WindowsNetworking.com - Monthly Newsletter - October 2015

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. The Future of Windows: Desktop as a Service or Windows in Your Pocket?

Windows 10 has only been in general release for a couple of months, but already there is a plethora of speculation about what comes next. Based on the hints Microsoft has dropped along the way, this may very well be the last version of Windows as we know it – with future upgrades being more incremental and more like new builds rather than new discreet versions.

Going beyond this, there has been a good deal of sometimes wild speculation amongst the tech pundits as to how the entire concept of the computing client will evolve in an increasingly cloudified world.  Some say desktop operating systems are destined to disappear altogether, to be replaced by DaaS – Desktop as a Service, delivered from the cloud provider to the hardware of your choice.

The gist of this argument is the undeniable fact that devices and platforms seem to matter less and less all the time. Whereas once upon a time each OS had its own very separate ecosystem and we were often very limited as to the applications we could use based on the OS we used, today most of the popular apps are ported across all popular platforms, some (particularly Google with its Chromebook) push the web as the interface and we can access our data – whether it’s stored on a server in the cloud or on a universally compatible USB drive – from any device, running any OS.

One vision of the future sees the phone as the only computer we will need. Power users (like me) will at first thought balk at the idea; I really, really need my tower with its 32GB of RAM, 2 TB of storage and a 4.0GHz processor, attached to my six-monitor array in my home office – to work effectively. In fact, I’ve been traveling a lot over the past couple of months and at times I’ve missed that setup tremendously. At other times, though, I’ve been able to get my work done pretty painlessly with my Surface Pro 3 (soon to be replaced by the Surface Pro 4 that I ordered the day after they were announced).

For me, the biggest drawbacks of computing on the road, without my “command station,” are:  the non-ergo keyboards on laptops (the Surface Type cover is better than most, but still a far cry from a full-sized curved keyboard), the touchpads vs. my programmable gaming mouse (I don’t play games, but I do have the buttons set up to perform common functions such as copy, paste, delete and so forth), the lack of screen real estate (I really do use all six monitors to “spread out” my work and keep everything in view), and the lack of storage space and immediate access, without jumping through VPN or RDP hoops, to any and all of my data from the past 15 years.

The thing is, with today’s tech, all of these problems can be solved. I now have two portable USB monitors that can be attached to the Surface to provide me with a smaller but pretty workable three screen array and they’re super light for packing in my rolling laptop bag. I have a USB keyboard (no fighting with Bluetooth) that’s curved just enough and has full-sized keys but the lack of a number pad and wrist rest give it a small, packable footprint. It’s easy enough to take along a mouse and a small USB drive that holds a terabyte of data, and I plug them all into a very compact powered USB hub that’s also easy to pack. With all this, and the power of the Surface, I have a true work station wherever I go.

But wouldn’t it be great if I didn’t have to lug all that around with me?  That’s where the “phone as primary computer” idea comes into play. At the same time that they introduced the Surface Pro 4, the company also unveiled their new Windows phones: the Lumia 950 and 950XL.  Try as they might, thus far Microsoft hasn’t gotten very far in convincing folks to give up their Androids and iPhones despite some great product placement (watch for WinPhones on such popular network TV programs as NCIS and Bones), sleek hardware designs and a smooth and fluid OS experience.

The new Lumias, though, offer something truly exciting to sweeten the deal: Continuum. This is a feature (and for once Microsoft has given a technology a compelling name) by which you can dock a Windows 10 phone and use it, essentially, as a computer. Now, this isn’t the first time it’s been tried. The Motorola Atrix 4G was built on the same premise, but you had to purchase a particular laptop shell to dock it in.

Of course, I can fake it, sort of, by pairing my Note with a Bluetooth keyboard and/or using “casting” software to display its screen on a TV, but it’s not like working on a real computer. Both the Atrix and the Note failed to provide a true desktop experience because let’s face it – they were running mobile operating systems.

Continuum is a much more elegant solution. It uses a tiny dock that lets you plug in the keyboard and monitor of your choice. Because the new Lumias actually run a version of Windows 10, the desktop scales to the larger size and you can work with fully functioning Office applications and do other desktop tasks.

Okay, this might not be what you would want to use to do high powered CAD or video editing, but for web, office productivity and basic communications, it will work. After all, today’s phones are as powerful as (or in some cases more so than) the desktop systems of just a few years ago. With 4GB of RAM and an eight core processor, the latest Galaxy Note is as powerful as low-end laptops on sale today. Phones are destined to become even more capable in the future, making the idea of phone as desktop replacement even more feasible.

As for the Lumias in particular, I really love the look and feel and the idea of Windows 10 on my phone. There are still a couple of things that need to happen before I can actually take that plunge, though, and they have nothing to do with either the OS or the hardware quality. The first problem is that the apps, sadly, still lag behind those developed for iOS and Android. Now, when it’s docked and I’m running Office or the web browser, I won’t care – but when it’s actually being a phone, I want my Facebook, Kindle, Fitbit, Runkeeper and other apps and I want them to do everything that the same apps do on my Note. Right now, that’s not the case. I believe it can and will happen, though, eventually. Microsoft is working mightily to appeal to developers and to make it easier for them to write apps for Windows.

The other problem is purely a business decision on Microsoft’s part, and it’s one that I don’t pretend to understand. The new Lumias, like the previous Windows Phone flagships, are apparently going to be available as AT&T exclusives. That cut me out of the game before it even started. Much as I want one of these phones, I’m not going to leave Verizon and go to AT&T for it. And I admit I’m baffled by that announcement, especially when Apple and Samsung aren’t limiting the markets for their top phones that way.

But leaving aside brand names and even operating systems, I love the idea of carrying my real computer around with me wherever I go. I want this concept to succeed and I hope Microsoft’s effort will make it a reality. I like this idea better than DaaS, because I’ll still be able to use the “OS in my pocket” to get things done even when I don’t have an Internet connection, which happens more often than it ought to in today’s uber-connected world. I’m definitely looking forward to the next step in the evolution of Windows.

‘Til next time,

Deb

dshinder@windowsnetworking.com

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The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine. – Mike Murdock
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2. Windows Server 2012 Security from End to Edge and Beyond – Order Today!

Windows Server 2012 Security from End to Edge and Beyond By Thomas Shinder, Debra Littlejohn Shinder and Yuri Diogenes From architecture to deployment, this book takes you through the steps for securing a Windows Server 2012-based enterprise network in today’s highly mobile, BYOD, cloud-centric computing world. Includes test lab guides for trying out solutions in a non-production environment. Order your copy of Windows Server 2012 Security from End to Edge and Beyond. You'll be glad you did

Click here to Order your copy today

 

3. WindowsNetworking.com Articles of Interest

Once again, we’re continuing with several popular article series on Windowsnetworking.com, along with a couple of brand new topics:

Hybrid Network Infrastructure in Microsoft Azure (Part 6)

Tom and I have been working our way through this comprehensive discussion about the design of hybrid network infrastructures based on the combination of on-premises data center and cloud computing for quite some time now. Last month we left off in the middle of a conversation about Azure Virtual Networks and how they fit into the hybrid infrastructure, and we keep up there again in Part 6. Check it out:
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles-tutorials/cloud-computing/hybrid-network-infrastructure-microsoft-azure-part6.html

Active Directory Insights (Part 7)

In another long series of articles, Mitch Tulloch has been diving deep into the topic of using virtual domain controllers and how to configure them, and in the previous article in this series he looked at what having a single point of failure can mean in an environment where all of your domain controllers are virtualized. This article looks at some other considerations when virtualizing Windows Server 2012 domain controllers and helps you answer the question of whether it's still important to have at least one physical domain controller present in your environment.

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles-tutorials/windows-server-2012/active-directory-insights-part7.html

How to Successfully Create a Hyper-V Cluster Using Virtual Machine Manager (Part 7)

Continuing the trend of multi-part looks at various aspects of virtualized and/or cloudified technology, Nirmal Sharma’s series has been walking you through the process of creating a Hyper-V cluster with VMM, with plenty of insider tips and pointers to help you avoid all the “gotchas” inherent in any such complex IT process. This article takes up with a discussion of the actions available in the right context menu of a Hyper-V cluster in VMM.

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles-tutorials/netgeneral/how-successfully-create-hyper-v-cluster-using-virtual-machine-manager-part7.html

Wi-fi Security: Beyond Passport Protection

In this standalone article, Eric Geier looks at some of the ways you can improve security on your wi-fi network, in addition to the standard password authentication.

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles-tutorials/wireless-networking/wi-fi-security-beyond-password-protection.html

MU-MIMO vs SU-MIMO Wi-fi

If you aren’t quite sure what all those letters stand for, it’s okay. Acronyms are the bane of every IT pro’s existence and it’s impossible to remember all of them. This article by Eric Geier is taking a look at multi-user vs. single-user MIMO, which of course stands for multiple-input and multiple-output wireless. Eric talks about how each works and issues with each.

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles-tutorials/wireless-networking/mu-mimo-vs-su-mimo-wi-fi.html

4. Administrator KB Tip of the Month

Sysprepping on an OEM installation

This month’s tip examines whether you can sysprep an OEM installation of Windows.

Question: I get my desktop computers from an OEM with Windows 7 and Office 2010 preinstalled. I'd like to take one of these machines and sysprep it and capture a WIM image from it and then deploy this image onto some bare-metal PCs that I bought on the cheap. Is this a good idea?

Answer: The procedure is probably in violation of your OEM licensing agreement but you should read the agreement to make sure. But even if it doesn't violate your OEM license, the procedure has several problems with it:

• If you run into problems with your imaged PCs then you'll need to get support from your OEM as Microsoft doesn't provide support for OEM images.
• You may run into to activation issues with your imaged PCs.
• You may end up with unwanted OEM "crapware" on your imaged PCs.

So it's best to build your reference images using volume-licensed Microsoft software and not from an existing OEM installation.

The above tip was previously published in an issue of WServerNews, a weekly newsletter from TechGenix that focuses on the administration, management and security of the Windows Server platform in particular and cloud solutions in general. Subscribe to WServerNews today by going to http://www.wservernews.com/subscribe.htm and join almost 100,000 other IT professionals around the world who read our newsletter!

5. Windows Networking Links of the Month

• VMware's Project Michigan offers a preview of virtual networking tools
• Cisco dedicates security project to “pissing off the bad guys”
• Dell-EMC Has Big Cybersecurity Implications
• 30 years as a sysadmin
• Open Networking Is Not Necessarily Unified
• WiFi, Move Over - Here Comes LiFi
• Rethinking network monitoring software for the user experience

6. Ask Sgt. Deb

Do I really need containers?

QUESTION:

I keep hearing about containers. Everything seems to be about Docker and now Microsoft apparently jumping on the bandwagon with containers in Server 2016 and I get that it sort of takes virtualization to the next level and is more efficient, but I’m wondering whether our organization really needs to start thinking about implementing them. Is it worth the cost? We’re a smallish company, not tiny, about 280 users.

ANSWER:

Containerization is a great solution for several different scenarios, and the future will likely bring more uses for them, but not every single company really needs to rush into containers right now.  One important use case is when you do in-house development and want to move applications from one computing environment to another.

Although containers are being touted as the “next big thing” and some imply that standard virtualization is now “old fashioned,” I really doubt containers are going to replace server virtualization anytime soon. Containerization is really still in its infancy, even though it was around before Docker, in the form of LXC on Linux. That means several things, but one of the most important is that the security aspect isn’t fully developed, although there are a plethora of startup companies out there that are working on various container security solutions.

My recommendation would be rather than look at a technology and try to find a place for it, that you look at the problems you want to solve on your network and determine whether the technology will address them.  If you don’t see a pressing need for containers now, you probably don’t have one. A few years down the line, containerization technology will be more mature, more secure, and less expensive to implement. Unless it’s one of your company’s missions to be on the cutting edge (and that is a legit policy), it might be wise to wait at least a little while and see how it shakes out.