Tag: Windows

Wireless Networking Course

My Wireless Networking course is once again running at Macquarie Community College at Carlingford starting this Thursday night. It runs over two consecutive weeks from 7 to 9pm.

 

The course covers the basics of wireless from keyboards and mice through to WiFi. It also provides you with a basic understanding of TCP/IP networking including configuration and importantly security. The course also covers a complete configuration of a wireless access point including how to implement strong security.

 

To enrol or obtain more information visit the following link.

 

http://www.macquarie.nsw.edu.au/index.php?action=course&course_action=detail&code=209M299

Intro to SBS

Now that Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 is fading into history (slowly, I’ll admit) and I have revamped my Networking with Small Business Server course to focus on SBS 2008 I have decided to post the slides from my three part SBS 2003 course for anyone to download.

 

You’ll find them all on my SlideShare but here is a brief description of each:

 

Introduction to Small Business Server 2003 – Part 1

 

[This is the second of a three part series that covers the basics of installing, configuring and maintaining Microsoft Small Business Server 2003.

This part covers an introduction to what Small Business Server is and how to determine the best configuration. It also covers how to install the product.]

 

Introduction to Small Business Server 2003 – Part 2

 

[This is the second of a three part series that covers the basics of installing, configuring and maintaining Microsoft Small Business Server 2003.
This part focuses on configuring Small Business Server to work with users and workstations as well features like remote access.]

 

Introduction to Small Business Server 2003 – Part 3

 

[This is the third of a three part series that covers the basics of installing, configuring and maintaining Microsoft Small Business Server 2003.
This part focuses on SharePoint v2 (companyweb), Outlook Web Access, Remote Work Webplace and how to secure and troubleshoot your Small Business Server network.]

 

Now that the focus has moved to SBS 2008 I’m not going to be going back and making any changes to the SBS 2003 course, so rather than sit and gather dust in some forgotten corner of my hard drive I hope that someone out there obtains some benefit from what I’ve posted like all the students who have attended my course over the years.

SBS Course starts this week

My Introduction to Small Business Server course starts this week at Macquarie Community College at Carlingford. It will run for three consecutive Thursdays from 7-9pm. It will provide an overview of the benefits of a Small Business Server network, the differences between SBS 2003 and SBS 2008, then a complete installation of product. From there the course will examine in more detail the requirements for configuring and maintaining the product as well as focus on how to ensure that your whole network is kept secure.

 

The course is designed for those who are considering a server or those who already have Small Business Server in their business. The course includes notes and is help in a friendly lecture style format which encourages discussion and questions.

 

If you are interested you can still enrol with the college. For more details see:

 

http://www.macquarie.nsw.edu.au/index.php?action=course&course_action=detail&code=209M297

Determining TCP activity

There a few ways that you can determine the TCP/IP activity on your system.

1. Netstat
 
Simply go to a command prompt and type netstat –an and you should see something like that shown above. You can see the protocol, local_ip_address:port, foreign_ip_address:port and the state.

This really only tells you the basics of which ports are connected to what IP addresses but it doesn’t actually tell you what programs are using those ports.

2. Fport

Fport is a free program that can be downloaded from :

http://www.foundstone.com/us/resources/termsofuse.asp?file=fport.zip

and when run in the command window will not only show the TCP ports but it will also show which program on your system is using that port, as shown above. For example we can see that iTunesHelper.exe is using port 1029 TCP is is process 3548.

Fport therefore provides a lot more information but it isn’t updated constantly and you need to run it in a command prompt.

3. Prio

 Amoungst other things Prio can do what both netstat and fport do but do it as part of your task manager. You’ll find the free download Prio at:

http://www.prnwatch.com/prio.html

Once installed Prio will provide you with an additional tab in your task manager (accessed via Ctl-Alt-Del) called TCP/IP as shown above. In there you’ll see an up to date list of all the TCP connections and the programs using these ports.

So all 3 tools provide you with the ability to inspect what TCP/IP connections are taking place on your system. This can be of significant assistance when tracking down rogue applications accessing the Internet without your knowledge.

Web Edition

I’ve been doing some investigating into some questions I’ve had for a while around Windows Server 2008 Web Edition. Web Edition is a basic version of Windows Server that is really only designed to run web sites. It won’t allow the installation of high end database applications and also has certain memory restriction. The good thing is that it is cheaper than Windows Server Standard given it is designed for a single purpose.

 

I have always wondered –

 

Q1. Will Windows SharePoint Services run on Windows Server 2008 Web Edition?

 

A. Yes it can.

 

Q2. Will Search Server Express 2008 also run on Windows Server 2008 Web Edition?

 

A. Yes it can.

 

Don’t believe me? Here’s a screen shot of my test machine.

 

image_2_0EB8B652

The top windows shows Search Server, the middle window shows Windows SharePoint and the lower window shows the system is running on Windows Server web.

 

My preference is normally to run Windows SharePoint and Search Server Express on a separate machine for performance and reliability reasons. That would always require an additional Windows Server license (typically Windows Server Standard). Even though both Windows SharePoint and Search Server Express are free it makes doing things this way pricey. However, now that I know you can use the Windows Server 2008 Web Edition it significantly reduces this price, making it a very viable option in my opinion.

 

So what you could provide is a stand alone server running Windows Server 2008 Web Edition, Windows SharePoint and Search Server Express. Not only does that give you a great intranet solution but it also provides a search solution for all the documents and public folders in your network. If you then install this configuration on a virtual machine (i.e. no hardware cost) all you are up for is the cost of Windows Server 2008 Web Edition. That’s a a lot of functionality for very little cost.

 

So, if you are thinking about a stand alone SharePoint / Search Server Express server you can definitely achieve that using Windows Server 2008 Web Edition.

Yawn

Microsoft has release Internet Explorer 8. Does it really matter anymore? Are many non-techie people actually going to download it? It has some improved features, especially around security but is it really a must have any more? Unless there are some killer features most people are probably going to stick with Internet Explorer 7, until they get a new PC.

 

Microsoft also has a pretty lame set of videos on its Internet Explorer 8 site. These are no where as good as the propaganda that Apple turns out with its ads. The difference to me really goes to heart of the problem at the moment with Microsoft, they just aren’t in tune with the market and the most likely reason is that they are trying to be everything to everyone. I suppose that is part of become a ‘middle-aged’ company. It would be much better if Microsoft stuck to a core range of products but they need to squeeze revenue out so it is easier to do this across multiple markets. So in some sense the strategy makes sense. It would make more sense if they wanted to be more like Apple to get a new advertising company because this latest video and the Seinfeld video haven’t received a very good reception at all, with which I agree.

 

In all honesty I don’t use Internet Explorer all that much these days as Firefox, for me, is just better. In all honestly, I think people simply use the browser that comes with their computer. If is Internet Explorer, they used that. If it was Firefox they’d use that and so on. Most people want to get access to the Internet and don’t really care how that happens. So another version of an Internet browser is going to get a decidedly ‘Yawn’ reception in my books.

Windows 7 features

I’ve been reading Jeff Alexander’s post about the different versions of Windows 7 that will become available.
 
I gotta admit that I am disappointed that BitLocker to Go is only available in the Enterprise edition. BitLocker is the ability to encrypt your whole hard disk. BitLocker to go allows you to encrypt a USB key. It is my understanding that once you have encrypted a USB key using BitLocker to Go it can be read by other Windows 7 machine but you can’t write back to it.

I know that Microsoft has developed these offerings after consultation with customers but I fear it is more about optimizing returns that anything else. I would think it is simpler to have 2 versions, one for home use, one for business use. I think too many versions simply confuses people and actually retards sales but I understand in this day and age where more and more of our computing is moving to the ‘cloud’ a number of ‘cheaper’ alternatives needs to be offered.

Windows 7 will sell well due to the pent up demand of people holding off going to Vista. Windows 7 has a significant positive buzz around, which hasn’t happened for a long time. It is also much quicker and appears to be less resource hungry. My guess for availability? August, September this year. I reckon we’ll see a release candidate in April and the final version in late August.

So in the meantime get familiar with the version and their contents.