02/01/2002
February 2002 - Serving Up the Enterprise
Special report on the latest .NET server products. Plus: IIS monitoring tools; Application Center exam reviewed; securing remote access with WMI; a developer's look at .NET.
In-Depth
Microsoft’s been releasing new server products at a dizzying rate for the past year. Confused by all the choices? Let us add some clarity to your search.
Strengthen your infrastructure for serious IIS use with these monitoring and analysis tools.
Although Mobile Information Server works well, it’s too hobbled by limited interoperability with other Non-WAP devices and application support.
BizTalk Server 2000 gets closer to B2B application integration.
Application Center 2000 isn’t the best known of Microsoft’s .NET servers, but if you run a Web or server farm, it can be indispensable.
Content Management Server 2001 provides a structured approach to managing
Internet and intranet site content.
Once you get past the onerous installation requirements, Commerce Server 2000 can help make you a player in the e-business game.
The Microsoft Answer for finding a needle in a haystack.
Salary Surveys
MCP Magazine's writers and editors turn their attention to solving your problems -- technical and professional.
U.S. pricing for Microsoft exams through Prometric and VUE testing centers has increased 25 percent, to $125.
Book Reviews
A great reference for the experienced admin—a must read for the new Windows 2000 admin.
A valuable reference with a bit too much filler.
"Using SQL Variants" doesn't mean what you might think.
Follows the 70-210 exam objectives, but we've seen better guides out there.
Good case studies, technical errors might mean you'll need an extra day.
Product Reviews
WebTrends can deliver information that you didn't even know you were
collecting.
Keeping track of changes to Web sites can be of a great importance, a good reason to put SiteRecorder to work for you.
Software testing made easy and inexpensive.
WCAT can answer that question.
A snazzy tool for making wholesale textual changes to a group of files.
IP controls that you can drop into your projects.
IISTracer helps spot questionable activity fast.
Protect Your Web site from defacement.
Need Pocket Access? Here's an interim solution.
FatPipe is the easy way to add bandwidth, without complexity.
Crunch numbers like a statistics expert.
Prism Deploy can fill the gaps in your deployment solution.
System Guardian provides real-time data security.
eMon helps with the daily chores.
Call Me Certifiable
Remember the wave of dot-bomb failures? You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Certified Mail
Security risks, the "right" security policy, and certification as a foot in the career door.
Drill Down
Two books from Coriolis help prep you for the same ISA Server exam. Question: Why did they do it that way?
Editor's Desk
Changes are afoot to make Active Directory more flexible.
Mr. Script
After this last lesson—which looks at the flexibility of Runtime tags—you’ll be ready to bravely face bold, new scripts.
Professionally Speaking
This month, Greg and Steve discuss the pros and cons of taking a leadership role on your company’s next project.
Security Advisor
Writing scripts for remote computer management can save man-hours and shoe leather. But like any part of Windows, it has to be properly secured, or you risk opening up your network to the bad guys.
SQL Insider
Try this trick to give user the permission they need to update SQL Server records via Microsoft Access.
Windows Insider
Knowing how NTFS passes down file access attributes would have helped one systems administrator avoid exile to the basement. It could do the same for you.
News
Out of 1,139 votes, 61 percent of respondents who had migrated to Win2K had moved to Active Directory.
If you’re part of a training center that offers on-site testing, MCP Magazine invites you to take part in a research project to evaluate pass/fail rates for exams.
Microsoft's emphasis on trustworthy computing doesn’t mean its certification group will be adding a security-specific credential in the near future.
Windows NT, one of the most important products in Microsoft’s 25-year history, will be officially laid to rest July 1, 2003.
Microsoft is on schedule to release its Windows .NET exams at about the same time the products themselves are released-whenever that is.
At the VSLive Conference in San Francisco, Microsoft has released official details on its long-awaited certifications.
Beta version of an admin pack lets IT administrators manage Windows 2000 Server, .NET Servers from XP.
Microsoft no longer offers the Authorized Academic Training Provider (AATP) program as of this year; company replaces it with the Microsoft IT Academy.
Redmond may introduce more "composite" tests in future, says Microsoft's certification group.