Web/Tech | Todd's Blog

TechDays Canada 2009

posted on October 1, 2009

TechDays is now in full swing. Vancouver and Toronto have both been completed and have gone well. The remaining cities are coming along in November and December.

I will be presenting three sessions in Ottawa this year. Two sessions are part of the Windows Client track on Day 1 and one is in the Servers, Security and Management track on Day 2.

Windows Client Track

Session 1: Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010: The Next Generation
Windows 7 is finally out and the wait to deploy is over. Now what? How do you get Windows installed on 10 or 100 or 1000 desktops with all the drivers and applications required? Attend this session and get ahead of the curve and be prepared to walk through installation, image creation, and deployment scenarios.

Session 2: A Geek’s Guide to Windows User State Migration Tool 4.0
Maintaining user profiles and data is critical to a successful deployment of Windows. This session shows how Windows User State Migration Tool (USMT) 4.0 can be used as an integral part of a fully automated deployment environment. The session covers advanced techniques for migrating user files and settings, including modifying and troubleshooting user state migration.

Servers, Security and Management

Session 4: Best Practices in Architecting and Implementing Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)
You’re using WSUS, but are you using it to its fullest extent? In this tips and tricks session, learn the best ways to architect and implement WSUS for the improved security of your organization. Learn the best ways to manage your updates on both servers and clients for high-reliability application. Plus, learn a few tricks to speed up the update installation process, as well as ways to enforce that updates are installed to computers in your environment.

Be sure to sign up and come out to the TechDays event in your area. I think you will find the information being presented useful, and you will be able to take what you have learned at TechDays and use it back in your own environment.

Computer Naming Conventions

posted on February 2, 2009

I am just browsing Slashdot this evening and I see a interesting article on naming conventions. http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/02/2228254

I always find it interesting how people name machines. Some people name their servers based on a theme like cartoon characters or vehicles, ie, Homer, Bart, Maggie, etc. Others will use a scientific approach, like S-NX-MX-01 where the letters will represent type, location, role, and seniority number. I think a case can be made for using both types of naming conventions. Cartoon characters names can be redirected using a CNAME DNS entry so www points to homer or SQL points to Maggie and it gives some freedom to the naming. People also tell me they will use different themes based on location. For example, one lab might be Simpsons, another Star Wars. Draw backs to the arbitrary naming convention is you can’t look at a server and know where it is and what is does. That being said, if using the scientific approach and a machine is moved or re-purposed, you then have to rename for it to make sense. Nothing worst then a machine being moved but not renamed, and then going to look for it.

Myself, I use a little of both types of naming. My workstations are named pretty scientific, they are matched up to a map that sits at the circ desk so patron computer number 12 is named, patron12. My servers are also scientific, but my test lab has all cartoon character names.

No matter what you choose as a naming convention for your machines, the thing is, make it easy to remember for you and document for the next person, in case you win the lottery.

Google Search is Broken

posted on January 31, 2009

I was searching this morning when I started to notice warnings that the site I am being directed to might contain malware. I did a news search and sure enough, I am seeing results in thailand and on a site called Neowin reporting the same thing. Here is a screenshot of what I am seeing searching site:google.com. Notice how their entire site might harm your computer.

This is definitely embarrassing for Google. People can’t use their product, it will drive people to alternative search engines, at least while it is broken. I imagine it will be fixed sometime today but it the meantime, you can use the old standby’s of www.live.com, www.yahoo.com, or www.altavista.com.

Edit: Fixed now at 10:29am EST

Technorati Tags: Google,Search,Malware