Network Administration & Consulting Services

The answer file is now an XML file instead of an INF file. You should to use Windows System Image Manager to create the XML file. Windows System Image Manager is part of WAIK and can be downloaded here.
To actually use this XML file, copy it sysprep.xml toc:\windows\system32\sysprep. That is the folder on a Windows Server 2008 system where sysprep.exe is located by default. From that location, you execute the following command:

sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:sysprep.xml

The system will shut down. The next time you start this system (after cloning it), it will install with the settings in the XML file. The Computer Name will be automatically generated.

Configuring a Dell PowerEdge system for booting from virtual disk on MD3000i. 

Recently, I worked on a project to be deployed on a Windows servers cluster.
Before setting up the production environment, it was necessary to check if one of the required applications will work on a cluster.

To those of you who doesn’t know what a cluster is, just take a look at what’s written on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_cluster

That time, I had no extra servers for testing, so I decided to setup the cluster in a virtual environment. To do this, I created 2 Windows 2003 Servers on  my VMWARE station.
However, the biggest problem was the storage space.

Anyone who worked at least once with clusters, knows that they need a shared storage, also called a NAS (Network-attached Storage).
Unfortunately, I have no NAS in my lab, so I used another technique for my test.
If you do Googling a bit, you will find a lot of Linux-based NAS software, like FreeNAS.

However, I wanted a Windows-based software and I found probably one of the best (IMHO), which is StarWind, available for FREE in a Personal edition.
Now, I’m not going to show you how to install a cluster, I just would like to show how to connect two (or more) servers to the same Network-attached Storage by using the iSCSI technology, and how to do this in a test environment.

Windows Server 2008 Documentation Essentials

These links will help you get started with Windows Server 2008.

Learn

• Windows Server 2008 product information: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90853
• Windows Server 2008 TechCenter: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=86041

Evaluate

• Changes in Functionality from Windows Server 2003 with SP1 to Windows Server 2008: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=90854
• Windows Server 2008 TechNet Virtual Labs: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90855
• Windows Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guides: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=90856

Troubleshoot

• Windows Server 2008 Troubleshooting: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90857
• TechNet Troubleshooting and Support: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90728

Connect with Windows Server 2008 Community

• Windows Server 2008 Forums: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90920
• Windows Server 2008 Podcasts: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90919
• Windows Server 2008 Chats: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90918

Windows Server 2008 Technical Library

Need to learn more about what’s new for key Windows Server 2008 technologies and where to get additional information? These links to the Windows Server 2008 Technical Library will provide you with introductory and technical overviews and other resources.

• Active Directory Certificate Services: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=48545
• Active Directory Domain Services: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48547
• Active Directory Federation Services: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48542
• Active Directory Rights Management Services: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48554
• Application Server: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48544
• Availability and Scalability: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90922
• DNS Server: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48548
• File Services: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48550
• Group Policy: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90923
• Network Policy and Access Services: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48552
• Performance and Reliability: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90924
• Print Services: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48553
• Security and Protection: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90925
• Server Manager: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48541
• Streaming Media Services: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48551
• Terminal Services: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=48555
• Web Server: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48558
• Windows Deployment Services: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=48559

As you probably already know, VMware ESX is an enterprise grade virtualization product by VMware. Unlike VMware Server, VMware ESX does not require an underlying operating system to be loaded first. What this means is that you get the highest virtualization performance that is possible when using VMware ESX Server.

So what is VMware Infrastructure (VI)? VI, is really just a product suite. Keep that in mind. There is really no application called "VMware Infrastructure". VI is a bundle of VMware products...

Since I've published article "PXE, aka Pre-Execution Environment - Part 1" I've got a lot of emails with the same question - 'Where is a Part 2?". So, here it is.

I know many Network Administrators who work with Acronis products and i also sometime work with those good products. This week i did a project for one of my clients in Seattle, WA. The main idea was to deploy an Acronis image on new servers and configure those servers according to system requirements. So, again, those servers came without floppy drive and CD/DVD :) and as all of you know, to restore Acronis image on a new machine we have to use Bootable Rescue Media, aka Bootable CD with Acronis on it. Yes, I know, that Acronis provides a products with PXE integrated, but i don't have it :) and I've used my own PXE server.

The first step I did was create Bootable Rescue Media. Then I took 2 files, kernel.dat and ramdisk.dat  from Acronis's directory and put them into C:\PXEServer\TFTPRoot\Boot directory. Well, now was the time to make a small changes to our "default" file (default file located in C:\PXEServer\TFTPRoot\Boot\pxelinux.cfg\ directory). After all those changes my "default" file now looks as follow:

The next steps were pretty simple ;), Boot, Select Acronis from the menu, Select Image for recovery and.....

Thanks to time PXE saved me I was able to spend some time in very beautiful city Seattle.


Relaited Articles
PXE, aka Pre-Execution Environment - Part 1

The Exchange Server documentation team is pleased to announce the following Exchange Server 2007 content.

• Service Pack 1 Highlights
• Common Criteria

You can see these articles and other Exchange Server documentation content in the Microsoft Exchange Server TechCenter.

To see what content has changed for Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1, take a look at What's New in Exchange Server 2007 SP1.

The following downloads are also now available for SP1 content:

• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Help
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Shell Help

During normal operation or in Safe mode, your computer may play "Fur Elise" or "It's a Small, Small World" seemingly at random. This is an indication sent to the PC speaker from the computer's BIOS that the CPU fan is failing or has failed, or that the power supply voltages have drifted out of tolerance. This is a design feature of a detection circuit and system BIOSes developed by Award/Unicore from 1997 on. 

Source: Microsoft 

Critical Security Bulletins

• DirectX 7.0 - 10 including Vista

• Impact: Remote Code Execution

• Windows Media Format Runtime 7.1 - 11 (including Vista)

• Internet Explorer 5.01 - 7.0 including Vista

• Impact: Remote Code Execution

Important Security Bulletins

• Windows Vista

• Windows Vista x64 Edition

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
• Windows XP Service Pack 2
  

• Windows Vista
• Windows Vista x64 Edition
  

• Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (also x64)

Impact: Local Elevation of Privileg

Source: www.microsoft.com

5 new technical briefs available on the Windows Home Server web site. They are:

• Remote Access
• Media Sharing
• Drive Extender
• Home Computer Backup
• Home Networking

Today, one of my friends asked me how to get SP3 RC1 for Windows XP. Many of you know that this release available for Beta Testers, but Friend of mine is NOT beta tester. So, you can use a Hack that will allow you to download Windows XP SP3 RC1 directly from Microsoft. Windows XP SP3 will be the final service pack for really good Operating System from Microsoft. SP3 will bring a lot of bug fixes and some new features from Vista. Well, if you can't wait for official release, create a .bat file, let say xpsp3rc1.bat. Copy & Past to xpsp3rc1.bat  following commands:

Get hands-on experience with Server and Domain Isolation, and learn how this cost-effective end-point authentication solution can help you reduce the risk of network-based threats and safeguard sensitive data.

Few month ago I published an article "PXE, aka Pre-Execution Environment - Part 1". In this article, I talked about a problem to use boot disk which created at Windows XP for PXE boot. I'd like to say thanks to Michael Bridge. He found a way to make the Windows XP floppy image of the netbootdisk work.

Under \\pxelinux.cfg\default

append initrd=.IMA raw

(add "raw" after the image name)

According to this http://syslinux.zytor.com/memdisk.php it allows access to protected mode memory. Michael Bridge, told me that he managed to get the solution on this web site:
http://syslinux.zytor.com/archives/2007-July/008918.html 

There is a great post about how to create "split VHDs" (a VHD that is broken into multiple files on the physical computer) with arbitrary sizes here:

http://www.wirwar.com/blog/2007/10/26/splitting-a-virtual-pc-vhd/

NOTE: Be warned though - only Virtual PC supports split VHDs (Virtual Server does not).