Hi all,

 

Sorry for not posting much recently, been really busy with work and really thinking hard about future study. Anyway I’ve started to think about doing video tutorials, so I’ve signed up for youtube and done a really basic proof on concept (read rubbish) type video. This just shows you how to create an MX record. at the moment its just my actions with a bit of text and some music in the background (a very rough version of a song I wrote in a band a few years ago).

 

For any of you that may be interested I used camstudio to record the desktop (GPL software) and then windows movie maker to split it and add the audio and titles. Anyway here you go.

 

Microsoft is celebrating 25 years of MS Press Books and is offering a free e-book.

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Administrator’s Companion
By Charlie Russel and Sharon Crawford
ISBN: 9780735620704

Microsoft Press – Windows Small Business Server 2008 Administrator&rsqou;s Companion

Well for me that is. I’ve come to a bit of a cross roads. Now I’ve completed my MCSA I am thinking of kicking back a bit and playing some games. Now my main pc is used vary rarely these days so its spec is SOOOoo last century. Its an aging AMD 64 x2 3800 socket 939 with 2 GB and DDR and an ATI x800xt (or xl I forget now)graphics card. Which as I’m sure you can appreciate is not going to cut the mustard today. Its fine for all my old games like doom 3 and COD2 and F.E.A.R. with a bit of battlefield thrown into the mix, but any game I buy today with either look horrible or run at like 10FPS or something.

 

So the dilemma I have is: do I upgrade my computer (which realistically means ripping out everything and starting again) or do I buy a console of some sort.

I do want a WII that I know cause I like some of the games on it (TBH i’d be happy with the bowling game that comes with it) but I can imagine that I will still want to play a good few FPS’s when I get the chance so I’m thinking also an xbox 360. This would also have the added bonus of being with the other half during gaming sessions and not skulking off to the south wing of the house and shying away from being sociable.

Add the fact that I’m a 30 something father with precious little time to play games too often I can see the pick up and play ability of consoles will be very appealing. Its just occurred to me that I’m writing this as if I’ve never owned a console before that’s certainly not true my first console was an N64 and I still have one kicking around the house somewhere.

So its with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to PC gaming , its been fun (especially when installing new shiny gpu’s memory or whatever and seeing what difference its makes to old games) and hello to the quicker satisfaction of console gaming.

Well, I’ve managed to get SQL enterprise edition installed on a server and also citrix xenapp installed on another. At the moment the install on both were a bit more of a bodge than I’d like but obviously as I learn more then I’ll rip them down and do a couple of reinstalls to home the skills. As I say I’ve never really used sql much so whilst I’ve installed the server and also the tools I’ve no idea what to do with it. Which is kinda cool in a way because it means I’m going to be learning something totally new to me.

Well that’s it then, on my second try I passed the 291 exam with 842, much improved score than my first 641 so now I’m a a fully paid up MCSA. So at the moment I’m a very happy man and am busy updating all the people that need to know, the welcome kit has also already been ordered so should get that through in a few weeks.

 

Now I shall have a few weeks rest before embarking on any more studying, but I already have the books for the next exams. I have ordered Citrix xenapp book as I am really interested in learning more about citrix (and also becoming a CCA) and also I have ordered a book on SQL 2005 (exam 70-431) which is another technology I am interested in. Both exams will benefit my employer as both products are used and whilst I administer a couple of Citrix farms I know very little about sql so I thought this exam will ease me in nicely and will also be my elective sorted for the MCSE if I decide to go the whole hog (as we are a Novell shop then at the moment there is no point).

 

So where does this leave the blog, well I think it will probably have to be updated to show what I am studying at the time so you will see plenty of posts on sql server and Citrix Xenapp, but please still feel free to pop by if something is pepping your interest.

 

So now I’m re-thinking my lab and I’ll already removed my rras servers as I wont be needing those for a while and I’ll have to create a couple of new servers to house sql databases and citrix applications. So once I have my lab sorted I’ll post a new network diagram.

 

 

 

Hi all,

Just a quick post to say that in a few days the blog will have a new domain name. www.dales-diary.co.uk. The host will not change so you will still be able to access the blog from www.dales-diary.blogspot.com but you will be presented with a redirect message (accept that and you will still have normal access). So if im lucky enough to A have any regular readers at all and B you are subscribing through an RSS reader then you may need to update the reader to point to the new domain.

Hi all, thought I would do a quick blog with a basic run down of the names and functions of the security templates that are available by default in windows server 2003. I’ll post a bit more on their usage when I’ve actually read about them.

 

COMPATWS	This template amends file and registry security permissions to assist older applications to run.
DCSECURITY	This applies the default security setting for a domain controller.
HISECDC	This template secures a domain controller by increasing NTLM security and disabling additional services and applying more stringent registry and file permissions. It also removes all members of the power users group on the domain controller. This template is more secure than the securedc template.
HISECWS	This as the name implies is very similar to the hisecdc but it also limits members of the local admins to the domain admins accounts and the local administrator.
LESACLS	This template changes registry key permissions that are part of Internet Explorer to everyone full control.
ROOTSEC	Applies root permissions to a system drive.
SECUREDC	This template limits account policies and only allows NTLMv2 and Kerberos to be used for logons.
SECUREWS	This template applies the same restrictions as the securedc except of course its applied to a workstation.
SETUP SECURITY	This template sets security permissions the same as when the operating system was first installed.
DEFLTSV	This applies the default server template used during its installation.
DEFLTDC	This applies the default domain controller template used during a dcpromo.

I’ve now finished reading up on DNS in my MSPress book, hopefully that will be enough to do me well on the big day, so i am now on network security which is another area that I got around the 50-60% mark in my first attempt. So you may see a few security related posts going up shortly. I’m just about to write one listing the security templates and their usage so that will be making an appearance soon.

Well, I’ve been very surprised by this little product. Its fantastic at the moment I’m only using it internally to email event logs and stuff to specific address but it works brilliantly. Also it works great with clamwin AV and also can be integrated with opensource webmail providers like squirrelmail. Also you can add spam filters to it by similar means.

 

Its so easy to set up and get this the install file is only 2.8MB. It requires the .net framework to be installed as a dependency but it really is a great little server app and if I ever become a sys admin for a small cash strapped company I would seriously consider this as an option! Granted it probably cannot synch with BES or anything funky but for an email platform its perfectly adequate for the job.