PWStrain

NetMon 3.2 released

pwstrain — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:37:54 GMT

Technorati Tags: Network , Monitor , Packet , Trace The great new Network Monitor from Microsoft that I blogged about in Beta is now out for official release. If you have not yet downloaded and played...(read more)

The DVD’s have arrived…

pwstrain — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:50:01 GMT

and the “State of the Nation” presentation video is not there. The one thing I missed due to scheduling that I was absolutely counting on the DVD to see. I guess I’ll be re-arranging my scheduling priorities...(read more)

Yum ate my Cacti!

pwstrain — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:51:35 GMT

Jumping off the Microsoft train for a post. We use Cacti for circuit / router / switch monitoring. It's free, it does everything we need it to do, and it's easy to get going if you use the CactiEZ...(read more)

Reporting on Workstations in AD Group

pwstrain — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:43:47 GMT

So I last posted about creating a collection based on a user's membership in an AD Group , and tying that to a workstation based on the TopConsoleUser field. Of course as soon as I let it loose that...(read more)

At long last...

pwstrain — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:23:01 GMT

Having a collection based on Active Directory User Group membership has been a holy grail since we installed SMS. It seemed to make sense to everyone that since we have the user ID of the last logged in...(read more)

NetMon 3.2b is out

pwstrain — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:22:32 GMT

... and it rocks. Some quick initial testing shows that this tool finally has real value on a Windows system. What's New since Network Monitor 3.1 Process Tracking: View all the processes on your machine...(read more)

Microsoft Application Virtualization

pwstrain — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:33:46 GMT

One of the most compelling technologies to come down the pipe from Microsoft is Application Virtualization , formerly known as SoftGrid. One of the main holdbacks for us and the product was that applications...(read more)

Moving the Ops Mgr DB

pwstrain — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:25:48 GMT

After much delay, uncertainty, fear and paranoia, I've finally moved our Ops Manager 2007 (SP1) DB to a new 64-bit HP behemoth server. I can say that it went exactly as advertised. I chose not to delete...(read more)

It can't be far off...

pwstrain — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:30:52 GMT

They've invented the Flux Capacitor. Ok, so they call it a Memristor , but read what it does: The memristor is formally defined as a two-terminal element in which the magnetic flux Φ m between the...(read more)

Geek Flowchart

pwstrain — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:35:47 GMT

I knew it all started with D&D. If I had seen this at the age of thirteen, who knows where I'd be today? The chart is sadly accurate. About the only thing missing is the entire BBS era. And there...(read more)

MMS : WrapUp

pwstrain — Sun, 04 May 2008 21:00:00 GMT

You know that old saying about a butterfly flapping it's wings causing a hurricane a thousand miles away? Well, a thunderstorm in Chicago causes repercussions around the world. I finally landed at...(read more)

MMS : Stuck

pwstrain — Fri, 02 May 2008 23:10:03 GMT

Weather in Chicago delays my flight out of Vegas. Making me miss my connecting flight from O'Hare to Champaign. And since it's the last flight of the night to Champaign, looks like I get to drive...(read more)

MMS : 2009

pwstrain — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:05:30 GMT

Mark your calendars. MMS 2009 April 27 - May 1, Las Vegas. See you there!...(read more)

MMS : Misc

pwstrain — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:07:46 GMT

Some miscellaneous thoughts around MMS and the Venetian hotel. Venetian Coffee - Good. Better than average, and kept stocked throughout the venue. I'd like to see the pots they use to make coffee for...(read more)

MMS Day Four : Keynote

pwstrain — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:39:21 GMT

The Reality of the Cloud Ok, I missed some of this due to working some last night (a new Ops Manager RMS Server!), excess sleep and work to catch up on this morning. But I did get there in time to hear...(read more)

MMS Day Three : Afternoon Sessions

pwstrain — Thu, 01 May 2008 05:19:19 GMT

OS Deployment with SCCM : Part 1 This session was pretty well full. Given the capabilities of SCCM and OSD, I'm not surprised. This slide deck is going to be a must have if you deploy OS's with...(read more)

MMS Day Three : Sessions

pwstrain — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:29:02 GMT

SCCM 2007 Scripting and Console Extensions : Greg Ramsey For those of us that live and die by the community written console extensions for SMS 2003, this session is a must. Where would we be without the...(read more)

MMS Day Three : Keynote

pwstrain — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:52:47 GMT

Managing The Dynamic Desktop Microsoft Funny Guy : Still not so much. User - Centric Computing : Delivering an application to a user in a seamless fashion regardless of the device they use to connect....(read more)

MMS Day Two : Sessions

pwstrain — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:19:32 GMT

Extending Operations Manager Cameron Fuller's session was well attended and well done. He went through a slew of Community and Third - Party extensions to SCOM, including (but not limited to): Override...(read more)

MMS Day Two : Keynote

pwstrain — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:06:53 GMT

Some awesome announcements in the keynote address. First off, the comedian guy at the beginning : the "show of hands" line of jokes was funny last year. Not so much this year. Won't be at...(read more)

MMS Day One : Expo

pwstrain — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:48:18 GMT

What a zoo! I think all four thousand attendees were lined up trying to get in the doors. The line went back nearly to the casino (if not all the way there by the time the doors opened) and that wasn't...(read more)

MMS Day One : Labs

pwstrain — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:32:15 GMT

Advice : Start the VM's as soon as you sit down! Be careful when closing items in the VM that you don't close the VM itself! You don't want to have to start the lab over. Not that I did that...(read more)

MMS Day One - Alumni

pwstrain — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:15:09 GMT

If you are an MMS Alumni, make sure you stop by the Alumni room, if only to pick up your official polo shirt....(read more)

MMS Day One

pwstrain — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:03:00 GMT

Ok, I get it. The Venetian is gargantuan. I think it's as far from my room to the conference center as it was last year in San Diego. I exaggerate a bit, but not much. I'm finally learning the...(read more)

Arrived in Vegas

pwstrain — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:13:33 GMT

Here and cranked up to start MMS tomorrow. Congratulations to the fine folks at American Airlines for getting both me and my checked bag to the same place at the same time. This time....(read more)

Packing for MMS

pwstrain — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:28:00 GMT

Heading out to MMS tomorrow. Given past experience, I'm packing two days worth of clothes in my carry on and praying for the bag I'll check. I'll blog things of interest while I'm there...(read more)

KB948496 Ate My Network

pwstrain — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:32:46 GMT

We started having weird issues today with users in a particular site not being able to log in, not mapping drives, etc. We were getting odd DNS and KCC errors in the logs. We finally traced it down to...(read more)

A Grand Master is gone

pwstrain — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:19:20 GMT

Arthur C. Clark has died. 2001. Rama. Childhood's End The Fountains of Paradise I could go on, and on. Clarke is the writer who really expanded my horizons, who made me think big impossible things...(read more)

Vegas - Bound

pwstrain — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:03:30 GMT

Finally got approval to attend MMS! Immediately went and signed up for initial 3 sessions, which are open for alumni now. The session schedule is also available here. If you've not been to MMS, it's...(read more)

The Zune A Day Giveaway

pwstrain — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:31:56 GMT

Win a Zune! Hotmail or Windows Live account required. The Zune A Day Giveaway...(read more)