TechNet Magazine February 2009 Is Now Available Online

The February 2009 issue of TechNet Magazine is now available online.

Discover how you can use Excel and SharePoint to provide Business Intelligence in your organization, learn about logging and recovery in SQL Server and learn how to maintain a better database, see how you can automate the deployment of virtual systems, and more.   

FEATURE ARTICLES
Microsoft Office: Business Intelligence with SharePoint and Excel
A good business intelligence strategy can both streamline business processes and boost productivity and profit. And rolling out a solution with tools that you already have may be easier than you think. Find out how you can integrate Microsoft Office Excel and Excel Services with SharePoint to create a business intelligence solution.

SQL Server: Understanding Logging and Recovery in SQL Server
Logging and recovery are critical parts of SQL Server, but they are often poorly understood. Paul Randal gives an overview of how the logging and recovery features work in SQL Server and explains the transaction log and recovery models to help you maintain a better database.

Virtualization: Automating Virtual Machine Host Deployment
Hyper-V-based environments are relatively easy to automate, making it a trivial task to deploy and redeploy entire test environments with just a few clicks. Here’s what you need to know to start deploying Hyper-V servers, virtual machines, guest operating systems, and server applications with no need for administrator interaction.

Microsoft Dynamics: Deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
CRM is not just a sales and marketing management tool. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a scalable, enterprise-class system that when appropriately configured and deployed can handle small teams, enterprise-wide solutions and everything in between. Here is a guide to planning the right solution for your environment.

COLUMNS
Toolbox: New Products for IT Pros
Greg Steen discusses using HTTP Debugger Pro to view and analyze HTTP data, using switcher to switch between applications, launching your applications with RocketDock, backing up your databases with SQLsafe, and performing fast recoveries with ReplayRA.

SQL Q&A: Backup Compression, Client Redirection with Mirroring, and More
Should you enable Backup Compression? How can you avoid dropped application connections during a failover? Paul Randal answers these questions and more in the latest installment of SQL Q&A.

Utility Spotlight: Web Page Error Toolkit
Discover how you can use the free Web Page Error Toolkit from Microsoft to replace the generic 404 page with a custom error pages, providing useful details for site visitors who bump into trouble.

Inside SharePoint: Maintaining Security Account Credentials
In the first part of a two-part series on the standard procedures and tools for maintaining SharePoint security accounts, Pav Cherny explores the architectural details and the complicated process of accomplishing password changes.

Windows PowerShell: Best Inventory Tool Ever!
In the past few installments of the Windows PowerShell column, Don Jones has  been demonstrating how to develop a Windows PowerShell-based inventory tool. In this installment, Don brings it all together into a very powerful, full-featured tool, and offers some guidance on customizing the tool for your own needs.

Geek of All Trades: Making Sense of Server Core
In the world of IT publications, the needs of the jack-of-all-trades IT professionals tend to be neglected. Do you work in a small environment where you are responsible for managing everything from network routing to changing toner cartridges? If so, this new column is dedicated to you. In this first installment, Greg Shields discusses using Windows Server 2008 Server Core in a small environment.

Hey, Scripting Guy!: Browsing Active Directory
This installment clears up some confusion over Active Directory Browser, ADSI Scriptomatic, and browsing Active Directory. And in doing so, the Scripting Guy creates a Windows PowerShell script that will allow you to browse the Active Directory schema.

Security Watch: Malware Inspection at the Perimeter
Learn how to use the Malware Inspection feature of the Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway to mitigate threats at your perimeter.

Field Notes: IT’s Punctuated Equilibrium
What does change really mean in the world of IT? Romi Mahajan discusses three theories of change, offering a historical perspective on how IT has evolved and what we can expect to experience in the near future.

Windows Confidential: The Case of the Disappearing Cursor
Have you ever noticed that the cursor blinks when you take a screen capture? Raymond Chen explains why.

ON THE WEB
VIDEO: Windows PowerShell:Best Inventory Tool Ever!  
Don Jones wraps up his series on building a very powerful, full-featured inventory tool. In this streaming video, he demonstrates the final touches you'll need to add.

VIDEO: SQL Server:Understanding Logging and Recovery in SQL Server
Paul Randal demonstrates the importance of managing your transaction log properly in the full recovery model, and he shows you techniques for doing so in SQL Server.