Category Archives: Features

Let’s learn a new word for Windows Server 2012 Essentials – Transmog

There is a word that will crop up more, now that Windows Server 2012 Essentials has been announced. This word is Transmog. What does it mean?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Transmogrify (verb) as “to change or alter greatly and often with grotesque or humorous effect.” The Oxford dictionary defines this word as “transform in a surprising or magical manner.”

This word may also crop up in various incorrectly spelt forms like Transmorg or Transmorgify.

The gist of this word when applied to Windows Server 2012 Essentials is the process of transitioning Server 2012 Essentials into Server 2012 Standard, and move past the 25 user limit. In a sense, this is the old Transition Pack for SBS 2003 (http://bit.ly/Mhttle) revived. Using the Tranmog process, a customer will be able to perform an in place upgrade of their Server 2012 Essentials into Server 2012 Standard, thus bypassing the 25 user limitation. The majority of Server 2012 Essentials function like Remote Web Access and Client Backups will continue to operate and be fully supported up to 75 users and 75 devices. Mind you, the transmogrification process will allow more than 75 users and devices, but support for the Essentials components will not be available on larger numbers of clients and devices.

While this feature/process has been announced, there is no pricing announced. One would imagine that the cost would be roughly the same or more than the cost to move from Windows Server 2012 Essentials to Windows Server 2012 Standard with 25 CALs. For more information on how do perform this process, see this post – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj247582

 

 

 

Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 and Interaction with Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

Microsoft have released a new KB article on how Multipoint Server 2011 and SBS 2011 essentials interact together. The article lists some of these features, an also provides excellent links to more documentation and recommended practices.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2670858/en-us?sd=rss&spid=15021

PowerBiz Backup Essentials featuring Windows Storage Server 2008R2 Essentials now available in Australia

As the title implies, we are finally able to purchase, implement and deploy the Windows Storage Server 2008R2 Essentials solution for small businesses. This server, which comes in a variety of hard drive options from 1TB to 6TB of storage will provide an excellent out-of-box solution for small businesses.

Among the unique feature set are the following:

  • Automated daily client computer backups of Windows and Macintosh clients and server backups.
  • Simple recovery of individual files, folders and entire computers from image-based backups.
  • Centralized file organization.
  • Remote Access similar to what is available in SBS and SBS Essentials can provide RWA access in branch offices and locations where there is no SBS server.
  • Support for thrid party add-ins.

You can download the Datasheet here – http://www.powerbiz.net.au/files/WSSE2.pdf

PowerBiz Solutions has partnered with Hewlett-Packard to provide a custom solution called PowerBiz Backup Essentials. Using the HP Proliant Microserver, the PowerBiz Backup Essentials unit is a self contained Windows Storage Server 2008R2 Essentials solution. Just start up the unit, and configure a few settings to your network, and it is ready to go.

For pricing, specifications and availability, send an email to info@powerbiz.net.au.

For more information on the HP Proliant Microserver, check out this blog post – http://blog.powerbiz.net.au/features/hp-proliant-microserver/

 

What is in the SBS BPA?

The SBS Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) is a tool that collects information about your server and analyzes this information to produce a report on how you can configure the server to perform better. It is not a comprehensive 100% check of the entire system. It checkes your server against a specific set of configuration rules and reports when these rules are not properly followed.

A write up about the BPA can be found here – http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2011/04/08/introducing-the-windows-server-solutions-bpa.aspx

The following is a list of checks that the BPA does for SBS 2011 (from http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2011/04/25/windows-server-solutions-bpa-checklist.aspx)

Small Business Server 2011 Standard Edition

Checks the following service’s start mode:

  • DNS Client – DNSClientStartModeSection
  • DHCP Client – DHCPClientStartModeSection
  • IIS Admin Service – IISAdminStartModeSection
  • Remote Registry – RemoteRegistryStartModeSection
  • Remote Desktop Gateway – TSGatestartModeSection
  • Windows Update – AutoUpdatestartModeSection
  • Distributed Transaction Coordinator – DTCStartModeSection
  • Netlogon – NetlogonStartModeSection
  • DNS Server – DNSServerStartModeSection
  • Windows SBS Manager – SBSMgrstartModeSection

Checks that the following services are started:

  • DNS Client – DNSClientStartedSection
  • Windows Update – AutoUpdatesStartedSection
  • DHCP Client – DHCPClientStartedSection
  • IIS Admin Service – IISAdminStartedSection
  • World Wide Web Publishing Service – W3SVCStartedSection
  • Remote Registry – RemoteRegStartedSection
  • Remote Desktop Gateway – TSGateStartedSection
  • Windows Time – W32TimeStartedSection
  • Distributed Transaction Coordinator – DTCStartedSection
  • Netlogon – NetlogonStartedSection
  • DNS Server – DNSServerStartedSection
  • Windows SBS Manager – SBSmgrStartedSection

Checks the following service’s logon account:

  • DNS Client – DNSClientStartNameSection
  • Windows Update – AutoUpdatesStartNameSection
  • DHCP Client – DHCPClientStartNameSection
  • World Wide Web Publishing Service – W3SVCStartNameSection
  • Remote Desktop Gateway – TSGatewayStartNameSection
  • Windows Time – W32TimeStartNameSection
  • Distributed Transaction Coordinator – DTCStartNameSection
  • Netlogon – NetlogonStartNameSection
  • DNS Server – DNSServerStartNameSection
  • Windows SBS Manager – SBSMgrStartNameSection

Other Checks:

  • SKUsFoundSection – Returns the Operating System Platform name
  • PingDefGtwySection – Checks to see if the server is not able to ping the default gateway
  • PingDefGtwyOKSection – Checks to see if the server is able to ping the default gateway
  • Check2IPsSection – Checks to see if there are multiple IP addresses on the network card
  • IPFilteringSection – Checks to see if IP Filtering is enabled
  • HyperVSection – Checks to see if the Hyper-V role is installed
  • IPv6Section – Check to see if IPv6 appears to be improperly disabled
  • KernelAuthEnabledSection – Check to see if Kernel Mode Authentication is enabled in the applicationhost.config for IIS

Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

Checks the following service’s start mode:

  • DNS Client – DNSClientStartModeSection
  • DHCP Client – DHCPClientStartModeSection
  • IIS Admin Service – IISAdminStartModeSection
  • World Wide Web Publishing Service – W3SVCStartModeSection
  • Remote Registry – RemoteRegistryStartModeSection
  • Remote Desktop Gateway – TSGatestartModeSection
  • Windows Time – W32TimestartModeSection
  • Windows Update – AutoUpdatestartModeSection
  • Distributed Transaction Coordinator – DTCStartModeSection
  • Netlogon – NetlogonStartModeSection
  • DNS Server – DNSServerStartModeSection

Checks that the following services are started:

  • DNS Client – DNSClientStartedSection
  • Windows Update – AutoUpdatesStartedSection
  • DHCP Client – DHCPClientStartedSection
  • IIS Admin Service – IISAdminStartedSection
  • World Wide Web Publishing Service – W3SVCStartedSection
  • Remote Registry – RemoteRegStartedSection
  • Remote Desktop Gateway – TSGateStartedSection
  • Windows Time – W32TimeStartedSection
  • Distributed Transaction Coordinator – DTCStartedSection
  • Netlogon – NetlogonStartedSection
  • DNS Server – DNSServerStartedSection

Checks the following service’s logon account:

  • DNS Client – DNSClientStartNameSection
  • Windows Update – AutoUpdatesStartNameSection
  • DHCP Client – DHCPClientStartNameSection
  • IIS Admin Service – IISAdminStartNameSection
  • World Wide Web Publishing Service – W3SVCStartNameSection
  • Remote Desktop Gateway – TSGatewayStartNameSection
  • Windows Time – W32TimeStartNameSection
  • Distributed Transaction Coordinator – DTCStartNameSection
  • Netlogon – NetlogonStartNameSection
  • DNS Server – DNSServerStartNameSection

Other Checks:

  • SKUsFoundSection – Returns the Operating System Platform name
  • PingDefGtwySection – Checks to see if the server is not able to ping the default gateway
  • PingDefGtwyOKSection – Checks to see if the server is able to ping the default gateway
  • Check2IPsSection – Checks to see if there are multiple IP addresses on the network card
  • IPFilteringSection – Checks to see if IP Filtering is enabled
  • HyperVSection – Checks to see if the Hyper-V role is installed

Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials

Checks the following service’s start mode:

  • DNS Client – DNSClientStartModeSection
  • DHCP Client – DHCPClientStartModeSection
  • IIS Admin Service – IISAdminStartModeSection
  • World Wide Web Publishing Service – W3SVCStartModeSection
  • Remote Registry – RemoteRegistryStartModeSection
  • Remote Desktop Gateway – TSGatestartModeSection
  • Windows Time – W32TimestartModeSection
  • Windows Update – AutoUpdatestartModeSection

Checks that the following services are started:

  • DNS Client – DNSClientStartedSection
  • Windows Update – AutoUpdatesStartedSection
  • DHCP Client – DHCPClientStartedSection
  • IIS Admin Service – IISAdminStartedSection
  • World Wide Web Publishing Service – W3SVCStartedSection
  • Remote Registry – RemoteRegStartedSection
  • Remote Desktop Gateway – TSGateStartedSection
  • Windows Time – W32TimeStartedSection

Checks the following service’s logon account:

  • DNS Client – DNSClientStartNameSection
  • Windows Update – AutoUpdatesStartNameSection
  • DHCP Client – DHCPClientStartNameSection
  • IIS Admin Service – IISAdminStartNameSection
  • World Wide Web Publishing Service – W3SVCStartNameSection
  • Remote Desktop Gateway – TSGatewayStartNameSection
  • Windows Time – W32TimeStartNameSection

Other Checks:

  • PingDefGtwySection – Checks to see if the server is not able to ping the default gateway
  • PingDefGtwyOKSection – Checks to see if the server is able to ping the default gateway

Windows MultiPoint Server 2011

Checks the following service’s start mode:

  • Windows MultiPoint Server Host Service – WMSSvcStartModeSection

Checks that the following services are started:

  • Windows MultiPoint Server Host Service – WMSSvcStartedSection
  • Remote Desktop Services – TermServiceStartedSection

Checks the following service’s logon account:

  • Windows MultiPoint Server Host Service – WMSSvcStartNameSection

Other Checks:

  • SRCShellAccountExistsSection – Verifies the SRCShell local account exist

You can also find the BPA for all versions of SBS from here – www.sbsbpa.com

HP Proliant Microserver

I’ve been working with the HP Proliant Microserver. This little unit makes an excellent cost effective server for SBS 2011 Essentials, or Windows Home Server 2011. The unit is inexpensive, and can handle up to 4 plug in Hard Drives. In fact, it also make an excellent NAS device or backup server when running Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials.

The full information for this unit can be found here – http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/au/en/sm/WF25a/15351-15351-4237916-4237917-4237917-4248009.html

For SBS2011 Essentials, go with the maximum 8GB RAM, 2 x mirrored 1TB, and additional drives to suit use.

For Windows Home Server 2011, go with 4GB RAM, and as many drives as you need, preferably with a mirrored OS and main data volume.

Always get the UR482E – 3 year Next Business Day Carepack warranty, as this is reasonably inexpensive, and quite worthwhile in protecting your investment.I would also strongly recommend installing the HP Proliant Microserver Remote Access Card ( 615095-B21) – http://h30094.www3.hp.com/product.asp?sku=10265812&mfg_part=615095%2DB21&pagemode=ca

This is an excellent Remote KVM and IPMI card, which would normally be found in higher end servers, but is available for this little unit. The documentation is rather sparse, and if you need to access the device out of the box, the default username and password combination is admin and password. More information on how to reset this card if you have lost this password can be found here – http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=c02681440&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN
 

Microsoft Showcase: SBS2011 Standard Learning Bites

Microsoft have release a bunch of video how-tos on various aspects on SBS2011.

This is actually a fairly handy resource for training. There are a lot more videos and helps here – http://www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/default.aspx

Using Vyatta Router device in HyperV (Part 5)

OK, so that wasn’t the last entry on Vyatta.
 
 
This version of SBS (codenamed Aurora), is quite similar to Windows Home Server. As such, it does not appear to run a DHCP Server service by default. Therefore, the DHCP Server service needs to be configured on the Vyatta router. Three command lines will do the trick.
 
set service dhcp-server shared-network-name ETH1_POOL subnet 192.168.100.0/24 start 192.168.100.100 stop 192.168.100.199 
<<Name the Range, set the subnet, then put the starting address and ending adddress for the leases
  
set service dhcp-server shared-network-name ETH1_POOL subnet 192.168.100.0/24 default-router 192.168.100.15 <<set the default router
set service dhcp-server shared-network-name ETH1_POOL subnet 192.168.100.0/24 dns-server 12.34.56.100 <<set the default DNS server
 

Using Vyatta Router device in HyperV (Part 4)

The final part of this series is to configure the router to enable port forwarding to the internal server. In the Vyatta documentation, this is called Destination NAT (One-to-One).
 
For a SBS 2003 or SBS 2008 installation, the following ports need to be forwarded to the server – 25 (SMTP), 443 (HTTPS), 4125 (RWW on SBS2003), 987 (RWW on SBS2008). Additionally, once could forward port 3389 (Remote Desktop) if direct terminal access is required.
 
The command sequence to set up port forwarding for a port (ie. SMTP) is as follows:
set service nat rule 10 description NAT_SMTP  << give it a number and a name
set service nat rule 10 inbound-interface eth0  <<the external NIC
set service nat rule 10 destination port smtp  <<can also use the port number – 25
set service nat rule 10 inside-address address 192.168.100.202  <<the IP of your internal server
set service nat rule 10 protocol tcp  <<the vyatta manual incorrectly states “protocols”
set service nat rule 10 type destination
 
Repeat the above, changing the rule number, name, and port number/name.
 
That’s it. Once the router is set up, it will bridge the private network in HyperV to the external LAN, which will enable testing of the SBS environment apart from the live production network.
 

Using Vyatta Router device in HyperV (Part 3)

Now that the Vyatta router is in place, we need to configure it to become as firewall and to handle traffic properly.
Once you have logged in to the router, it is a matter of using a series of command. These command are set off by the initial command – configure.
When the series of commands are completed, a commit command must be executed to commit the changes and exit will drop back to the command line.
 
To set up the NICs on the router, use the following commands. I am assuming that my LAN has an IP range of 192.168.200.0/24 and the Virtual Private LAN is set to 192.168.100.0/24.
set interfaces ethernet eth0 address 192.168.200.2/24  <<External IP 
set interfaces ethernet eth1 address 192.168.100.15/24 
<<Internal IP 
 
You should also set up a DNS entry and gateway so that the router can forward all requests out via your LAN gateway.
set system name-server 12.34.56.100
set system gateway-address 192.168.200.1
 
To configure the NAT functionality,
set service nat rule 1 source address 192.168.100.0/24  <<the internal LAN
set service nat rule 1 outbound-interface eth0  <<going out via the external NIC
set service nat rule 1 type masquerade
 
To configure the firewall to block all incoming traffic. Note: Since this is a test LAN and you have an external router, there isn’t a need to set this up, as it adds complexity to the set up of port forwarding in the next section.
set firewall name ALLOW_ESTABLISHED
set firewall name ALLOW_ESTABLISHED rule 10
set firewall name ALLOW_ESTABLISHED rule 10 action accept
set firewall name ALLOW_ESTABLISHED rule 10 state established enable
set interfaces ethernet eth0 firewall in name ALLOW_ESTABLISHED
set interfaces ethernet eth0 firewall local name ALLOW_ESTABLISHED
 
Next step – Setting up port forwarding for SBS 2003 and 2008.

Using Vyatta Router device in HyperV (Part 2)

To Install the Vyatta Router, do the following:
 
Create a new Virtual Device with the following settings.

The hard drive needs only to be a 1GB drive.

You will need two Legacy Network Adapters. Remove the default created Network Adaptor, as Vyatta will not recognize it, and install two Legacy Adaptors. One should be connected to the external network, and the other willbe connected to the Private Virtual Network.

Insert the Vyatta ISO into the CDROM and start the Virtual Machine.

At the login prompt, type the login user and password. Both are vyatta.

Type Install-system to begin the installation.

Answer most of the next few questions with the default answer.

You have to answer Yes to the confirm format of the drive.

Press Enter to copy the default configuration file to the system.

Type in a new administrator password of your choice.

Eject the ISO and it is all ready to go.

The next part will take you through a basic and quick set up to configure the system as a router and basic firewall.