One of my favourite TechNet blogs is by the storage team at Microsoft. A post that’s gone up recently by Ned Pyle grabbed my attention today – Safely Virtualising DFSR. I have a bunch of virtual DFSR hosts in my environment, virtualised across both VMware and Hyper-V. As Ned points out, you can virtualise pretty much everything these days, but multi-master replication technologies require a bit of special attention.

I won’t go into it too much here, as the blog post explains it much better than I could, but the big takeaway is that hypervisor snapshotting your DFSR machines is a big no-no.

If you don’t follow this guidance and attempt to use saved states/snapshots or attempt to restore a virtual machine using a custom host side restore solution, that VM will stop replicating forever. The server logs DFSR events 2212, 2104, 2004, and 2106. DFSR overwrites locally originating changes on a restored server as conflicts from other servers. The restored server and its p ...

There's an awful lot of noise about Windows 8 and RT around right now, and this of course includes the Surface RT. I have been trying to think of a more polarising Windows release, and although a few come close, I think it's out in front. It's not for me to say whether "polarising" is a good thing or not, but one could suspect that Microsoft has aimed for this as a desirable outcome – love it or hate it, almost everyone has an opinion. That can make or break a product – in the "break" department, I could mention Windows Vista. In the "make" side of the equation, perhaps the iPhone or iPad is appropriate – not that I intend to draw comparisons!

Opinions are an important part of selling products. Microsoft certainly want to catch your eye … but is it your initial opinion that matters? Perhaps not. For my money, they want to attract opinion - so people will talk about their products - and change your mind, if needed, by showing you what they can do.

I've been awaiting my Microsoft Surface RT since preorders opened for Australia. It's been interesting ... it's certainly fair to say that Microsoft's online store has some way to go in terms of logistics. I've seen people cancel their preorders because of it ... not to mention the unfortunates whose orders were mistakenly cancelled!

But that's another story. I received mine yesterday afternoon, and have had a fun time playing with it so far. I wanted to drop a quick post about a small change that can be made to improve the overall responsiveness and performance - and probably battery life - of the Surface. I've seen some reviews around indicating the poor performance of the Surface. There aren't any hard and fast tests so far, but I found that while there was certainly some noticeable slowdown in various apps and games, it seemed to even out after a relatively short time.

Being the curious IT guy that I am, I did some poking around. At its heart, the Surface is still a Windows ma ...

Windows was always going to head in the Metro / Modern UI direction. It's been coming for some time. I recall some early noises about this as the Zune evolved, but Wikipedia does a decent job of summarising the early history;

"Early uses of the Metro principles began as early as Microsoft Encarta 95 and MSN 2.0, and later evolved into Windows Media Center and Zune."

It's hardly the first significant change to Microsoft's user interface - think DOS to Windows and Windows 3 to Windows 95,  as obvious examples. Microsoft evidently like to shake things up periodically. This is, though, undeniably a big change.

I have a Zune HD, and I love it (although of late, it's developed some increasingly odd quirks). It's a nice device, with a nice user interface/experience. Something I miss from later iterations of the UI is the idea that you can tap on the top 'heading' to go back a screen. Metro was always going to develop further, but in this early version, there was something simple and e ...

Last week I dragged an old Hewlett Packard netbook out of the cupboard to put it to use as a secondary laptop. It was released in 2009, has a low power single-core Intel Atom processor, 2GB RAM, 160GB drive, no optical drive, and a very low resolution 10” screen.

My first attempt at getting it back into operation was by installing Microsoft Windows 8. Everything installed perfectly, it detected my hardware, and the performance was reasonably acceptable. However none of the new Windows 8 programs would work; the screen was of such a low resolution that I got errors every time I launched a program – email, web browser, weather, maps, everything. Not a good start.

I then tried an operating system called Joli OS from French company Jolicloud. Joli OS is an Ubuntu-based Linux operating system, and was released in version 1.0 back in 2010. The current release, version 1.2, has been around since March 2011. Joli OS is designe ...

Is this your first TechEd? You’re probably wondering what you need to bring, who you should talk to and all that sort of stuff. TechEd is a big conference. It’s a lot of fun, but it can also be quite daunting for the newcomer (I’d know – this is only my second). After a chat with a couple of TechEd veterans, I’ve collated the list below of tips and tricks for attending TechEd.

Bring a laptop that will give you enough battery to get most of the way through the day

TechEd is riddled with power outlets and places to charge your devices. That said, TechEd’s also riddled with geeks who have devices that need charging, so it’s sometimes hard to find a free space. Bring a device that you can rely on for most of the day. I will be bringing my EeePC and iPad for this – between the two of them I can (well and truly) get a day out of them. Also be sure to throw a power board/strip in for use in the hotel – where w ...

Some of our members may have already noticed that the website has had a fairly significant upgrade and refresh. This has been a labour of love over the past few days (along with preparatory work for months beforehand), and we hope you all like it. I do apologise for inadvertently causing an email to be sent to members during the process - it was caused by a migration process. There was a major version upgrade to the site software and some of the modules, so the upgrade was tricky in places, but overall it went quite well.

There are still some kinks to work out, and we're still working through the update of content and functionality .. but the major parts are in place. We'll keep an eye out for any breakage, but please let us know if you see something out of place. There's plenty to be done, but we hope you'll find the site easier to navigate and use.

We'll be making some changes to make it easier to contribute in future. Rather than the current moderation regime, there will be a validation ...

who is AuTechHeads? are you a blogger, a technician, an industry professional?

Do you have things that make you passionate about technology that are outside the norm? 

Why are you here? what could the site do for you?

These are the questions that I have in my head every time I write a blog post. I am here because I love technology. I love printers, scanners, computers, routers, unified communications, network design, helping people with technology, you get the idea.

What the site does for me is help me learn about stuff that normally I would never hear about. I love reading blog posts about real people using technology to help their clients or their companies. I learn from others on this site. The site is a gateway to experiences - your experiences, whether a new technology or old, a new way to approach a problem, using technology, or how you worked out that a specific product that you work with every day can do things that the rest of us never dreamed were possible.

If you blinked and missed it, I had a job. I don't right now, but am hoping to change this pretty soon. The following happened when I did.

I have told a couple of vendors to check out this site, see if they can get interested and perhaps contribute to the content. Out of the blue, recently, one popped up as a review for the products that they sell. It was, essentially, one great big ad.

Angrily, I phoned the local representative and blasted him for getting one of his people to put up a patently obvious marketing piece. He was as angry as I - the particular vendor doesn't engage in that type of marketing as it sullies their image, which is never an ideal thing to promote for a short term exposure, long term condemnation.

The ad originated from a serial blogger overseas, and this is where it got a bit squiffy. (I like that word, even though it isn't real)

The site admin on autechheads had removed the article. no problems with that, the vendor was a bit relieved. We managed to ...

While we have (sadly) had a lower sponsorship response than previous years for various reasons, we have been extremely lucky to retain several key sponsors so far - Thycotic, Storagecraft, and CommsIT!

Thanks to these awesome sponsors, the AuTechHeads Party will once again be held on the Gold Coast this year.  It's our third year, and we've loved bringing it to you every time. Last year, we played host to over 300 people, and a great time was had by all.

Returning this year as major sponsor is Thycotic, who'd like to express their appreciation for their Australian customers with a party, after a great response to a similar idea at Tech.Ed North America.

Naturally you won't need to be a customer of a sponsor in order to come along, but we do plan to issue priority invitations for customers again. Representatives of our ...

Hi,

Now that Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 are out, any company that uses KMS keys needs to add the new ones from Microsoft's Volume Licensing Service Center https://www.microsoft.com/Licensing/servicecenter/Downloads/DownloadsAndKeys.aspx

First, there's a hotfix for your existing KMS server available here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2691586/EN-US

Once you request the hotfix, get the email and download it, and install. The install will require a reboot, so if you've got this on a critical server you're going to have to schedule a reboot.

A few change request forms and approval signatures later, you'll be finally ready to add your shiny new keys in.

Now, here's the installation instructions from the link above:

Installation instructions

If you have a KMS host that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 or Windows 7 SP1, follow these steps to perform an upgrade: Install this update (KB2691586). Restart the computer when you are prompted. ...

Whew.

I have just got a moment to update where I have been, what I have been doing and why I haven't visited for a while. 

Firstly, I have been monitoring discussions here, but have not been in a position to respond. Earlier this year, I changed jobs. I have had 2 retrenchments in the same number of years (isn't the economy strong?) and my new employer has me working from home. This is not my idea of fun. Working from home is great if you are single, or have no kids. If you are married, it probably includes doing stuff around the house as your significant other thinks up ways to make your life hell. As it is, I have an ex-wife who feels that I am a babysitter for my kids on call. This is a big learning curve as that is not the case.

I am (still) working for an iSecurity distributor. I have had a very short time to understand some complex technologies, be in a position to explain them to resellers and yet, every day there is something new released for me to learn about. Many of ...

Update: Unfortunately due to unprecedented demand, Microsoft have reached the capacity for User Group discounts and we are unable to accept any new requests. Early-bird registration is open until July 26 (5PM AEST), and regular registration is open until September 7th. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

It's July again! Which, amongst other things, means it's getting cold. In unrelated news, TechEd Australia is just two very short months away.

As usual, we at AuTechHeads are super excited about this conference and the opportunities it provides for geeks such as us.

We are pleased to be able to offer a substantially discounted ticket to our members on behalf of Microsoft Australia. If you're a member of AuTechHeads, simply register your details in the form (closes August 2) and we will pass your details on to the generous folk at Microsoft.

Once Microsoft receive the minimum number of user group registrations (just thirty - so we're quietly confident) the offe ...

It's been a bit of a dry month for me in blog updates, or any updates really. The past couple of weeks in particular has been occupied by incredibly bad Dell service for my notebook.

So in lieu of inspiration for new content, here are some new reviews.

Civilization V - Gods and Kings

Surprisingly packed expansion. Religion makes a huge difference. Better diplomacy. Makes the game much longer overall. Better than first release.

Minecraft for Xbox

So I caved in to my kids. Not too bad actually. More accessible than PC version.Warning: major time sink.

Dwarf Fortress 0.34.11

The 2012 release keeps getting better. A surprisingly solid bugfix release. Clearing kill orders after completion is a definite win.

I occasionally get new games, and try to review them, but often don't get around to it. With this in mind, I wondered if it was the burden of writing so much about a given game, knowing that people will have their own differing views and opinions. There's also the challenge of knowing when to stop playing and write it - finish the game first, or get some way in and then write about the experience? And since I'm buying the games, I get the joy of reflecting upon the fact that I blew near $100 on a turkey, or that I don't get paid to review games.

So enough with that idea. I figure that most game reviews are far too long, and this kind of annoys me. I figure that if a game really is great, okay, maybe that justifies a long review, but the bulk of games just don't justify it. So I've decided to go with a new game review format, until I change my mind or get bored with the idea. I figure everything I think about a given game should fit into twenty words. Not "or less", and not "give or take a couple". ...

(crosspost from my personal blog http://adamfowlerit.blogspot.com.au)

Hello,

It's been some time since I revisited the need for Windows 2008 R2 SP1 hotfixes. The last list I published was in August 2011 - and it's held up pretty well overall! The original purpose of the list was to provide the essential hotfixes for a System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 or 2010 install on Windows 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1. I've allowed other fixes to appear there - either because I felt they were important to stability or performance, or because they fixed an issue I'd observed. I went into some detail on this in the last post, but I do like to have a bunch of fixes in my kit for both general and more specific purposes.

 This list provides a number of new hotfixes that have appeared since. These additions are constrained almost entirely to issues that can affect DPM and other backups. It's by no means comprehensive, just a useful list of important fixes. As with the previous article, I've coloured the hotfixes most relevant to DPM in red. A number of these hot ...