THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS DIVA

Gardening tasks this afternoon.  Bought another Moonshine Yarrow to match the other side of the front garden.  Planted a Buddleja Buzz Magenta in the back garden to bring in more bees and butterflies.  My first year planting of New Dawn Rose is putting on it's second bloom.

On the geek front I'm still mulling over yesterday's SBSC call with Eric Ligman and company.  Windows 8 lately is proving to me that Microsoft only listens to electronic feedback and poorly designed surveys with sampling errors of plus or minus 16 percent or so.  In their actions and deeds lately I do not hear them "listening".  Truly listening.  They are a beancounter run company who wants metrics.  And quite frankly you and I do not give them metrics.  Lord knows I don't.  If they looked me up in their Microsoft partner profile they'd see that I've not has a single SBS sale attributed to me.  Never.  Ever.  Yet how many customers of SBS, how many partners that sell and install SBS still, to this day, read this insane blogging that I do. 

It was good to hear other partners say in the call everything that I've been saying for months.  Microsoft when you say "we've talked to partners" when you've made these decisions... I wonder who are you talking to?  Do I think they'll make changes and keep the SBSC?  I hope so.  They said that they needed to push partners to embrace the cloud.

ABSOLUTELY.  But gang, having a required exam of Office 365 is not all the things we need to know about the cloud.  As even Pinterest and Netflix found out this weekend, cloud deployments are not a walk in the park.  The cloud is more than Office 365, it's more (quite frankly) that Microsoft right now.  Microsoft is the slow man out of the horserace and if the headlines are right... are not pushing the tools to the developers like they should if they want to be more in the cloud.

And don't get me started that System Center Essentials is not a SMB solution.  Intune doesn't cover Servers.  I said when Intune shipped that it wasn't SMB enough and that it would turn into a mid market tool and I was right.

So will Microsoft listen to those in the SBSC program and keep it alive?

Time will only tell. 

In the meantime I need to get back to blogging about HyperV and SBS Essentials and pondering about internal wireless at the office and how the consumerization of IT (aka iPads inside the office) means that I feel like I'm lowering my wireless security standards.

More on that tomorrow.  Along with boring you with random chatter about my summer gardening tasks.

Gardening activities tonight - planted May Night Salvia and refreshed the Cocoa Mulch in the back rose garden.

Geek activities tonight... blogging to raise awareness over Microsoft change in KBs that slows me down and loses needed information and to hopefully get someone to understand and tweak changes they recently made to the Microsoft Knowledge base articles.

So tonight they "metro'd" the KB articles.  Fine, go Metro happy.  But how about not losing a key piece of info in the process of Metroing it?

Go to the sample of http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;2686509 

At the top where it used to have the article ID in small letters it also would say the revision number and the date.  Don't see it do you?  To find it click on that "View other products" which jumps you down to the bottom of the KB article and then scroll back up a little bit.

But Susan, it's only one click and a scroll, I mean it's only a few more clicks and a few more seconds out of your life.  Really what are you crabbing about?

I watch RSS feeds of KB articles and when I see one of interest I look at it.  And the very second thing I look at after I read the title of the KB is the revision number and the date to determine if the KB was a brand new one or not.

See that?  The key info that I look at is now buried at the bottom of the KB.

Microsoft when you get feedback when you change stuff ASK PEOPLE THAT USE THE STUFF BEFORE YOU CHANGE IT PLEASE.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:qK7oI_dywroJ:support.microsoft.com/kb/2686509+ms12-034:+Description+of+the+security+update+for+CVE-2012-0181+in+Windows+XP+and+Windows+Server+2003:+May+8,+2012&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

That's a google cache of how they used to look.

See how the info used to be right up at the top at eye level?

So Microsoft, Metro all you want, but the principles of Metro design is that information is clear and easy to read.  Finding the release date and revision date no longer is in the Metro manner of delivery.

Please fix it.  Every second I don't have to click and scroll means I have that many more seconds to plant in my garden.  Should get seeds for Mexican Sunflowers next week.

From the MSsmallbiz listserve 

mssmallbiz] Microsoft Small Business Competency Partner Forum tomorrow
Date:

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:49:47 +0000
From:

Microsoft SMB Communications <mssmbiz@microsoft.com
Reply-To:

mssmallbiz@yahoogroups.com To:

mssmallbiz@yahoogroups.com <mssmallbiz@yahoogroups.com>

As you know, we recently launched the Microsoft Small Business Competency and I have seen and heard questions, 
comments, etc. regarding the Small Business Competency from some partners through a variety of systems. I have 
had the opportunity to connect with several partners about their input and feedback, but also know there are others that 
have expressed a desire to have their voices heard and their input and feedback voiced to the appropriate people at Microsoft.

As such, I am offering up this opportunity for an open forum discussion regarding the Microsoft Small Business Competency 
with myself, Microsoft Worldwide Director of Partner Experience and Arnold Bogaards, Microsoft Worldwide Director of SMB 
Partner Marketing to discuss these items. This is not a presentation, but rather an open discussion. Arnold and I will address 
some of the questions we have received already, just to set them aside and level-set, but the main purpose of this call is to 
give you, our Microsoft partners, a forum to have your voices heard directly.

Here are the details on joining us for the Microsoft Small Business Competency Partner Forum:

Date: June 29, 2012
Time: 11:30 am - 12:30 pm PDT
How to attend:
Join online meeting https://join.microsoft.com/meet/eligman/Z0WQHRF5 
 by Phone
+14257063500
+18883203585
Find a local number<https://join.microsoft.com/dialin>

Conference ID: 75916011

I look forward to talking with you tomorrow.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman 
Joinhttp://www.ericligman.com 
Director, Worldwide Partner Experience
Microsoft Corporation
Get supporthttps://partner.microsoft.com/global/supportsecurity, 
get trainedhttps://partner.microsoft.com/global/trainingevents, 
and use your benefits<https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40026972> as a partner today
Microsoft Partner Information RIGHT ON YOUR PHONE http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/b2bfce33-1157-e011-854c-00237de2db9e 
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/ericligman, my Blog http://www.mspartnerblog.com, 
and LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/ericligman  to see what I'm thinking http://bit.ly/9iwmVA

Edit:  as of noon pacific this update has been expired off of servers.  If you go and do a manual sync of WSUS it will expire off.  If you've already had this installed, manually uninstall it or use psexec to uninstall it (see thread at http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverwsus/thread/74a93b2b-e820-40ef-a45d-2815b57d164e  and use psexec \\computername -h -s MsiExec.exe /X{EE7257A2-39A2-4D2F-9DAC-F9F25B8AE1D8} /qn )

FYI seeing the detection on this going broader than it was supposed to.

My understanding is that it's only supposed to go to machined that already had Skype.   Detection obviously got screwed up.

Skype 5.9 for Windows Update on June 12, 2012:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2692954/en-us?sd=rss&spid=6527


Subject:     Skype 5.9 Update
Date:     Wed, 27 Jun 2012 10:44:41 +0100
From:     Dino
Reply-To:     Patch Management Mailing List <patchmanagement@listserv.patchmanagement.org>
To:     Patch Management Mailing List <patchmanagement@listserv.patchmanagement.org>



Hi,

I notice a new category in WSUS/SCCM products list. The product was Skype.
Has we have a few clients with Skype installed I checked the box.
Today I had a new update available, Skype 5.9 for Windows.
It came in software updates so I deployed thinking that it would update
the machines that needed to be updated, machines with Skype installed.
But Skype update is being installed even in machines without Skype
installed.

Like it would if I had distributed via software distribution.
This is not normal, is it? An update should not affect machine without the
software installed?
Is this a way for Microsoft to have Skype disseminated?


With the best regards,

The one that talked about the small business competency?

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/LMS_ActDetails.aspx?UserMode=0&ActId=812778&OffSrc=1&OffSourceId=:785831&CallerURL=/learning/app/management/LMS_ActDetails.aspx%3FActivityId%3D785831%26UserMode%3D0&FromCECCSummary=false&CECCSummaryURL=

If that doesn't work try
https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/contentserver/msrecordings/st2hns2mfs29zmz9/st2hns2mfs29zmz9.wmv  for the link

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/business/smallbusiness/protecting-business-accounts-from-hackers.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Please:  Steal my content.  Seriously.  Let your small business clients know that they are not protected by FDIC insurance if they suffer financial losses from their business banking account.

Online Security:
http://www.calcpa.org/content/26744.aspx

I, Susan Bradley, authorize you to repost/reuse/post as your own/adjust the content as you see fit.

Get the word out.

SMB Online Conference / MSP Online Conferences:
http://www.smbonlineconference.com/

In a few hours the SMB online conference will begin -- check it out!

As I'm watching on the BBC the Friday's edition of Gardeners' World, I'm patching my server and preparing to patch for the WSUS cert issue.  As you may be aware we've seen some folks get nailed by this patch.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/sus/archive/2012/06/20/wsus-kb272011-common-issues-encountered-and-how-to-fix-them.aspx

Unfortunately I can't give you a clear idea of why some are getting nailed. 

So before we patch WSUS it's a good time to weed it out and deadhead it.  (okay so listening to Monty Don while patching and writing a blog post means that you'll probably get some gardening references thrown in tonight).

First thing I'm doing today to hopefully ensure that I have a successful WSUS updating is that I'm ensuring that I update WSUS KB2720211 all by itself.  So I'm installing all other updates I plan to do today, rebooting.

<wait wait wait - or use a script to shut down >

Now that the server has rebooted from all the other updates, we're going to get our WSUS equivalent of the hula hoe out and rip out the old dead patches.  Launch the WSUS console and go into tools and then into options. Go down to the wsus cleanup wizard and run this one tickbox at a time.

I decided to not follow the SUS support blog and reindex the WSUS mainly because I have a pretty small one (as compared to the Enterprise guys), and secondly when I went to install that SQLCmd thing they talked about... I got this: Product: SQL Server Command Line Query Tool -- Installation of this product failed because it is not supported on this operating system. For information on supported configurations, see the product documentation.

Hmm...  okay so let's not do that.

What I did do was to backup the database just in case.  I'm doing this on a SBS 2008, the other platforms are similar.

Go into SQL 2005 Express by runas Admin and choose \\.\pipe\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE\sql\query .  Then go into the SUS database

Right mouse click on tasks and back it up

 Choose disk and park it somewhere you will remember.

I did this update all by itself and keep in mind that because it's taking down WSUS and the IIS website, it nailed RDgateway so I'd not rely on RDgateway/RWW patching for this one.

A small command window pops up and it's a fairly fast patch.  Then reboot.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZxmZmBfnU

To Eriq.  

Once upon a time, many years ago, you sent me an email out of the blue.  Let me know that something was going on that no one else was talking about.  Reaching out from behind the gates of the Empire to build a bridge.  A bridge of understanding.  You helped me see both sides of an issue.  You helped me see a different viewpoint.  I keep expecting you to pop up on my IM window with a "You got a sec?"  I keep expecting to see you post in a forum or help someone by blogging about some nuance that we never thought of.  I keep expecting to see your Purple shirt.  You see, I have this thing about logo'd shirts.  Microsoft never gave out SBS logo'd shirts.  So I stole the logo and had them made because I was proud to be representing the Small Business Server Product.  So I made SBS MVP logo'd polo shirt at a local embroidery shop and asked everyone else in the group if they wanted one.  Everyone else wanted Navy blue shirts or some other business-y color.  Not you.  No sir.  You wanted Purple.  A bright intense purple color.  

For me, you'll be my purple.  

So on this day when I'm here in Fresno and your friends and family are in Texas saying goodbye to you, I can't say goodbye.  I couldn't even bring myself to order flowers for your funeral because it would make your passing too real.  Yeah, I know.  Lame on my part.  Remind me to send a living plant to Anna to put in her garden and not a funeral display to better honor you.  You see, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to you yet.  Not yet anyway.  Because to me you are still there.  Still there on the other end of an email, still there on the other end of an IM window.  

We live in a weird world where you are still online.  Still have web sites to read http://www.eriqneale.net/faq/cancer/, still have recent twitter posts I can look at.  Still have SBS related web sites that are valuable to people (and will remain intact as long as they are needed).  Still have left behind a legacy of books, and support resources that still give back to people.  

But you aren't where you are really real to me.  On the other end of an IM window popping up with a question, or me hitting you on IM and asking you "Can I bother?  I need to vent!".

Tonight on the PBS station they had an American Masters show on Judy Garland.  And when they got to the part where they showcased the Wizard of Oz and she sang Somewhere over the Rainbow, I thought of you, Eriq.  I thought of purple.  I know you are in a better place now.  You are on the other side of that rainbow where you don't hurt.  You don't have to take medicine.  Your back isn't aching anymore.  You are probably wearing a Texas baseball shirt checking out all the other baseball players and planning Mac and Kerio migrations.  I know you are probably worry about Anna, but just like you she's strong when she needs to be.  

She's been getting donations for yarn caps in your honor.  I'll be asking for a special one made, in, what else, Purple. 

You hang in there and I want a hug the next time we meet up.  It may be some years (hopefully) so you'll have to be patient if you don't mind. 

P.S. just thought of something ironic.  I'm typing this up on the MacBook Pro laptop that stays downstairs.  Kinda fitting.  Until I see you next, 

Susan

Problem:

And you keep getting this alert.  Over.. and over.. and over.. and over...

Solution:

Event ID: 1008 Source: MSExchange ActiveSync:
http://www.eventid.net/display.asp?eventid=1008&eventno=9382&source=MSExchange%20ActiveSync&phase=1

Event ID 1008 – Maximum request length exceeded « Doug G:
http://dougg.co.nz/2011/05/25/event-id-1008-maximum-request-length-exceeded/

Tell the person not to send large emails via their phone or edit the value on the activesync

Make a copy of the config file

Edit it in notepad (find the line)

I bumped it to 15 meg.
Saved it, restarted the IIS

Problem:

And you keep getting this alert.  Over.. and over.. and over.. and over...

Solution:

Event ID: 1008 Source: MSExchange ActiveSync:
http://www.eventid.net/display.asp?eventid=1008&eventno=9382&source=MSExchange%20ActiveSync&phase=1

Event ID 1008 – Maximum request length exceeded « Doug G:
http://dougg.co.nz/2011/05/25/event-id-1008-maximum-request-length-exceeded/

Tell the person not to send large emails via their phone or edit the value on the activesync

Make a copy of the config file

Edit it in notepad (find the line)

I bumped it to 15 meg.
Saved it, restarted the IIS

Starting the process of getting the apps from Sister's laptop/docking station over to the newly built screamer of a MINI Desktop. And one of the first things on the desktop right after Microsoft Security Essentials and Office 2010 is ...what else.. her MINI Cooper cuckoo clock that used to be on the German MINI site but is there no longer.

Fortunately because we had a failure in the app before, I had downloaded it and stuck it on the Home server under \\public\MINI to make sure I'd kept it.  I may burn it into a hard drive and stick it in a bank vault to ensure I keep it.

We were considering painting/getting vinyl racing stripes on the MINI ITX case just like MINI Sonora Internet radio (see http://www.zercustoms.com/news/MINI-rocks-sonoro-Internet-radio.html) but then decided to just put a MINI cooper logo on the front. 

This is it sitting on the side desk with me rdp'ing into it getting the rest of her applications on there.

P.S. if anyone else has a relative that HAS to have their MINI Cooper cuckoo clock app on their PC and they can't find a copy of it, holler, I have it saved.

If you are seeing a bit of slow boot on domain joined pc's two recent hotfixes may be of help:

Delay occurs when you log on to a domain from a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2709630
Unexpectedly slow startup or logon process in Windows Server 2008 R2 or in Windows 7:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2617858/en-US

Building a tiny desktop - THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA":
http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2012/06/18/building-a-tiny-desktop.aspx

Machine built.  Have to tidy up the cables and what not and put the case on but it's basically built.

I have boot envy now.  We're thinking about putting in SSD drives at the office on some of the workstations even.

It really really really boots fast and is very very very responsive.

First the good news.  The SBS 2011 bpa now has one integrated installer.

Now the bad news... it's only on the Microsoft update site.

Under optional setings.

So install it.  And it will upgrade inside the program to 1.2

....but... it just got updated to 1.3 so how do you get that version?

You have to MU as second time to get the update rollup 3 offered up .

Then and only then are you on the latest version of the BPA.

Looking for a peer resource for Office 365?

Office365partners@yahoogroups.com

Looking for the Office 365 Jump start videos?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/video/deploying-office-365-jump-start-01-infrastructure-planning.aspx

Disaster recovery event - Beer over IP technology not yet perfected

 Here is the registration link for the streaming live session:

 http://ieee-computer-society.eventbrite.com/

 We have not perfected the BoIP technology and apologize in advance
 yet hope you may visit North Carolina one day in person and plug
 straight into the local network for golden nectar from the heavens.

 Please join us for a demonstration and discussion on disaster recovery.
 We will have the manufacturer of a disaster recovery solution,
 StorageCraft, demonstrate their product, ShadowProtect, that
 provides the industry leading disaster recovery technique for
 servers and workstations as well as representatives from the IT
 industry that are able to share experiences on the subject.

 Agenda:

 4 PM First Flight happy hour/informal networking/sponsor elevator
 speeches/food and drinks

 5 PM Disaster Recovery demonstrations

 6 PM questions/answers/breakout sessions/informal networking on back
 deck weather permitting

 7 PM adjourn

 Sponsors:

 IEEE Computer Society and IEEE Eastern NC Section
 http://sites.ieee.org/encs  

 Bob Coppedge, Simplex-IT http://www.Simplex-IT.com  


 Philip Elder, MPECS http://www.mpecsinc.ca

 Jim Ray, Neuse River Networks http://www.neuserivernetworks.com  


 First Flight Venture Center http://ffvcnc.org  

 StorageCraft http://www.storagecraft.com  


 Keynote:

 Sean Rich is a Sales Engineer with StorageCraft Technology Corporation.
 With 16 years' experience in the Information Technology field,
 including
 12 years as an IT Manager, Sean understands the importance and value
 of a solid Backup and Disaster Recovery solution. He knows
 first-hand the daily challenges of managing the Information
 Technology infrastructure of an organization and can help you
 design/implement an effective Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan that meets your needs.

 About StorageCraft:

 StorageCraft Technology Corporation provides best-in-class backup,
 disaster recovery, system migration and data protection solutions
 for servers, desktops and laptops. StorageCraft delivers software
 products that reduce downtime, improve security and stability for
 systems and data and lower the total cost of ownership. For more
 information, visit www.storagecraft.com  

 Regards,

 Jim Ray, President

 Neuse River Networks

Peter Perry reports....

"I installed the new rollup update for BPA on all my SBS2011 boxes.  All the new recommendations are fine except the below.  If I change the web.config file to match the transport setting as suggested (even ones still at the out-of-the-box 10MB default), users complain they can’t delete email from OWA and they receive an error.  Even worse, it completely breaks email flow on Blackberry devices with BES installed.  I confirmed this issue and restored the setting back to 2097151.  Something is amiss with Microsoft’s instructions."

Tero commented..

When working with SBS2008, the correct command to set the limit would be:
appcmd set config "SBS Web Applications/ews" -section:requestFiltering -requestLimits.maxAllowedContentLength:[size in bytes]
ie. not the Default Web Site

Here is a good explanation about the impact of the different values and how to correctly set them in E2007 and E2010 respectively:
https://edmckinzie.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/max-message-size-increase-owa-imap-ews-maxrequestlength-and-maxallowedcontentlength/

Obviously BPA seems to give wrong advice.

More here:  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh529949.aspx

So for now... ignore that BPA item.  Bug filed.

I'm building a tiny Desktop PC to replace a laptop on a docking station that never goes anywhere (since Sis has an iPad)

Here's the parts:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106371 -LITE-ON 8X Slim Internal DVD Burner 8X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 6X DVD+R DL 8X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-R 24X CD-RW 24X CD-ROM SATA Model DS-8A8SH - OEM

G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory Model F3-2400C10D-16GTX:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231589

Newegg.com - ASUS P8H77-I LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131841

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256B/WW 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147164

Newegg.com - SYBA Model CL-CAB40042 37" SATA to Mini SATA Cable with Molex Power Adapter - SATA / eSATA Cables:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186155

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501

Silverstone SST-SG06B (Black) Mini-ITX SUGO Case w/ 300W:
http://www.aerocooler.com/shop.cart?action=ITEM&prod_id=CASS06B  (more on the case here: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=353&Itemid=61)

Put it together tonight... will be booting it up to the bios settings/motherboard tomorrow.