WindowsNetworking.com Monthly Newsletter of August 2011 Sponsored by: ManageEngine

Welcome to the WindowsNetworking.com newsletter by Debra Littlejohn Shinder, MVP. Each month we will bring you interesting and helpful information on the world of Windows Networking. We want to know what all *you* are interested in hearing about. Please send your suggestions for future newsletter content to: dshinder@windowsnetworking.com

1. What is the Future of Microsoft?

There are a lot of changes taking place at Microsoft these days. While it might not be obvious, I can see a very real possibility that Microsoft will be reinventing itself over the next few years. One of the reasons I think this is true is that Microsoft has made a public commitment to go "all in" with the cloud. Cloud computing is a new paradigm for providing applications and services to companies of all size so that companies can focus on their core competencies and not on how to maintain datacenters. But many companies are still on the fence when it comes to the cloud, concerned about issues like reliability and security. To win them over, Microsoft will have to establish a reputation for providing a rock-solid and safe cloud computing experience.

Another thing that leads me to believe there are big changes ahead is the fact that we don't seem to have clear roadmaps for many of Microsoft's products. If you're a Microsoft Forefront fan, you've got to be wondering why there aren't some R2 releases of products such as TMG and UAG on the horizon. And what's up with Forefront Endpoint Protection? I'd also expect to be hearing things about new versions of Forefront Protection for Exchange (FOPE) and SharePoint, too. And it's not just within the Forefront family; it seems that there are other applications that should have had some major revs by now, but don't. Does that mean that Microsoft is getting out of a number of businesses that it formerly had its hand in - planning to get leaner and meaner and focus more on core products? Or does it mean that all the applications and services that were near and dear to us will be repackaged as cloud services? Or will what are now add-on products be incorporated into the operating system in the future, so that you don't have to pay extra for them? Or does it just mean they're taking their time and will be bringing out drastically redesigned incarnations of those products? Nobody's talking at the moment, but whatever the answer, it seems things will not be the way they are now.

We do know that with the cloud will come major changes in the Microsoft's new client operating system, which we know at this time as Windows 8. Win8 is supposed to be the most cloud integrated operating system in the world and will be designed to enable a number of cloud scenarios, as well as the widest array of form factors possible - including smart phones, netbooks, nettops, laptops, desktops and any other top you can think of! It's going to be exciting to see what Microsoft has in store for us with Windows 8 and how we can have cool experiences and integrated access to information and applications on all of these devices.

Of course, this is all conjecture. The folks at Microsoft are keeping their lips zipped about the future, and we probably won't know much until the BUILD conference next month, at the earliest. What do you think? Are the Exchange Server, SharePoint Servers, Microsoft CRM Servers, SQL Servers, Lync Servers and others going to disappear from your datacenter and find new homes in the cloud? Is the cloud going to turn your datacenter into a ghost town? And if your datacenter is looking to be a ghost town, what's going to happen to you?

Let me know! Send me a note at dshinder@windowsnetworking.com and I'll share your comments.

See you next month! - Deb.

By Debra Littlejohn Shinder, MVP
dshinder@windowsnetworking.com

2. ISA Server 2006 Migration Guide - Order Today!

3. WindowsNetworking.com Articles of Interest

• Forefront Protection for Exchange: An Overview
• Server Hardware Explained (Part 1)
• 15 Network Admin Apps for Android
• Advanced Group Policy Management (Part 2) - Initial Configuration
• Symantec Enterprise Vault - Voted WindowsNetworking.com Readers' Choice Award Winner - Email Archiving Software
• Troubleshooting Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Startup Issues (Part 2)
• Active Directory Federation Services 2.0: Is it right for you?
• Advanced Group Policy Management (Part 1) - Introduction
  

4. Administrator KB Tip of the Month

How to insure that Defragmentation takes place with Windows 7

By default, Windows 7 runs a scheduled task every Wednesday at 1 am that defrags the computer's hard drive. The task is also configured so that defrag only occurs when the system is idle. And if your computer happens to be turned off at 1 am on Wednesday morning, the fact that the "Run task as soon as possible after a schedule start is missed" option is enabled for this task will cause defrag to be run the next time the system is started—provided there's a period of inactivity where the system is idle.

But what if your computer is never idle? Let's say, for example, that you turn your computer on when you get to work and immediately begin working on it, then at lunchtime you shut the computer down, and similarly in the afternoon. In that case, the default defrag task may never run. What should you do to ensure your hard drive doesn't become fragmented?

The solution is to open the defrag task from Task Scheduler, select the Conditions tab, and clear the checkbox that specifies that the task should only run when the system is idle. Doing this will cause defrag to run even when the computer is being used. In most cases, the performance hit from defrag running in the background should be negligible, but be sure and test this anyway before making this configuration change permanent.

For more administrator tips, go to WindowsNetworking.com/WindowsTips

5. Windows Networking Tip of the Month

We're all pretty busy these days, and with the economy the way it is, we definitely need to be able to do more with less. You've got more work to do and less time to do it. And you need to keep your skills up to date so that you're ready for the "next big thing". With all the different technologies you can spend time learning about, what should you choose? With the cloud looming over the horizon, it might be a good idea to get up to speed on some of the key technologies that enable the cloud. One of those is identity federation - which enables applications to consume identities maintained in multiple authentication repositories and repositories that are independent of the provider that offers up the application. The Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) is an example of such an identity federation solution. Check out this great article by Derek Melber to get a nice introduction to ADFS here. 

6. Windows Networking Links of the Month

• Security Talk with Tom Shinder and Yuri Diogenes - From End to Edge and Beyond!
  
• Cloud Computing Security Architecture (IT Pro Perspective)
  
• Hyper-V Gotchas!
  
• Windows PowerShell Add-on Tools
  
• Refresh Your IT Skills for the Cloud
  
• Talk TechNet Radio - Cloud Security with Tom Shinder and Yuri Diogenes
  

7. Ask Sgt. Deb

QUESTION:

Hey Deb,

I'm hearing a lot about "cloud" these days. I don't know as much as I should about it because I'm running as fast as I can just doing my regular job these days. A few of us were talking about this thing called "private cloud" and I was wondering if that's the same thing as server virtualization. Some of the guys say it's just another name for a virtualized data center, but some of the other guys think it might be something more than that, based on some of the things they've seen about private cloud on the Microsoft web site. What's your take on this? Thanks! - Larry.

ANSWER:

Hi Larry,

Your friends who think that private cloud is more than just datacenter virtualization are correct. While virtualization is an important component that enables a private cloud, you can have a virtualized datacenter without having a private cloud. Cloud computing solutions, whether they be public or private cloud, have five common characteristic, as defined by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST):

• Self-service. A consumer of the cloud service should be able to obtain the cloud service without having to talk to an administrator or other human intermediary.
• Broad network access. The consumers of the cloud service should be able to access the cloud resources from a wide variety of computing form factors, and that access should be available from almost any location (this might vary with private cloud, as you might want to limit access to the private cloud hosted resources).
• Pooled resources. The consumers of the cloud service will be allocated compute, network, memory and storage resources from a shared pool of resources, which are shared with other consumers (tenants) that use the cloud services.
• Rapid elasticity. The consumers of the cloud service should be able to obtain cloud resources automatically so that applications will have the resources they need based on the current demand; those resources then are released automatically as demand decreases. There should also be a perception on the part of the consumer of the cloud service that there is an infinite amount of resources that can be drawn upon that are available to the cloud application.
• Metered services. The consumers of the cloud service should only pay for what is used, consistent with a pay-as-you-go approach. The cloud service provider monitors resource usage and provides reports to the consumers of the service to make transparent the basis for the current charges for a particular charge-back period.

As you can see, a cloud solution is a bit different from a virtual datacenter. But as I said, many of these capabilities are made feasible because of virtualization; although it might be possible to enable them without virtualization, it would be very difficult. When thinking about a private cloud, your virtualized datacenter would need to have the additional capabilities of self-service, broad network access, pooled resources, rapid elasticity and metered services. If you're interested in how a private cloud is enabled using the Microsoft Private Cloud, then check out the Microsoft Private Cloud site.

Have fun! - Deb.

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