If you're chomping at the bit to deploy Windows Server 2008 on your network, you're astoundingly brave. You're also going to have to be a little bit patient, because Microsoft has just bumped back the rollout by as much as a few months.
Currently in Beta 3, Windows Server '08 will feature a strong emphasis on virtualization, allowing admins to more easily install and manage virtual machines across business networks. Improved server-side virtualization will offer tremendous cost savings, as well as simplified user support, for large enterprises, while creating new opportunities and more versatile deployment scenarios for smaller networks. The ability to run multiple OSes -- from Linux to Unix to any flavor of Windows -- virtually from the server room saves the time and expense associated with administrating massive farms of servers and client PCs.
While Server '08 itself has been delayed, the launch event is still slated for February 27, 2008, in Los Angeles. The event will also highlight SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008.
If you've been waiting patiently for the first service pack to arrive before upgrading your network's PCs to Windows Vista, your wait may soon be over. According to Nick White of the Windows Vista Team Blog, a beta version of Service Pack 1 will be rolling out on a limited basis in the next few weeks. As is customary with OS betas, the initial rollout will be followed by a still-limited release to users on the Microsoft Developer Network and TechNet before the final Service Pack 1 is released for general consumption around January.
Service Pack 1 will include a wide variety of bug fixes, interface tweaks, device drivers, and functionality adds for Windows Vista. Some of these fixes have long since been rolled out via Microsoft Update, while others -- including support for some emerging hardware and software standards -- will be entirely new.
Among the specific improvements promised in SP1 are better support for communication between Windows Security Center and third-party security apps from companies such as Computer Associates, McAfee, and Symantec. We'll also see performance enhancements that will speed up the launching of files and reduce CPU usage by Internet Explorer. Most notable to IT admins, however, will be a variety of tweaks to improve reliability on business networks, as well as enhanced network diagnostics. You'll also get improved BitLocker functionality, which will include the ability to encrypt additional local drives, rather than only drive C.
Whether SP1 will actually bring enough improvements to make upgrading from XP a compelling choice for the average business network really remains to be seen. But the laundry list of fixes and enhancements described in the white paper certainly indicate a serious effort from Microsoft.
Your business may still be small, but that doesn?t mean it couldn?t benefit from centralized file storage. In fact, if you?re storing all your business data on separate PCs, you?re just asking for trouble. Network Attached Storage (NAS) gives you the convenience and security of a file server without the complexity and hassle of server management. And Netgear?s new ReadyNAS NV+ gives you all that, plus the ability to share your USB printers over your small business network.
Installing the ReadyNAS is as easy as connecting its Ethernet port to your router and running its simple setup wizard. Then you can access it over your network from any Windows, Mac, or Linux PC. If you have multiple users, you can easily set up and manage their access privileges and passwords from the ReadyNAS?s browser interface, and set quotas to limit the amount of space they can consume?which is a great way to avoid turning your file business file server into your employees? personal music server. But if serving up music, photos, and video is what you?re into, you can easily use the ReadyNAS for that, too.
For managing your storage, the ReadyNAS offers automated e-mail alerts, as well as event logs through the browser interface. It also includes support for Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to streamline performance management and troubleshooting.
The $1,200 1TB base model, the ReadyNAS NV+ RND4250, comes with two 500GB hot-swappable drives arranged in a RAID, leaving two empty bays for you to add more SATA drives as your storage needs grow. The NAS includes EMC Retrospect backup software for Windows and Mac, and also easily backs up its own data to an external server or USB drive.
Whether you run a small business or a large server farm, keeping an eye on what your Linux servers are up to can be a constant struggle. But it doesn?t have to be. With a free download, you can get all of your servers in line, easily monitor activity and errors, and quickly troubleshoot websites and file servers.
Small businesses often lack experienced Linux admins, and experienced enterprise are often too busy to rely on manual commands like grep to check server stats. Splunk lets you access all the data for all your servers through a single Ajax-driven Web interface complete with charts and detailed reports. Essentially a search engine for your server, Splunk constantly indexes everything that happens and stores it for your retrieval. Want to check activity on your Web server? Select it from the list and you can browse for 404 errors or other activity. Save frequent searches for use again later. To simplify Splunk searches, you can install a Splunk toolbar in Firefox or Internet Explorer.
The free version of Splunk is more than adequate for most small businesses with just one or two servers, although businesses with a large number of servers will need the enterprise version (starting at $5,000), which comes with support and handles a large volume of data. To get started, simply download the right version for your server (install packages are available for Linux, Solaris, MacOS X, and FreeBSD) and run the installer script as root. You?ll need to install Splunk on each host you plan to monitor. Then simply generate your license, install the Splunk Toolbar in the browser you plan to monitor from, and you?re on your way to simpler server management.
