Join Harry Brelsford at the 5th Annual SMB Nation Spring conference

The 5th Annual SMB Nation Spring conference is from April 30th to May 2nd in the NYC-area. Their early bird rate expires at the end-of-day March 31st.

If you attend be sure to share your findings with your fellow users' group members. If you are local to the SF Bay Area then let me know and you can make a presentation at a BASBITS meeting.

As Harrybbb says, "Cheers!"
TechmoTim

Needed Tweak for Domains with a Single AD Controller

Since I have been on the road a bit and showing fellow Microsoft SBSC partners how to use Hyper-V, I have been researching how best to virtualized SBS for the road. Using SBS on physical hardware is similar to using virtualization in that much of the time the environment just has on Active Directory Controller.

So, for all environments with only a single Active Directory Controller I think we should use Tip #2 – Avoid huge delays by fixing the DNS up when the Domain Controller Starts.

So, go check out Ben Armstrong's post on Hyper-V and Domain Controllers – Demo Tips and Tricks, http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2009/11/20/hyper-v-and-domain-controllers-demo-tips-and-tricks.aspx

Cool Tool for free Hyper-V 2008 R2 Server

Check out the Core Configurator 2.0 over at http://coreconfig.codeplex.com/ and you will find a very cool tool for configuring Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 R2 Core Configuration with Hyper-V and Hyper-V 2008 R2 Server.

Hyper-V 2008 R2 Days for the Microsoft Partner Community

Hyper-V 2008 R2 Partner Day: Practical Knowledge for Successful Deployments. Join me in:
- Redmond, Washington on February 6th - Register for Redmond Event
- Los Angeles (Gardena), California on February 13th - Register for Los Angeles Event
- Phoenix, Arizona on February 20th Register for Phoenix Event
- San Francisco, California on February 27th Register for SF Event

This is day of Live Builds; Instruction; Demonstration; and, Tips & Tricks on Hyper-V for fellow Microsoft partners who want to use Hyper-V within their practice. You will see deployment, optimization and management of Hyper-V, all with a focus for how to use Hyper-V within a Microsoft focused IT practice from a fellow practicing Microsoft partner. Watch & Learn as the Hyper-V Role is deployed on a Windows Server 2008 R2 and while Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 is installed.

This is not a Hyper-V versus VMware day.
This is not a hands-on day.
This is not a test preparation day.
This is an “I can do ‘that’” day.
This is a Partners sharing with Partners day.

The day will largely be driven by question from the attendees.

Here is a list of the topics we will be covering:

Hyper-V Versions

Hyper-V R2 Improvements

Deploying Hyper-V Role via:
• Windows Server 2008 R2 (Full Installation) with Hyper-V
• Windows Server 2008 R2 (Core Installation) with Hyper-V
• Hyper-V Server 2008 R2

Managing Virtual Machines:
• Hyper-V Manager
o Virtual Network Manager
o New Virtual Machine Wizard
o New Virtual Hard Disk Wizard
• Core Configurator Tool

Practical Tips & Tricks:
• Virtualizing Windows Small Business Server 2008
• Licensing & Hyper-V
• Backups
• Network Design when Virtualizing
• Performance Optimization

Overview of Advanced Topics:
• System Center Virtual Machine Manager
• Virtualizing Remote Desktop Services (Terminal Services)
• Power Shell Hyper-V
• Managing Virtual Machine Storage
• Quick Migration
• Live Migration, Failover Cluster & Cluster Shared Volumes
• System Center Essentials and how it integrates into the System Center Virtual Machine Manager
• Hyper-V and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

Schedule:
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM Registration
9:30 AM - 11:30 AM Morning Session
11:30 AM - 12:20 PM Lunch Break
12:20 PM - 1:50 PM 1st Afternoon Session
1:50 PM - 2:10 PM Break
2:10 PM - 3:30 PM 2nd Afternoon Session
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM Wrap Up

Thanks to those who joined me for the events in:
- Beaverton, Oregon on January 30th
- Irvine, California on January 23rd
- Menlo Park, California on Novemeber 21st

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Memory Supported

Memory Support for more than 32GB for the Host OS previously required Windows Server 2008 Enterprise or Datacenter Editions. Even though Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard only supports 32GB, the free Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 supports greater than 32GB. Very Cool!

Also noteworthy, similar to the Enterprise and Datacenter Editions, the free Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 includes: Host Clustering, Live Migration and Support for greater than 4 Physical Processors (Host OS).

Check out the table on Microsoft's Hyper-V Server page.

Microsoft IT Environment Health Scanner

This diagnostic tool is designed for administrators of small or medium-sized networks (recommended up to 20 servers and up to 500 client computers) who want to assess the overall health of their network infrastructure. The tool identifies common problems that can prevent your network environment from functioning properly as well as problems that can interfere with infrastructure upgrades, deployments, and migration.

When run from a computer with the proper network access, the tool takes a few minutes to scan your IT environment, perform more than 100 separate checks, and collect and analyze information about the following:

• Configuration of sites and subnets in Active Directory


• Replication of Active Directory, the file system, and SYSVOL shared folders


• Name resolution by the Domain Name System (DNS)


• Configuration of the network adapters of all domain controllers, DNS servers, and e-mail servers running Microsoft Exchange Server


• Health of the domain controllers


• Configuration of the Network Time Protocol (NTP) for all domain controllers

If a problem is found, the tool describes the problem, indicates the severity, and links you to guidance at the Microsoft Web site (such as a Knowledge Base article) to help you resolve the problem. You can save or print a report for later review. The tool does not change anything on your computer or your network.

Here's a link to download the tool and for more information. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=dd7a00df-1a5b-4fb6-a8a6-657a7968bd11

XPPro connecting to Terminal Server 2008 with NLA required

Do your Windows Vista machines connect to Terminal Server 2008 but your Windows XP machines won't?

First, Windows XP needs the RDC version 6.1 to connect to Terminal Server 2008, so you need to have Service Pack 3 installed.

Second, if Terminal Server 2008 requires NLA (Network Layer Authentication) then you need “CredSSP” to be turned on on your machine.

You need to modify the registry to turn on CredSSP. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully.

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then press ENTER.
1. In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
2. In the details pane, right-click Security Packages, and then click Modify.
3. In the Value data box, type tspkg. Leave any data that is specific to other SSPs, and then click OK.
4. In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders
5. In the details pane, right-click SecurityProviders, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type credssp.dll. Leave any data that is specific to other SSPs, and then click OK.
7. Exit Registry Editor.
8. Restart the computer.

This information was originally found on http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951608