Lion Server doesn’t have an option in the GUI for throttling the maximum number of users that can connect to the server via SMB. Nor does it have said option in the serveradmin interface. If you run the following, you would have previously seen the required setting: serveradmin settings smb The required setting (if controlled via serveradmin) is MaxClients= followed by the number of clients that you want to be the max: serveradmin settings smb:MaxClients=10 This is pretty easy stuff, but I have a point that goes beyond limiting the number of users. Not all of the settings that can be run through serveradmin are actually in the preferences any…
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Backing Up Windows Server 2008 and Active Directory with CrashPlan
I was sitting at the JAMF National User Conference today and I couldn’t help but notice that CrashPlan is a sponsor. It got me to thinking about something someone said last week at the MacTech conference about the fact that CrashPlan was great for clients but that it would need lots of agents for backing up Servers. So at 318, we’ve developed a tool for doing a lot of the service configuration backup in a Mac OS X Server environment, in the form of sabackup and our Open Directory Archiver package. This tends to get most everything we need to backup for the Apple platform. But what about Windows Servers……
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Article in MacTech
For those who don’t yet get a subscription to MacTech Magazine, I’ve been a long time lurker and suggest you do the same. I recently submitted an article to them for the Enterprise Desktop Alliance and it will be in the February issue. There’s also one appearing in the March issue. They’re both fairly long and cover the topic of moving specific services off of Mac OS X Server and onto the Windows platform. I don’t recommend that any organization go out and start ripping out all their Mac OS X Servers because Apple dropped the Xserve. But I am a guy who really likes having a lot of options…
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Exporting Service Settings on Windows Server
The netsh command can be used to manage network interfaces, control routing and one of the lesser-used features that I’ve seen are to import and export service settings with Windows Servers. This can be especially helpful if you need to normalize data for import into another Windows server or to be normalized for use with another server platform. To export your DHCP information, from a command prompt in Windows you would run the netsh command along with the service you are exporting settings for (WINS, DHCP, etc). After the service identifier you would indicate the action being performed (ie – import or export in this context), followed by a file…
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Adding a Role in Windows Server 2008
Installing services in Windows Server has always been a straight forward affair. In Windows Server 2008, much of the role addition is wizardly and provides administrators with a guided setup. To get started, open Server Manager from Start -> Administrative Tools. Then, click on Roles under the appropriate server in the side bar to the left of the screen. Next, click on Add Roles and then after reading the Before You Begin screen, click on the Next button. At the listing of available roles, click on the role you would like to install and highlight the checkbox for the role, clicking on the Next button once all roles that you…
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Windows Server 2008: Expanding a Volume
You may find that a disk in Windows Server simply isn’t big enough for your greedy applications. But never fear, the good folks at Microsoft have given us the ability to expand that volume on the fly, as needed by adding other pools of storage or single disks to it. However, it’s important to keep in mind that if you have a highly available volume (let’s just say a RAID6) and you add a single disk to it then you have just effectively lost the high availability for the data stored on the extended portion of the volume. So make sure that the new storage you are adding matches up…
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Windows Server: Pick What Goes into AD Next
What you would like to see in the next version of Active Directory Users and Computers? This is a great opportunity for you to provide feedback and help ensure that the features you want make it into ADUC’s next version. If you are interested, or know someone who might be interested in participating, and can make it to Microsoft’s main campus in Redmond, Washington for a two-hour study session, e-mail us at itusable@microsoft.com with ADUC in the subject line.
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Windows Server: Who Deleted My Frickin' OU?!?!
Well, we knew it was possible, but we didn’t know anyone would actually do it. Based on the title here, you probably already know that someone deleted a whole OU. Given that about 6-7 people could have done it and none were owning up of course you’re gonna’ get forced to figure out who it was. Well, let’s get started then. First, restore the OU. To do this we’re gonna’ use the ldp.exe utility from the Windows Server 2003 Support Tools. THen we’re going to open it up and click on the Connection menu and connect to your DC (and authenticate as a Domain Admin or above of course).…
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Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition: Cluster Problems
MSDTC failing over repeatedly. Not good. Look in error logs and find this lovely ditty: The cluster resource could not be brought online by the resource monitor. Turns out someone added the resource without assigning a name to a dependent disk. What to do? Open diskmgmt.msc -> right-click unnamed volume -> Assign the follwing Drive Letter -> OK Restart and you should be OK…
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Office Unified Communications Server
Communication is the transfer or collaboration of thoughts, ideas and plans between individuals. It is essential in the organizational success of most businesses to have various easy to use methods of communication. Today’s communication varies from chatting to video teleconferencing. Combining these forms of communication into a simple easy to use interface or tool can drastically increase the flow of collaboration and communication of staff members. Microsoft’s Unified Communication Server and Office Communicator comprise a suite of programs and services that allow businesses to integrate most communication platforms into one centralized management console. Unified Communications takes the functionality of outlook and exchange and combines email with VOIP service, voicemail, chatting,…