FoSR Interesting Q&A

On the recent Future of the Server Room tour Rick and I tried something different and allowed attendees to email or text their questions in throughout the day.  It was quite successful as we got over 200 text messages and 50 emails over the 5 stops.  I've compiled a list of the most popular questions along with the answers just in case you missed it!

Q. What is the name of the zoom and background utility you guys use?

A. The zoom tool is called ZoomIt and it is available at https://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/zoomit.mspx and the background tool is called BGInfo and you can get that at https://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/BgInfo.mspx

 

Q. Does Microsoft have a reference of all the command line utilities as I think I'll need an update after seeing Server Core!

A. Yes there is a Command Line Reference here. (Thanks Sean!)  There is also a free PowerShell book you can download here along with some demofiles.

 

Q. What happens if the NAP client is not installed/configured/disabled/not working?

A. In the NAP configuration there are options you can set on the action to take.  By default any problems with the NAP client or the health validation will dump the computer into the restricted network.

 

Q.  Is there a NAP client for XP and/or 2003?

A. There is a NAP client for XP SP2 currently in beta.  No decision has been made for 2003 yet.

 

Q. What happens if I use a static IP (with NAP)?

A. Rick demoed DHCP based NAP which is the simplest form of NAP.  We could not demo the more secure methods that use RADIUS or 802.1x but there is a webcast by the NAP team you can watch that goes deeper into NAP including 802.1x.  You can watch that here.

 

Q. How can I prevent users from messing with the NAP client settings?

A. Easy, take away their admin rights :)

 

Q. You mentioned an improvement to clustering in 2008, what was that?

A. Windows Server 2008 will support geo-clustering which allows you to build a cluster over WAN links.

 

Q. You mentioned a 30 server limit in System Center Essentials.  Does this include VMs?

A. No it is 30 agents on server OSes.  As we mentioned in the licensing part you only need an agent on the host server, not the VMs.

 

Q. Does Server Core support USB devices and other removable storage?

A. Yes

 

Q. Does NAP work via a VPN?

A. For a VPN connection you would use the already available Network Access Quarantine.

 

Q.  Are there any printing improvements to TS in Server 2008?

A. Yes, Server 2008 introduces a feature called Easy Print and you can read more about it on the TS Team Blog.

 

Q. What OS are supported for P2V and V2V migrations?

A. Currently only Windows Server OS (200x) are supported for the beta.

 

Q. Where does Rodney buy his shoes?

A. Unfortunately the company that makes the shoes was bought out and the new owners dropped that style.  You can still find them around in the odd shoe store or on eBay :)

 

Q. Finally the most popular question!  When is Server 2008 going to RTM?

A. The end of 2007 :)