Mark Renoden’s Blog

My contribution to the thought bubble

AD FS 2016 and Azure MFA - a few Nuances

I was recently helping a colleague with AD FS 2016 and Azure MFA integration, specifically in-line...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 06/20/2018

New Role for Me!

It's been a while since I last posted. This is largely due to a change in role. I've moved out of...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 06/20/2018

Identify ADMX/ADML Files used by Group Policies

The Problem Group Policy ADMX versioning has caused a few concerns for Microsoft customers in the...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 01/11/2018

Authoritative Restore of SYSVOL after Deallocation of Azure DCs

The Problem If you run an isolated lab in Azure IaaS with more than one Domain Controller and are in...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 11/07/2017

Choosing a sourceAnchor for Groups in Multi-Forest Sync with AAD Connect

Introduction Earlier this year I authored a post discussing choices for sourceAnchor in Multi-Forest...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 10/13/2017

An Alternative for DFSR Database GUID-to-Name Resolution

Recently I was connected to a support incident where a SYSVOL DFS Replication storm was causing...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 05/03/2017

Choosing a sourceAnchor for Multi-Forest Sync with AAD Connect - Part 7, Migrating Users

Update 25th May 2017:- As of AAD Connect May 2017 release, version 1.1.524, the default sourceAnchor...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 02/24/2017

Choosing a sourceAnchor for Multi-Forest Sync with AAD Connect - Part 6, Moving off objectGuid

Update 25th May 2017:- As of AAD Connect May 2017 release, version 1.1.524, the default sourceAnchor...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 02/24/2017

Choosing a sourceAnchor for Multi-Forest Sync with AAD Connect - Part 5, Using mS-DS-ConsistencyGuid

Update 25th May 2017:- As of AAD Connect May 2017 release, version 1.1.524, the default sourceAnchor...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 02/23/2017

Choosing a sourceAnchor for Multi-Forest Sync with AAD Connect - Part 4, Using msDS-SourceAnchor

Update 25th May 2017:- As of AAD Connect May 2017 release, version 1.1.524, the default sourceAnchor...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 02/22/2017

Choosing a sourceAnchor for Multi-Forest Sync with AAD Connect - Part 3, An Aside on EmployeeID

Update 25th May 2017:- As of AAD Connect May 2017 release, version 1.1.524, the default sourceAnchor...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 02/21/2017

Choosing a sourceAnchor for Multi-Forest Sync with AAD Connect - Part 2, Lab Setup

Update 25th May 2017:- As of AAD Connect May 2017 release, version 1.1.524, the default sourceAnchor...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 02/20/2017

Choosing a sourceAnchor for Multi-Forest Sync with AAD Connect - Part 1, Introduction

Update 25th May 2017:- As of AAD Connect May 2017 release, version 1.1.524, the default sourceAnchor...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 02/20/2017

Revisit - Deploying a DC to Azure IaaS with ARM and DSC

Introduction In an earlier post I provided a walkthrough for the deployment of a Domain Controller...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 11/24/2016

Making Network Changes During an Azure IaaS ARM Template Deployment

In my last post, I discussed the deployment of a Domain Controller to Azure IaaS using ARM templates...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/28/2016

Deploying a DC to Azure IaaS with ARM and DSC

EDIT This post is obsolete! I've kept it here to preserve comments and to maintain information that...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/26/2016

Using Azure RMS for Generic File Protection

Introduction Recently, I’ve had the need to work with Azure Rights Management and Generic File...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 06/29/2016

MCSM (MCM) Distributed File System Content

Back in 2012 I was asked to take over from Ned Pyle as the presenter for DFS technologies at the...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 06/12/2016

Using Azure Active Directory Domain Services with ARM VNets

It’s been a while since my last post – a combination of extended leave and being busy I guess. Even...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 06/10/2016

DFSR Debug Analysis with Message Analyzer – Part 9, Series Conclusion and Assets

This post concludes the series that started here. Over the past few weeks I’ve presented a overview...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 09/24/2015

DFSR Debug Analysis with Message Analyzer – Part 8, DFSR Debug Log Charts

This post continues the series that started here. Up to this point I’ve discussed building a parser...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 09/23/2015

DFSR Debug Analysis with Message Analyzer – Part 7, Dealing with Message Analyzer Limitations

This post continues the series that started here. Default Parser Up to this point the development of...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 09/15/2015

DFSR Debug Analysis with Message Analyzer – Part 6, Parsing Specific Multi-line Messages

This post continues the series that started here. Last time I discussed parsing multi-line messages...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 09/13/2015

DFSR Debug Analysis with Message Analyzer – Part 5, Parsing Multi-line Messages

This post continues the series that started here. Today I want to continue to demonstrate the...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 09/09/2015

DFSR Debug Analysis with Message Analyzer – Part 4, DFSR Debug Log Headers

This post continues the series that started here. So far in this series I’ve discussed the creation...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 09/07/2015

DFSR Debug Analysis with Message Analyzer – Part 3, DFSR Debug Log Analysis Grid Layout

This post continues the series that started here. Last post concluded showing fields that had been...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 09/03/2015

DFSR Debug Analysis with Message Analyzer – Part 2, Timestamps and Simple DFSR Debug Log Messages

This post continues the series that started here. Last post, I started discussing my journey in...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 09/02/2015

DFSR Debug Analysis with Message Analyzer – Part 1, Introduction

A little while ago I decided to spend some time learning Message Analyzer and to form an...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 08/31/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 22, Blog Post Series Wrap Up

This post concludes the series that started here. Over the past few weeks I’ve presented a “lite”...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 08/11/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 21, Infrastructure and Settings – Network

This post continues the series that started here. Earlier in this post series, I’ve discussed the...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 08/10/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 20, Infrastructure and Settings – User Data

This post continues the series that started here. Just a short post today, due to the brevity of...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 08/09/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 19, Infrastructure and Settings – User Profiles

This post continues the series that started here. Today I want to discuss the impact of user...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 08/06/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 18, Infrastructure and Settings – Group Policy

This post continues the series that started here. Going forward from this post until the end of the...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 08/05/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 17, Wait Analysis – More Challenging Example

This post continues the series that started here. In my last post I introduced Wait Analysis,...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 08/04/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 16, Wait Analysis

This post continues the series that started here. From Part 6 to Part 15 of this post series, I’ve...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 08/03/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 15, Boot Phase – Post Boot

This post continues the series that started here. Today I’ll be covering the last of our boot and...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/30/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 14, Boot Phase – Explorer Initialization

This post continues the series that started here. In the last post, I mentioned that the Winlogon...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/29/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 13, Boot Phase – Winlogon

This post continues the series that started here. Today I’ll be discussing the Winlogon phase. A lot...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/28/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 12, Boot Phase – Session Initialization

This post continues the series that started here. In my last post, I mentioned that Kernel...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/27/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 11, Boot Phase – OS Loader and Kernel Initialization

This post continues the series that started here. Last time, I began a breakdown of each boot phase....

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/26/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 10, Boot Phase – POST

This post continues the series that started here. My last five posts have been setting you up for...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/23/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 9, CPU and Disk Utilization

This post continues the series that started here. In Part 6 of this series, I proposed a boot and...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/22/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 8, Code Integrity Checking

This post continues the series that started here. Today I’m going to discuss another activity...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/21/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 7, ReadyBoot Analysis

This post continues the series that started here. In my last post, I proposed that the...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/20/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 6, Boot and Logon Overview

This post continues the series that started here. Before I discuss boot and logon analysis in any...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/19/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 5, Windows Performance Analyzer - A Tour

This post continues the series that started here. Up to this point, I’ve discussed a process...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/19/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 3, Trace Capture and Benchmarking

This post continues the series that started here. In the previous post I discussed instrumentation...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/15/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 2, Tools and Instrumentation

This post continues the series that started here. The process that I’m going to describe in the...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/15/2015

Windows Enterprise Client Boot and Logon Optimization – Part 1, Introduction

This is the first in a series of blog posts I'll be writing that discuss the optimization of...

Author: Mark Renoden Date: 07/14/2015

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