eToolz is a nifty GUI tool that allows you to perform a number of network queries: DNS, ping, traceroute, WHOIS, mail-check, HTTP-header, time (NTP), Google pagerank, top level domains and port numbers.

For some of these queries, you would usually go to the command prompt in Windows; for example, the DNS query would be just nslookup. eToolz allows you to query for A, PTR, NS, MX, and SOA records. The Ping tool offers the options pause, bytes, timeout and count, and traceroute lets you configure the number of hops and the timeout. Even though eToolz is a standalone program (it doesn’t have to be installed), it will store the IP addresses, host names, etc. that you enter, so the next time you want to ping a certain host, you can just select it from a drop-down-list. I think, in most cases, you will be faster with eToolz than with the command prompt tools because it can save you some typing exercises.

 

Source : 4sysops.com

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Michael Pietroforte has an excellent series of post on 4SYSOPS blog on Application Virtualization.

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This online book is a structured, introductory approach to the basic concepts and principles of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) protocol suite, how the most important protocols function, and their basic configuration in the Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 families of operating systems. This book is primarily a discussion of concepts and principles to lay a conceptual foundation for the TCP/IP protocol suite and provides an integrated discussion of both Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

Download : www.microsoft.com/downloads

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This Support WebCast focuses on how to plan, implement, and administer a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 failover cluster on Windows Server 2008. This session provides step-by-step instructions about how to install SQL Server 2005 clustered instance on a Windows Server 2008 cluster. It also discusses the options you can use to move SQL Server 2005 failover cluster from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008.

Details: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=953170

Webcast Link: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032379512

Source : blogs.msdn.com/clustering

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So you want to build a Windows Server 2008 Cluster, but don’t know what hardware to use or if it will work? Well with the FCCP we will make clustering even easier

Source : blogs.msdn.com/clustering

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... announcing the Podcasting Kit for SharePoint (PKS), available as an open source project at http://www.CodePlex.com/PKS. The PKS is an accelerator for social media, using podcasting and social networks to deliver the next generation knowledge management solution. Built on top of SharePoint Server 2007 and using Silverlight 2, the PKS delivers an integrated experience with a wide variety of devices including iPod, Zune, Windows Mobile phones, and other podcast capable devices. The PKS follows the same model and approach to open source community contributions and support as the Community Kit for SharePoint.

Source : blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint

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Here's a very interesting knowledge base article about Outlook 2007 that may answer a few problems?

• Does the computer meet the system requirements for the 2007 Office suite that you are using?
• Are you running the latest version of Outlook 2007?
• Do you have a large .pst file or a large .ost file?
• Are you running a computer that has a Solid State Drive (SSD)?
• Do you have many items in a single folder?
• Do you have any nonessential add-ins or out-of-date add-ins that are installed in Outlook?
• Did you install any gadgets that integrate with Outlook?
• Is Outlook integration with Communicator enabled?
• Is antivirus software running?
• Did you install Windows Desktop Search on a Windows XP-based computer or install Outlook on a Windows Vista-based computer?
• Did the .pst file or the .ost file shut down incorrectly?
• Do you use a rule that moves items out of the default store?
• Are you connected to a POP3 server?
• Are you synchronizing many RSS feeds?

Source : support.microsoft.com/kb/940226/en-us

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Protocol Handler.Net is a set of .Net wrappers for the protocol handler interfaces that enable developers to create and deploy protocol handlers for SharePoint search and Search Server. Developers can index data and documents from any system they can connect to.

Much of the complexity and time around the development of protocol handlers, such as COM interoperability, are reduced and hidden in the wrappers themselves letting developers just concentrate on code to connect to a content source and pull data.

Protocol Handler.Net makes it possible to develop protocol handlers in C# or VB.Net and simplifies the handling of security, metadata, streaming content, deployment and management just to name a few things. It also comes with a help system and sample project to further help developers.

Chris Gomez
chris@fastsharepoint.com
www.FastSharePoint.com

Source : www.codeplex.com/phdotnet

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Sean has a great post on how to get this to work over here: http://blogs.technet.com/seanearp/archive/2008/05/19/installing-fedora-9-sulphur-in-virtual-pc-2007.aspx

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Why not display a search page instead of the traditional 404 error page. Microsoft released the Web Page Error Toolkit to do that. It is a ASP.NET application that replace your error file in IIS. There is a lot of customization possible.

Source :

dev.live.com/blogs/livesearch blogs.msdn.com/livesearch arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars

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I’m happy to announce that we’re on track to deliver IE8 Beta 2 this August when you’ll get a chance to see what we’ve been up to in these areas.

Source : blogs.msdn.com/ie

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Today Microsoft released Windows Search 4.0 and the Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI) for Windows Search 4.0.

This update include de following improvements :

• Support for indexing encrypted documents of local file systems
• Reduced affect on Microsoft Exchange when you index e-mail in online mode, and there is no local cache (.ost)
• Support for indexing online delegate mailboxes
• Support for client-to-client remote query to shared indexed locations
• Improved indexing performance
• Faster previewer updates for Windows XP
• Per-user Group Policy settings
• Windows software updates for Watson errors
• Support for new enterprise Group Policy objects

Source & download : support.microsoft.com

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Goosh is brilliant. You can execute Google search commands in the browser just like using the Unix shell and the results get displayed inline. You can even search for feeds with Google just like MSN. Thanks Philipp.

Source : Digital Inspiration

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