An IMS Is Born And Happy New Year!

Time to head home to celebrate the New Years!

This is one of the things put together today for a multi virtualized server setup on Hyper-V Server 2008 R2:

The Intel Modular Server (IMS) has three compute modules sporting dual Intel Xeon Processor 5500 series CPUs, 48GB RAM each, the add-in LAN mezzanine card, and 13 146GB 15K 2.5” Seagate SAS drives.

More to come!

Have a Happy New Year all! :)

Thanks for reading.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Asus Eee PC 1000HE WinSat Disk SSD performance

Since we have been on the topic of WinSat performance in the various configurations we have had here in the shop with Intel’s new second generation solid-state drives, we did not test the Netbook that started the whole thing off!

So, here are the results:

C:\>winsat disk
Windows System Assessment Tool
> Running: Feature Enumeration ''
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:07.49
> Running: Storage Assessment '-ran -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:01.03
> Running: Storage Assessment '-scen 2009 -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:01:02.59
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -write -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:13.43
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -seq'
> Run Time 00:00:03.26
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -ran'
> Run Time 00:00:02.67
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 4096'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.05
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 16384'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.03
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read                133.19 MB/s          7.0
> Disk  Random 16.0 Read                    122.65 MB/s          7.3
> Responsiveness: Average IO Rate        2.43 ms/IO          6.7
> Responsiveness: Grouped IOs             13.21 units          6.4
> Responsiveness: Long IOs                   11.57 units          7.3
> Responsiveness: Overall                    152.89 units          6.6
> Responsiveness: PenaltyFactor               0.0
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write                73.57 MB/s          6.1
> Average Read Time with Sequential Writes  1.192 ms       7.5
> Latency: 95th Percentile                     2.361 ms          7.4
> Latency: Maximum                             157.421 ms          7.5
> Average Read Time with Random Writes    1.440 ms       7.9
> Total Run Time 00:01:31.76

The specific Asus Eee PC 1000HE SSD performance variables we look at:

• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read                133.19 MB/s          7.0
• Disk  Random 16.0 Read                    122.65 MB/s          7.3
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write                73.57 MB/s          6.1
• Total Run Time 00:01:31.76

This was the Toshiba Tecra S10’s 160GB Intel SSD’s Winsat performance (previous blog post) the last time we measured it.

Here are the Tecra S10’s single 160GB SSD read/write stats that we retook today:

• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read              215.06 MB/s        7.4
• Disk  Random 16.0 Read                    63.50 MB/s        6.7
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write              87.69 MB/s          6.3
• Total Run Time 00:01:28.20

It looks as though the I/O bottleneck has been dealt a serious blow on both configurations. Though, the S10’s Random Read number does look a little low relative to the Netbook.

The Netbook is running Windows 7 Professional x86 (32bit) with no BitLocker Drive Encryption while the Tecra S10 is running Windows 7 Enterprise x64 (64bit) with BitLocker Drive Encryption enabled.

All in all, bumping out the 160GB 5400RPM SATA drive in the Netbook was a _really good decision_!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Jack of All Trades And Master Of None

That title fit the description of the title that I wore for a good portion of my employed career if it could be called that.

With the discovery of computers and subsequently Microsoft’s Small Business Server Back Office Suite, I began to delve into a product that I actually enjoyed working with.

With the advent of SBS 2003 and the Remote Web Workplace which was SBS’s “killer app”, that interest turned into a passion.

But, passion for something can only get us so far before we hit the wall called “The Piece Of Paper”. ;)

Most of us have hit it in some form of other when looking around for employment or vying to provide a new prospect a network solution.

Something that Vlad said on his blog in this morning’s post about 2010 is what inspired this particular post:

In 2010, I believe many of the larger MSPs will be taking up smaller MSPs for the benefit of having a seasoned veteran on their staff.

It is an inversion of the MSP pyramid (extremely business savvy personnel at the thin top with a wide base of lower cost technicians and helpdesk staff at the bottom) – changing to a wider assortment of business people on the top with very few or completely nonexistent technical staff (mostly outsourced) on the bottom.

What he says earlier in his post actually ties into a conversation I had with our sales contact at one of our local suppliers this week. That conversation centred around the fact that he was seeing the Jack of All Trades and Master of None (JoAT)  type IT providers disappear.

Essentially, both MSPs and business owners have learned that the JoAT has nothing more to offer them than a basic solution with no real _long term_ value.

The current economy has been one of the most significant catalysts of change that we have seen . . . probably in most of our lifetimes.

As a result of those changes, those of us that are relentless in our pursuit of mastering a product, group of products, and/or services will be the ones sitting on top in 2012 as Vlad predicts.

It is important to note that certification, the piece of paper, in most cases does not stand up on its own anymore. Most employers and business prospects have grown quite keen about figuring out who really has the technical savvy to back that piece of paper up.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel Desktop Board DQ45EK – BIOS Recovery No OS Load On BIOS 111

We have a new Mini-ITX Intel Desktop Board DQ45EK based desktop that needs to go out to a client site this week.

For some odd reason the Windows 7 Enterprise x64 OS will not load properly while the two 2GB Kingston RAM sticks are installed for a total of 4GB.

So, we changed out the RAM one at a time and then both sticks. Sill no joy. The system seemingly ran slower than a 386 running Windows 95!

We changed out the desktop board and still had the same behaviour. Today, we picked up some Crucial RAM to replace the Kingston RAM to see if perhaps that there was a new unknown problem with the Kingston products. Again, no joy.

Now, we have _a lot_ of systems out there with this configuration, so this is very puzzling indeed.

The only other possibility that could be causing the problem is the BIOS update we did to production 111.

So, we went to back the BIOS off to production 109 and the update choked.

To recover a desktop BIOS, we needed to follow the instructions on Intel’s Web site:

• Intel Support: Desktop Boards: Instructions for Recovery BIOS update.

We used the production 109 BIOS version as the basis for recovery.

1. Unplug the system.
2. Pull the recovery jumper off by the CPU.
• Note the original position of the jumper.
3. Copy the needed CB0xxx.BIO onto a USB flash drive.
• The file needs to be in the root of the drive.
4. Plug the system in and power it up.
5. BIOS recovery will run.
6. Once complete, power down and pull the plug.
7. Replace the jumper onto pins 1-2.
8. Plug in and power up the system.
• Make sure to verify the BIOS settings for things like RAID or AHCI and others before booting the system.

Once the recovery finished, we jumped into the BIOS to set up the needed settings and Windows 7 booted as expected.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel 14.8.x LAN ProSet Update To 14.8.3 Caveat

The most recent update to the Intel ProSet driver and NIC performance and teaming management software requires that the previous version be uninstalled _prior_ to installing this most recent version.

This means that any server with the earlier 14.8.x drivers installed will require either an on-site visit or the use of an Out-of-Band remote management capability such as Intel’s RMM2/3 or Dell’s DRAC to accomplish the update.

Note that the removal of the drivers may require a reboot with _no_ NICs installed so expect a lengthy reboot for either version of SBS.

Also make sure to check that the IPv4 settings are correct and either run the CEICW on SBS 2003 or the Fix My Network wizard on SBS 2008 to make sure nothing is broken underneath once the new drivers are in place.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays!

Have a safe and wonderful Christmas, a happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays!

We start a large client physical to virtual migration on Saturday. The virtual environment will be running Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 clustered on an Intel Modular Server.  It will be running for the next couple of weeks, so posting may be a bit sporadic.

Enjoy and hug the ones you love! :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

160GB Pair of Intel G2 SSD’s RAID 1 and RAID 0 Performance On A W5590 Xeon Workstation

While putting together the trading station for our client, we did some bench testing of the Intel solid-state drives in two RAID array configurations.

The system configuration:

• Intel S5520SC Workstation Board
• BIOS 42, BMC 0.45, FRU/SDR 21
• Intel W5590 Xeon Processor (second is going into an identical setup)
• 12GB Kingston KVR1333 ECC Registered RAM
• 160GB Intel SSD -G2R5 Code pair of drives
• On Board Chipset LSI based RAID
• Intel SC5650WS Workstation Chassis with 1,000Watt PSU
• PNY nVidia Quadro NVS 450 PCI-E x16 (4 monitors)
• ATI FirePro 2450 PCI-E x16 (4 monitors)
• Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Edition

The Intel SSDs are using the factory default firmware and no trim tools have been installed. The RAID Web Console 2 was installed but the SSD trim tools built into it were not enabled either for both tests.

Here is the WinSat output for the RAID 1 configuration:

C:\Windows\system32>winsat disk
Windows System Assessment Tool
> Running: Feature Enumeration ''
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:03.71
> Running: Storage Assessment '-ran -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:00.31
> Running: Storage Assessment '-scen 2009 -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:55.51
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -write -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:07.55
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -seq'
> Run Time 00:00:01.42
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -ran'
> Run Time 00:00:01.37
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 4096'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 16384'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read               504.89 MB/s         7.9
> Disk  Random 16.0 Read                  242.46 MB/s         7.9
> Responsiveness: Average IO Rate     1.52 ms/IO          7.5
> Responsiveness: Grouped IOs          11.60 units          6.9
> Responsiveness: Long IOs                 3.62 units          7.8
> Responsiveness: Overall                  42.01 units          7.2
> Responsiveness: PenaltyFactor              0.0
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write             97.07 MB/s          6.5
> Average Read Time with Sequential Writes 0.997 ms     7.6
> Latency: 95th Percentile                     1.791 ms          7.8
> Latency: Maximum                             5.227 ms          7.9
> Average Read Time with Random Writes   0.879 ms          7.9
> Total Run Time 00:01:10.57

And here is the raw output for the RAID 0 configuration:

C:\Windows\system32>winsat disk
Windows System Assessment Tool
> Running: Feature Enumeration ''
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:04.13
> Running: Storage Assessment '-ran -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:00.26
> Running: Storage Assessment '-scen 2009 -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:51.11
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -write -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:04.30
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -seq'
> Run Time 00:00:01.11
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -ran'
> Run Time 00:00:01.09
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 4096'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 16384'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.02
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read           537.33 MB/s          7.9
> Disk  Random 16.0 Read              375.88 MB/s          7.9
> Responsiveness: Average IO Rate        0.76 ms/IO          7.9
> Responsiveness: Grouped IOs             8.99 units          7.3
> Responsiveness: Long IOs                     1.69 units          7.9
> Responsiveness: Overall                      15.21 units          7.9
> Responsiveness: PenaltyFactor                0.0
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write             197.47 MB/s          7.3
> Average Read Time with Sequential Writes    0.947 ms     7.7
> Latency: 95th Percentile                     1.719 ms          7.9
> Latency: Maximum                             5.686 ms          7.9
> Average Read Time with Random Writes   0.952 ms          7.9
> Total Run Time 00:01:02.78

Taking the above statistics we get:

• RAID 1 configuration:
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read        504.89 MB/s         7.9
• Disk  Random 16.0 Read           242.46 MB/s         7.9
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write         97.07 MB/s          6.5
• Total Run Time 00:01:10.57
• RAID 0 configuration:
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read         537.33 MB/s          7.9
• Disk  Random 16.0 Read            375.88 MB/s          7.9
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write        197.47 MB/s          7.3
• Total Run Time 00:01:02.78

It is pretty clear that having the SSDs in a RAID 0 or RAID 10 configuration will provide a significant performance advantage in real world usage.

The write speed more than doubled when the drives were striped and took a huge step for the random read tests as well.

So, what do the numbers translate to? They translate to extremely fast OS loads, application loads, RAM cache like behaviour for any swap file activity, and an all around great user computing experience.

For anyone that generates revenue on system setups and the speed that they accomplish their computing tasks, this is one rig to consider.

By the way, the peak power consumed by the box was 195Watts under load. The average power usage while running its various tasks was 110-120Watts as measured by the APC BR1500LCD UPS. Only the workstation was connected to the UPS.

When the components for the second workstation arrive, we will run the same tests but with an add-in RAID controller to see if that further improves disk I/O performance.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

What the Chicken?!?

We have all been there.

A simple process has turned into an arduous journey of pain. Nothing was seemingly going right anywhere and we were a hair’s breath away from losing the entire box.

A Line of Business (LoB) application is an ongoing pain with nothing going right after an update and ten pairs of eyes burning holes in the back because they can not work while we try and bring things back up again.

The CEO’s Blackberry has taken a holiday . . . when they don’t want it to . . . which is never!

And so on and so forth.

Now, for some of us being in situations like this can lead to highly elevated stress and frustration levels. And, once those levels get to a certain point we need to place a clamp on our mouth so as to not let any expletives to slip by.

Many years back one of my co-workers used to say, “What the chicken?” when things were not going right. I liked that so much I adopted it. Our clients get a kick out of it too.

If things get really stressful then the expressions will get a bit more colourful all the while maintaining non-expletive words and usually referencing certain foods or processed foods.

Why is this important?

Imagine losing a key client because after eight hours of fighting with a LoB someone took offense to an exasperated:

“This thing is about as useful as teats on a bull!”

Of course we are _imagining_ that right? ;)

In my case keeping track of what passes across my tongue is all the more important as I spent many years working in automotive shops, on rail crews, and subcontracting on construction sites. It’s not like the language used on the various job sites would charm Emily Post (Wikipedia). :)

Maintaining our composure under a lot of stress keeps our professionalism intact. It lets our client know that we are confident and assured and have the situation under control.

Maintaining that composure is even more important when things really go sideways like a building burning down or a catastrophic failure of a server. Basically any situation where we are required to assess, structure, and proceed through a highly volatile situation to a positive conclusion.

Oh, and do pick up a copy of Emily Post’s book on Etiquette. Since we are required to interact with our clients in so many ways and on so many levels, having a good grasp of how to behave, that is having good manners, in those various situations will go a long way towards maintaining our professionalism too.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Repair IE – Utility to Re-Register _89_ DLL and OCX Files After Malware or Corruption

This kewl little utility will re-register all of those DLL and OCX files that may have been tampered with or knocked out by Malware:

• TechNibble.com: Fix IE Utility – Repair Tool of the Week

The actual tool site:

• The Windows Club: Repair Internet Explorer with Fix IE Utility

This is one little utility to keep handy on the Technician’s Thumb Drive (blog category link).

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel 160GB SSD Performance In the Tecra S10 Versus RAID 0 2x 80GB SSDs on DX38BT

The following is the output of the WinSat disk test on the Windows 7 Enterprise x64 Toshiba Tecra S10 with an Intel 160GB SSD installed:

C:\Windows\system32>winsat disk
Windows System Assessment Tool
> Running: Feature Enumeration ''
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:04.79
> Running: Storage Assessment '-ran -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:00.87
> Running: Storage Assessment '-scen 2009 -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:01:03.66
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -write -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:09.03
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -seq'
> Run Time 00:00:03.85
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -ran'
> Run Time 00:00:02.45
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 4096'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.01
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 16384'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.02
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read             203.74 MB/s          7.3
> Disk  Random 16.0 Read                    39.33 MB/s          6.3
> Responsiveness: Average IO Rate       0.88 ms/IO          7.9
> Responsiveness: Grouped IOs             10.02 units          7.2
> Responsiveness: Long IOs                     7.13 units          7.6
> Responsiveness: Overall                      71.52 units          6.9
> Responsiveness: PenaltyFactor                0.0
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write              88.15 MB/s          6.3
> Average Read Time with Sequential Writes  1.143 ms     7.5
> Latency: 95th Percentile                     2.246 ms          7.5
> Latency: Maximum                             207.342 ms          7.3
> Average Read Time with Random Writes   1.048 ms         7.9
> Total Run Time 00:01:25.32

It is important to note that the above stats are on a _laptop_!

Now, let’s have a look at what two 80GB SSDs in a RAID 0 configuration via the onboard Intel DX38BT (Intel product site) chipset RAID gives us with Windows 7 Enterprise x64:

C:\Windows\system32>winsat disk
Windows System Assessment Tool
> Running: Feature Enumeration ''
> Run Time 00:00:00.00
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:05.36
> Running: Storage Assessment '-ran -read -n 0'
> Run Time 00:00:00.59
> Running: Storage Assessment '-scen 2009 -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:56.94
> Running: Storage Assessment '-seq -write -drive C:'
> Run Time 00:00:06.47
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -seq'
> Run Time 00:00:02.16
> Running: Storage Assessment '-flush -drive C: -ran'
> Run Time 00:00:01.69
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 4096'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.02
> Running: Storage Assessment '-hybrid -ran -read -n 0 -ransize 16384'
NV Cache not present.
> Run Time 00:00:00.01
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read              461.83 MB/s          7.9
> Disk  Random 16.0 Read                  282.86 MB/s          7.9
> Responsiveness: Average IO Rate        1.41 ms/IO          7.6
> Responsiveness: Grouped IOs              11.15 units          6.9
> Responsiveness: Long IOs                     9.11 units          7.4
> Responsiveness: Overall                    101.50 units          6.8
> Responsiveness: PenaltyFactor                0.0
> Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write               164.71 MB/s          7.2
> Average Read Time with Sequential Writes  0.721 ms       7.8
> Latency: 95th Percentile                     1.960 ms          7.7
> Latency: Maximum                             147.954 ms          7.5
> Average Read Time with Random Writes  0.782 ms          7.9
> Total Run Time 00:01:13.77

Now, given the hardware differences between the two configurations, this is obviously an unfair comparison. However, they do provide a good reference point for the solid-state drive’s capabilities.

Here are the Tecra S10’s single 160GB SSD read/write stats:

• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read              203.74 MB/s        7.3
• Disk  Random 16.0 Read                    39.33 MB/s        6.3
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write              88.15 MB/s          6.3

Here is the DX38BT 80GB x2 RAID 0 read/write stats:

• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Read              461.83 MB/s          7.9
• Disk  Random 16.0 Read                  282.86 MB/s          7.9
• Disk  Sequential 64.0 Write              164.71 MB/s          7.2

What do these loosely put together stats that tell us?

That the Intel second generation Solid-State drives are _fast_!

Realistically, the above stats show that the on board RAID has the ability to improve disk I/O quite substantially when the drives are striped together.

The Tecra S10:

• Intel T9600 2.8GHz
• 4GB RAM
• 160GB Intel SSD

The desktop:

• Intel QX9650 Core 2 Quad Extreme
• 4GB KVR1333 series Kingston RAM
• Intel DX38BT BoneTrail
• 80GB Intel SSD x2 RAID 0 via on board chipset

We will test some additional configurations as they pass through our shop.

Given the above stats we may look to start using a pair of 80GB SSDs for our SBS 2008 OS drives to help reduce the OS’s boot times.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

WSUS v3 Build Versions List

The WSUS Console gives us a build version:

• WSUS Server version: 3.2.7600.226

Thus, we needed a quick reference to make sure we have WSUS v3 Service Pack 2 installed for Windows 7 update compatibility.

There does not seem to be one location in English for the build list that we can find.

However, we did find this:

• WSUS.DE FAQ (Check Alle Antworten anzeigen and find)

TechNet does have a detection routine to run on the WSUS server itself:

• TechNet: Appendix G: Detect the Version of WSUS

However, the routine does not give us a quick reference point for version and service pack level that the WSUS.DE site does.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Domain Joined Windows XP Mode VMs And Redirected Folders

We are domain joining close to 100% of our Windows XP Mode installs on Windows 7.

We do that because we can better manage the XP Mode’s security settings and user experience via Group Policy.

Note that the first time the domain user account logs into the XP Mode VM and they have a large redirected folder set, that the first couple of logons may take some time while the redirected content gets cached in the VM:

Now, if there is no need for the user to gain access to their redirected folders in the XP Mode VM then a simple Group Policy setting change to disable Offline Files for the VMs will do the trick.

We place all XP Mode VMs into their own OU, so any custom settings will go into a Group Policy Object that we create and link to that OU.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Server Core – Remotely Managing Storage Like USB HDDs

We have the need to connect an existing USB hard drives containing our SBS 2008 backups to an existing Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 box using the new USB HDD pass through feature.

To do so requires three things to be done. One on the remotely connecting management machine and two on the Hyper-V box itself.

On the management machine:

1. Click Start –> Firewall Advanced [Enter]
• The Windows Firewall with Advanced Security console should come up after a UAC.
2. Click Inbound Rules.
3. Enable the following three rules:
1. Remote Volume Management - Virtual Disk Service (RPC)
2. Remote Volume Management - Virtual Disk Service Loader (RPC)
3. Remote Volume Management (RPC-EPMAP)
4. 
4. Close the Firewall MMC.

On the Server Core box repeat the above but also make sure of the following:

1. The Virtual Disk service is set to Automatic.
• 
2. If the service is not started, start the service.

Once the three steps above have been completed, we are now able to remotely manage the volumes on the Hyper-V box thus enabling us to place those USB HDDs Offline to allow VM access in the Hyper-V Manager:

Thanks to Sander Berkouwer & Joachim Nässlander:

• SlideShare: Server Core Remote Management by Sander Berkouwer & Joachim Nässlander

Slide #9 indicates that _both_ the management and Server Core boxes need the firewall exception which was our initial stumbling point on getting things working.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Project Honey Pot – 1 Billionth Spam Message

Have a moment for a really good read?

Project Honey Pot has had their 1 Billionth Spam Message.

From the above linked blog post:

Every time Project Honey Pot receives a message we estimate that another 125,000 are sent to real victims. Our billionth message represents approximately 125 trillion spam messages that have been sent since Project Honey Pot started in 2004.

At this milestone, we wanted to take a second to report some of our findings. Our goal is not to rehash the same old insights but instead to give a new picture that only looking at five years and a billion data points can produce

Their findings are quite interesting with regards to the sources of spam, harvesting, and more.

It is well worth the read.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

SBS 2008 Backup Recovery To Hyper-V OEM Services Caveat

One of the services we offer to our clients is the rotation of their backup drives along with a quarterly test restore of the full server to Hyper-V or one of our lab servers.

When restoring to Hyper-V, one of the things to watch out for on that first boot post recovery are runaway processes. In most cases those processes will be the server manufacturer’s management software searching for the server hardware.

The above screenshot is the Services.msc console showing the HP services that we needed to set to Manual before rebooting the now recovered SBS 2008 VM.

When the server comes back up after the reboot, the services running on the server will behave as expected . . . hopefully! :)

Depending on the complexity of the SBS 2008 setup, a full restore to production levels should not take more than 4 hours with 2 virtual CPUs, 6GB RAM, and the appropriate storage volume(s) applied.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel Hot Swap 2.5” to 3.5” Adapter Tray Enables Intel SSD Hot Swap RAID – AXX25DRVADPTR

We had a really difficult time getting our hands on these adapters:

The adapter is actually upside down in the above image.

Flipped over, the SATA and power connectors on the 2.5” drive line up perfectly with the hot swap backplane connector to allow for the smaller drive to be used in 3.5” drive hot swap backplanes.

• Intel AXX25DRVADPTR Installation Guide (PDF Download)
• Intel AXX25DRVADPTR Compatible Intel Chassis and System List

With these trays we can look at configuring a RAID 1 array or RAID 10 array of SSDs for I/O intensive needs for things such as OS or Exchange databases.

We can also offer an option to update some of our existing client servers with these trays and a couple of Intel SSDs to speed things up significantly.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

MacBook Pro - Funky TrackPad Behaviour

While working on a BES 4.x install onto an SBS 2003 server, the MacBook Pro was serving as the source for the instructions via Safari: How to install BlackBerry Enterprise Express on a SBS 2003 Premium on the SmallBizServer.net site.

One of the little gizmos that I came back with after shopping around in the Microsoft Company Store was a Plasma Ball (WikiPedia). You know, the one with the little arcs inside of it that will follow the finger when it touches the glass ball.

The kids thing the ball is absolutely _kewl_!

The instruction page was already up, so the MacBook Pro was left alone for a while during the necessary steps on the part of the SmallBizServer.net site that was showing.

After completing those steps, the MacBook Pro's TrackPad was behaving _very_ strange. The mouse pointer would jump about or seemingly right click (CTRL+Click) at will.

It took a few minutes to figure out what was going on because the Tecra S10's touchpad was not affected by the ball at all. One reboot later and the MacBook's TrackPad was still misbehaving.

The realization that happened was the fact that the plasma ball was plugged in after the page was brought up. Sure enough, when the plasma ball was turned off the TrackPad began to behave again.

Now there is a really strange one for the books!

Philip Elder

MPECS Inc.

Microsoft Small Business Specialists

Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Our I.T. Business Climate Today

After scraping off the ice on the back door to see the temperature, this is what I saw:

Yes, that is –31 Degrees Celsius or  -23.8 Degrees Fahrenheit.

We are in the midst of a fairly long running cold snap here in the Greater Edmonton Area.

So, “glass half empty” or, “glass half full”?

While in Redmond, some folks complained about the cold at –3 Degrees Celsius one morning. Meanwhile us Western Canucks, who were used to colder weather, were walking around not so bundled up and smiling.

I personally love the cold. I can bundle up against it. Can’t say the same for the heat! ;)

Now, we can look at the current state of I.T. in the SMB marketplace in the same vein.

Things are _really_ frigid right now. Business owners are holding onto their bucks, waiting for things to look up despite what folks say that “manage” our economies.

On the other side of that coin is the ongoing increase of the Cloud Services momentum into the SMB space which is seemingly putting another cramp on the small I.T. company’s revenue.

So, “glass half empty” or, “glass half full”?

Probably one of the most important things we small I.T. shop owners need to do in the immediate to near future is take stock of our business, the local and Cloud technologies we work with, and how our business will look in 6 months, 12 months, 24 months, and 5 years from now.

For those small I.T. shops that have technicians employed, get them in on the stock assessment too. It is a good thing to have a few more heads involved that are more technically minded. Add sales folks if there are any employed as well to provide feedback and perspective on what is selling and what is not.

Once that stock has been taken, look for opportunities in new local and Cloud based technologies that are coming down the pipe. Build a Business Plan around current and future offerings.

The time to look into where the company will be in the future is now. Otherwise, there is such a thing as Too Late (Vlad’s Thanksgiving post with some Wisdom on making it).

Despite the cold, there really is something positive to be found in the midst of the cold (glass half full! ;) ):

We smile because of the winter beauty that brings squeals of delight to our children when they see the snow! The winter really is beautiful. :)

Thanks for reading!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Microsoft And A Zune HD

The reason for the low posting numbers this last week was due to my being in Redmond at the Microsoft campus with other MVPs for an MVP Deep Dive.

It was fun and amazing to meet all so many Microsoft folks that hail from so many different parts of the world.

As much as the folks on the outside, us, can give Microsoft a hard time for whatever, there is something to be said about a company of Microsoft’s size being able to attract such amazing talent from _everywhere_!

My glimpse into the Microsoft culture while on their main campus in Redmond was a real positive one. Kool-Aid? Maybe, but keep in mind that I have had my fair share of experience working for employers of various sizes and in various industries. And, based on that experience as limited as it is, Microsoft has something really neat going on there.

Okay, so on the way from the hotel in Bellevue to the airport I asked Dennis the Town Car driver if there was a Frys between us and the airport and he said there was one in Renten.

So, we stopped . . . and I picked up a Zune HD (Wikipedia – Official site does not seem to work) along with the in-car charger and broadcast component. Hopefully at some point we here in Canada will see the Zune HD product line released.

Neat! :) 

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Light Blogging Lately

Things have been pretty busy for us lately, so blogging has been, and will be light for this week!

Thanks for reading. :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

A Windows 7 Feature I Like – Windows Explorer Check Boxes

The little things about a product can make or break the way we think about it.

One thing I _really_ like in Windows Explorer is the ability to select items using check boxes:

In previous Windows OSs we needed to hold the CTRL key while clicking to select or deselect any items.

Not anymore. We can fly through the items list not working about clicking on something or hitting the wrong keyboard to wipe out the already selected items.

To enable the feature:

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Tap the ALT key on the keyboard to drop down the menu items if not visible.
3. Click Tools.
4. Click Folder Options.
5. Click the View tab.
6. Scroll down to the Use check boxes to select items and check it.
7. Apply and OK.

While you are at it, uncheck the Hide extensions for known files types. Why this setting is enabled out of the box is unknown, but not being able to work with a file’s extension can be a real pain.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Using the Microsoft Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer

So, when things are seemingly broken with Exchange connectivity from the Internet, where do we turn?

The Microsoft Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer:

• Microsoft Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer

There is, however, a very important security caveat when it comes to some of the connectivity tests:

Do you see it?

Yes, there is a requirement for a domain username and password!

So, when it comes to testing certain types of connectivity to Exchange, we need to set up a temporary username and password and once we are done delete that account.

Other than that _small_ caveat, the tool is very helpful! ;)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

SBS 2003 – Determining ISA 2004 Version And Service Pack Level

We needed to figure out what service pack level one of our ISA 2004 on SBS 2003 installations has:

• ISAServer.org: How to Determine the Correct ISA Server SE Version and Service Pack Information.
• ElMajdal.net: ISA Firewall Quick Tip : How To Determine Which Service Pack is Installed On ISA Server 2004.

This is the grid from the ISAServer.org site:

In our case, our version number is 4.0.2167.907 which indicates that it is Service Pack 3 with at least one update beyond that.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Open Value Windows Desktop OS Software Assurance Benefit – Order That Media?

As part of our Open Value Agreement we get access to most product’s media that we are licensed to whether via download or physical media mailed to us.

We have been so busy that we have not been into our licensing portal for a while:

Under Software Assurance benefits we have the ability to request the physical media which we do for archival purposes.

With the advent of OS loading via USB flash drive though, it is becoming less and less a necessity to order the media . . . other than having it in the software archive for the day we may need it and the ISO would be no longer available for download or on any of our storage systems.

SBS 2003 RTM comes to mind as a product that we no longer have access to via TechNet download or elsewhere, but we run into the need to load up every once in a while for client migration testing or recovery testing.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Hyper-V CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT Error Within 24 Hours On Fresh H-V 2K8 R2

We ran a test on one of our freshly installed Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 servers to see if we ran into this issue.

• Intel Server System SR1630HGP 1U
• Intel Server Board S3420GPLC integrated
• Intel Xeon Processor X3450
• 16GB Kingston ECC
• Intel RS2BL080 6Gbps SAS 2nd Generation PCI-E
• 3x 450GB Seagate 15K RPM SAS in RAID 5
• Intel RAID Smart Battery for the RAID controller

The server has only been up and running about 24 hours. We have been running some stress tests along with some test VM installs and backup restores as Hyper-V guests.

This is the Crash Analyzer Wizard’s results (DaRT MDOP product):

So, after a relatively short period of use the problem has reared its head.

• Our previous post: Hyper-V On Nehalem CPUs Error – CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT Critical Hotfix.

It looks as though the hotfix is an absolute must for any Technician’s Thumb Drive and a required install on any server that will utilize Hyper-V on Intel Xeon Processor 3400 and 5500 series CPUs!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Hyper-V On Nehalem CPUs Error – CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT Critical Hotfix

Via Slashdot:

• Slashdot: Hardware: Microsoft Advice Against Nehalem Xeons Snuffed Out.

The Microsoft Knowledgebase article with the hotfix:

• MS Knowledgebase 975530: Stop error message on an Intel Xeon 5500 series processor-based computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 and that has the Hyper-V role installed: "0x00000101 - CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT"

We are just in the process of implementing Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 on the new Intel Nehalem architecture in both the Intel Xeon Processor 3400 and 5500 series.

So, finding out about this particular problem before the boxes went into production is a good thing.

The update begs the question though, does the hotfix really resolve the conflict with the CPU architecture?

It looks as though we will be doing a bit more testing than we normally do on new platforms to make sure that things do not blow up on us with the new soon to be deployed production Hyper-V boxes.

One of the linked articles from Slashdot is a good read:

• The H: Processor Whispers - About War and Peace

UPDATE: Here it is:

As a test, we did not install the update on a freshly installed Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 box and the above happened about midway through our second VM setup.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Intel RAID Controller RAID Smart Battery Backup Installation Caveat

Most Intel add-in RAID controllers have an option to add a battery backup unit for the onboard cache memory.

When the battery is installed, the RAID on Chip processor has the ability to cache data in memory and work on it on the fly while in cache RAM instead of passing all data plus parity bits through to the disks.

A list of the battery backup units and the RAID controller(s) they are compatible with can be found here:

• Intel Support: RAID controller and Battery Backup Unit compatibility list and product codes

Once the battery backup is installed on the RAID controller or connected to the RAID controller if the battery is remote to it, the actual battery charging process will not run until the server has booted up.

Simply plugging the server in after installing the battery backup will not initiate a charge.

So, for existing servers where the battery backup has been added in, the ability to enable Write Back Mode with BBU Present in the RAID controller’s BIOS will be available, but Write Back Mode will not happen until the battery is charged.

The server will need to be booted up and either idled or tested for at least 24 hours before the battery will be fully charged. Once charged, a reboot will allow the RAID controller to initiate Write Back Mode. Charge status is indicated in the RAID controller’s BIOS information screen during the boot process. It may also be indicated in the RAID Web Console.

For new servers, the point is fairly moot since the battery can charge while the server is being burned in. The final RAID configuration would be set after the burn-in period along with the Write Back Mode setting.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

WSUS – Error 33002 – Access to module dbo.spConfiguration is blocked because the signature is not valid

This one has showed up on a few of our WSUS v3 based SBS 2003 R2 boxes after the last post update reboots. And, there are _lots_ of them:

Event Type:    Error
Event Source:    MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE
Event Category:    (2)
Event ID:    33002
Date:        12/1/2009
Time:        5:40:43 PM
User:        NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
Computer:   SBS
Description:
Access to module dbo.spConfiguration is blocked because the signature is not valid.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Another example of the error:

Event Type:    Error
Event Source:    MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE
Event Category:    (2)
Event ID:    33002
Date:        12/1/2009
Time:        5:40:43 PM
User:        NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
Computer:    SBS
Description:
Access to module dbo.spReturnStateMachineTransitionEventLogEntriesFromError is blocked because the signature is not valid.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

The only thing to come up in our searches to fix the problem were to do the following:

1. Start –> Run –> Services.msc [Enter]
2. Right click and Restart Windows Internal Database.
3. Right click and Restart Update Services.
• 
4. Verify that there are no more errors in the logs.

The solution was found on Experts-Exchange: Event ID: 33002 Access blocked because signature is not valid.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Two Excellent Blacklist Lookup Tools

Here are two excellent online tools for looking up a client’s IP to see whether they have been blacklisted when troubleshooting e-mail flow.

For a complete RBL rundown, this is the one:

• MultiRBL: The complete IP check for sending Mailservers.

Our results from this one:

The APEWS listing is for our ISP. The others are not relevant.

And, one that can be used from the sending mail server itself:

• Multi-RBL Lookup Tool

Note that this second link has a self-issued certificate so a certificate warning will greet you.

The IP address of the Internet gateway will be automatically present in the Multi-RBL Lookup Tool.

Our results from the second tool:

In our case we use ExchangeDefender both for our incoming e-mail and as our SmartHost. So, we do not need to worry too much about being blacklisted because of our ISP or the IP address we have here locally.

The other listings were due to the fact that we have SMTP traffic restricted to ExchangeDefender server IPs only.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

FreeBSD Root Exploit Zero Day

Way back when we worked on a grid project based on what was then a beta version of VIA’s “new” dual processor EPIA DP-310 series Mini-ITX embedded board.

As part of the pilot we put the grid together based on existing EPIA series embedded boards and signed an NDA with VIA to gain access to the then beta DP-310.

The grid OS was going to be FreeBSD.

Our goal was to put together an ultra low power consumption setup that would provide an excellent performance/watt value.

For us, the kybosh on the project ended up being VIA’s decision to kill the DP-310 product line altogether.

As a result, we still keep an eye on anything *BSD though it has been a while since we have loaded up either FreeBSD or OpenBSD due to time constraints.

• The H Security: Root exploit for FreeBSD.

It seems that there is a pretty deadly Zero Day vulnerability in FreeBSD that allows for full root.

Since a significant portion of the Internet’s backend runs on top of FreeBSD, this Zero Day has some pretty significant implications.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Windows 7 – Connecting To A Legacy HP LaserJet 5Si

We have this old workhorse of a printer that we received way back when from a new at that time client. It had not been “working” for a while. They wanted a new printer which we ended up selling to them.

After tinkering with the printer it turned out to be the no-name refill toners they were using that was causing the problems.

When we installed an HP genuine toner and ran a number of cleaning pages through the print quality became quite reasonable.

A new fuser, 128MB in 16bit 32MB DIMMS, and a duplex unit courtesy of eBay brought the printer up to where we could use it for a lot of our bulk printing needs.

Now that our office systems are on Windows 7, there was no time since the upgrade to get the LaserJet 5Si connected to them since the OS does not have a built-in driver for it.

To boot, the product page for the LaserJet 5Si has no information on Windows 7 driver compatibility.

Jump up a few generations in the product line to the LaserJet 8150 product page and we see a different story:

The links to the Universal Print Driver are provided.

Here is what we need to do:

1. Download and save the HP LaserJet Universal Print Driver (HP Support Search)
2. Double click on the downloaded file.
3. Uncheck the When done unzipping open: .\Install.exe.
• 
4. Choose a directory to unzip to.
5. Click the Unzip button.
6. Click Start –> Printers [Enter].
7. Right click and Add Printer.
8. Our LJ 5Si is network connected, so we are using the Add a local printer option.
9. Create a new Standard TCP/IP Port and Next.
10. Type the IP address of the printer 192.168.40.5 (your printer’s IP) and click Next.
11. At the Install the printer driver window click the Have Disk button and navigate to the unzipped HP Universal Print Driver folder.
• 
12. Choose the PCL version and click Next.
13. Name the printer and click Next.
14. Choose to share or not.
15. Set as Default, or not, and click Finish.
• A test page will confirm that everything is working as expected.

Now, once the printer has been installed, we need to make sure that the printer’s installed options are showing up as expected. Otherwise, we will not be able to duplex or pick up paper from an add-on paper tray.

1. Right click on the printer’s icon and click on Printer Properties.
2. Choose the Device Settings tab.
3. Verify that the correct options and paper types are set.

We have all of our printers in our workstations set to duplex by default to save on paper. To do that, after checking the printer options we click on the General tab and click on the Preferences button. There we will find the Print on both sides option to check.

We now have our old workhorse printer connected to our Windows 7 workstations.

BTW, this printer is still quite young at 267,691 pages printed since day 1 and actually somewhat comparable to the newer printers at 24 pages per minute!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer