DNS Expertise at Your Fingertips

DNS Expert Active Directory scores big with the complex, falls short with the simple. 08/01/2002

Vol 1-10: Small Business Best Practices newsletter

Small Business Server 2000 Service Pack 1 Ships; Channel Rebate Update; more... 08/01/2002

Thwarting Hackers

SecureIIS provides a solid brick in your defensive wall 08/01/2002

Under the Hood of Advanced Server Limited Edition

ENT contributing editor Stephen Swoyer drills into the specifics of the 1.2 release of Microsoft's Windows 2000 Advanced Server Limited Edition 1.2. ASLE 1.2 is the version of Microsoft's 64-bit operating system tuned for Intel's new Itanium 2 processor. 08/01/2002

Income Conundrum

Sometimes you really have to ponder the meaning behind the numbers. 08/01/2002

Doing a Server Double-Take

Despite its lackluster support, Double-Take may be the safety net you need. 08/01/2002

Threats from the Trenches

You're no security expert, but you should keep an eye on your perimeter network. Implementing intrusion detection and antivirus measures can help. 08/01/2002

.NET Passport Coming to MCP Secure Site

Later this month, Microsoft will begin implementing .NET Passport login for its MCP Secured and MCT Secured sites. 08/01/2002

The Working Person’s Sniffer

What won’t it monitor? 08/01/2002

Robust Security

Easy to use-and effective 08/01/2002

Microsoft Launches Small Business Server 2000 Incentive Program

Company to offer consultants up to $500 back for purchasing, implementing SBS for clients; rebate good until Jan. 31, 2002. 07/31/2002

Windows 2000 SP3 Released to Premier Customers

Microsoft is set to release Service Pack 3 for Windows 2000 on Thursday, company officials said. 07/31/2002

Data Center in a Package: Just Add Money

Microsoft and a host of hardware and services vendors want to help you get your Internet Data Center, based on Microsoft software, up and running quickly. To that end, more than a dozen vendors are working on prescriptive architecture guides (PAG) under a full-featured program called the Microsoft Systems Architecture (MSA) program. 07/31/2002

Microsoft: MAPI Has a Future in Exchange and Outlook

An ISV who relies on Microsoft's proprietary API for Exchange got nervous about its future when Microsoft started talking about its forthcoming "Titanium" and "Kodiak" releases. Microsoft says MAPI is alive and well. 07/30/2002

Windows CE .NET 4.1 Available

Microsoft on Tuesday made available an interim release of its Windows CE .NET operating system for mobile and small-footprint devices that adds IPv6 support, new file viewers and a Speech API. 07/30/2002

IBM Opens Windows .NET, Xeon MP High-End Benchmarking with a Roar

Leveraging Windows .NET Datacenter Server beta code and Intel's new Xeon MP chips, IBM used the Transaction Processing Performance Council's OLTP benchmark to demonstrate impressive performance on its funky new eight-processor servers. 07/30/2002

Systems Administrators: 'Thanks!'

Showing appreciation to systems administrators worldwide on July 26 for their relentless, hard work year-round. 07/26/2002

Microsoft Puts Out 5 Security Bulletins Overnight

Microsoft issued five security bulletins on Wednesday night, including one bulletin and patch addressing three critical vulnerabilities in SQL Server 2000. Two of the bulletins dealt with SQL Server 2000, one dealt with Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, another involved Microsoft Metadirectory Services 2.2 and a fifth bulletin was a reissue of an earlier patch for Windows Media Player. 07/25/2002

Company Extends Apache to Support .NET

Covalent Technologies this week released extensions to their Apache Web server product to allow integration with Microsoft's ASP.NET. 07/25/2002

Gates Outlines 3 Waves of Software Coming from Microsoft

Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates spent his day Thursday trying to help the financial community understand the themes behind Microsoft's dozens of planned product releases over the next few years. The "wave" model he came up with may be equally helpful for IT decision makers trying to make sense of how Microsoft's roadmaps fit with their own organizations' plans. 07/25/2002

Exchange 2000 SP3 Posted

Microsoft on Wednesday posted the third Service Pack for Exchange 2000 that includes fixes from an eight-week Trustworthy Computing-related code review. 07/24/2002

Need Help Designing Your Network?

Do you have a problem with your network design? If so, let Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine's experts come to your aid. 07/24/2002

New Security Exam Under Development (Update)

Beta testing for new MCSA/MCSE elective expected in November; plus, certification program unlikely to include lab element in the near future. 07/24/2002

Windows .NET Server RC1 Ready

Release Candidate 1 of Windows .NET Server is finished and Microsoft will distribute the code to anyone who wants to test it, the company said Wednesday. Shipping RC1, which is feature complete, is a major milestone in Microsoft's process for delivering a finished operating system. 07/24/2002

Microsoft Creates .NET Provider for Oracle

Microsoft on Tuesday made one of its occasional noises about integration with a competitor when it trumpeted a new tool for wiring Oracle databases to applications developed in the .NET Framework. 07/23/2002

IBM Unveils Latest DB2

The latest beta of IBM Corp.’s relational database server, DB2, has hit the Web, revealing what will come in the next release. When version 8 is released later this year, it will include new management features and Web services functionality. 07/23/2002

Microsoft, Lotus Claim Victory in IDC Findings

Market research firm IDC released its annual report on messaging and collaboration Tuesday, concluding that the market is growing in number of seats but shrinking in revenues. 07/23/2002

Vol 1-9: Small Business Best Practices

Microsoft Releases 8-hour Small Business Server E-learning course 07/19/2002

Free Windows 2000 Security Configuration Tool Posted

Groups independent of Microsoft have put out a new free tool for securely configuring Windows 2000 desktops. 07/18/2002

Microsoft to Release Q4 Earnings

Microsoft is scheduled to discuss its earnings this evening for the fourth quarter of the 2002 fiscal year and for the entire year, which ended June 30. 07/18/2002

Microsoft Taking Nominations for 64-bit SQL Testers

Simultaneous with the Itanium 2 processor launch last week, Microsoft began taking nominations for the SQL Server 2000 64-bit beta program. 07/18/2002

U.S. IT Workforce Fell 5 Percent in 2001

A survey from the Information Technology Association of America says that the number of employees in the U.S. IT workforce fell by almost 5 percent in 2001. 07/17/2002

Unisys Expands Wintel Mainframe Line

In the wake of Intel's launch of its second-generation 64-bit processors, Unisys this week unveiled its plans for its next generation of Wintel mainframes. Unisys is packaging a new line of its big boxes to make it attractive in more cost-conscious markets. The new servers will roll out over the next few months. 07/17/2002

HP Benchmarks Itanium 2 Servers

Hewlett-Packard racked up some records on standard business benchmarks using its new servers built on the Itanium 2 processor, the Limited Edition of Windows Advanced Server and beta code of 64-bit SQL Server. 07/17/2002

Microsoft: 41 Percent of Exchange Customers on Exchange 2000

Microsoft is finally getting comfortable enough with its Exchange 2000 market adoption to trumpet some numbers. 07/16/2002

SQL Vulnerabilities Disclosed

Microsoft-centric database administrators were greeted last week with a pair of security bulletins about new problems with SQL Server and the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE). 07/15/2002

Exchange 'Titanium' Unveiled

Microsoft for the first time publicly discussed details of the next version of its Exchange messaging and groupware platform, code-named Titanium. Titanium will incorporate new features, but Microsoft officials say it will constitute an “evolutionary” upgrade from Exchange 2000. 07/15/2002

Unhackable: Windows Challenge Network not Penetrated

Windows Security Challenge network 1, hackers 0. 07/12/2002

Microsoft Exec: Trustworthy Computing More than a Slogan

Goal of Trustworthy Computing initiative is "To make computing so safe and reliable that people simply take it for granted, just like...the telephone system, water supply and electric power grid," say 07/12/2002

Windows Security Challenge Network Holding Strong—So Far

When you invite the world to try to hack into your Microsoft network, what's the major security challenge you face? In the case of MCP TechMentor's Windows Security Challenge, it might be the security 07/11/2002

BPI or Simple Integration? The Debate Rages On

Is business process integration worth the trouble? Over the past year, there's been a lot of industry buzz around the topic of business process integration, or – as it’s often referred to in its broader context – business process management. Many EAI vendors have widened their offerings to include BPI functionality. Not to be left out of the action, Microsoft positions its BizTalk Server as a BPI server and modeling environment that employs Web services protocols to link application sets. However, many experts question the value of approaches being undertaken in the name of BPI. 07/11/2002

Boxer 9.0

Web Services: Everyone’s EAI?

Many enterprise developers and IT shops are beginning to build applications around Microsoft's .NET architecture and BizTalk Server, which supports common standards, including XML. Will Web services change the course of Enterprise Application Integration, and even make it more accessible to smaller to mid-size IT shops? The market space could become another example of a familiar tale: An expensive customized approach swamped by a less functional alternative that costs much, much less. 07/10/2002

CodeWarrior Development Tools for Windows Version 8

C# For Developers

SSW Code Auditor 1.22

Microsoft Puts Passel of Exams on Chopping Block

Included on list: 70-098, Windows 98 and exams for Exchange 5.0/5.5. 07/08/2002

Intel Holds Line on Itanium 2 Prices

Pricing for Intel's second generation of 64-bit processors will be fairly similar to the chipmaker's pricing for the first generation. 07/08/2002

Intel Launches Itanium 2

Intel on Monday formally launched the Itanium 2. The much-anticipated processor is the second-generation of Intel's 64-bit processor technology and the one that many industry participants have predicted would mark the entrance of Windows/Intel servers to the 64-bit space that RISC and Unix have occupied for years. 07/08/2002

Microsoft's 64-bit Story Improving

Microsoft officially entered the 64-bit computing fray when it introduced its Windows Advanced Server Limited Edition last year. Microsoft’s 64-bit story has gotten dramatically better in the last 12 months. 07/08/2002