Trying to give something back to the Community...
All about Branch Distribution Points [31/10/08] Contributed By: Cliff Hobbs [MVP ConfigMgr/ SMS] Branch Distribution Points (BDPs), are a new Site System role introduced in ConfigMgr 2007 but trying to get to grips with exactly what they are, how to use them, whether you should use them, nuances, etc. can be a bit daunting.
Well not any longer as I hope this article I wrote for Server Management Magazine will make things a LOT clearer. I'd love to get your feedback on this and my other Server Management articles which you can access from the Server Management Magazine Articles page, a link to which is provided at the foot of the ConfigMgr section Home page.
What are the benefits of the new AD Security Group Discovery introduced in SMS 2003 SP2?
Contributed By: Cliff Hobbs [MVP ConfigMgr/ SMS] One of the many new features of SMS 2003 Service Pack 2 is the "Active Directory Security Group" Discovery Method. But what benefits does this new Discovery Method provide?..
Well I’ve taken and passed the ConfigMgr exam I’m pleased to say (I don’t like doing exams). So as well as being an MCP, MCSE, MVP I can now add MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist), to my list of titles as well.
All in all I thought it was a very good exam with a good cross section of questions. If you want to find out more check out the Prep Guide at:
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exams/70-401.mspx
The 11th November has special significance to a lot of people (me included as it’s my birthday), as this is when we as a nation like many others remember our war dead as it coincides with the end of the First World War in 1918. Leading up to this date people donate money to the Poppy Appeal organised by the Royal British Legion, who in their own words are:
“a charity that supports the serving and ex-Service community, and their families, as well as being one of the country's largest membership organisations. We are probably best-known for our role as the nation's custodian of Remembrance and for the Poppy Appeal which we organise annually.”
In exchange for a donation you are given a Poppy which you wear up until the 11th November to show your support for the Legion, those they support and not forgetting those that gave their lives in any of our wars to protect this country and what we believe in.
Why a Poppy?
Well during the First World War the Poppy was the only thing that grew in the aftermath of the complete devastation and carnage of the Flanders and Picardy regions of Belgium and Northern France which prompted John McCrae serving with the Canadian Armed Forces to write his famous “In Flanders' Fields” poem in 1915 (a copy of which you can read here).
After the War ordinary civilians wanted to show their respects and remember those that had fallen. So Moina Michael (an American War Secretary), inspired by John McCrae's poem started to sell Poppies to raise money for the ex-service community, a tradition that has continued ever since.
So why am I writing this?
Well wandering around just lately I’ve noticed so few people are wearing poppies at this time of year. When I was a child I remember you had problems finding someone who wasn’t wearing one. Now it seems to be the opposite. Now of course some may have already contributed to the appeal and decided not to wear their poppy. Others may not have gotten round to it or not been able to find anywhere to buy one.
But please whatever the case, take a moment other than the 2 minutes silence on the 11th to remember those that gave their lives so that we can have what we have today as without these brave souls our country would be a very different place indeed.
If you can’t find a Poppy seller you can of course donate online simply by visiting the British Legion website:
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/
Our next event with Wally Mead of Microsoft – can’t wait.
Safe trip Wally – see you on Friday ;-)
SQL Server 2000
953504 How to change SQL Server parameters in a clustered environment when SQL Server is not online
958735 Cumulative update package 11 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2
958547 FIX: The values of the datetime column are not same for the rows that are copied when you copy data to a table by using the GETDATE() function in Microsoft SQL Server 2005
958684 FIX: Log Reader Agent fails with error code 18834 in SQL Server 2005
958006 FIX: The size of the SQL Server 2005 error log file grows very quickly when query notifications are created and destroyed in a high ratio
956911 FIX: A time-out setting is not available for the Web Service task in a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (SSIS) package
959031 FIX: Error message when you try to expand the Catalogs node for a linked server that links to a Teradata Database in SQL Server 2005: "Cannot obtain the schema rowset DBSCHEMA_CATALOGS for OLE DB provider SQL Server for linked server (null)"
958554 FIX: Error message when you restore a transaction log for a database by using the STANDBY option in SQL Server 2005: "The transaction log for database '' is full"
956889 FIX: Error message when you run the snapshot agent on a replication of a stored procedure in SQL Server 2005: "The Name property cannot have a value of @param_name for this version of SQL Server"
959030 FIX: If you enter many rows into the Fuzzy Grouping transformation, you may obtain an incorrect result in SQL Server 2005 Integration Services
959032 FIX: A peer-to-peer transactional replication does not replicate rows if you rebuild the index for a published table at the same time as you insert data in the published table in SQL Server 2005
959028 FIX: Error message when you parse a query after you run the SET XACT_ABORT ON statement in SQL Server 2005: ".Net SqlClient Data Provider: A severe error occurred on the current command"
958004 FIX: The file growth setting is incorrect after you restore a database from SQL Server 2000 in SQL Server 2005
956686 FIX: When you run a query that contains a JOIN operation in SQL Server 2005, and the ON clause of the JOIN operator contains a LIKE predicate, the query runs slower than in SQL Server 2000
958573 FIX: A memory leak occurs when you repeatedly invoke a trigger that contains the RAISERROR statement in SQL Server 2005
958555 FIX: A SQL Server Agent job that creates a ServerXMLHTTP object by using an ActiveX script remains in the Executing status and is never completed in SQL Server 2005
955920 FIX: Error message when you try to install SQL Server 2005: "[Microsoft][SQL Native Client][SQL Server]The certificate cannot be dropped because one or more entities are either signed or encrypted using it"
956890 You receive an error message when you try to start a Remote Assistance task from the Essentials console of Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 Service Pack 1 on a Windows Vista-based computer or on a Windows Server 2008-based computer
956837 Description of the Visio 2007 hotfix package: August 26, 2008
959079 Installation of applications from network share results in an error: "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file"
959118 Printing multiple copies of the same job using LPD does not work in Windows Server 2003 service pack 2
959117 Certification Authority Service Startup Failure
959077 Error 126: The specified module could not be found when starting a service
958893 How to configure DFSR logging
957089 FIX: Local activation occurs on the client computer when you install a COM+ application proxy that was exported from a partition other than the Base Application Partition
959074 Software Restriction Policy Enforcement set to “All Software Files†causes checks against paths/files that are invalid
959069 On a Windows-based computer, NTFS alternate data streams are lost on a shared folder that has the Offline Files feature enabled
958644 MS08-067: Vulnerability in Server service could allow remote code execution
959113 W32time Service does not start with the Error "System Error 126 has Occurred" "The Specified module could not be found"
948502 Error message when you try to store a security descriptor by using an administration tool or a script in Windows Server 2003: "The security ID structure is invalid Facility: Win32 ID no: 80070539"
959119 NTP packets may appear on all available networks
959076 Index server returns wrong titles of documents when it searches in html-files that contains Nordic symbols
951581 When you enable field engineering on an AD LDS or AD AM directory service on a Windows Server 2003-based or Windows Server 2008-based computer, an LDAP query is executed more slowly than expected, and Event ID 1699 is logged
959212 Symsnap.sys caused Windows Stop error
955364 The "Active Directory Users and Computers" MMC snap-in crashes when you create a computer account in this MMC snap-in on a computer on which Windows Server 2003 was installed by using installation media that has SP2 slipstreamed
957991 Error message on a Windows Server 2003 R2-based computer that has hardware support for Intelligent Platform Management Interface: "Stop 0x000000F7"
959214 You may not be able to add or remove additional namespace servers using the DFS management console in Windows Server 2003 R2
959213 SNMP CPU index changes every time you install or uninstall a printer
I just received this email from Steve where he talks about Cloud Computing and the ability to be able to connect to people and share information regardless of their location. Isn’t this potentially a bad thing though as soon they’ll be no escape from the online world?
There’s also the never ending threat that this joined up world brings and being able to trust who you get information from and who you give you information to. Couple this with the real nightmare that if one of your systems gets breached (be it phone, computer, TV, even your fridge), then potentially ALL of them get infected turning your headache into a migraine.
Personally I’m all for the disconnected world as it gives me a greater degree of security and escapism which we all need to avoid burnout with the pace of life continuing to accelerate rapidly at an unchecked pace.
“During the past decade, a dramatic transformation in the world of information technology has been taking shape. It's a transformation that will change the way we experience the world and share our experiences with others. It's a transformation in which the barriers between technologies will fall away so we can connect to people and information no matter where we are. It's a transformation where new innovations will shorten the path from inspiration to accomplishment.
Many of the components of this transformation are already in place. Some have received a great deal of attention. "Cloud computing" that connects people to vast amounts of storage and computing power in massive datacenters is one example. Social networking sites that have changed the way people connect with family and friends is another.
Other components are so much a part of the inevitable march of progress that we take them for granted as soon as we start to use them: cell phones that double as digital cameras, large flat-screen PC monitors and HD TV screens, and hands-free digital car entertainment and navigation systems, to name just a few.
What's missing is the ability to connect these components in a seamless continuum of information, communication, and computing that isn't bounded by device or location. Today, some things that our intuition says should be simple still remain difficult, if not impossible. Why can't we easily access the documents we create at work on our home PCs? Why isn't all of the information that customers share with us available instantly in a single application? Why can't we create calendars that automatically merge our schedules at work and home?
This week at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles, we shared news with software developers about a new set of platform technologies that will help transcend these limits. Because you are a subscriber to Executive Emails from Microsoft, I wanted to share my thoughts about the impact that these technologies will have as developers begin to use them to create a new generation of experiences that extend uninterrupted from the desktop to the mobile phone, media player, car, and beyond-to places where we never thought information and communications would be available to us.
A New Platform for Cloud Computing
At PDC, we announced the availability of an early preview release of a new technology called Windows Azure. Windows Azure will enable developers to build applications that extend from the cloud to the enterprise datacenter and span the PC, the Web, and the mobile phone. For the first time, we shared pre-beta code for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2. Windows 7, which is the next version of the Windows desktop operating system, will take advantage of software and hardware advances to help eliminate the boundaries between information, people, and devices.
We also previewed Office Web applications, which are light-weight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote that are designed to be accessed through a browser. Office Web applications will be part of the next version of Office and will enable people to view, edit, and share information and collaborate on documents on the desktop, the phone, and in a Web browser in a way that is consistent and familiar.
Windows Azure is part of the Azure Services Platform, a comprehensive set of storage, computing, and networking infrastructure services that reside in Microsoft's network of datacenters. Using the Azure Services Platform, developers will be able to build applications that run in the cloud and extend existing applications to take advantage of cloud-based capabilities. The Azure Services Platform provides the foundation for business and consumer applications that deliver a consistent way for people to store and share information easily and securely in the cloud, and access it on any device from any location.
Windows Azure is not software that companies will run on their own servers. It's something new: a service that runs in Microsoft's growing network of datacenters and provides the platform that helps companies respond to the realities of today's business environment, and tomorrow's. Windows Azure technologies are already finding their way into products such as Windows Server 2008 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager, enabling organizations and Microsoft partners to create their own cloud infrastructure.
Windows Azure will enable organizations to respond to realities such as the need to use the Web to provide customers with comprehensive information and to interact with an audience that has the potential to expand exponentially overnight; to integrate operations with partners-and sometimes even competitors-to meet customer needs; to add new capabilities quickly to respond to new opportunities; and to enable employees to work efficiently and effectively no matter where they are. These realities apply not just to businesses, but to organizations of all kinds: schools, governments, community groups, and more.
Traditional approaches to building technology infrastructure and delivering computing capabilities make it difficult and expensive to adjust to these realities. You need systems with enough capacity to meet the highest possible demand-capacity that includes servers and buildings to house them, the power to run them, and the people to manage them. You have to spread that capacity across locations so there's a backup if one part fails. You have to solve issues like access for different types of users and compliance with tax regulations in all countries where your customers reside.
Designed specifically to meet the global scale that today's organizations require, the Azure Services Platform will provide fundamentally new ways to deploy services and capabilities. It gives businesses the option to take advantage of the capacity available in the cloud as it is needed, reducing the need to make large upfront investments in infrastructure simply to be ready when demand spikes. It will enable developers to create applications that run in the cloud and provide the features, information, and interactivity that employees, partners, and customers expect-no matter how many of them there are, where they are in the world, or what device they have at hand.
Software Plus Services and the Power of Choice
The Azure Services Platform reflects our belief that choice is critical for developers, companies, and consumers. It is also based on our belief that the key to delivering value today and in the future lies in combining the best aspects of software running on PCs, servers, and devices with the best aspects of services running on the Web-an approach we call "software plus services."
Our software plus services approach lets people take full advantage of the incredible power of today's devices. While there are undeniable benefits to being able to tap into the wealth of information and services that can be accessed over the Web through a browser, the interactive experiences that people expect on their PC, mobile phone, and media player depend on sophisticated software running on powerful processors.
The richness of these experiences will only increase as multicore processors expand the computing capabilities of our devices and new programming languages open the door to a new generation of applications that let us use more natural ways to interact with digital technology such as voice, touch, and gestures.
Software plus services also recognizes that for most companies, the ideal way to build IT infrastructure is to find the right balance of applications that are run and managed within the organization and applications that are run and managed in the cloud.
This balance varies by company. A financial services company may choose to maintain customer records within its own datacenter to provide the extra layers of protection that it feels are needed to safeguard the privacy of personal information. It may outsource IT systems that provide basic capabilities such as email.
This balance will change over time within an organization, as well. A company may run its own online transaction system most of the year, but outsource for added capacity to meet extra demand during the holiday season. With software plus services, an organization can move applications back and forth between its own servers and the cloud quickly and smoothly.
Today, companies around the world are implementing Microsoft technologies to take advantage of the best combination of on-premise software and cloud-based services. Using Microsoft Online Services, businesses including Coca-Cola Enterprises, Blockbuster, and Energizer access and manage Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications Server, and Live Meeting over the Web through a single, secure infrastructure. In addition, 1 million people rely on Office Live Workspace for sharing and collaborating with friends, family, and colleagues.
Expanding the Definition of Personal Computing
Ultimately, the reason to create a cloud services platform is to continue to enhance the value that computing delivers, whether it's by improving productivity, making it easier to communicate with colleagues, or simplifying the way we access information and respond to changing business conditions.
In the world of software plus services and cloud computing, this means extending the definition of personal computing beyond the PC to include the Web and an ever-growing array of devices. Our goal is to make the combination of PCs, mobile devices, and the Web something that is significantly than more the sum of its parts.
The starting point is to recognize the unique value of each part. The value of the PC lies in its computing power, its storage capacity, and its ability to help us be more productive and create and consume rich and complex documents and content.
For the Web, it's the ability to bring together people, information, and services so we can connect, communicate, share, and transact with anyone, anywhere, at any time.
With the mobile phone and other devices, it's the ability to take action spontaneously-to make a call, take a picture, or send a text message in the flow of our activities.
Through Live Mesh-a service from Microsoft that we announced earlier this year and about which we shared new information week-we're beginning to bridge the PC, phone, and Web and create this next generation of connected experiences. Built on the Azure Services Platform, Live Mesh enables you to use programs and information stored on your work computer from your home PC, and vice versa. With Live Mesh, you can share folders and ensure that the information is automatically synchronized across your devices.
Live Mesh hints at how our lives will be transformed as the barriers between devices disappear and the option to connect instantly to people, devices, programs, and information becomes a reality.
We're not quite there yet. Today, the Azure Services Platform is available only as a limited technology preview release. But as developers begin to combine the capabilities of this new platform with the amazing ongoing hardware and software innovations that we are seeing from companies across the industry, it will bring us significantly closer to the time when information, communication, and computing flows along with us seamlessly as we move through our day-to-day activities.
You can learn more about these technologies and the progress we are making by visiting the Microsoft Software + Services Web site.
I look forward to sharing more information with you about these new technologies in the near future.
Steve Ballmer”
Microsoft released MS08-067 “Vulnerability in Server Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (958644)” YESTERDAY (not on Patch Tuesday) because of it’s criticality. For more details goto:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-067.mspx
or
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958644
With just over a week to go until our half-day event with none other that the ConfigMgr/ SMS legend that is Wally Mead, there’s still time for you to register for this event but you’ll have to be fast.
More details including a registration link (the event is free by the way), can be found on our home page:
http://wmug.co.uk
It’s going to be a cracking event, with three different sessions pretty much covering all you need to know about ConfigMgr with the opportunity to ask Wally your questions. So what are you waiting for? ;-)
Internet Explorer 6.0
956390 MS08-058: Cumulative security update for Internet Explorer
956391 Microsoft Security Advisory: Cumulative security update for ActiveX
958974 You may be unable to manage IIS 6.0 by using Server Manager if two threads access IIS 7.0 at the same time
955694 FIX: When you update rows by using a cursor in SQL Server 2005, the update may take a long time to finish
958897 Windows File Protection error for "msxml6r.dll" in setup of SQL on localized Windows XP SP3
954072 The Taskkill.exe program stops responding when you try to end a process in an installation of Windows Vista that is running in audit mode
956609 Internet Explorer 7 shows a password mask character that is too large for a password entry box on a Japanese Web site
956615 Some HTML nested table content does not render in Internet Explorer 7
944937 Internet Explorer 7 cannot handle the SHA512 hash algorithm
950066 Error message when you try to run a Web application that uses the window.external property in Internet Explorer 7: "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close"
958686 Detection and deployment guidance for the October 14, 2008 security release
954211 MS08-061: Vulnerabilities in Windows kernel could allow elevation of privilege
957095 MS08-063: Vulnerability in SMB could allow remote code execution
956841 MS08-064: Vulnerability in Virtual Address Descriptor manipulation could allow elevation of privilege
953155 MS08-062: Vulnerability in Windows Internet Printing service could allow remote code execution
956803 MS08-066: Vulnerability in the Microsoft Ancillary Function driver could allow elevation of privilege
In case you’ve been wondering why I’ve not been as active community-wise for the past few weeks/ months as I normally am (especially this past month or two), it’s all down to the fact of Necy and I getting married on the 4th October.
After months of planning and hair pulling the day arrived and everything (apart from the weather being a little cold and a couple of hiccups at the Reception), went off without a hitch to give us a day to remember.
The day just seemed to fly by and many people have remarked that it was one of the best weddings they had been too. I was a bit nervous about giving my speech (especially as I had used Google Translator to translate it into Portuguese for Necy’s parents and her older sister who flew over from Brazil, which seemed to have worked OK as I never got any shocked looks where the translator threw a wobbly).
Many thanks to everyone for making our special day one to remember, their kind words, cards and gifts. After the wedding we spent the rest of the time showing Necy’s family as much of the UK as we could such as London (Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, etc.), Cambridge, Oxford, Windsor, Stonehenge to name but a few. Needless to say there was not enough time but they really enjoyed themselves and remarked how different it was to Brazil.
So back to the “real” world with a bump unfortunately, but it’s SO much better now I have a beautiful, sexy, amazing wife by my side who loves me and everything I do (including FAQShop and dressing up as Darth Vader LOL).
Back to the huge backlog of emails and other stuff needing my attention…
Well only for one day to commemorate the visit today of her Majesty the Queen to their UK headquarters. More information at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7672149.stm
Windows Server 2003
954434 A multiprocessor computer that is running a Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Vista stops responding on a black screen after you resume the computer from hibernation
957052 The Hbaapi.dll module leaks two handles when the module is unloaded on a system that is running Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista Service Pack 1, or Windows Server 2008
950903 The system may not detect that a logical unit was replaced on a Windows Server 2003-based computer
A BUMPER crop this month by looks.
Critical
Vulnerability in Server Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (958644)
Vulnerability in Active Directory Could Allow Remote Code Execution (957280)
Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (956390)
Vulnerability in Host Integration Server RPC Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (956695)
Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution (956416)
Important
Vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (954211)
Vulnerability in Windows Internet Printing Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (953155)
Vulnerability in SMB Could Allow Remote Code Execution (957095)
Vulnerability in Virtual Address Descriptor Manipulation Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (956841)
Vulnerability in Message Queuing Could Allow Remote Code Execution (951071)
Moderate
Vulnerability in Microsoft Office Could Allow Information Disclosure (957699)
System Center Operations Manager 2007
958170 Description of System Center Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 support for Microsoft SQL Server 2008
956988 Error message when you try to access or to browse Business Productivity Online Standard Suite Web sites: "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage"
958050 You receive error code 0x8007F0DA when use the Windows Update Web site or the Microsoft Update Web site to install updates:
958052 You receive error code 0x80070643 or error code 0x643 when you use the Windows Update or Microsoft Update Web sites to install updates
958048 You receive error code 0xC80001FE when try to connect to the Windows Update Web site or to the Microsoft Update Web site to install updates