Do The The Bad Guys Never Sleep?
- WServerNews Fave Links
- This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
- WServerNews - Product of the Week
- Streamline Management of Active Directory and Exchange!
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Streamline Management of Active Directory and Exchange!
Ensim Unify is a Turn-Key, SOA-based Enterprise Solution that
Automates and Manages Over 1,000,000 Users Everyday
- Provisioning Automation and Change Management
- Resource Optimization and Remote Administration
- Mobile Device and Email client configuration and control
- Self-service password reset & optional delegated management
- Easy to use portal with standardized & configurable bus logic
- Self-installation with existing AD and Exchange infrastructure
Free Download at
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-Ensim
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Editor's Corner |
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Quick Reminder: SFP $10 Offer Ends Sept 30
The special we are running, where you can get the Sunbelt Personal
Firewall for just ten bucks, ends Sept 30. Better grab that award-
winning firewall right now, and tell your friends before it goes away:
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-Sunbelt-Personal-Firewall
Microsoft Defeat In Europe - What Does It Mean?
Last week, the European Commission told Microsoft it's appeal against
the original EC anti-trust ruling was defeated, upheld its prior
judgment and its $690 million fine. This case is about two things:
Redmond bundling the Windows Media Player, and the sharing of
communications protocols. So now, Redmond is required to offer a
a version of Windows in Europe sans WMP and also share its protocols
with competitors.
Redmond's PR machine of course tried to spin it the best way they could,
and stated that it is "100% committed to complying with decision".
They already sell versions of XP and Vista without WMP. And regarding
the sharing of its communications protocols, they said they were
mostly concerned about the pricing model. (They have cut their
fee to 1% of revenue generated from a given product.)
It is funny to see that the EU's investigation into Redmond's lack of
appetite to share interoperability protocols stemmed from a complaint
filed by Sun Microsystems back in 1998, while Sun just announced they
were going to sell Windows Servers last week! The upshot, though , is
more access for third parties and open source projects to make their
products work better with Windows. Guess who wins. The only drawback
is that these kinds of slow-as-molasses-in-winter regulatory constraints
are almost always too late for the furious pace of competition in IT.
SMB Messaging Summit Webinar 2007
Event Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 at 10:00am PT / 1:00pm ET
Panel Host: Michael Osterman, President, Osterman Research
Join panel host Michael Osterman of Osterman Research for a lively,
interactive discussion on the top messaging problems, issues, and
solutions facing Small and Medium sized organizations at the SMB
Messaging Summit 2007 Webinar.
You will get an overview from Michael Osterman on the latest trends
and survey results from your peers, as well as hear from leading
vendors that include Akonix, Apptix, ArcMail Technology, and
Sunbelt Software.
In this timely webinar, you will learn answers to questions like:
- How are smaller organizations securing their messaging infrastructure?
- What are the most common messaging archiving issues and answers?
- How can you secure and manage Instant Messaging in the organization?
- What are the roles of hosted messaging, managed messaging and hybrid
messaging strategies and how can they help smaller organizations to
be more effective and spend less on messaging management?
Sign up today!
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-SMB-Messaging-Webinar
Quote of the Day
The 'Quote of the Day' is a very long one, but this one is quite
amazing in hindsight, seen that James Madison, Fourth President
of the U.S.A, wrote this during his lifetime: 1751-1836. (My
comment: The more things change, more they stay the same).
"If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the
guise of fighting a foreign enemy. Of all the enemies to public
liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises
and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies;
from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and
taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the
domination of the few. The loss of liberty at home is to be charged
to the provisions against danger, real or imagined, from abroad."
-- James Madison
And thank you for being a WServerNews subscriber.
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Tech Briefing |
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Free Server Optimization & Virtualization Seminar
At this half-day event, coming to Los Angeles, CA on October 4th and
Denver, CO on October 16th and other cities throughout the year, get
independent expert advice on how you can reclaim server room real
estate, reduce operating expenses, spend less time managing servers
and improve application availability through server optimization tips
and consolidation. Seating is limited, apply today!
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-Optinization-Virtualization-Seminar
Process Explorer V11.0 Adds Windows Vista Capabilities
A month without a new utility (or at least an updated one) from Mark
Russinovich is like a year without sunshine. And this September, Mark
has rolled out a whole new revision for one of his most famous and
powerful tools: Process Explorer. More at:
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-Process-Explorer
Podcast: Why You Should Plan Security Tests For Windows Networks
To all the admins who have been bitten by the procrastination bug, this
four-minute "tipcast" is for you. Learn security expert Kevin Beaver's
eight main reasons to plan out your security testing far in advance and
learn why waiting until the last minute could spell disaster for your
Windows network.
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-Security-Podcast
Tip: The Scoop On 64-Bit Windows
Getting ready to make the move to 64-bit Windows? This expert tip will
get you up to speed on the intricacies of the technology and the issues
you might encounter with 64-bit applications. (registration required)
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-64-Bit-Windows
Symantec: Bank Account Details Fetch $400 Online
ComputerWorld picked up some juicy bits from Symantec's latest report:
"Stolen bank account numbers are commanding the highest price in an
underground trade of personal details stolen by hackers, according to
a survey released Monday by security vendor Symantec Corp. Bank account
details command prices of up to $400, while credit card details sell
for between 50 cents and $5, e-mail passwords from $1 to $350 each,
and e-mail addresses from $2 to $4 per megabyte, according to Symantec's
"Internet Security Threat Report," which covers the first half of the year.
The number of attacks aimed at browser plug-ins jumped 320% over the
same period in 2006. More at:
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-Bank-Accounts
Malware Becoming More Sophisticated, Warns IBM
IBM's research and development team has identified and analyzed more than
210,000 new malware samples and has found that Trojans are the most common
form of malware this year, accounting for 28% of the total. According to
IBM, the "exploits as a service" industry continues to thrive, with the
new practice of "exploit leasing" added to the repertoire of criminals.
By leasing an exploit, attackers can now test exploitation techniques
with a smaller initial investment, making this underground market an even
more attractive option for malicious perpetrators. More at:
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-Malware-Sophistication
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Windows Server News |
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Viridian Out In Test Next Week
If the gods are willing, Redmond will have the first test release for W2K8
available next week. Microsoft announced this week: "The release candidate
will include a test version of software code-named Viridian and formally called
Windows Server virtualization. This latest "hypervisor" can apparently
exploit a quad-core CPU. They will likely release it to a very limited
public though, to start off at least. But it would be cool to see Novell's
Suse Linux Enterprise Edition running on Windows Server.
More About Virtualization Prices
The price chart I printed last issue is a sample based on list prices of
both VMWare and Microsoft obtained from publicly available information on
their Websites. All quoted prices are accurate. Configurations and discounts
will vary according to individual users. This is just a starting point and
I provided ALL pricing in a fully loaded configuration with ALL the bells
and whistles to give customers an idea of what they could possibly spend..
So yes, I included the a la carte pricing for the HA, DRS and Backup (VCB)
which many/most customers WILL purchase. I also noted that the overwhelming
majority of customer do NOT buy retail.
The article also explicitly states that VMWare is the superior product. A
price war is looming though. In 2006, when VMWare announced that its GSX
product (now called Virtual Machine) was going to be made available free,
Microsoft was forced to respond to VMWare and make its Virtual Server free
as part of the OS. Note that the Linux vendors are following suit and
embedding virtualization functionality in their OSes free of charge as
well, though customers will still have to purchase server licenses. This
is one area of added cost. Virtualization is quickly becoming commoditized.
A price war is looming. IF VMWare was such an incredible value compared to
its' competitors, it would NOT be about to change its pricing by year's end!
Some of you wrote back stating "VMware has had 80-95% year to year sales
growth. It's a good value." I have no dispute with those numbers. VMWare is
the market leader with approximately 60% (or more) market share. VMWare
and it's products will be an even better value once they drop prices, offer
special promotions and bundles. The intent of the article is to inform
users that price changes are in the offing in the next 60 to 90 days, in
order for them to lobby ALL of the vendors to obtain the best price possible
no matter which vendor they choose.
Another wrinkle to this comparison is the following: VMware has pushed hard
with ESX Server 3i that can and will be embedded into the flash memory of
servers. Dell, IBM, HP, Fujitsu and others have committed to include ESX 3i
in the memory of at least one server model. That allows you to boot straight
into VMware without touching an OS. That makes VMware look more like a
standard server component.
Bottom line: competition WILL be fierce among ALL the virtualization vendors,
VMWare, Microsoft, Red Hat, Novell, Cassatt, Egenera, Virtual Iron, SWSoft,
etc. Competition benefits you: better products at better prices.
Microsoft Ships PerformancePoint Server 2007
Microsoft last week officially unveiled PerformancePoint Server 2007, its
highly anticipated performance management (PM) software. There's a good
chance PerformancePoint Server could do for PM what SQL Server Analysis
Services (SSAS) and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) did for OLAP and
reporting (respectively): take it mainstream. Microsoft announced
PerformancePoint in June of 2006, just a couple of months after it
acquired the former ProClarity Corp. This helped raise expectations for
Redmond's inaugural PM suite, in part because ProClarity brought so much
to the table, especially in terms of analytic, dashboard and data
visualization capabilities. The rest of this article can be found at
the ENTMag site:
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-PerformancePoint-Server-2007
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WServer Third Party News |
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Ninja Kills Spam For Integrated Community Services
Here is a new customer success story for Ninja Email Security. This study
is highlighting Integrated Community Services in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
They are a non-profit organization specializing in providing rental and
energy assistance to qualified families. You should check out this
story, it makes it real how much money and time you save using Ninja:
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-Ninja-Success-Stories
Run VMware? Update That VMCode!
A set of newly discovered flaws in components of VMware Inc.'s virtual
machine software has called attention to some of the security risks
associated with the practice of running virtual computers on a single
system. VMware has updated its products to fix the security bugs,
disclosed yesterday, but users who have not updated their software could
face serious security risks thanks to a trio of flaws in the DHCP
(Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server that ships with VMware:
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-VMCode
Do The The Bad Guys Never Sleep?
No, attacks on your networks are continuous and never-ending because
advanced attack code now is automated, mutating on its own till it
finds a soft spot. That's why more and more System Admins are are
choosing real-time end-point protection to defend against malware.
CounterSpy Enterprise has 24/7, Kernel-based Active Protection
that will prevent malicious code to even execute, based on a now
1.5 million large threat database. Award-winning hybrid CounterSpy
Enterprise leads the market in malware protection and has a very
exciting upgrade-path. Ask your Rep or Reseller about that:
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-CounterSpy-Enterprise
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WServerNews Fave Links |
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This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
|
|
WServerNews - Product of the Week |
|
Streamline Management of Active Directory and Exchange!
Ensim Unify is a Turn-Key, SOA-based Enterprise Solution that
Automates and Manages Over 1,000,000 Users Everyday
- Provisioning Automation and Change Management
- Resource Optimization and Remote Administration
- Mobile Device and Email client configuration and control
- Self-service password reset & optional delegated management
- Easy to use portal with standardized & configurable bus logic
- Self-installation with existing AD and Exchange infrastructure
Free Download at:
http://www.wservernews.com/070924-Ensim
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