Recently I was dealing with a Domain Controller and a WSUS Server on a Windows Server 2003 R2 OS at a customer site that had lot of error messages under the applications event log: This "red battle field" included Message ID 1 from SQLVDI concerning MICROSOFT##SSEE (the SSEE being the Microsoft internal SQL Engine… Continue reading SQLVDI and SQLWRITER Errors with Acronis
AD Replication Status Tool killed
Once again our beloved Microsoft Company took care of us sysadmins to not get bored around Christmas. If you have tried to run the Active Directory Replication Status Tool (ADREPLSTATUS) recently you could have noticed that it simply stopped working with the nasty error pop-up: "The License has expired" Note the capital letter L! Not… Continue reading AD Replication Status Tool killed
How IT will be blown to bits
Recently a LinkedIn group "LIMS Forum" manager opened an interesting discussion called "How IT will be blown to bits. Will this provide new opportunities for science?" which was based on other articles allegedly predicting the trends of cloud service, big data, mobility and such. The links listed there were the following: InfoWorld article about the… Continue reading How IT will be blown to bits
SFP+ vs RJ45 10GbE, aka 10GBASE-CR on twinax vs 10GBASE-T on cat6
If you are thinking about a deployment of 10GbE connectivity in the rack and in the datacenter you will be probably comparing fiber with copper and then even within the latter there are some alternatives. In internet a strong tendency of using SFP+ (or even the somewhat older CX4) using mostly passive twinax cables can be… Continue reading SFP+ vs RJ45 10GbE, aka 10GBASE-CR on twinax vs 10GBASE-T on cat6
Windows Server 2012 Performance
The Performance Tuning Guidelines for Windows Server 2012 is available for download as of July 24, 2012 and I would like to recommend the lectures to any system administrator with above the average devotion. The currently 150 pages long document includes topics for storage, networking and hardware/power, but also shines with server role based chapters… Continue reading Windows Server 2012 Performance
DS212J Performance on RAID-1
Ho, ho, ho! X-mas is here and Hogfather has left a nifty present before my fireplace. The Synology DS212J is a new sibling in the family and comes to replace a DS211J, the latter shining with its speed-to-price ratio, offering SMB/CIFS read/write at almost 50MB/s for less than $120. Now the new generation is supporting… Continue reading DS212J Performance on RAID-1
Apple Mail deletes messages from Exchange hosted mailbox
Introduction Recently I came across a minor disaster: one of our customers was missing thousands of emails from his "Deleted Items" folder on an Exchange hosted mailbox. Apparently there are personalities that interpret the Inbox as all-that-is-needed location, and Deleted Items as all-that-has-to-be-archived pot. In such case you will need as a sysadmin reasonable retention… Continue reading Apple Mail deletes messages from Exchange hosted mailbox
Send as options and proxy addresses in Exchange – yet another blog
Introduction Although there are multiple threads about this subject and I even posted a description of this phenomenon on technet there is still no action from MS developers and I don’t believe it is ever going to be resolved. So I’d just list some of the online proposals here. Screenshots and how-tos are on… Continue reading Send as options and proxy addresses in Exchange – yet another blog
How to reset a bluetooth connection to a headset from iPhone
Probably one of the most annoying things in my life is forgetting simple sequences. The following is one of my favorites and I decided to spare my (and hopefully somebody else’s) couple of minutes online research. Symptoms: Despite the fact that Plantronics Pro is not only supported from but also marketed by Apple: http://store.apple.com/de/product/TW455ZM/B#compatibility… Continue reading How to reset a bluetooth connection to a headset from iPhone
MPIO and MCS under Windows – Configuration in a Nutshell
Abstract: This document describes briefly the differences between the two technologies enabling multipathing I/O over iSCSI, shows the appropriate configuration location on Windows GUI and closes with a typical misunderstanding about aggregation prerequisites. The information in this article is based on the author’s experience and an information found in the documents "Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Version… Continue reading MPIO and MCS under Windows – Configuration in a Nutshell