Author Archive for KW – Page 34

Windows Server Essential 2012 Beta

Yes, the public beta for Windows Server Essential 2012 is now available for download here!

image
Beta released on July 11, 2012

Windows Server Essential (WSE) 2012 is the the follow on product to the  Small Business Server (SBS) Essentials 2011 product. Some features of this release includes:

  • Based on Windows Server 2012
  • Supports up to 25 users and 50 devices
  • Complete system backup of the server and up to 25 workstations with bare metal restore
  • Supports disk volumes larger than 2 Terabytes (TB)
  • Offers the new Storage Spaces technology supporting disk drives of various sizes
  • Health monitoring of Windows 7/8 and Mac OS X 10.5 and greater
  • Supports all of the 3rd party add-ins developed for SBS 2011 Essentials and Windows Home Server 2011
  • Enhanced Remote Web Access
  • Update Windows Phone App
  • Full image backup for 25 workstations
  • And more!

For more information, benefits, FAQ and datasheet, please visit:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server-essentials/default.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2012/07/11/download-the-beta-release-of-windows-server-2012-essentials-today.aspx

Microsoft has not indicated how long the beta is scheduled to run, but I would suggest submitting any issues or bugs in a timely (quick) manner.

Tampa Bay SBS User Group Meeting

The monthly meeting of the Tampa Bay SBS Usergroup (TBSBSUG) takes place tonight (Thursday July 12th). We will gather early for dinner at the Winghouse on 4th street in St Petersburg, followed by our meeting that starts at 6:30pm.

image

This is an important meeting, given the announcements this week on the upcoming releases of Windows Server 2012, and it’s impact on those who have been selling and supporting the Small business Server product.

We are honored that Kevin Beares (Microsoft) will be speaking with us to get our feedback and to discuss some of the misconceptions surrounding this week’s announcements.

For more information, please contact Rayanne, the TBSBSUG lead.

SBS Song “My Way”

For several years I would write a “Song of the Week” parody for the SBS community and MVPs. With the announced changes to the SBS and Home Server products on July 9th, I felt a song was begging to be written.

And so, with a tip of the hat to Frank Sinatra’s singing and Paul Anka’s original English lyrics …

Here’s a video clip of Frank’s version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhG8rK9BrSU&feature=related

“My (SBS) Way”

And now, the end is near;
And so we face our final version.
My friends, I’ll say it clear,
We made our case, of that I’m certain.

We’ve shared a life that’s full.
We’ve traveled far, to ev’ry Summit;
But more, much more than this,
We did it our way.

The bugs, we found a few;
They’re in Connect, but “by design”, they told us
We did what we had to do
To tell the world: SBS’ the greatest

We worked with each release;
With care to make our product better
But more, much more than this,
We did it our way.

Yes, there were times, I’m sure they knew
When we bit off more than we could do.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
We stayed up late to hash it out,
We faced it all, with each con-call;
And did it our way.

We’ve loved, we’ve laughed and cried.
We’ll miss our friends, like Frank and Eriq
And now, as the years go by,
Our time together is what we cherish

To think we did all that;
And may I say, not in a shy way,
Oh, yes, we made our mark
We did it our way.

So what have we done, as M-V-P’s?
If this is all, we should be pleased
To do the things we truly love;
And now we look to the clouds above

The stats will show we took the blows –
And did it our way!

 

* Frank = Frank McCallister SBS MVP
* Eriq = Eriq Neale SBS MVP

ThirdTier Future of Small Business IT

ThirdTier has scheduled a webinar tonight (Tuesday July 10, 2012) on the topic of “The Future of Small Business IT”, as a response to the recent announcements this week about the future of the Small Business Server solution.

image

DNS Changer–The Morning After

On Monday July 9th, 2012 at 12:01am the FBS shutdown identified rogue DNS servers (see July 9 Malware Alert). ISP’s (such as Comcast, Verizon and others) worked to make sure infected computers had an alternative DNS route.

Bottom line: no major outages or damages.

At the time the servers were shutdown, <a href=”http://www.dcwg.org/last-day-of-dcwg-data/” target=”_blank”><u>DCWG statistics</u></a> indicated some 300,000 computers worldwide were still pointing to these rogue servers, of which 42,000 were in the U.S.

image

New Office 365 Open Program Announced

image

Microsoft announced today at their Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto a new initiative called the Office 365 Open Program, that will let Microsoft Partner’s (like me) to bill their customers directly for Office 365.

Steve Ballmer said that “Office 365 will be as dynamic a product as Microsoft has ever done in terms of new capabilities coming to the market”.

Read this CRN article for more information

Windows 8 Release Date Schedule Announced!

At the Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference today, Microsoft announced that the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version of Windows 8 will be made available to manufacturers (OEMs) in the first week of August. That’s when vendors such as Dell, HP and others can begin their work to customize the Windows 8 process as it will be installed on their computers.

Windows 8 will be available in retail stores for purchase by late October 2012.

The price for upgrading a workstation from XP, Vista and Windows 7 to Windows 8 will be $39.99, if you download the update online.

image

WHS Errors: Cqsvc.exe and MediaSmart Server Software Update

I have had a WHS server at one site for nearly three years. They use it just for backups, and that’s all I ever really check on a quarterly basis for them.

Today, while reviewing this server, I opened up Event Viewer and noticed a slew of warning messages related to “cqsvc.exe” and error events related to “MediaSmart Server Software Update”.

image

I quickly located a solution from Kelvyn Taylor’s website which workedbeautifully for me. Simply remote into the WHS server, and from a command line prompt, run:

winmgmt /resyncperf

No rebooting of the server required. When you go back into Event Log you will find that things are nice and quiet!

image

July 9 Malware Alert

Note: This is a slightly revised and updated version of my blog post from 4/23/2012

There have been many reports that on July 9, 2012 there is the possibility of a widespread Internet blackout due to the FBI shutting down several rogue Internet DNS servers. When that happens, any computer previously infected from these rogue servers will lose access to the Internet. You can read more about the details of threat and the cause  at the FBI website.

There’s good news and even more good news.

The first good news is that the FBI identified this threat late last year and immediate took steps to clean up and lock this threat from doing any real damage. And, as long as you keep your computer up-to-date with virus & malware protection, you should be good.

The second good news is that you can do an immediate test to see if your computer is infected with this rogue software! Just click on this website link below to perform a quick check your computer:

http://www.dns-ok.us/

Please note – the website listed above may be heavily accessed this weekend. If you get a “page cannot be displayed”, press the “Refresh” button on your browser, or try again in a few minutes.

No software is installed and no changes to your computer is made. You will get either an immediate Green (good) or Red (infected) message.

If you are infected, the website will explain how to fix it, or you can contact me for assistance.image

2012 Windows Server Essentials Announced

Some changes are coming for the Small Business Server (SBS) and the Windows Home Server (WHS) products. Microsoft announced the following on Thursday, July 5th, 2012:

  • Microsoft has announced a new Windows offering and it is called “Windows Server Essentials 2012”.
    http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/2012-editions.aspx
    Retail price: $425  Licensing model: 25 user account limit
    Features a simpler interface, pre-configured connectivity to cloud based services; no virtualization rights
  • Windows SBS 2011 Standard is the final offering of its kind (integrated Exchange and SharePoint).
    SBS 2011 Standard will be available through OEM channels until Dec 31, 2013 and other channels until June 20, 2013
  • There will not be a new version of Home Server.
    Major Home Server features have been integrated into Windows Server Essentials 2012.
  • There is no new version of the Windows SBS 2011 Premium Add-on.
    SQL Server 2012 does not have a Small Business edition and so this offering cannot be continued.

 

For more details, please check out the Microsoft’s Windows Server 2012 Editions page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Find Answers” link under the FAQ section.