In the past years, I’ve found many systems and many errors. Today, I’m sharing behavior in Microsoft Windows Server that had me frown and chuckle. A bug in Active Directory code I’ve been grateful for, since it illustrates the nature of software. Note: This behavior has not been publicized in the Microsoft KnowledgeBase (yet). In the ...

Whenever a worm utilizes the normal access and daily tools systems admins use, there is a significant problem. After all, shutting down the attack vector suddenly isn’t that easy. So, without making dramatic changes to your environment, how can you rest assured?     About Win32/Morto.A One of the latest threats to use ...

Microsoft has included numerous features in Active Directory the last couple of years. Also, more and more technologies in products like Exchange Server, SharePoint Server and the Windows client (Windows Vista, Windows 7) have an Active Directory opt-in to store information in Active Directory. All this bountiful integration, however, comes with ...

Active Directory relies on accurate time for a number of reasons. One of this reasons is Kerberos authentication, which by nature can only cope with a difference in time (time skew) of five minutes between the Kerberos server and client. Now, don’t get me wrong. I think the time skew limitation and the overall Kerberos implementation as we know ...

Microsoft touts the smaller attack surface as one of the biggest benefits of using Server Core, compared to a Full installation of Windows Server 2008. Because a Server Core installation is optimized, it doesn’t include most of the vulnerabilities found in Full installations. A consequence of these optimizations is a Server Core installation might ...

You know, in terms of deploying servers in a smart way, so you can actually utilize them for as long as their economical lifecycle in a supported fashion without a need to reinstall them, I’ve made a stupid decision in advising IT Pros to deploy Server Core Domain Controllers in the last two years. The problem, you see, is the product team ...

Microsoft has published a document titled “SYSVOL Replication Migration Guide: FRS to DFS Replication” to the Download server today. The 52-page 416KB weighing document outlines how to get from using File Replication Service (FRS) replication to Distributed File System Replication(DFS-R) for the SYSVOL folder. Since DFS-R offers more performance, ...

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 came with built-in support for serial and USB connected Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) devices. From within the Power Options you could manage your UPS and the shutdown behavior of the box. About UPS Devices UPS devices help prevent loss of data from power loss (“black-outs) ...

Microsoft products cover a multitude of technologies, and thus are managed by a multitude of management attitudes, vision and scenarios. In the past Microsoft products lacked a common vision on management, but Microsoft is slowly changing this. All Windows Server products will be manageable through: Server Manager (locally on Full ...

Smart-X, the Israel-based company behind CoreConfigurator and former employer of Guy Teverovsky has released a new version of CoreConfigurator for Server Core installations of Windows Server 2008. And I must admit … I’m impressed!     CoreConfigurator 1.2.0.2 Last time I looked at Smart-X CoreConfigurator version 1.1.0.5. I ...