Secrets of the Windows Gurus

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10 > Why Redmond’s Bullish onWindows Live Secrets oftheWindows Gurus Secrets oftheWindows Gurus

7125274 867 27 What makes themtick? COE 07REDMONDMAG.COM OCTOBER 2007 + to Play Nice? When WillVistaLearn Not aMust-Have Readers: Word 2007 Is on Silverlight Beta ManShinesaLight 24 64 37 12 Award Winner 19 Best Editorial Best Feature 2007 ASBPE Project8 9/4/07 1:58 PM Page 1 Project8 9/4/07 1:58 PM Page 2 1007red_TOC2.v4 9/14/07 10:50 AM Page 2

2007 Winner for Best Single Issue Computers/Software, Training & Program Development/Trade Redmond OCTOBER 2007 The Independent Voice of the Microsoft IT Community Contents

COVER STORY REDMOND REPORT 9 Server Manager Responds to Secrets Users’ Needs Technology better consolidates Longhorn’s of the management functions. 10 A Call for Windows More Flexible Desktop Standards Gurus Cavalancia thinks you Technology experts tell Redmond what need to accommodate makes them tick. Web 2.0 and Vista apps. Page 24

FEATURES 37 Windows Vista: Learning 45 Access Anywhere to Play Nice The Client Access Server 11 First Beta for Vista Despite Microsoft’s efforts so far, gives you many remote SP1 Coming Soon incompatibilities still dog the new OS. access options for Microsoft reveals first Exchange 2007. details of upcoming Vista service pack. 12 Beta Man Silverlight Bridges the Gap COLUMNS 6 Barney’s Rubble: Doug Barney Stop Bugging Me! 14 Mr. Roboto: Jeffery Hicks Event by Event 55 Windows Insider: Page 37 Greg Shields First Look: WinRM & WinRS REVIEWS 59 Security Advisor: Product Review Reader Review Joern Wettern Virtual Security 16 Navigate Your Network 19 Word 2007: Not WhatsUp Gold maps your Exactly a Must-Have 64 Foley on Microsoft: Mary Jo Foley network and helps you keep it Some sing its praises, but compatibility Why Is Redmond So running smoothly. problems and the new interface leave Bullish on Office Live? others cold.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 4 Redmondmag.com | 62 Ad and Editorial Indexes

COVER ILLUSTRATION BY GREGORY COPELAND Project2 8/10/07 4:36 PM Page 1 1007red_OnlineTOC_4.v3 9/14/07 10:21 AM Page 4

Redmondmag.comOCTOBER 2007

ENT Special Report Questions with ... Is 64-Bit Computing Doug Barney This month you can Finally Here? download a free, extended PDF version of “Secrets of t seems to be closer, at least for many Microsoft shops, according to the Windows Gurus” (read IRedmond Media Group Online News Editor Keith Ward. In Ward’s recent the cover story on p. 24). special report, “64-Bit Computing Moves to the Fore,” he examines the Author and Redmond current state of Redmond’s 64-bit apps and finds that if it’s not upon you Editor in Chief Doug Doug Barney now, it will be soon—especially with Windows Server 2008. Barney shared with us his “With Windows 2008, we’re really going to see a shift to 64-bit,” Ward take on the story. Ralston, senior technical product manager in the Windows Server division, FindIT code: GuruPDF told Keith. Ralston confirmed that the mid-cycle update of Windows Server 2008—known as Windows Server 2008 R2—will be 64-bit only. What’s in the expanded PDF version? Find out more on Microsoft’s 64-bit plans and what they’ll mean for you. More extensive interviews with the FindIT code: ENT64 gurus—a little more insight into how they think. MCPmag.com What do the 12 gurus you interviewed Exclusive Weekly Tips have in common? They all seem to take time just to think, from Greg Shields and they find ways to relax and think: Some may run, some may watch a ant to know a quick workaround for IE’s download hockey game, some may have a glass Greg Shields Wrestrictions? Need an ISO-creation app that actually of whiskey. works? Curious how to create an event-log event via the command line? Greg Shields isn’t just Redmond magazine’s Windows Insider columnist— How can the typical Redmond reader he’s a working admin like yourself, and every week on MCPmag.com he think more like a guru? shares his tips for making your job easier. Have a question you want Greg to Be well read. Be curious. Ask a lot of answer? Submit it to [email protected]—if your question is picked, not questions. Try not to confine your thinking only will you get your question answered, you’ll get a free Redmond T-shirt. just to the world of technology. Sign up for his weekly tips by subscribing to the MCP newsletter (FindIT code: Newsletter) or view them online (FindIT code: MCPQT). REDMONDMAG.COM RESOURCES FACTOID Number of essential technologies and Resources Enter FindIT Code skills developers >> Daily News News need to know about >> E-Mail Newsletters Newsletters .NET, according to >> Free PDFs and Webcasts TechLibrary 8 RDN’s editors. >> Subscribe/Renew Subscribe Read all about them in the “.NET Survival Guide.” >> Your Turn Editor Queries YourTurn FindIT code: RDNSurv

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4 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project3 4/16/07 2:56 PM Page 1 1007red_Rubble6.v5 9/14/07 10:46 AM Page 6

Barney’sRubble by Doug Barney

RedmondTHE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF THE MICROSOFT IT COMMUNITY REDMONDMAG.COM OCTOBER 2007 ■ VOL. 13 ■ NO. 10

Editor in Chief Doug Barney Editor Ed Scannell Stop Bugging Me Executive Editor, Features Lafe Low Executive Editor, Reviews Peter Varhol Managing Editor Wendy Gonchar Associate Managing Editor Katrina Carrasco love computers. I hate computers. No—I don’t hate Editor, Redmondmag.com Becky Nagel Online News Editor Keith Ward them—it’s more like I’m annoyed with them. I’m Associate Editor, Web Gladys Rama Contributing Editors Mary Jo Foley Jeffery Hicks annoyed because somehow they manage to handle the Greg Shields I Joern Wettern most awesome, complex feats with aplomb, yet they utterly Art Director Brad Zerbel Senior Graphic Designer Alan Tao

choke when doing the easiest and most Here’s a quick list of other things that important stuff—like printing a Web test my patience: page or document, handling files in iBook power cords—my two sons have President Henry Allain VP, Publishing Matt N. Morollo today’s mobile environment and back- iBooks and their power cords last exactly VP, Editorial Director Doug Barney ing up data. one day more than the warranty. The VP, Conferences Tim G. Smith Director, Marketing Michele Imgrund Here’s how PCs bug me: replacement is $80 and you have to Executive Editor, Michael Domingo PCs are bad for the earth. While lots order it online or drive an hour to get New Media Executive Editor, Becky Nagel of greenies carp about the use of elec- one. A year later, the new one flakes out. Web Initiatives Director, Rita Zurcher tricity and how computers are melting Word—it always manages to impose Web Development million-year-old glaciers, I’m concerned the formatting of stuff you pasted into Senior Marketing Tracy S. Cook Manager about trees. PCs waste an awful lot of your existing doc. And getting rid of Marketing Programs Videssa Djucich paper. First, we seem compelled to print this formatting requires a computer sci- Manager every document, Web page or photo we ence degree from Carnegie Mellon. find, no matter how lame. That’s just Multiple PCs—Firefox has a neat tool human nature, not really the PC’s fault. to synchronize bookmarks between mul- I’m more bothered by how bad soft- tiple machines. I wish there was some- President & CEO Neal Vitale CFO Richard Vitale ware design wastes paper (and, more thing built into Windows that works as Executive VP Michael J. Valenti expensively, ink). well for e-mail folders and documents. I Managing Director Dick Blouin Think about the last Web don’t like Briefcase, don’t Managing Director Ellen Romanow VP, Financial William H. Burgin page you printed. Did it trust or want to pay for an Planning & Analysis VP, Finance & Christopher M. Coates come out right the first online service, and none of Administration time? Of course not! If you my USB drives are big VP, Audience Marketing Abraham M. Langer & Web Operations used IE, it probably failed enough. I know that Soft- VP, Erik Lindgren to print the right side of ware as a Service will even- Information Technology VP, Print & Mary Ann Paniccia the page. Ever try reading tually solve this, but I need Online Production an article that’s missing help now! Chairman of the Board Jeffrey S. Klein two or three words every Web site registration— line? This even happens like you, I always forget Reaching the Staff Editors can be reached via e-mail, fax, telephone or mail. with Microsoft Web pages, my user name or password A list of editors and contact information is available at and it’s the No. 1 reason I use Firefox. for a new site. Of course, it would be Redmondmag.com. E-mail: E-mail is routed to individuals’ desktops. Please use the Then there are the times you print a easy if it took the user name I asked for, following form: [email protected]. page and all that comes out is one ad. but it’s always taken so I have to add a Do not include a middle name or middle initials. Telephone: The switchboard is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. Or it prints fine, but there are two or bunch of numbers to the end to get it to 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time. After 5:30 p.m. you’ll be directed three pages of garbage (er … links) to stick. And why is a complex name to individual extensions. Irvine Office 949-265-1520; Fax 949-265-1528 from the bottom of the page your and password required for every lame Framingham Office 508-875-6644; Fax 508-875-6633 LaserJet is compelled to spit out. site? How about a single identity, even Corporate Office 818-734-1520; Fax 818-734-1528 The opinions expressed within the articles and other contents And then there are Excel and Word Passport, for all this garbage? herein do not necessarily express those of the publisher. tables. If I ever get one of these to fit on And don’t even get me started on DSL, a page I’ll kiss a frog. Now, if the left side which breaks down more than my old prints fine, then there are 30 wasted Yugo! What bugs you? Let me know at pages that include a row or two. [email protected].

6 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ALAN TAO Project2 7/16/07 9:50 AM Page 1

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RedmondReport

Server Manager Responds to Users’ Needs Technology better consolidates Longhorn’s management functions.

By Greg Shields selecting Add Role or Add Feature. All This installment begins a five-part series by dependencies for the desired new func- contributing editor Greg Shields and will The Drive to tionality will be identified and any pre- take a hard look at Microsoft’s upcoming installation configuration questions will Windows Server 2008 operating system, Longhorn be asked before the install begins. By also commonly known as “Longhorn.” The adding components to Server 2008 in series will hold a magnifying glass up to the core installation. It also means that this way, the administrator can be product’s new technical features to evaluate each dependency for a server responsi- ensured that they’re being installed their usefulness to IT admins, as well as bility is known at the time of installa- properly with the correct prerequi- how it affects a range of other core tion. Attempting to install a new server sites. There’s even a command-line Microsoft server and desktop products. role will automatically present the version of Server Manager called Are you tired of opening 19 different administrator with the prerequisites servermanagercmd.exe that can install or consoles to manage a single Windows that are necessary. It even installs remove components through scripts or server? Does the process of searching them automatically. from the command line. for just the right console drive you up But what are Roles, Role Services and Time will tell if other third-party the wall? It appears that for most of us Features? According to the Server utilities register themselves with it has, because with the upcoming 2008’s help file, Microsoft labels Roles Server Manager or whether its cen- Windows Server 2008 it looks like as those components that “describe the tralized role will be used for Microsoft has listened. primary function, purpose or use of a Microsoft’s products only. Hopefully Server Manager is Redmond’s new computer.” Role Services are consid- other vendors will recognize the Microsoft Management Console ered “software programs that provide added value of providing Server (MMC), which consolidates many, the functionality of a role.” So, we can Manager-capable components for though not all, of the management functions in Server 2008. This central- Adding new Roles, Role Services and Features is as easy as ized console is the replacement for Computer Management in previous right-clicking the correct node in Server Manager and versions of the server OS. In addition selecting Add Role or Add Feature. to augmenting some of the key resi- dents of Computer Management, like adding Reliability and Performance say here that while a Role is a desired their products as well. But until then, Management and an improved Event state for a server, the associated Role and until Server 2008 ships, we’ll just Viewer and Task Scheduler, Server Services are the components that actu- have to keep going to Add/Remove Manager centralizes the management ally get the job done. Programs like we’ve been doing for and configuration of native server func- Features are another ballgame com- years when it comes time to add new tionality into a single location. pletely. Intended to be other functions functionality to our servers. — the server can perform that are either Roles, Role Services non- or semi-related to the functionality Greg Shields, MCSE: Security, CCEA, is and Features of its installed Roles and Role Services, a principal consultant for 3t Systems With Server Manager and Server 2008, Features is the optional bits of code (www.3tsystems.com) in Denver, Colo. A the responsibilities given to a Windows that perform additional functions. contributing editor to Redmond and server are now broken into Roles, Role MCP Mag.com, Greg is also a popular Services and Features. This componen- Proper Installation speaker at TechMentor events. He’s cur- tization of the operating system is done Adding new Roles, Role Services and rently writing a new book, “Windows partially to eliminate the security risks Features is as easy as right-clicking the 2008: What’s New, What’s Changed,” of including these services with the correct node in Server Manager and due out next year.

| Redmondmag.com | Redmond | October 2007 | 9 1007red_RedReport9-12.v8 9/14/07 10:43 AM Page 10

RedmondReport

A Call for More Flexible Desktop Standards Cavalancia thinks you need to accommodate Web 2.0 and Vista apps.

By Ed Scannell and so applications compatibility will s the number of younger, Web be an issue. But Microsoft has pro- 2.0-aware users continues to duced some free tools in its applica- Agrow, Nick Cavalancia, vice pres- tion-compatibility toolkit that let IT ident of marketing for ScriptLogic figure out what locations in the registry Corp., believes many organizations need and file system the app is accessing so to evolve a more flexible standardization IT can figure things out. They’re mov- strategy for accommodating their desk- ing IT in the right direction but every- top needs. Underscoring this need for a one sort of groans and says, ‘OK, but more flexible standards approach is the that’s a lot of work.’ Well, yeah, it is specter of Windows Vista and its raft of now, but if you work to get this into exploitive applications, he says. your standard then you’re sitting pretty Cavalancia believes, however, that for the next three years. Part of my job desktop standardization doesn’t mean here—and I sometimes call myself identical configurations for every chief product evangelist—is to get peo- Calling himself “chief product evangelist,” employee. Standardization, he says, takes Nick Cavalancia, ScriptLogic Corp.’s ple to think ahead. in things such as: application use, includ- VP of marketing, focuses on getting ing a consistent strategy for app deploy- people to think ahead. You’re advising people to do the ment; OS configuration, which includes same. What it does mean is that on top grunt work on Vista now, but a lot organizing end-user settings company- of a base configuration such as Windows of people have decided not to go wide; and a support model, which and Office and Adobe, there’s now some to Vista until Microsoft delivers involves developing a plan for handling new level of personalization on the desk- Service Pack 1 early next year. all tech-support calls so users know what top. This personalization can be just a Yes, that’s fair to say. I did a white paper steps to take before calling IT. shortcut to Word, or putting something on Vista called the “Proactive Migration Cavalancia sat with Redmond Editor in the Start Menu. But it’s important for to Vista.” In that [white paper] I focus not Ed Scannell to discuss his views on set- an organization to remain IT-centric so so much on products as I do on thought ting standards in the age of Web 2.0 it can centrally approve the evolving leadership and trying to drive people to that offer users what they want while configuration and centrally deploy it. If think about how they do their deploy- also smoothing out the technical com- they can still look at a central console ments. And a lot of that revolves around plexities of an IT shop. and say, ‘OK, here’s Ed’s basic configura- standardization and when the work needs tion including Windows Explorer com- to be done. I think IT in general here is Redmond: Are people revisiting ing up with a certain Web page,’ that’s missing the mark if they don’t start think- the idea of desktop standardiza- good. The idea is to keep evolving some- ing about these things now. tion as a way to further simplify thing that still makes you productive. more complex IT environments? Standardization with some vendors Even with the finished code Cavalancia: Yes, it’s an old concept, like today still revolves around the physical out there, it seems hard to get saying ‘think outside the box.’ But the machine itself, and so they abide by the people motivated to spend time difference now is you have a lot of new old definition of standardization. Why? focusing on working Vista into workers coming in that are Web 2.0-type Because there’s no person involved. their standards base. users and have personalized My Space or They say, ‘If I have a payroll PC in the I agree. But look, Vista is inevitable. Face Book or blogger pages—people payroll department, then that machine So now’s the time to get up to speed who are accustomed to having their own gets the payroll app. Period.’ on it. Even agencies like the DOT environments, and so the definition of [U.S. Department of Transportation] standardization for IT has to change. Besides Web 2.0-centric users, say they’re not going to migrate to what other factors are complicat- Vista, that it’s too costly and involves a How so? ing desktop standardization? major overhaul. Instead, they should I’ll define it this way. Standardization Certainly the switch to Vista and the be looking at what they could be to me doesn’t mean everyone is the new security model is coming into play doing to get ready.

10 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | 1007red_RedReport9-12.v8 9/14/07 10:43 AM Page 11

RedmondReport

First Beta for Vista SP1 Coming Soon Microsoft reveals first details of upcoming Vista service pack.

By Peter Varhol feature a roll-up of fixes released so far Access (DMA) and the Secure Socket y the time you read this, and security improvements, like Tunneling Protocol. Microsoft may have already started upgrades to the heralded BitLocker While Vista SP1 is unlikely to have Bdistributing an initial beta of the drive encryption and the new Elliptical the dramatic changes found in the last eagerly anticipated Windows Vista Ser- Curve Cryptography (ECC) pseudo- major desktop OS service pack, vice Pack (SP) 1 to select enterprises and random number generator. Windows XP SP2, it’s an important users. This is the first step toward a final milestone for both Microsoft and users release, expected sometime during the considering upgrading to the operating first quarter of 2008. Based on the anticipated first system. The conventional wisdom says This service pack will include the first quarter 2008 release date for you shouldn’t even consider Microsoft significant updates to Vista. It’s also a SP1, enterprise uptake of Vista operating systems for production work landmark for those who habitually wait until the first service pack is delivered, for SP1 before making deployment deci- may start to increase by the fall installed and tested. Based on the anti- sions. Microsoft has published a white of next year. cipated first quarter 2008 release date paper with detailed information on the for SP1, enterprise uptake of Vista may beta at http://windowsvistablog.com. start to increase by the fall of next year. As always, take the anticipated release As for the main thrust of the service Of course, this is also dependent upon dates with a grain of salt. Microsoft says pack’s enhancements, Microsoft breaks steadily increasing application and driver it will take beta feedback and quality them down into three areas: compatibility. The Vista white paper goals into account before making final • Reliability and performance notes the steadily improving state of decisions on the actual release date. It’s improvements, including support for affairs concerning compatibility. How- likely that there will also be future beta a wider range of graphics cards and ever, most enterprises have numerous releases to larger numbers of testers printers custom applications that require test- drawn from the ranks of MSDN and • Administration experience improve- ing—and, in many cases, modifica- TechNet subscribers.There was no ments, like being able to use BitLocker tion—before running successfully on mention made of a full public beta. to encrypt multiple drives on a system Vista. This effort won’t be driven by According to the Microsoft white • Support for emerging hardware and Microsoft, but instead by budget con- paper and subsequent blog postings on standards, like Direct3D 10.1, Secure siderations and development resources the official Vista blog, Vista SP1 will Digital Advanced Direct Memory in individual enterprises.

LEADER OF THE QUAD-CORE PACK. 1007red_RedReport9-12.v8 9/14/07 10:44 AM Page 12

BetaMan RedmondReport

Silverlight Bridges the Gap Silverlight will change the game across the By Peter Varhol board for developers, administrators and users.

icrosoft made a big splash Then you need to download the verlight in Visual Studio. In a definite when it introduced Silverlight developer’s kit, which is currently avail- break with previous practice, Microsoft Mthis past spring, and that’s a able as an alpha refresh at has made the visual designer, called big change. When it was called www.microsoft.com/silverlight/ Expression Studio (or one of its com- Windows Presentation Foundation/ downloads.aspx. This kit includes the posite tools like Expression Blend) a Everywhere (WPF/E) in its earlier browser plug-in, so you won’t have to separate product. incarnation, it didn’t resonate with any- download that separately. Once you Furthermore, that product is not a one and was kept largely out of sight. install the developer’s kit, you can build part of the MSDN Professional sub- Silverlight, on the other hand, is get- and run Silverlight applications. scription. Microsoft’s rationale is that ting lots of attention and rave reviews. Select a Silverlight project from the interface design in the Silverlight There’s a good reason for that. In list of available projects. Doing so world is a job for graphic designers another year, everyone in the IT world opens a project environment, with a or professional interface designers, will be neck-deep in Silverlight. Devel- window displaying a XAML code stub. not developers. It has positioned opers will substitute Silverlight projects XAML is the tag-based language that Expression as the graphic designer’s for new Web and Windows applications. defines the look and characteristics of toolkit on the Web application devel- IT pros will install Silverlight runtimes the user interface. It describes the UI, opment team. on every Web browser they can find. It will only be a matter of months before Into the Mainstream the corporate Web site and e-commerce We can run a good portion of Web applications have been crying out operations start using Silverlight. WPF capability within the Web for richness. AJAX has taken them part Why all the fuss? Silverlight repre- browser. The browser gives of the way there, and with technology sents a state-of-the-art balance between that only requires JavaScript without a rich and reach. It’s like a rich client in it the reach that rich client browser plug-in. It’s unclear whether its look and feel, yet its goal is to run applications simply don’t have. older AJAX technology can be updated on a variety of browsers. The browser for widespread future use. interface provides greater reach beyond Granted, this is another case of the traditional Windows PC to other which is then rendered by the underly- Microsoft coming out in a big way computers and devices capable of run- ing WPF engine, so it’s often called a with technology already pioneered by ning a browser. declarative language. someone else (Adobe Systems Inc. Each XAML page description also with Flex). However, Microsoft has Hunting for Silverlight has a code-behind page. This is where the developer base and market heft to Here’s what it takes to build and run you write the logic to drive UI func- drive it into the mainstream, especially Silverlight applications today. First, tions or connect to back-end services. since Silverlight is based on the well- start with Visual Studio 2008—yes, the The best thing about this environment established .NET Framework. one that is currently in beta 2. You can is the comprehensive Intellisense pro- Silverlight itself is still in alpha, and it download all 3GB of the open beta vided for selecting classes, attributes requires a beta version of Visual Studio, from the Microsoft Web site at and methods. Being able to choose so it’s not yet ready for rollout. When it http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/ these from a list makes coding much is, though, I don’t see anything holding vstudio/aa700831.aspx. Unlike beta 1, faster and more efficient. it back. — which came as a Virtual PC image running Windows Server 2003, beta 2 is an Not All Gravy Peter Varhol ([email protected]) .ISO image file intended to be written Now for the bad news—there’s no inte- is Redmond magazine’s executive editor to a DVD. grated visual interface designer for Sil- of reviews.

12 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project4 9/11/07 12:03 PM Page 1

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1007red_Roboto14.v6 9/14/07 10:19 AM Page 14

Mr. Roboto Automation for the Harried Administrator | by Jeffery Hicks

Event by Event

erhaps you’re part of a huge IT shop, or perhaps recommend making it any shorter. When an event fires from any machine in your you’re blessed with a budget that lets you buy more list, the tool will display event info, Pthan a box of CAT5 cable from eBay. If this sounds including the machine name. Errors and Audit Failures will show up in a red font. like you, then you have most likely invested in some sort of If the network connection between the remote computer and the computer server management and monitoring tools. running the Event Log Monitor is interrupted (if the remote computer is If you’re from a smaller, more finan- Administrator” to launch the tool. The rebooting, for example), it won’t cap- cially constrained shop, Mr. Roboto has Event Log Monitor will then start with ture any more events until you restart crafted a real-time event log monitor for the right level of access control. the monitor and re-query. You shouldn’t you. Well, it’s close to real time. Specify a After you’ve launched the tool, enter select more event types than you really server or two and the types of events you the name or names of computers you need, especially when you’re monitor- want to monitor and Mr. Roboto’s Event want to monitor, separated by commas. ing multiple servers. Log Monitor will display events pretty Select the event logs and types of events much as they happen. you want to monitor from the drop down Close to Real Time boxes. Use the Ctrl key to select multiple Event Log Monitor is hard-coded with Admins Only entries. You can mix and match event the most common Windows events. I Mr. Roboto’s Event Log Monitor is an logs, even if they aren’t on the computer wanted to give you the option of select- HTML application (HTA) that uses you’re monitoring. This lets you monitor ing multiple servers, so I compromised. Windows Management Instrumentation errors in the system log on a file server or If there’s a log type that isn’t listed, you (WMI) to watch for new event log domain controller. You can also monitor can edit the HTML code and add it to entries on remote servers. Although you Directory Service errors. the option control. can install this on a server, it makes more The Event Log Monitor uses WMI to The Event Log Monitor doesn’t per- sense to use it from your desktop. establish an asynchronous event query manently store any event information. As with most of my utilities, this to each specified server. When an event Events are still written to the event log HTA requires Windows XP or later. fires on the remote machine, informa- on each server. The monitor simply lets You’ll have to run this tool with tion about that event is returned to the you know—in close to real time—when administrator credentials on the sys- Event Log Monitor. it has recorded an event. tems you want to manage. By default, the HTA will check for new If you can afford one of the full- This utility will run under Windows events every five seconds. You can featured event log consolidation and Vista, but you’ll need to run it as an increase this time interval, but I wouldn’t management tools, then by all means administrator. The HTA file type isn’t find one that meets your business recognized as an executable, so you Roboto on Demand needs. In the meantime, Mr. Roboto’s can’t run it by choosing the “Run as Download Mr. Roboto’s Event Log Monitor will fill in the gaps Administrator” option. Here’s a Event Log Monitor at: and help you keep a close eye on criti- workaround for that limitation: www.jdhitsolutions.com/scripts. cal or troublesome servers. — Create a new shortcut and set the target Extract the .ZIP file to any directory you want and add a path to: C:\Windows\System32\mshta. shortcut to the HTA to your Jeffery Hicks ([email protected]), exe c:\install-path-to\Eventlog desktop or start menu. MCSE, MCSA, MCT, is the co-author monitor.hta of “Advanced VBScript for Microsoft If you’d like, you can change the icon What Windows admin task would Windows Administrators” (Microsoft Press you like Mr. Roboto to automate to point to the icon file in the same 2006), “Windows PowerShell:TFM” (Sapien next? Send your suggestions to directory as the HTA. Just right-click [email protected]. Press 2006) and several training videos on on the shortcut, and select “Run as administrative scripting.

14 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project2 4/24/07 4:43 PM Page 1 1007red_ProdRev16-18.v7 9/14/07 10:25 AM Page 16

ProductReviews

Navigate Your Network WhatsUp Gold maps your network and helps you keep it running smoothly.

By Peter Varhol Many networks, including yours, proba- WhatsUp Gold 11.0, Premium Edition bly grow in a purely ad hoc fashion. You $2,595 for up to 100 devices have a simple network spread across a Ipswitch Inc. | www.ipswitch.com | 800-793-4825 small office that’s perfectly easy for you to understand and manage. There’s little if any need to document the devices on that network and the services they provide. That information is safely stored in your head, and it does no harm there. Over time, your business grows. You hire a couple of bright guys to keep the trains running, but they’re busy fighting fires and seem to discover new devices on the network almost daily. They find them only when those devices fail and users complain. Now you can’t trust the network, and you can forget about migrating to VoIP anytime soon, as least until you get things under control. Now you need help. Get a Grip Ipswitch Inc.’s WhatsUp Gold is the cure for what ails your network when it reaches this point. WhatsUp Gold searches out all the IP devices connected Figure 1. Ipswitch WhatsUp Gold provides graphical views of device status, resource to your network so you can map and utilization, ping response and a variety of other measures of performance. monitor them from that point forward. In short, it sorts out the mess you and happening on your network right now You can configure WhatsUp Gold to your users have created over the years, and keep the trains running as you plan recognize and map a number of differ- and it helps you keep it sorted in the for future expansion. ent devices. There are preconfigured future. You can find out exactly what’s You can install WhatsUp Gold on any devices it will automatically recognize, system on the network, so you can moni- such as network components from RedmondRating tor your network from anywhere. There 3com Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., is also a Web interface for remote access. D-Link Corp. and IBM Corp.; database Installation 20% 7.0 WhatsUp Gold uses a SQL Server servers; FTP servers; Unix servers; Features 30% 10.0 database to store network devices and printers and so on. Once it recognizes a Ease of Use 20% 8.0 network configurations. I tested it with device, it will identify it and automati- Administration 20%9.0SQL Server Developer Edition. During cally add it to your map. Documentation 10%8.0setup, it asks to search the network in If the software doesn’t automatically one of several possible ways: SMNP find all your network devices, you can Overall Rating 8.6 scan, hosts-file import, IP-range scan or enter them manually. That might hap- Key: 1: Virtually inoperable or nonexistent Network Neighborhood. My own net- pen in the case of a non-IP piece of 5: Average, performs adequately work only had a few nodes, and it found equipment, or if the equipment isn’t 10: Exceptional and mapped all of them within seconds. responding to an SNMP scan.

16 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project2 7/16/07 2:18 PM Page 1

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Copyright © 2007 Lucid8. All rights reserved. Microsoft® Exchange Server is a registered trademark of Microsoft® Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. * Refers to Survey conducted by Lucid8. See press release for more details. 1007red_ProdRev16-18.v7 9/14/07 10:25 AM Page 18

ProductReviews

Once the network scan is finished and know about it before your users start specific actions, such as graphical ver- you have your network map, you can complaining that the network is slow. sions of ping, traceroute, finger, whois organize your devices by type or by WhatsUp Gold generates a broad and a few SNMP utilities. These are whatever group you’d care to define. array of reports, based on its network- useful for both problem diagnosis and You can group all the Cisco network and device-activity logs. I counted more general information. devices together, for example, or than 50 predefined reports and there My sole reservation with WhatsUp devices that collect performance met- were still plenty more. It gathers real- Gold was that I found the user interface rics. You can see both groups and indi- time and trending network information a bit clunky at times. New windows vidual devices either as lists or visual across all mapped devices for technical opened with different functions, which maps. Of course, this doesn’t tell you and business reporting. The reports fall crowded the look and feel. It sometimes where the device physically resides, but into several categories—System, Group, made it difficult to tell where you were you’ll know how it’s connected. Device, Performance, Problem Areas in the application. To be honest,I liked and General. In addition, you can define the clean Web interface better than the A Bounty of Data your own categories and choose which rich one, even though it didn’t have as Now the fun really begins. You can reports go into them. many features. monitor the health of every device con- The Web interface installs automati- If your network is haphazard and out of nected to your network from WhatsUp cally and executes from a local host. You control, WhatsUp Gold is just what you Gold’s interface. If a printer stops some- don’t have to do anything special to con- need to help you get your arms around it where, you may well know about it figure the Web interface, but it will only again. If you’re just barely hanging on, before your users do. You can track the run from that system. The Web inter- WhatsUp Gold will make it easier to performance, utilization and status of face is what you’ll use to define and run support your existing configuration and just about any IP device on the network, reports. You can also perform limited plan for smooth expansion. — from Web servers to routers. Is an device management via the Web. unauthorized iPhone bringing down WhatsUp Gold also gives you a good Peter Varhol ([email protected]) your unpatched Cisco router? You’ll set of network and Internet utilities for is Redmond’s executive editor of reviews. 1007red_ReaderRev19-21.v7 9/14/07 10:39 AM Page 19

ReaderReview Your turn to sound off on the latest Microsoft products

Word 2007: Not Exactly a Must-Have Some sing its praises, but compatibility problems and the new interface leave others cold.

By Joanne Cummings Microsoft Word 2007 Microsoft rolled out Office 2007 with Bundled with Office 2007: Office Small Business, $449; huge fanfare last fall. So far, though, Office Professional $499 most users can only come up with one Microsoft Corp. | 800-426-9400 | www.microsoft.com or two new features they like. For most, those features fall short of convincing When McCullough switched one of hand-holding to get people to learn them to upgrade to the new version. his WordPerfect users over to Word new things.” For one thing, Word 2007 uses the 2003 years ago, the interfaces were sim- The new interface takes away from a entirely new ribbon interface. Power ilar and she got up to speed fairly major selling factor for Word—its ease of users say it takes too much time and quickly. When it came time to move use. “That’s why everyone uses Word— patience to learn. Couple that with her from 2003 to 2007, he quickly ran because everyone knows exactly where the fact that its new format makes it into problems. “I might as well of hit everything is,” says Phil Collett, IT man- difficult to share documents with her over the head with a bat,” he says. ager at Citrus Motors, a car dealership in those using earlier versions of Word, “I could see anger and frustration.” Ontario, Calif. “But this interface is such and most say they’ll wait to upgrade. He expects his experience won’t be a shock, it’s like having to learn a whole “People will get used to the new unique. “Companies are spending new program. In fact, if people were interface, but at major efforts in time, money just getting the new [2007] looking to go to something open source, training and cost,” says Mike product in the first place, but now you like StarOffice or OpenOffice, this McCullough, director of systems at have to pay someone to sit there and would be the perfect time. It’s no differ- Cooling Systems Technologies (CST) show people how to use it,” he says. ent than learning the new Word.” Inc., a parts manufacturing company in “And not everyone learns at the same McCullough agrees. “There are 100 Mount Carmel, Ill. speed. Even after that, it’s a lot of million users who understand the old interface. And now they introduce a What’s New in Word 2007 brand new interface for what, 10 peo- hough not enough to inspire them to upgrade, readers like ple?” he says. “It’s not worth it.” Tthese key new features of Word 2007 the best: New and Improved ■ Preview: The ability to hover the mouse over selected text and view font changes and style changes is a definite plus, say readers. Other readers feel it’s worth taking the “Preview is amazing,” says Steve Hohman, IT director for Gray time to learn the new interface. Once Information Solutions Inc. “I can hover over the style and it will you do, they say, it actually makes cre- change what I’ve highlighted before I even click to save it.” ating professional-looking documents ■ Format painter: Instead of going to a different menu item or much easier for the average user. toolbar, every format option is within the ribbon. “All those little Steve Hohman, IT director for Gray tools you normally use are right there, including formatting for Information Solutions Inc. in Spring your fonts, your size, your format painter, bold, italic and under- Hill, Fla., likes 2007’s ribbon interface line,” Hohman says. “It’s all there, instead of having to jump back because it makes features that he wasn’t up the top and take it off the toolbar. It’s much faster.” even aware existed in 2003 easier to find ■ Grammar and spell check: Both of these features are now much and use. “The reference ribbon is amaz- more unobtrusive, which makes them more user-friendly, says Mike ing,” he says, noting that he writes a lot McCullough, director of systems at Cooling Systems Technologies of research papers and he can use that to Inc. Hohman says the spell check is especially improved because it create source references and easily add can more easily discern typing mistakes, and the grammar check is citations. “I go into my paper, click one more useful. “Now, it’s also taking a look at context to see where button and say insert citation,” he says. maybe you’d be better off using this word instead of that one,” he “It goes right into the document in the says. “It’s more helpful.” —J.C. right format. I can do the same thing to insert a footnote or insert an endnote.”

| Redmondmag.com | Redmond | October 2007 | 19 1007red_ReaderRev19-21.v7 9/14/07 10:39 AM Page 20

ReaderReview

text. Then you can change the colors, It makes managing your references and managing the 3-D look, rotate it and plant it right your tables and indexes much easier. These are all things where you want. It’s easy.” you probably could do in 2003, but you didn’t see it Format Formalities because it wasn’t in front of your face on a ribbon. The standard Word 2007 file format is no longer the well-known .DOC format. Steve Hohman, IT Director, Gray Information Solutions Inc. It’s now the new XML-based .DOCX format. The change makes it difficult to The ribbon interface also makes it eas- In the past, Hohman says he would cre- collaborate and share documents with ier for him to use cross-references to ate shapes and figures in Visio, then users of earlier versions of Word, but link a table of contents or a table of fig- import them into Word. “They would readers see how the new format could ures with references in a document. “If I come over well, but they didn’t format or ease document sharing in the future. move a figure inside the document and match the style I was using in my docu- In order to share documents with 2003 it goes from page five to six, that auto- ment,” he says. With SmartArt, Hohman users, 2007 users must use a “Save As” matically updates in the table of con- says he just has to create the diagrams in command instead of a simple “Save.” tents,” he says. “It makes managing your Word and everything matches. This adds an extra step to sharing docu- references and managing your tables “SmartArt is especially great if you’re ments with earlier versions. “It’s a pain to and indexes much easier. These are all doing presentations, putting together a downgrade and save as 2003,” Collett things you probably could do in 2003, proposal or some sort of document that says. “You have to teach people on 2007 but you didn’t see it because it wasn’t in would benefit from any type of chart or to do that so people with earlier versions front of your face on a ribbon.” diagram,” he says. “It looks so profes- can use it. Sometimes people forget.” Readers also like Word 2007’s Smart- sional and it’s so easy to put in that it’s Others agree and note that some 2007 Art graphics. This capability helps them just a matter of picking what shape functionality is lost during the conver- create tables and graphics within Word. looks best to you and putting in the sion for earlier Word versions. “I do a lot

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ReaderReview

of schoolwork in 2007, but school uses downloaded and installed the add-in, it 2003 and I have to down-convert my GetMoreOnline does work well. documents to 2003,” Collett says. “One Go to Redmondmag.com for a link to “How many of us paid good money for thing I lose when I do that is SmartArt. I Microsoft’s free downloads that ease a PDF converter?” says Hohman. “Now, may not be able to adjust it or change the document sharing with Word 2007. you can download this for free and save FindIT code: 1007ReadRev shape or color of the object.” as a PDF.And there are no conversion CST’s McCullough says he down- errors I’ve found yet. I’ve converted loaded a free Compatibility Pack pro- image. It retains its .JPG format and documents with formulas, equations and gram from Microsoft’s Web site that isn’t locked within the Word document. it all comes over nice and clear.” lets 2003 users save their documents in “Now we can pull these pictures out 2007 format. “It upgrades 2003 to 2007 of documents for whatever purposes Slow Change file formats, so I can actually continue and reuse them,” he says. It also makes Even a fan of Word 2007 like Hohman to use 2003 and interchange my docu- it easier to conduct searches on individ- admits that it will be some time before ments with 2007,” McCullough says. “It ual portions of a Word document. “We everyone makes the change. This is saves everything in the new format.” can do much improved searches on text especially true since most of his firm’s It’s a bit slower than a regular 2003 within documents than we’ve ever been customers are still on Word 2003. “A save, he says. “But what’s neat is that it’s able to do before,” he says. “I can see lot of our clients can’t upgrade because interchangeable, so if you want to main- why Microsoft did that.” they’re being told that their applica- tain this new .DOCX standard, you One feature that some users consider tions can’t support 2007 yet,” he says. don’t need to buy 2007 for everyone.” reason enough to switch is Word 2007’s For now, most are trying out the new McCullough says he’s interested in the ability to save documents as PDFs. This Word on their own PC, but not yet new XML format for its promise of easy is another key method of easing docu- rolling it out companywide. reuse. For example, if someone embeds a ment sharing. To use the PDF feature, .JPG image within a Word 2007 docu- download a free add-in from Joanne Cummings (jcummings@redmondmag ment, you can easily share and reuse that Microsoft’s Web site. Once you’ve .com) is a freelance technology journalist. AvayaAdvertorialFinal.qxd 9/11/07 12:51 PM Page 1

ADVERTORIAL

Unified Communications Here today. Here to stay.

usiness communications take many In doing so, enterprises will want to assess the forms—documents, faxes, e-mail and breadth of integration options and the depth of phone calls. Adding the power of the integration. Options should encompass all communi- Internet further increases the numbers of cations applications that can be unified: telephony, ways employees communicate with each other and messaging, mobility, presence and conferencing. with customers, including Instant Messaging and web A full complement of features will ensure those of conferencing. And with the widespread deployment of critical importance to your organization can be cellular and wireless networks the traditional office readily deployed. environment has transformed from employees reporting to the same location during a 9-5 business day, to The reality meeting the vision: Information Workers (InfoWorkers) working from home Avaya, an established leader in IP Telephony and and virtual offices in an always-on global model. Contact Centers, and Microsoft® have leveraged their considerable individual technologies and platforms In today’s business environment, InfoWorkers need and roadmaps to create a combined vision to more than just a computer and a telephone to make real-time and non-real-time collabo- successfully negotiate through their daily tasks. ration a reality for enterprises. Integrating They may need an overall integrated approach to the powerful communications applica- managing their interactions with colleagues and tions from Avaya with the market-leading customers in an efficient and straightforward Microsoft software, server, mobile, and manner. line of business applications, results in unity of communications. This unity The result? Businesses are making the removes the barriers of time, geog- transformation to Unified Communications. Unified Communications is the conver- raphy, isolated applications, mes- gence of real-time and non-real-time saging formats, communication business communication applications modes, and choice of device. that enables users to work from anywhere, Information and communications are regardless of location, network or device. then liberated from virtually any Unified Communications is driving the access limitation. The mantra of any- next major advancement in individual, time-and-anywhere communications is team and organizational productivity in now being united with any way. today’s 24X7, always-connected and increasingly mobile environment. How Avaya and Microsoft are unifying communications To realize the value of unified communications, most Typically the 3 most important unified communica- enterprises will have to integrate new communications attributes for customers are: tions solutions within existing infrastructures. • Reliability and Security Because some legacy systems will not offer a clear • Seamless User Experience onramp to unified communications, an • Convergence of Real and Non real time organization may want to evaluate applications. vendors based on their abilities to minimize disruption by leveraging Avaya and Microsoft are leveraging Avaya Intelligent existing infrastructure and user Communications solutions across Microsoft plat- experience, as well as their ability to forms, server tools, and applications to create a help weigh the business, seamless communications environment. Such an technical and product consid- environment will be of measurable benefit to the erations that would yield the enterprise, to the individual within the enterprise, right solution to meet the and ultimately to its customers. Combined applica- organization’s needs. tions increase productivity, are enterprise-ready by AvayaAdvertorialFinal.qxd 9/11/07 12:51 PM Page 2

being reliable, scaleable and comprehensive, and Download the full White Paper connect instant messaging and telephony in existing titled: Extending the Value of Windows and Exchange environments. Microsoft Office Applications with Avaya Unified Communications at Illustrated below is a sample of how Avaya redmondmag.com/showcase/avaya. Communications technology has been included into This paper highlights how enterprises can a number of Microsoft desktop applications: increase productivity in measurable ways such as: • “click-to-communicate” from familiar desktop interfaces; • integrating in-house audio and Web conferencing to reduce expense and make meetings more effective; • integrating e-mail, voice mail and calendars into a single client; • reducing total cost of ownership on server management; • extending functionality to mobile and remote workers; Also learn when and how to make integration decisions as well as the unique capabilities afforded FIGURE 1 by the powerful combination of Avaya and Microsoft.

The Avaya and Microsoft relationship results in About Avaya combining expertise and converging appli- Avaya delivers Intelligent Communications solutions cations to deliver communications con- that help companies transform their businesses trol. By providing the real-time context to achieve market-place advantage. More than of presence along with instantaneous 1 million businesses worldwide, including action through SIP, wasted efforts to more than 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500,® communicate are eliminated. use Avaya solutions for IP Telephony, Unified Together, Avaya and Microsoft Communications, Contact Centers and have one of the most mature Communications Enabled Business Processes. relationship in the industry Avaya Global Services provides comprehensive featuring integration of voice service and support for companies, small to capabilities with desktop large. For more information about Avaya vist applications, thereby ensur- www.avaya.com. ing strong technology align- ment and interoperability. © 2007 Avaya Inc. All Rights Reserved For the full Avaya White Paper, go to redmondmag.com/showcase/avaya. 1007red_F1Guru24-32.v7 9/14/07 10:13 AM Page 24

24 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | 1007red_F1Guru24-32.v7 9/14/07 10:13 AM Page 25

Technology experts tell Redmond what makes them tick. By Doug Barney

n his latest book, “Blink,” Malcolm Gladwell One thing computer courses can do is inspire. “One busi- tries to discover how great thinkers and deci- ness computer course in college was enough to get me sion makers get to be so great. There is no one hooked. We had only a single programming assignment, answer, he concludes. Great decisions can be yet it made me immediately add a computer science major. made in the blink of an eye, but only after years and some- I enrolled in every computer class I could and eventually times decades of building expertise. set a software development and consulting company that Redmond magazine set out on a similar journey, to find set the path for my career,” says Mitchell Ashley, CTO and out how the visionaries that drive today’s third-party inno- vice president of customer experience for StillSecure. vations came to be so visionary. We interviewed a dozen Shavlik Technologies LLC founder Mark Shavlik had a serial entrepreneurs, CTOs and company founders to find similar experience. “In order to pass my first computer out where their ideas come from, and how they turn them course I had to develop my first computer program and I was into the products that you all know and love. stuck, really stuck. A friend helped me get past that initial One thing we learned is there is no Ph.D. in technical roadblock and I never looked back—I had ‘cracked the code,’ vision. In fact, nearly all gurus interviewed believe that so to speak. I got pretty excited, I signed up for as many com- computer science courses are useful, but not a magic bullet. puter classes as I could. Soon I was staying up all night writing “The university training, for me, wasn’t the classes. It was code. I cut classes and even stopped going to parties—just so I the process of training your mind to think critically and could write more and more code,” Shavlik says. how you build a frame of reference; how you go about Sometimes gifted students are just plain bored by computer decision making and problem solving. You learn to look for classes. “I’ve touched a few formal classes and always found the interrelationships,” says Dwain Kinghorn, chief strategy myself wanting much more than was offered. Given docu- and technology officer for Altiris (recently acquired by mentation and books, I could always outpace the class,” says Symantec Corp.). Greg Kras, VP of product management for Sunbelt Software.

ILLUSTRATION BY GREGORY COPELAND | Redmondmag.com | Redmond | October 2007 | 25 1007red_F1Guru24-32.v7 9/14/07 10:13 AM Page 26

On-the-job training may be the best approach. “I was How did you become working at a startup airline in the early ’80s and I went interested in technology? into the technical department to see if a buddy was ready “My first-year to leave for the day. He said he couldn’t go until they had a university technical issue resolved and that they had been working on programming it all day so that I should go on without him. I asked what course. It was the the issue was and after he explained it, I suggested a solu- only course I didn’t tion and it worked,” says Troy Werelius, CEO of Lucid8. fail that year.” “Later on when the airline went toes up and I needed a David Waugh, Vice President, Sharepoint new job, I remembered this experience and thought that Solutions, Quest Software Inc. perhaps computers was the way to go. So I went to work for a computer chain.”

In many cases, non-computer courses are more useful to a technology career. “The only formal course that really Do you have any helped me in life was a second year cognitive psychology software heroes? course. It taught me how to learn effectively. [It’s] all about “Three names memory and attention,” says David Waugh, vice president, come to mind; SharePoint Solutions, Quest Software Inc. Dave Cutler, Mark Tom Kemp,CEO of Centrify Corp., had a similar expe- Russinovich and rience. “Besides getting a college degree in computer sci- Linus Torvalds.” ence, I also got a degree in history. What inspires me most Greg Kras, VP of about technology is more the societal impact of it and Product Management, how you can create a real company out of an idea and its Sunbelt Software ability to scale that you don’t get in other industries,” Kras manages customer support and acts as Kemp explains. a technical liaison for Sunbelt customers. At least one guru is heartily grateful for his formal training. “I have a bachelor’s in information engineering. That training helped me move beyond being just a practitioner to being a professional software developer. It also taught Where Do Gurus Think? me the discipline of getting projects closed—taking them When most of us imagine gurus, we picture them cross- from idea to results,” says Marco Peretti, CTO of legged on the top of a mountain deep in thought or medi- BeyondTrust Corp. tation. Windows gurus are rarely on top of a mountain. Instead our gurus find more mundane places to contem- plate the universe. Quest’s David Waugh says simple, man- What is Ray Ozzie’s impact on Microsoft? ual labor is the best way to open the mind, and does his “You don’t come up with Symphony best thinking weeding his garden or splitting wood. The and Lotus Notes and create new, key is to actually slow down the brain. “The tough thing useful innovative products without for me is to stop thinking. Most of the thinking is not pro- really understanding customers ductive. The real productive stuff usually comes after a and users well. He’s break,” Waugh explains. old school and new Solitude also helps. “When I’m alone in my car or late at school at the same night I explore my ideas, jot down notes, write or experi- time, and I like that. ment on my equipment at home,” says StillSecure’s Ashley. I’m excited to see Sometimes solitude can be found, even when surrounded how he will take the by people. “My favorite time to think is on the airplane. reins from Gates With no cell phone or Internet access, I have the time and and help bring opportunity to sit and think without interruption,” says Microsoft into a Danny Kim, CTO of FullArmor Corp. new era.” Altiris’ Kinghorn does his best thinking when his heart is Mitchell Ashley, CTO and VP of Customer racing. “My best inspiration comes when I’m running. It lets Experience, StillSecure my mind relax and unwind. Thoughts come to me about how to say something to a person, how to address an issue Ashley built the company’s network access with a team, or an item I’ve forgotten about will come back control and vulnerability-management tools around. Really, it’s the challenge of trying to keep yourself and is the co-founder of BoldTech Systems Inc. whole so your brain can actually come up with some different ideas,” says Kinghorn, who’s completed 11 marathons.

26 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project2 8/14/07 10:04 AM Page 1

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Alex Bakman, founder of Ecora Software Corp., thinks while hiking or watching hockey games. Bakman also relies What was your first computer experience? on his wife for advice, as she has a “woman’s intuition and “Playing Lemonade came first and is level-headed.” programming came later. In my Serial entrepreneur Ratmir Timashev has two favored early teens I badly wanted a techniques. “I believe that I think when I sleep, because motorbike (another passion of when I wake up I occasionally have some ideas,” says mine). To help buy one, I worked a Timashev. “[And] I like to just think when I’m alone drink- summer job as a ing whisky in the evening at home. Whisky makes me developer at age relaxed and inspired.” Timashev was founder of Aelita 14 and I loved it. I Software, and recently launched Veeam Software. learned that I liked programming more The Birth of an Idea than I liked to play Sometimes inspiration comes from being in the right place at computer games, the right time. “My biggest inspiration came when I heard and I’ve never looked back.”

How does the Web help Marco Peretti, CTO, brainstorming? BeyondTrust Corp. “By giving you Peretti founded Neovalens Software, a the equivalent of company focused on privilege management, the Library of and also founded SecureWave S.A. Alexandria at your fingertips.” message and ideas and have those messages and ideas be Tom Kemp, President accepted. Then if it makes sense, I think about whether and CEO of Centrify Corp. these approaches can be applied to technology,” Kemp says. Bakman has a more direct approach, and comes up with Kemp co-founded NetIQ Corp. and served as ideas “by thinking about the next big pain in the ass.” For- entrepreneur in residence at venture capital tunately, customers help “by telling me about their biggest firm Mayfield Fund. pain in the ass.”

Bill Gates speak years ago about software security patching The Customer Is Always Right as a side comment during a presentation he was giving. This There actually is an easy way to come up with winning was well before anyone did patching as a product, and I ideas—just ask IT pros themselves. “The best ideas come thought—hey, let’s fix this problem,” says Mark Shavlik. from customers—and not necessarily how they present Looking at the current state of technology, and extrapo- lating is one way to come up with good ideas. “One ana- What is the most inspirational technology lyzes the trends. Analyzing the trends can lead to book you’ve read? evolutionary as well as revolutionary [disruptive] ideas. For example, Skype didn’t revolutionize anything in tech- “‘The Singularity Is Near: When nology, but it revolutionized the telecommunications Humans Transcend Biology,’ by industry,” Timashev says. Ray Kurzweil. He’s got a bunch Sometimes getting the whole development team away of ideas about nano robots and makes the light bulbs go off. “The best inspiration always the interaction at a biological comes from the least likely places. When we hold our level with computing and some research meetings today, they’re always off-site and no pretty interesting pagers, cell phones nor laptops are allowed [except to things there.” take notes],” says ScriptLogic Corp. founder and CTO Dwain Kinghorn, Chief Brian Styles. Strategy and Technology There are more offbeat approaches. “The best ideas come Officer, Altiris (recently from left field. When I’m working really hard on a techni- acquired by Symantec cal or business problem, one of the things I ask myself or Corp.) the team is, ‘what if we did the exact opposite of the path Kinghorn founded Comput- we are on?’ At a minimum that can break the log jam and ing Edge, an SMS-focused often leads to a new creative solution,” Ashley argues. company, which was later The past can also be a guide. “I like to read about politics acquired by Altiris. and history, and learn about how people communicate their

28 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project2 7/16/07 9:21 AM Page 1

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that is on-demand, mobile and more secure. That’s why my If you could create any app, service or Web current company, Veeam Software, is in this area. I think site without worrying about the business some really exciting things will happen in this space in the model, what would it be? next few years, so I want to be a part of it,” Timashev says. “A truly secure Web world that kids “Virtualization. It changes everything. In today’s world can use. They get way too much every piece of software has [the] potential for being dis- today on the tributed on the network, on a device, in a hardware server Internet and in or appliance, or on a household appliance. Virtualization social sites.” takes that even further by making distribution much easier. Functionality doesn’t need be tied to one device; it could Mark Shavlik, Founder pop up all over the network. It changes the way software of Shavlik Technologies functionality is delivered,” Ashley says. LLC in 1993 Shavlik worked for Microsoft on the What was your first computer experience? Windows NT kernel, and “My first computer experience as part of the overall NT came when my parents purchased a development team. computer for me at age 14: an Atari 800 equipped with a 48k RAM. That night I was writing programs in them to you. You have to look deeper into their situation. BASIC. Shortly thereafter, I What problems aren’t being solved that may be off topic in purchased the 810 the current conversation? Customers are a vetting and disc drive. The centering factor too. Are they in a place where they could drive cost about use your idea? Can you shortcut the current problems they $1,000 and was have by taking a different tack? Do others in the market only 180k single- have a similar need or problem?” says StillSecure’s Ashley. sided, single- Sunbelt has a similar tack. “Customer feedback is a large density. My friends, source of good ideas, just listening to admins [talk] about however, were still problems they’re having and projects they’re planning loading their toward,” explains Greg Kras. programs from tape. By rewriting Gurus on the Future the BIOS of both the computer and Any time you interview 12 technology gurus, you have to the disk drive (using straight 6502 spend at least some time asking them about the future. assembler), I was able to increase Interestingly, several common themes, such as collabora- the data transfer rate 600 percent. I tion and virtualization, emerged. When asked about what started to sell this as a product and trends will impact the future, Quest’s Waugh pointed to started my first company at age 16.” “mass collaboration and the ability to partition complex tasks into pieces, and farm them out to anywhere on the Brian Styles, CTO and Founder, ScriptLogic Corp. planet and reassemble them.” Styles founded Inteletek, a Novell Inc. VAR, and But virtualization is the topic that captures nearly all our holds Microsoft, Novell and Compaq certifications. gurus’ imaginations. In fact, Timashev is betting his new company on it. “Virtualization will help to create the world For Danny Kim, virtualization and Software as a Service What have you learned are an industry changing one-two punch. “Both technolo- from open source gies are potentially disruptive. Either one can fundamen- development? tally change the way we manage IT and business, while “That I don’t like solving some critical pain points in IT today such as cost, communists.” scalability and time to market,” Kim says. And more horsepower also has our gurus salivating. “I’m Alex Bakman, Founder and most interested in the adoption of 64-bit equipment and CTO, Ecora Software Corp. the fact that people will have more and more RAM avail- Former IT director for a able for applications. Between multiple core CPUs and the Fortune 500 company, Bakman founded a Lotus extremely high memory limits I’m sure that developers Notes add-on company in the 1980s and holds will start to take advantage of this additional horsepower, patents in the United States, U.K. and Israel. both in the server and desktop market,” Kras believes.

30 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project7 9/14/07 10:41 AM Page 1

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Meet the New PC What trends will fundamentally change the Where virtualization can fundamentally change the nature world of software in the next several years? of software, Moore’s Law and miniaturization will revolutionize computing devices themselves. Kinghorn, for “Virtualization and SaaS. Both instance, loves to think about exploiting the ever-growing technologies are potentially power of computer hardware. disruptive. Either one can “The density of computing is pretty amazing. [Look at] fundamentally change the way we how many magnitudes we’ve had in computing power over manage IT and business, while solving the last eight years. If we continue on that exponential some critical pain curve, we’re not that far away from being able to consider points in IT today such whole new ways you’d interact with computing besides a as cost, scalability, screen and a mouse,” Altiris’ Kinghorn believes. and time to market.” “Even the form factors will change. If you look at something Danny Kim, CTO, like a BlackBerry or an iPod, it’s interesting to consider how FullArmor Corp. Kim, a Microsoft MVP, has Xbox, Playstation or worked for several startups, Wii—what games are and has a computer science you playing now? degree from Cornell University. “I would love to play them all but, work their butts off to get that smart. The lesson here is alas, no time for that almost anyone, with the right education, avocation that. Instead, I and inspiration, can become a guru. “A person’s limitations save up that time on what they can achieve in life are not the limitations of and jump out of abilities and skills, but the mental barriers that exist in that helicopters with person’s head about what they can be. The more barriers my snowboard, rip down the we can break in our heads, the more we can achieve,” mountain and forget about Timashev says. everything else. So I guess you could say I am my own video game.” Troy Werelius, CEO, Lucid8 “Business is like sports, where the ultimate measurements of success are customers and profit. If it much cultural change has happened in five to six years with doesn’t generate profit, it’s like those devices. If you extrapolate out another 10 to 15 years, playing basketball without ever it’s mind boggling the ways we’ll be able to interact with tech- putting a ball in a nology. So many software companies are built around the tra- basket—no fun.” ditional stack of a computer screen and a keyboard and sitting Ratmir Timashev, at a desk. But the higher bandwidth and the new form factors President and CEO, currently emerging will change the way we develop software.” Veeam Software Shavlik fully agrees: “People will no longer care about Timashev founded Aelita the desktop, they’ll just care about the applications and Software, which was later data. This is of course what the desktop is today, it’s just a acquired by Quest. He has way to find applications and data, so once the Internet master’s degrees in physics takes over that role the desktop will lose importance.” and chemical physics. All this could prompt a move as revolutionary as the switch from huge stereos to tiny iPods. “I would like to have a computer the size of a USB stick that I carry in my And perhaps most important, gurus put in the time it pocket everywhere. When I turn it on, the holographic takes to succeed. Here, for instance, is Troy Werelius’s typ- monitor and keyboard with mouse appear as real. When I ical day. “Up at 5 a.m., in the gym by 5:30, at the office switch it off, they disappear and I put it back in my pocket. usually between 7:00 and 8:00, work until 6:30 p.m., go This stick is also my cell phone, credit card, key—every- home for some family time, at 10 p.m. log on to answer thing I need in one small package,” Timashev says. any important e-mails and work to whenever …” —

You, Too, Can Be a Guru! Doug Barney ([email protected]), VP and editorial Technology gurus come in all shapes and sizes,from all director of 1105 Redmond Media Group, is the editor in chief of different backgrounds. Some are naturally gifted, others Redmond magazine.

32 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project6 9/4/07 1:25 PM Page 1

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SIXTY-FOUR BITS QUALITY LOW TCO SECURE EFFICIENT SQL Server is an ideal With SQL Server 2005, Dell PowerEdge servers Data security is one of Today, IT Managers must application to run on 64- you’ll be able to do more running AMD Opteron the most important build an efficient data- bit Dell PowerEdge with your data. With its processor technology aspects of any database center. With your data- servers powered by integrated SQL Server offers a power efficient architecture and SQL base servers now run- multi-core AMD Opteron Reporting Services, SQL platform for consolidating Server 2005 is outstand- ning on 64-bit Dell processors. Running SQL 2005 gives you real-time your database servers ing in this regard. SQL PowerEdge hardware, Server 2005 on x64 access to business intelli- with SQL Server 2005. Server now has a efficiency is what you’ll servers can provide high gence, the intelligence Consolidation can help reduced attack surface get, especially from performance, and breaks that can help make a dif- reduce software licensing by letting you install only AMD64 technology. The 32-bit memory and I/O ference for your organiza- fees while allowing you to the components you AMD Opteron processor barriers, increasing the tion. You’ll be able to ana- serve more concurrent require on each database is designed to enable 64- capability of each data- lyze data warehouses, users and provide a high server. SQL Server 2005 bit computing while base server. The Direct generate a report and transaction throughput installations are now remaining compatible Connect Architecture of deliver it to the right peo- per database server. A secure by default and with the vast x86 soft- AMD Opteron processors ple, at the right time, let- large number of databas- implement the principle of ware still in production, provides fast memory ting them make the right es can be consolidated least privilege in each and allows you to migrate and I/O access avoiding business decisions. Dell into a single SQL instance aspect of their design. seamlessly to 64-bit traditional bottlenecks PowerEdge servers pow- gaining you the same And, when running on computing and multi-core inherent in legacy front- ered by multi-core AMD benefits as when you multi-core AMD Opteron technology when you are side bus x86 architec- Opteron processors allow consolidate multiple processors, your Dell ready. This means you tures, offering high- you the flexibility of run- instances onto a single PowerEdge database can have access to throughput responsive- ning the database and physical server. This can servers can take advan- improved system efficien- ness and scalability for analysis on the same help lower your energy tage of Enhanced Virus cy and application per- your applications. That is server, giving your users bills and better utilize Protection* (EVP), which formance for both multi- power! the reports they demand your datacenter’s floor can help protect against tasking and multi-thread- when they need them. space. Dell and AMD can viruses, worms and mali- ed applications without Now that is access to make it possible to run a cious attacks, all to help changing the processor data anywhere and any- greener database! ensure the integrity of footprint. A time! your database servers.

About the authors Danielle Ruest (MVP in Virtualization) and Nelson Ruest (MCSE, MCT, MVP) are multiple book authors focusing on systems design, administration, and management. They run a consulting company that concentrates on www.dell.com/amd A IT infrastructure architecture, change and configuration management. You can reach them at [email protected]. www.reso-net.com Project6 9/14/07 11:04 AM Page 2

With the release of SQL Server 2005, Microsoft has produced its most mature database application. It’s no wonder with improvements in security, manageability, availability and scalability, Microsoft has enhanced this database engine from a powerful data management tool to an enterprise-class data storage and manipulation system. Databases can now span multiple terabytes. Data manipulation capabilities support better decision making through advanced analytics, more sophisticated reporting tools and extensive data mining capabilities. With these new tools, administration and application development has never been easier. As an IT professional, you should look to SQL Server 2005 for database consolidation, running fewer but more powerful servers with larger databases. Today Dell offers great technology to run these e consolidated systems on the Dell PowerEdgeTM servers powered by multi-core AMD OpteronTM processors. These enterprise class servers systems will provide the ideal platform for SQL Server 2005 and the next generation of SQL Server coming in 2008. Use the following nine reasons to justify your move to SQL Server 2005 on Dell PowerEdge running AMD OpteronTM processor technology.

RELIABLE VIRTUALIZE EXTENSIBLE REACT NOW! t SQL Server 2005 delivers high More than moving to a consoli- Database usage grows with Evaluate your options today! performance. In fact, Dell dation of SQL Server instances, time; every administrator knows Multi-core AMD Opteron migrated to SQL Server 2005, Dell PowerEdge servers running this all to well. Dell PowerEdge processor-based Dell which powers www.dell.com, multi-core AMD Opteron servers running multi-core AMD PowerEdge servers offer excel- and experienced a perform- processors allow you to virtual- Opteron processor with Direct lent value. Now you can help ance enhancement over SQL ize your installations of SQL Connect Architecture enable future-proof and build on your 2000. SQL Server 2005 has Server 2005. Virtualization pro- you to easily transition to multi- investment. Whether you’re been optimized for high avail- vides the best of all worlds: run core technology at your pace planning to move to SQL Server ability clustering to provide con- 64-bit host operating systems without sacrificing current per- 2005 or preparing for SQL tinuous access to your data. and either 32 or 64-bit guests. formance and IT investments. In Server 2008 or whether you’re 4- And, with its new data mirroring This can give you greater com- addition, Dell and AMD provide just buying new servers with a capabilities, SQL Server 2005 patibility for existing applica- a simple upgrade path to quad- look to the future, find out can help ensure business con- tions and greater growth capa- core AMD Opteron processors. which AMD Opteron processor- tinuity as well as automate a bilities for new ones. And, with You can double your process- based servers Dell offers. number of the lengthy manual the changes Microsoft made in ing power in your Dell Check them out at e processes associated with SQL Server 2005 licensing, vir- PowerEdge servers. And the www.dell.com/amd. Want to replication and log shipping. tualizing SQL Server is a win- good news is, you can run learn more? Look up “How Dell re Running this solution on Dell ning proposition on all fronts. these AMD quad-core proces- Does It”, a new whitepaper on e PowerEdge servers with You’ll gain simplified operations, sor based servers with the its own move to SQL Server AMD64 technology gives you improved utilization and cost- same power as before with 2005 at www.dell.com/sql. confidence, because both are effective scaling. dual-core processors! Now n- known for providing enterprise that’s extensible! class solutions that are compatible, reliable, stable, and - supported by world-class ecosystems.

About Dell Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell is a leading global systems and services company and No. 34 on the Fortune 500. For more information, visit www.dell.com, or to communicate directly with Dell via a variety of online channels, go to www.dell.com/conversations. To get Dell news direct, visit www.dell.com/RSS. ©2007 All Rights Reserved. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Opteron, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. About the authors References: * Enhanced Virus Protection (EVP) is only enabled by certain operating systems, including the current versions of the Microsoft® Windows®, Linux®, Solaris, and BSD Unix operating systems. After properly installing the appropriate operating system release, users must enable the protection of their applications and associated files from buffer overrun attacks. Consult your OS documentation for information on enabling EVP. Contact your application software vendor for information regarding use of the application in conjunction with EVP. AMD strongly recommends that users continue to include third-party antivirus software as part of their security strategy. Project5 7/16/07 10:34 AM Page 1 1007red_F2VComp37-42.v7 9/14/07 10:16 AM Page 37

Windows Vista: Learning to Play Nice

Despite Microsoft’s C Warren is a network management specialist for a Seattle- based asset management company. His company tends to efforts so far, Jbe a very early adopter of Microsoft technologies, but that changed when Windows Vista arrived. Why? The vendors for incompatibilities many of its business-critical applications say that using Vista will invalidate the company’s support contracts.Warren has been still dog the told, “If you put Vista on a machine that runs our application, don’t bother calling us.” The vendors won’t guarantee their new OS. By Keith Ward programs if they’re used on the Vista platform.

ILLUSTRATION BY MARK COLLINS | Redmondmag.com | Redmond | October 2007 | 37 1007red_F2VComp37-42.v7 9/14/07 10:16 AM Page 38

Vista Compatibility

“I had numerous problems getting it to work with anything that wasn’t Microsoft related. … I’m sad to see that Microsoft worked so hard on [something that’s] not working as well as they had hoped.” Linnie Gooch, IT Security Manager

Vista, the long overdue successor to ware vendors like Cisco Systems Inc., mode is purely hit or miss. “Various the now ubiquitous Windows XP,was Nortel Networks, Adobe Systems Inc., apps work in compatibility mode, released commercially on Jan. 30. McAfee Inc., Symantec Corp., Citrix some not at all,” he writes. Upon its release, Microsoft boasted Systems Inc., Oracle Corp., Tivoli Soft- To a degree,this should be expected. that, among its other benefits, Vista ware, SAP AG and IBM Corp. XP has been out for more than five worked with some 1.5 million devices For JC Warren and many other IT years, while Vista still has that new- and peripherals and a host of legacy pros, though, Vista’s hardware and car smell. Given Microsoft’s pro- applications. At its yearly financial ana- application compatibility still has a nouncements about the clear lysts meeting in late July, Microsoft long road to travel. superiority of Vista, along with its COO Kevin Turner offered a six- Anthony Ginger, an instructional five-year development cycle that gave month update on the state of applica- support specialist at a community col- top-tier developers ample time to tion compatibility at Vista’s launch as lege in Southern California, has several ramp up, the question is why some well as at the six-month mark. complaints about Vista compatibility. major business and consumer applica- “Our help desk app HelpSTAR tions weren’t ready to roll. crashes the Aero interface,” Gin- In a press release announcing Vista Still Waiting for availability, Microsoft called Vista “the Vista Compatibility most significant product launch in Below is a partial list of some popular applications that aren’t Windows Microsoft Corp.’s history.” Chairman Vista compatible. Bill Gates crowed: “Windows Vista … ■ Ad-Aware spam-protection tool will transform the way people work ■ Cisco Systems Inc.’s Security Agent and play.” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer also fed the hype machine, ■ FileMaker Inc.’s Server claiming that Vista “will have a dramatic ■ Novell Inc. iPrint impact on computing long-term.” ■ Novell ZENworks Indeed, maybe it will. It’s certainly had ■ Atrapoint LLC’s MBA Toolkit financial software plenty of short-term impact on some ■ Comodo Group’s Free Firewall environments—but little of it good. ■ Sunbelt Software’s Personal Firewall 4 ■ M-Audio Fast Track Pro USB Audio device Early Disappointments [At press time, these products did not work with Vista. That may have Linnie Gooch had high hopes for changed. Check the vendor’s Web site to determine if a product is now Vista, only to see them dashed. compatible.—Ed.] Gooch was running a pre-final version of Vista released to Volume Licensing customers on Nov. 30, “On the application front, over 2,000 ger writes in an e-mail. Other problems 2006. “I installed Vista when it was applications have earned the ‘Works include the inability to directly manage released in early December, only to with Windows Vista’ or the ‘Certified servers due to the lack of a compatible realize my brand-spanking-new lap- for Windows Vista’ logo,” Turner said. administration pack, along with need- top had no support for it. The manu- “That’s up from 650 at launch, so big, ing to purchase a new video card to use facturer said they wouldn’t support it big improvements are getting made in three monitors simultaneously. until after the ‘official’ release,” this space every single day. Around 70 Vista does offer a “compatibility Gooch writes in an e-mail. critical enterprise applications have mode” that lets users run programs in The problems didn’t end there, been updated to be compatible since environments similar to previous ver- according to Gooch, an IT security launch,” he continued, pointing to sions of Windows going back 12 years manager for a credit union. “I had applications from hardware and soft- to Windows 95. In Ginger’s case, that numerous problems getting it to work

38 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project3 4/9/07 4:42 PM Page 1

User Account Control for the Enterprise™

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For a free pilot installation call 1.603.610.4250 or visit www.beyondtrust.com.

Windows and Vista are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks of their respective owners. © 2007 BeyondTrust Corporation. All rights reserved. 1007red_F2VComp37-42.v7 9/14/07 10:16 AM Page 40

Vista Compatibility

“We take exhaustive steps both internally, and by working directly with our partners, to address compatibility long before customers ever experience an issue.” Microsoft Spokesperson, via e-mail

with anything that wasn’t Microsoft ■ More than 60 major enterprise including its payroll app and an related. Soon, I just went back to XP. applications have moved to investment-tracking product. It works, and I don’t have to hit Windows Vista since its launch, ‘Allow’ 100 times a day. It’s a complete including applications from Adobe, Supporting Arguments waste of time. I’m sad to see that Citrix, Oracle, Sun Microsystems That anecdotal evidence is buttressed Microsoft worked so hard on [some- Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., by findings in a recent Forrester thing that’s] not working as well as LANDesk Software and IBM; Research Inc. study. The study, by they had hoped.” ■ The top five security offerings analyst Benjamin Gray, talked about In the interest of fair and balanced from Symantec, McAfee, CA Inc., Vista migration plans with 45 IT reporting, condemning the product Trend Micro Inc. and F-Secure managers. One of the most impor- based on a handful of anecdotes is not Corp. appear to have no compati- tant reasons they were hesitating on offering a three-dimensional view of bility issues; the move to Vista was the lack of the story. Microsoft has consistently ■ Windows Vista now supports application compatibility. said it’s working diligently to make more than two million unique Writes Gray: “Over the course of our Vista more compatible. hardware IDs. discussions with IT professionals, we “We take exhaustive steps both inter- One site that has attempted to track heard application-compatibility success nally, and by working directly with our Vista incompatibilities, based on user rates that ranged from as low as 60 partners, to address compatibility long input, is www.ieXbeta.com, an inde- percent to as high as 90 percent when before customers ever experience an pendent Web site primarily about tested against Windows Vista. These issue,” Microsoft says in an e-mail. Microsoft beta software. ieXbeta set figures naturally trended upward over In that same e-mail, the company up a Wiki to accumulate information time as more and more applications says its compatibility testing ran the on Vista compatibility. As of the end became certified for Windows Vista.” gamut from 35,000 tests per week of of July, its list of software with minor Gray, in his report, quotes the frus- the top consumer and enterprise apps, Vista compatibility issues numbered trations of one director of IT opera- to deep engineering engagements with 79 products, and the list of software tions: “A lot of our enterprise its business partners on Microsoft with more serious compatibility applications aren’t compatible with campuses around the world “That issues stretched to 122 programs. [Internet Explorer] IE 7, which is forc- said, we recognize that not all applica- Another compatibility sore spot is in ing me to squeeze more life into the tions and drivers in the industry were the area of specialized business apps. corporate PCs as we get that fixed.” up-to-date by launch and that there Chris King, IT manager for the Beyond business apps, there is still have been some compatibility issues as Chico, Calif.-based construction com- work to be done in the area of con- a result,” the statement reads. pany New Urban Builders, says that a sumer apps. King details some of his Microsoft also ticks off a number of mission-critical business app, Builder- troubles. “Dreamweaver 8 won’t even statistics that support its claims of MT, is incompatible with Vista. Worse load in Vista. I’ve also had problems Vista compatibility: yet, the manufacturer has yet to give with Roxio Easy [Media] Creator 9. It’s ■ Market research firm NPD Group him a date for when the software will supposed to run on Vista and didn’t.” Inc., which tracks application com- be upgraded to work with Vista. The Officials from Adobe—which owns patibility, lists 48 of the top 50 con- same situation exists with their Dreamweaver—say the product is sumer Windows applications selling accounting program, Timberline indeed compatible with Vista. at retail as compatible; Office from Sage Software. The Roxio situation has been one of ■ The latest versions of the most pop- He’s hardly alone. Warren, of the the most aggravating for non-business ular free downloadable apps, namely asset management company, says Vista users. Roxio was even promoted Adobe Reader, Shockwave and Vista won’t work with a number of as a Vista Premier launch partner, giv- Apple Inc.’s iTunes, are compatible; his company’s critical programs, ing everyone the impression that if

40 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project1 9/7/07 11:41 AM Page 1

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Vista Compatibility

any app would be Vista compatible, it difficulty with Microsoft Word since tially hoped for. In July, Microsoft would be Roxio. To his chagrin,King upgrading from XP.“The problem CFO Chris Liddell said that the discovered multiple compatibility with Word—but not any of the other company changed its forecast of issues that have continued to exist Office apps—is that it’s terribly slow, desktop OS revenues in fiscal year with Vista. Underlining the problem on the order of 30 seconds or so, to 2008, revising Vista’s revenue down are the Roxio discussion boards and start or shut down,” Whetzel states in from 85 percent to 78 percent, and various Internet forums that have an e-mail. “The swirling hourglass Windows XP’s revenue up from 15 been filled with complaints. seems to take forever to disappear. percent to 22 percent. That means This reporter, in fact, has a similar Interestingly enough, this didn’t hap- Microsoft expects XP sales to be 50 issue. When Vista boots the following pen with XP,” he says. percent stronger, and at the expense message appears: “This driver is Anita Metcalf, a systems engineer in of Vista. blocked due to compatibility issues.” Texas,says an Office compatibility Offering further corroboration that It lists the driver as “Sonic Solutions problem caused her to ditch Vista. In Microsoft’s initial forecast was too opti- DLA” and the publisher as “Sonic an e-mail, she writes: “Used Vista— mistic, market researcher Gartner Inc. got rid of Vista.” She elaborates, stated in a report this spring: “Our stating that she was running market data suggests Vista has had very Vista with Office 2007, but limited impact on PC demand or because Vista no longer replacement activity.” stores credentials for Out- Dell Inc. threw more cold water on look, and because she has Microsoft’s rosy Vista outlook by decid- Outlook automatically ing to re-offer XP on six of its comput- download e-mail from sev- ers in response to customer demand. eral POP3 servers, she was Although these signals don’t neces- getting prompted to type in sarily foretell doom and gloom for her password non-stop. Vista, it’s clear that Microsoft needs to “Apparently this was considered do everything it can to make Vista by Microsoft and it was decided attractive to buyers, and an excellent that the impact would not be sig- place to start would be with markedly nificant. Even for users on our com- improved application compatibility. pany’s network, it would be That’s already happening, as wit- extremely annoying. I truly hope nessed by Microsoft COO Kevin Solutions.” Sonic is the parent company [Microsoft] comes up with a solu- Turner’s commitment to continuing of Roxio. A patch, however, has been tion,” Metcalf explains. work on application compatibility. issued for that error. A Microsoft spokesman responded to Still, other compatibility problems Metcalf’s complaint via e-mail: “We are exist, particularly among laptops. not aware of this problem with Out- GetMoreOnline Eddie Whetzel, an IT special projects look; Outlook stores the credentials for For more Windows Vista application- manager in Maryland, has been using its accounts [that] it is set up for.” compatibility resources, go to a Lenovo X60 tablet PC since March Do the application compatibility Redmondmag.com. and still has several unresolved issues. problems with Vista pose a huge FindIT code: 1007Vista “The problem with sleep/hibernate is problem for Redmond in the sales that the tablet goes into a coma,” he channel? That’s hard to determine at Microsoft managed to roughly says. “At first, it was unable wake up this point. Normally businesses begin triple Vista’s application compatibility from sleep/hibernate at all. The hard a slow movement toward upgrading within the first six months of its disk activity light and the wireless net- to the latest Microsoft desktop OS release. If it can continue that pace work lights were blinking for activity, within a year or two of its release for a full year, Vista will be well on and the charge power lights were lit, (and typically not until the first serv- the way to the kind of industry adop- but the screen just never lit up.” The ice pack drops). Consumers routinely tion that XP enjoys. If not, and Lenovo-issued patches have helped won’t upgrade their OSes. Instead, reports of application incompatibility some, but the problem still surfaces, they prefer to get a new OS when continue to spread, Vista could have Whetzel says. they purchase a new computer. a rough time ahead. — While Microsoft brags it has sold Internal Difficulties more than 60 million Vista licenses Keith Ward ([email protected]) is Even Microsoft’s own apps have issues as of June, signs are emerging that the online news editor for the Redmond with Vista. Whetzel reports he’s had Vista sales aren’t what Microsoft ini- Media Group.

42 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project4 7/2/07 2:20 PM Page 1

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT What’s really lurking beneath the surface of solutions from Microsoft® SMS, Altiris® and LANDesk®?

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KACE and KBOX are trademarks of Kace Networks, Inc. All other registered trademarks are owned by their respective companies. Systems Management. Done. Project3 9/14/07 9:49 AM Page 1

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AnywhereAnywhereThe Client Access Server gives you many remote access options for Exchange 2007. By J. Peter Bruzzese

ou’re not in your office. Maybe you’re travel- environment to function. You can now install CAS on the ing to work on a train, in a hotel room waiting same server running the Mailbox role if needed. for a business meeting or conference, or at Besides meeting the hardware and software requirements your home computer paying your bills. You for Exchange 2007 (which include PowerShell, the .NET 2.0 realize you need to check your e-mail at work. Regardless Framework, Internet Information Services [IIS]), you’ll also Yof how you connect, if you’re getting that mail from an need to make sure the CAS system has ASP.NET 2.0.If you Exchange 2007 Mailbox server, you’ll have to go through a plan on using Outlook Anywhere, you need to have the RPC Client Access Server (CAS). over HTTP proxy installed as well. Depending on the size of The CAS is an Exchange 2007 server role that handles all your organization, you’ll also need enough CAS servers to external access to your mail. The Mailbox role still man- manage your message load. ages direct access from in-house MAPI clients, but the CAS role gives you access to the mailbox server through a Outlook Web Access (OWA) variety of different external connections. Being able to get at your mailbox with any Web browser is You can get to your mail through an Internet browser appealing not only to Windows users, but also those working with Outlook Web Access, a mobile device using on Macs and Linux systems. The browser will connect ActiveSync, a third-party mail application through POP3/IMAP4 connectivity or through your Outlook 2003/2007 clients across the Internet with Outlook Any- where using RPC over HTTP.The CAS role also has other services like Autodiscover, which helps with automatic client configuration settings. There must be at least one Client Access Server role installed in every Active Directory site running a Mailbox server role in order for your Exchange 2007

| Redmondmag.com | Redmond | October 2007 | 45 1007red_F2CAS45-50.v8 9/14/07 10:04 AM Page 46

Client Access Server

regardless of platform. Although we say “any browser,” there grated Windows authentication, Digest authentication or are actually two versions of Outlook Web Access—Premium Basic authentication (or all three if you like). You can also and Light (a tailored-down version). The Light version is use forms-based authentication with a Domain\user name essentially for non-IE browsers (if you use Firefox, you auto- format, a user principal name (UPN) or a User name only matically get the Light version) or slower connections. The (with the Domain chosen by you through the settings). full-featured Premium version (see Figure 1) is impressive in • Segmentation lets you scroll through the various fea- its ability to provide a true Outlook experience. tures enabled by default for OWA, and decide to enable or disable certain features. You can easily disable features like Calendar, Spelling Checker and the ability to use the Pre- mium Client. • Public/Private Computer Files Access relates to the same access options. When you log into OWA, you’re asked if you’re on a public or private computer. Depending on your choice, you’ll receive different access permissions. For example, you can configure the Private settings to access files from file shares or Windows SharePoint Ser- vices, while denying access to Public access users. • Remote File Servers lets you establish a list of blocked or allowed file servers, and determine how clients should access files from file servers that aren’t on the list. By default, all users have access to OWA. If you want to disable access for a single user, use the EM Console, open the Recipients folder and go into the Properties of that user. On the Mailbox Features tab, you can easily select Outlook Web Access and click Disable (see Figure 2, p. 48). Figure 1. The Premium edition of OWA gives you the full range of advanced features. You could use the EM Shell or PowerShell as your enable or disable options. The obvious potential here is to OWA also gives you read-only access to documents and enable/disable users in bulk. To disable a user, type: document libraries stored on Windows SharePoint Services Set-CASMailbox -Identity [email protected] and file shares. You can also access your voice mail and man- -OWAEnabled $false age your mobile devices through OWA. These advanced If you want to enable or disable OWA users in bulk, use features are only available in the Premium version. the Get-Mailbox cmdlet with parameters set to indicate You can manage OWA through the Exchange Manage- which users to pool together. Then pipeline it with the ment Console or the EM Shell. If you use the Console, Set-CASMailbox cmdlet. you’ll find your OWA settings under Client Access and Server Configuration. Under the Client Access pane, you’ll Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) see a tab for Outlook Web Access that will show you the The ActiveSync protocol, based on HTTP and XML, lets various Web sites created specifically for this feature to mobile-based Pocket PCs and smartphones (along with work. You can confirm these virtual directories by opening other devices built with the ActiveSync protocol licensed your IIS Manager and looking under the default Web site. from Microsoft, like Symbian-based devices) connect with You’ll need the /exchweb and /exchange virtual directo- an Exchange Server and synchronize e-mail, contacts, cal- ries for clients to access mailboxes located on Exchange endar and tasks. The primary benefit and distinction here 2000 or 2003 mailbox servers. The same is true of the is that you can continue to access that information while /public virtual directory. This one is for connectivity to offline. That’s one big plus over OWA, which requires a Exchange 2000/2003 servers with public folders. connection for you to access information. From within the EM Console, you can view the proper- ActiveSync is enabled by default, so you only need to ties of each site, but it’s the OWA directory you’ll really configure your devices to synchronize with the server. This want. This is for clients connecting to mailboxes located doesn’t mean you have nothing to do in terms of on Exchange 2007 Mailbox systems. When you enter the ActiveSync administration. You’ll have to establish policies Properties for this directory, you’ll see a variety of tabs to that determine different authentication requirements for help you do the following: added security. In fact, for the CAS, these are the only • General provides information, and basic configuration policies you have to worry about. They are located in the like the internal and external URL for the OWA site. console tree under the Organization heading and within • Authentication lets you establish the type of the Client Access options. authentication method between the browser and the The policy settings (see Figure 3, p. 48) let you require servers. You can choose from standard methods like Inte- an additional layer of security between the mobile device

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Client Access Server

are available through the GUI. To use all those options, you’d need to use PowerShell commands to configure or modify a policy. One example of these “hidden” settings is the “Maximum failed password attempts.” This determines how many times you can attempt to enter an incorrect password before the device wipes all data. You can only manage these settings through the EM Shell. (Read more about this at the Microsoft Exchange Team Blog entry, “Exchange 2007 ActiveSync Policies” page—for easy access, log on to Redmondmag.com, FindIT code: 1007CAS.) Creating a policy isn’t the final step. Once you have a policy (or policies) created, you need to apply them to your users. Do this from within the EM Console. Expand your console tree and go to the Recipient Configuration folder under Mailbox. Find the user to whom you wish to apply the policy Figure 2. You can adjust OWA access permissions for a and go into their Properties. On the Mailbox Features tab, single user. click ActiveSync and then select Properties. From here, you and your organization. This includes requiring a password, can browse for the policy you wish to apply. password length and complexity. One interesting option is If you wanted to use the EM Shell to accomplish the to “Allow non-provisionable devices.” This would allow same thing (or use it with the Get-Mailbox cmdlet to bulk devices that don’t support EAS policies to connect to manage your users), use the following command: Exchange 2007. Another setting is “Allow attachments to Set-CASMailbox UserName -ActiveSyncMailboxPolicy be downloaded to device,” which you can disable to pre- (Get-ActiveSyncMailboxPolicy "Policy Name").Identity vent users from downloading attachments. If you use the Get-Mailbox cmdlet to begin the process, Both Windows Mobile 5.0 with the Messaging and Secu- you don’t need to include a UserName—using the pipeline rity Feature Pack (MSFP) and Windows Mobile 6.0 sup- states for whom the command is intended. If it’s just port EAS policies. Mobile 6.0 has many new features Get-Mailbox, it implies all users. If it’s Get-Mailbox with specifically designed to work with Exchange 2007 (many of specific attributes, either group membership or those who which are not included with 5.0 and the MSFP). Check match custom attributes, then it passes on the returned out the feature comparisons between the new 6.0 devices results to the final portion of the command. and previous devices at the Microsoft Exchange Team Blog Here’s an example of a command that uses a custom page “Getting the Most Out of Your Microsoft Exchange attribute (Sales Person) to define the policy setting: Server 2007 Experience with Mobile Devices” (for easy Get-Mailbox | where { $_.CustomAttribute1 -match "Sales Person" } | Set-CASMailbox -activesyncmailboxpolicy(Get- ActiveSyncMailboxPolicy "Policy Name").Identity Outlook Anywhere You can also go through a virtual private network (VPN) to get at your e-mail while out of the office. Open your MAPI client (Outlook) and connect to your mail using RPC over HTTP (or HTTPS, for greater security). With Exchange 2007, you can still connect to your Exchange environment using RPC over HTTP (formerly called Outlook Any- where) but you no longer need to establish a VPN in order to do this. The process is now much simpler. For starters, Outlook Anywhere is not enabled by default. To enable it,install the RPC over HTTP Proxy component in Networking Services through Add/Remove Pro- grams. Next, install a valid SSL certificate from a trusted certification authority. There’s a default SSL certificate Figure 3. You’ll need to establish and configure settings for an EAS policy. created when you install Exchange. You can use this for testing, but it’s not trusted by the client. The next step is to access to the blog, log on to Redmondmag.com, FindIT kick off the Enable Outlook Anywhere wizard. You can code: 1007CAS). find this in the EM Console under the Server Configura- Keep in mind that the EM Console lets you create and tion node. Select Client Access and on the Actions pane manage policies, but not all of the options you can configure select Enable Outlook Anywhere.

48 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project2 9/4/07 1:39 PM Page 1 1007red_F2CAS45-50.v8 9/14/07 10:04 AM Page 50

Client Access Server

There’s not that much information required. You’ll the EM Console. To manage these protocols,you’ll have to need to provide an external host name that leads back to go through PowerShell. your CAS. That name can be as simple as webmail.your You could go through the Services console to manually organization.com. Whatever name you choose, you’ll have start up those services, but being that the EM Shell is to register with public DNS servers to ensure connectivity going to be our new best friend, here’s how you would turn from the outside. on the services for POP3 and set them to automatic: You can choose from Basic or NTLM authentication. Basic Set-Service msExchangePOP3 -Startuptype automatic will send username and password over the connection in Start-Service -Service msExchangePOP3 clear-text. Using NTLM, the client and server will negotiate the communication using hashed values of the users’ credentials. You’d only select “Allow secure channel (SSL) offloading” if you have a separate server handling SSL encryption/ decryption with an accelerator in place to handle offloading. Essentially, the most computationally expensive part of an SSL session is the handshake process. You can offload this with the proper equipment. If you aren’t sure if you have the right gear, don’t select this option. Microsoft warns you that selecting this option without the SSL accelerator will hinder the function of Outlook Anywhere. Once you’ve enabled Outlook Anywhere, you won’t see any change in the EM Console. There are no management options through the console itself other than enabling/dis- abling for specific recipients. You’ll need PowerShell to manage Outlook Anywhere from this point. Figure 4. Configure Outlook Anywhere for each of your clients. The final step in the process is to configure your clients’ Outlook to work with Outlook Anywhere. Establish a pro- For IMAP4, just use msExchangeIMAP4. There’s much file on their system. When configuring the connection, more to learn about POP/IMAP configuration with choose Microsoft Exchange (even though you might be PowerShell using the Set-PopSettings and Set tempted to choose an Internet e-mail connection). Within -IMAPSettings cmdlets. If you want to see an entire list of the settings on the Connection tab (see Figure 4), there’s a your POP or IMAP settings, type: checkbox at the bottom for Connect to Microsoft Exchange get-Imapsettings –server OR get-Popsettings using HTTP.Select this checkbox and the Exchange Proxy –Server Settings box (also shown in Figure 4). You’ll be surprised at the level of detail you are provided. You’ll need to indicate the proxy server URL, which is You can configure all these options through PowerShell. the same as the one you configured earlier with the POP and IMAP are enabled for your clients by default, Outlook Anywhere wizard. The proxy is actually your so you simply need to configure your client applications to CAS, in this case. You can indicate SSL settings, deter- connect at this point. From within PowerShell, type: get- mine settings based on connection speed, and choose the casmailbox . You’ll see that each of the CAS authentication method (Basic or NTLM) depending on options are enabled. You can also disable CAS settings for how you configured the CAS settings. This should have a user or group of users through PowerShell. For example, your client up and running. if you wanted to disable IMAP for a user with the login name lgrey, you would type in: POP3 and IMAP4 Connectivity Set-CASMailbox lgrey -Imapenabled $false In Exchange 2007, POP3/IMAP4 connectivity is disabled by default. There are several reasons why you might want Rock the CAS-ba to turn it on. You may have clients connecting to your The Client Access Server certainly helps external users far server that use messaging systems based on those protocols and wide get at their e-mail. Commuters on the go, travel- (like Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Mozilla Thunder- ers on the road, telecommuters from home or the local bird and others). The application connects to your server, Starbucks—they all have the CAS to thank for being the downloads your mail (removing it from the server) and lets go-between to their mailbox. They have more to thank you work offline. Many of the fancy features you’d have than the server itself, though. None of it would work with- using one of the other connection choices won’t be avail- out you, the Exchange admin.— able, but it goes with the territory. As if to further dissuade you from using POP3/IMAP4 J. Peter Bruzzese ([email protected]), MCSE 2003/2000/ connectivity, the services (although installed by default) are NT, MCT, is a training consultant and technical author. His latest disabled and there’s no way to manage the settings through book is “Tricks of the Vista Masters” (Que Publishing, 2007).

50 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project2 8/10/07 4:32 PM Page 1

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Agenda is subject to change. In the event of a cancellation, all efforts will be made to replace the session or speaker with one of comparable value. Project1 9/12/07 10:37 AM Page 1 1007red_WinInsider55-56.v6 9/14/07 11:02 AM Page 55

WindowsInsider by Greg Shields First Look: WinRM & WinRS

n August we discussed how to set up event log subscriptions ware. WinRM’s new capabilities will to forward log data from one Windows Vista or Windows enable those software manufacturers to augment their software with better IServer 2008 computer to another. Part of configuring that management capabilities and firewall support. Scripting exposure has also subscription involves enabling the Windows Remote been enabled, giving the scripters in the Management (WinRM) service on all affected machines. room the ability to wrap their existing scripts with WinRM’s more firewall- friendly methods and properties. This month we’ll look a little deeper the same work as these tools by creating For the rest of us, WinRM has a com- into WinRM and also WinRS, scripts to pull and update data. mand-line tool that allows for data enu- Microsoft’s two new tools that leverage WinRM enhances that capability by meration and manipulation from the the Windows Remote Management enabling applications to connect to command line. That tool, winrm.cmd, service, and how they have the poten- WMI using a standards-based protocol gives us some command-line capability tial to change the way we manage our that’s much easier to pass through fire- to pull data from our WMI store with- servers and workstations. walls. WinRM actions operate as SOAP out the need for complicated scripting requests that pass over TCP port 80, and dozens of lines of code. Remote Workhorse essentially as an HTTP request. WinRM is not enabled by default. So WinRM is a component of Windows Because of this, systems in the DMZ using it first involves invoking its quick Hardware Management, and operates as a Web services-based mechanism for enumerating and manipulating The command structure for WinRM isn’t easy to get used to, which is configuration data on a Vista or Server why the greatest use of this new capability will likely be by developers. 2008 machine. A SOAP-based protocol that is compliant with the open standards WS-Management protocol, that need to be managed can be done by configuration by entering winrm WinRM is Microsoft’s new tool for opening just a single port in the firewall. quickconfig at the command prompt. As I opening up a standards-based API for WinRM also includes helper code that wrote in August, this command starts the systems management. lets the WinRM listener to share port Windows Remote Management service If you’re familiar with VBScript, then 80 with IIS or any other application that and configures it for Automated you’re likely familiar with the Windows may need to use that port. (Delayed Start). If the firewall on the Management Instrumentation (WMI) If enabling that functionality worries machine is up, it then enables an exclu- database that has resided on every Win- the security administrator in you, you sion in the firewall for WinRM traffic. dows machine since Windows NT. can configure WinRM for multiple Lastly, it creates a listener to accept Within that WMI database is much of types of authentication prior to com- incoming remote management traffic. the hardware and software configura- pleting the requested action. Basic, Once enabled, you can use the tion of the machine, including video Digest, Kerberos and even Client winrm.cmd command to enumerate card information, NIC information, Certificate-based authentication means information on the machine. For exam- installed software and files, and con- that systems outside your normal ple, to get the general properties of the nected printers. Everything that makes domain scope can be managed securely. computer, enter: up the hardware and software of the Notwithstanding how authentication is winrm get wmicimv2/Win32_ computer resides within its WMI store. configured, though, enabling WinRM OperatingSystem Nearly all management tools you buy does expand the attack surface of any This command alone is helpful for are little more than convenient skins that system on which it is enabled. So, do inventorying computers across your work with WMI to assist the administra- your homework before turning it on. network as it provides over 60 pieces of tor with enumerating information as well Most of this new flexibility will be information about the operating sys- as changing configurations. VBScript taken advantage of by the developers tem including the last boot time, free and PowerShell scripters can do much of who build systems-management soft- physical and virtual memory and the

| Redmondmag.com | Redmond | October 2007 | 55 1007red_WinInsider55-56.v6 9/14/07 11:02 AM Page 56

WindowsInsider

OS installation date among others. Similar in operation to the former be used more heavily in Server 2008 Want to find out the specifics about Sysinternals tool PSExec, WinRS lever- Core installations where a console may the processes running on a remote ages Windows Remote Management to not be present. The main problem with computer? Try: let you launch processes on remote both tools is their near-complete lack winrm get wmicimv2/Win32_Process machines. Where it differs from PSExec of documentation. The help files are –r:{Remote Host} is in its ability to easily pass through fairly cryptic as well, most especially You’ll get back specifics associated with firewalls in the same way as WinRM. with WinRM. running processes on that remote host For example, if you want to discover IP Keep an eye on this space, though, as including when it was created, its per- information about a remote machine, Microsoft moves further toward com- formance characteristics and the com- you can remotely launch ipconfig with prehensive command-line management mand line that launched the process. the –all switch on that machine using capability for every component of the Dig a little deeper into the command this syntax: Windows OS. This isn’t the last you’ve syntax and you’ll find commands for winrs –r:{Remote Host} ipconfig –all heard of WinRM and WinRS. — starting and stopping services, creating Another handy use of WinRS can be new processes, and even rebooting when installing software on remote Greg Shields ([email protected]), remote computers. systems. If you want to quietly install MCSE: Security, CCEA, is a principal con- an application using an MSI file onto sultant for 3t Systems (www.3tsystems.com) Remote Stable a remote machine, use the following in Denver, Colo. A contributing editor to To be honest,the command structure syntax. This syntax assumes the MSI Redmond magazine and a popular for WinRM isn’t all that easy to get file has already been deposited into speaker at TechMentor events, Greg is used to, which is why the greatest use the C:\ folder. also the resident editor for Realtime of this new capability will likely be by winrs -r:{Remote Host} msiexec.exe /i Publishers’ Windows Server Community, developers. But one useful tool that c:\install.msi /quiet www.realtime-windowsserver.com, leverages WinRM can be a big help to Although arguably of limited use providing daily commentary and expert the systems administrator: WinRS. right now, both of these tools will likely advice for readers.

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SecurityAdvisor by Joern Wettern Virtual Security

uch of the buzz about virtualization has centered that risk by removing most of the barriers to setting up a test network. on server consolidation and other ways to achieve Building a test network using virtual M more efficiency in the data center. However, technology is often cheaper and more flexible than using physical computers. virtualization can also help you secure your network. Of course, your test network should closely mirror your production network. Once an obscure software niche, virtu- let virtual computers share actual hard- VMware has a great tool for this called alization has clearly moved into the ware resources, but there’s a significant VMware Converter. This creates a VM mainstream. Virtualization lets multiple difference in how they do this. that is a copy of a physical computer. independent instances of an operating Traditional virtualization software, The test network should also be sepa- system share the same physical hardware such as that from Microsoft and rate from your production network. resources. It has been a mainstay of VMware’s Workstation, runs on top of When you’re using VMs, this becomes mainframe computing for a long time. a regular operating system, either even more important. In addition, VMware Inc. brought virtualization Windows or Linux. Virtual machines using virtual clones of physical into the mainstream in the late 1990s by (VMs) share system resources with this machines can become problematic offering the same capabilities for the host OS, which is less efficient. when the original and the clone are Intel platform. VMware has dominated XenSource and VMware ESX Server running in the same network. Because the virtualization market ever since. Sev- don’t need a host eral competitors, including Microsoft, OS. Instead they now offer capable alternatives. use a hypervisor, Building a test network using virtual technology is often When I first discovered virtualization, I a slim software cheaper and more flexible than using physical computers. used VMware to set up a test network of element that three virtual computers, each running resides on top of Windows 2000, on a single machine. the hardware and mediates hardware of these issues, always ensure that you Because the virtual disks were just files requests between the VMs. This maintain complete separation between on my physical hard disk, rolling back approach leaves more system resources your test and production networks. changes or cloning computers was as available for the VMs. Because there’s no easy as copying files or replacing a virtual host OS, securing the host tends to be Honeypots and Honeynets disk file with an earlier version. less complex. A honeypot is a computer placed on a Intel Corp. and AMD Inc. are sup- network designed to entice intruders— Virtual Options porting hypervisor-based virtualization just as you would use a pot of honey as VMware’s current virtualization tools in many of their recent processors and bait for a bear. A honeynet is a collec- include VMware Workstation, which is chip sets. Microsoft has also announced tion of several honeypots made to most appropriate for software testing its own hypervisor—code-named “Virid- resemble a real corporate network. The and development, and VMware ESX ian”—which is scheduled for beta release “honey,” or the bait, is data that looks Server, which is designed for server when Windows Server 2008 ships. appealing, but is really worthless. Virtu- consolidation and includes high per- alization greatly simplifies setting up formance and failover. Microsoft Virtualization and Testing these hacker traps. entered the virtualization market more Network professionals who don’t have Using a honeypot lets you observe the recently with Virtual PC and Virtual the time or resources to set up a sepa- effects of attacks. Examining the evi- Server. XenSource Inc., a third com- rate network for testing must roll out dence of an attack against a Web server petitor (recently acquired by Citrix Sys- security patches, policy changes and in a honeypot role can help you secure tems Inc.), offers three versions of its software upgrades in production net- your company’s actual Web server bet- virtualization software, each suitable for works and hope nothing important will ter. One of the best sources of informa- different needs. All of these solutions break. Virtualization can help mitigate tion about honeynets and honeypots is

| Redmondmag.com | Redmond | October 2007 | 59 1007red_SecAdvisor59-60.v4 9/14/07 10:53 AM Page 60

SecurityAdvisor

the Honeynet Project Web site the OS and all data before using the ber of pre-built VMs on the Internet that (www.honeynet.org), which also has a computer for anything else. are ready to download and run. number of tools to help you set up your Hypervisor-based virtualization is less Microsoft lets you try many of its prod- own honeypot or honeynet. likely to be attacked, but Log on to ucts as Virtual PC images. Any honeypot or honeynet should be even if you’re using Xen- Redmondmag.com VMware hosts a Virtual Appli- completely separate from your produc- Source or VMware ESX for more on ance Marketplace with a large tion network—unless you’ll be using it to Server, be prepared for a virtualization number of security-related VMs technology. detect and monitor actual intrusion periodic clean re-install. loaded with intrusion-detection FindIT code: attempts. Never move a compromised or Creating VMs can be VirtualSec software and firewalls. even potentially compromised VM back just as tedious as building Using virtual technologies into your production network. Any phys- any server from scratch. You still have can help you manage security risks, but ical computer upon which you’ve run a to install, configure and test the OS they can also present new risks. Don’t virtual honeypot may have been exposed and applications. Fortunately, there’s an let this scare you, though. Virtual tech- to attacks as well, so be prepared to wipe easier way. You can find a growing num- nology, like anything else, has its own risks. Using common-sense strategies, Network Vulnerability Management evolves like applying security patches, should assure a reasonable level of security. What’s Next? New version 8 Fortunately, getting started with virtual technology is easy. Microsoft lets you OUT NOW! download Virtual PC and Virtual Server for free. VMware has a 30-day trial of VMware Workstation, and lets you download VMware Player and VMware Server for free. Of all these, my personal favorite is VMware Workstation Best of because of its superior hardware sup- TechEd 2007 port and its snapshot and replay capabilities. I also frequently use Security Category Microsoft’s tools for their greater flexibility in certain scenarios. XenSource’s Introducing an integrated package for network vulnerability scanning, XenExpress is also free, but requires patch management and auditing more specialized hardware. You can get a jumpstart by downloading a pre-configured VM. Unfortunately, VMware and Microsoft VMs aren’t interchangeable, so you’ll have to ensure that the VM you’re using works with the virtualization software you’ve installed. GFI LANguard Network Security Scanner (N.S.S.) is an award-winning network vulnerability management Have you found an innovative way to solution that allows you to scan, detect, assess and rectify any security vulnerabilities on your network. It use virtual technology to secure your allows you to deal with problems related to vulnerability issues, patch management and network auditing in network? Share your experience with one convenient package. Using a single console with extensive reporting functionality, GFI LANguard N.S.S.s integrated solution helps you address these issues faster and more effectively. Other key features include: me at [email protected]. — Over 15,000 vulnerability assessments carried out across your network Reduced total cost of ownership by centralizing vulnerability scanning, patch management and network auditing Joern Wettern, Ph.D. (jwettern@ Customizable reports of scans performed across the whole network including applications and resources redmondmag.com), MCSE, MCT, Prevented downtime and business losses due to vulnerability exposure Security+ is the owner of Wettern #1 Windows commercial security scanner (voted by Nmap users for two years running) and Best of TechEd 2007 (security). Network Solutions, a consulting and Download your FREE trial version from www.gfi.com/lsr/ training firm. He has written books and developed training courses on a number of networking and security topics, in addition to regularly teaching seminars and tel: +1 888 243 4329 | fax: +1 919 379 3402 | email: [email protected] | url: www.gfi.com/lsr/ speaking at conferences worldwide.

60 | October 2007 | Redmond | Redmondmag.com | Project4 9/11/07 10:59 AM Page 1

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AD INDEX Advertiser Page URL Acronis, Inc. C3 www.acronis.com Matt Morollo Advanced Toolware 31 www.tools4ever.com VP, Publishing AppDev Training 54 www.appdev.com 508-532-1418 tel Avaya 22, 23 www.avaya.com 508-875-6622 fax Avepoint 57 www.avepoint.com [email protected] BeyondTrust 39 www.beyondtrust.com BlueCat Networks 27 www.bluecatnetwork.com Dell 34, 35 www.dell.com West/MidWest East Devon IT, Inc. 51 www.devonit.com Digiscope 5 www.lucid8.com Dan LaBianca JD Holzgrefe Diskeeper 44 www.diskeeper.com Director of Advertising, Director of Advertising, East Dorian Software 8 www.doriansoft.com West/Central 804-752-7800 tel 818-674-3417 tel 253-595-1976 fax Eset 7 www.eset.com 818-734-1528 fax [email protected] Famatech 29 www.famatech.com [email protected] GFI Software 60 www.gfi.com Erik Nielsen IBM Corporation C2, 1, 3, 47, 49 www.ibm.com Bruce Halldorson Eastern Sales Manager Imanami Corporation 18 www.imanami.com Western Regional Sales Manager 303-862-4625 tel Intel Corporation 11, 13, www.intel.com CA, OR, WA 720-247-9032 fax 209-333-2299 tel [email protected] iTripoli Inc. 15 www.itripoli.com 209-729-5855 fax Kace Networks 43 www.kacenetworks.com [email protected] Lucid8 17 www.lucid8.com Network Appliance 41 www.storevault.com.com Patrick Cragin NetSupport 33 www.netsupport-inc.com MidWest Regional Sales Manager IT CERTIFICATION & 303-255-1733 tel TRAINING: USA, EUROPE Network Automation 36 www.networkautomation.com 440-851-6859 fax Al Tiano NORTHERN Parklife, Inc. 61 www.northern.net [email protected] Advertising Sales Manager SAPIEN Technologies, Inc. 21 www.sapien.com 818-734-1520 ext. 190 tel St. Bernard Software 58, C4 www.stbernard.com Danna Vedder 818-734-1529 fax The Training Camp 63 www.trainingcamp.com Microsoft Account Manager [email protected] VSLive Austin 52, 53 www.vslive.com 253-514-8015 tel Western Governors University 20, 56 www.wgu.edu 775-514-0350 fax [email protected] PRODUCTION Mary Ann Paniccia EDITORIAL INDEX SALES STAFF VP, Print & Online Production Company Page URL 3com Corp. 16 www.3com.com Tanya Egenolf Julie Lombardi Adobe Systems Inc. 10, 12, 38 www.adobe.com Advertising Sales Associate Production Manager AMD Inc. 59 www.amd.com 760-722-5494 tel 818-734-1520 ext. 101 tel 760-722-5495 fax 818-734-1528 fax Apple Inc. 18, 30 www.apple.com [email protected] [email protected] Atrapoint LLC 38 www.atrapoint.com CA Inc. 40 http://ca.com Cisco Systems Inc. 16, 38 www.cisco.com CORPORATE ADDRESS Canada/Mexico $54.95; outside North Citrix Systems Inc. 38, 59 www.citrix.com 1105 Media, Inc. America $64.95. Subscription inquiries, Comodo Group 38 www.comodo.com 9121 Oakdale Ave. Ste 101 back issue requests, and address Chatsworth, CA 91311 changes: Mail to: Redmond, P.O. Box Dell Inc. 42 www.dell.com www.1105media.com 2063, Skokie, IL 60076-9699, email D-Link Corp. 16 www.dlink.com [email protected] or call (866) 293- FileMaker Inc. 38 www.filemaker.com MEDIA KITS: Direct your Media Kit 3194 for U.S. & Canada; (847) 763-9560 requests to Matt Morollo, VP, Publishing, for International, fax (847) 763-9564. F-Secure Corp. 40 www.f-secure.com 508-532-1418 (phone), 508-875-6622 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Google Inc. 64 www.google.com Redmond, P.O. Box 2063, Skokie, IL (fax), [email protected] Hewlett-Packard Co. 40 www.hp.com 60076-9699. Canada Publications Mail REPRINTS: For all editorial and advertising Agreement No: 40039410. Return Unde- IBM Corp. 16, 38 www.ibm.com reprints of 100 copies or more, and digital liverable Canadian Addresses to Circula- Intel Corp. 59 www.intel.com (web-based) reprints, contact PARS tion Dept. or DHL Global Mail, 7496 Bath Ipswitch Inc. 16 www.ipswitch.com International, Phone (212) 221-9595, Rd Unit 2, Mississauga, ON, L4T 1L2. e-mail: [email protected], web: LANDesk Software 40 www.landesk.com www.magreprints.com/QuickQuote.asp © Copyright 2007 by 1105 Media, Inc. All Lenovo 42 www.lenovo.com rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. McAfee Inc. 38 www.mcafee.com LIST RENTAL: To rent this publication’s e- Reproductions in whole or part prohibited Nortel Networks 38 www.nortel.com mail or postal mailing list, please contact except by written permission. Mail our list manager Merit Direct: requests to “Permissions Editor,” c/o RED- Novell Inc. 30, 38 www.novell.com Jeff Moriarty MOND, 16261 Laguna Canyon Road, Ste. Oracle Corp. 38 www.oracle.com 333 Westchester Ave., South Building 130, Irvine, CA 92618. Sage Software 40 www.sagesoftware.com White Plains, NY 10604 [email protected] The information in this magazine has not SAP AG 38 www.sap.com (518) 608-5066 undergone any formal testing by 1105 ScriptLogic Corp. 10, 28 www.scriptlogic.com Media, Inc. and is distributed without any Sonic Solutions 40 www.sonic.com Redmond (ISSN 1553-7560) is published warranty expressed or implied. Implemen- monthly by 1105 Media, Inc., 9121 Oakdale tation or use of any information contained Sunbelt Software 25, 38 www.sunbelt-software.com Avenue, Ste. 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311. herein is the reader’s sole responsibility. Symantec Corp. 25, 28 www.symantec.com While the information has been reviewed Periodicals postage paid at Chatsworth, Trend Micro Inc. 40 http://us.trendmicro.com CA 91311-9998, and at additional mailing for accuracy, there is no guarantee that the offices. Complimentary subscriptions are same or similar results may be achieved in VMware Inc. 59 www.vmware.com sent to qualifying subscribers. Annual all environments. Technical inaccuracies XenSource Inc. 59 www.xensource.com subscription rates for non-qualified sub- may result from printing errors and/or new scribers are: U.S. $39.95 (U.S. funds); developments in the industry. This index is provided as a service. The publisher assumes no liability for errors or omissions.

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FoleyOnMicrosoft by Mary Jo Foley Why Is Redmond So Bullish on Office Live?

o date, Office Live—Microsoft’s set of services Office Live front. And I think whatever it is could be positioned as Microsoft’s extensions to its client-based Office productivity competitor to Google Apps. Tsuite—has felt like little more than an afterthought. My educated guess? Microsoft is going to use Windows Live ID, its online But I think Microsoft has some Live tricks up its sleeve for authentication service, in combination with the Office Live Discovery Web its Office services. Here are some reasons why: service. This will let Office users access Microsoft officials have predicted that 24-hour heads-up as to when Microsoft their Office documents over the Web in within two to three years, Office Live planned to migrate them. a secure way. What if you could work will be one of the most important prod- locally on an Excel spreadsheet, and then uct families for the company as a In the Works access, modify (and share, if appropriate) whole. Chief Operating Officer Kevin A rocky start hasn’t daunted the Office that spreadsheet using a shared Office Turner told attendees of Microsoft’s Live team, however. It’s got some ambi- Live workspace? When you sign back Worldwide Partner Conference in July: tious plans. Here is a list of things into your local copy of that spreadsheet, “We fully expect in two or three years known to be in the works: changes you made offline could be Office Live will be one of the most • A personal version of one or more synched up automatically. Wouldn’t that deployed, most utilized of all the prod- Office Live services aimed at consumers be the ultimate expression of the Soft- ucts we have in the Microsoft portfolio. and small office/home office users. The ware Plus Services scenario that Certainly it won’t be as big as Windows “personal” version of Office Live might Microsoft has been promising? in a couple of years, but we do believe it will reach our top three or four largest Even though Microsoft’s got hundreds of thousands of Office Live deployed applications.” So what does Turner know to be customers on the books … Office Live has had its share of false starts. coming down the Office Live pike that we don’t? or might not debut in the form of a While I’m going out on a limb, let me Even though Microsoft has hundreds hosted version of Microsoft’s low-end field one more prediction: Don’t be of thousands of Office Live customers productivity suite, Microsoft Works. surprised to see vertical Office Live on the books, Office Live has had its • An enterprise version of one or services debut in the next year or two share of false starts. more Office Live services. The post- such as: Office Live for Dentists; Office A number of Office Live customers poned Office Live Collaboration SKU Live for Real Estate Brokers; Office undeniably have had a rough go of it. is expected to be one of these. Live for Doctors (the latter service First, there was somewhat For more on • More third-party exten- might be one of the expected Microsoft of a bait and switch when Microsoft’s Office sions to the core Office Live “Live Healthcare” offerings I keep Microsoft rolled out the Live, log on to SKUs, at all levels. In some hearing about). first three Office Live Redmondmag.com. cases, these extensions/mash- What about you? What do you think SKUs, with the promised FindIT code: ups might consist of Microsoft Microsoft will do to make Office Live Foley1007 Collaboration SKU being services and software (like one of the biggest revenue generators replaced with the unannounced Premium Virtual Earth or Windows Live Spaces) for the company in the coming few release. Then there were conversion integrated with Office Live. In others, years? Do you have any wild and crazy problems galore. It took Microsoft independent developers will deliver cus- predictions to share? months to migrate the initial set of tom and/or commercial integrations. 190,000 beta testers. Features like backup Mary Jo Foley ([email protected]) and restore didn’t work from Novem- Educated Guess is editor of the ZDnet “All About Microsoft” ber 2006 to when their accounts were This is all well and good. But I think blog and has been covering Microsoft for finally migrated. Plus, testers got only a there’s something bigger coming on the about two decades.

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