Technet Direct Plus 3 month trial – update

Posted on February 26th, 2009 in Server 2003, Server 2008, Vista, Windows 7 by alt-92

Dutch Technet enthusiasts once again can register for a free 3 month trial of Technet Direct Plus.

[update] The offer period has expired and new entries are no longer available.
Normal subscriptions are of course still possible .

header_technet_plus

Just klick http://technet.microsoft.com/nl-nl/dd491981.aspx and enter your data, wait a couple of days for confirmation and you’ll get access to all the latest and greatest Server operating systems & software.

Prices are 370 € (ex VAT/BTW) for a full year, renewals are 270 € (ex VAT/BTW).
Technet Plus Direct means online access to the software library (download only – no CD shipments), two support calls (worth 299 €) and free e-learning courses.

For a list of available software, See the complete list on the TechNet Plus Subscriptions home page.

Diskspace checks and trend analysis

Posted on February 22nd, 2009 in Server 2003, Server 2008, Storage by alt-92

Simple Diskspace monitoring tools for home use.
Tools: VBscript & MS Access database

The script:

01
02
On Error Resume Next
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Const HARD_DISK = 3
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Const adOpenStatic = 3
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Const adLockOptimistic = 3
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strNamespace = "root\cimv2"
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strDomain = "domain"
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strDate = FormatDateTime(Now(), 2)
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strTime = FormatDateTime(Now(), 4)
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Set objNetwork = CreateObject("Wscript.Network")
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' =====================================================================
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arrComputers = Array("Server1","Server2","Server3")
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For Each strComputer In arrComputers
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Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" & strComputer & "root\CIMV2")
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Set colDisks = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
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("SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk Where DriveType = " & HARD_DISK & "",,48)
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Set objConnection = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
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Set objRecordSet = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
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objConnection.Open _
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"Provider = Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0; " & _
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"Data Source = c:\scripts\diskspace_database.mdb"
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objRecordSet.Open "SELECT * FROM tbldiskspace" , _
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objConnection, adOpenStatic, adLockOptimistic
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For Each objDisk in colDisks
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objRecordSet.AddNew
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objRecordSet("server") = strComputer
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objRecordSet("domain") = strDomain
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objRecordSet("disk") = objDisk.VolumeName
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objRecordSet("drive") = objDisk.DeviceID
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objRecordSet("totalspace") = round(objDisk.Size /1024/1024,2)
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objRecordSet("freespace") = round(objDisk.FreeSpace /1024/1024,2)
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objRecordSet("percentage") = (objDisk.Freespace /objDisk.Size)*100
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objRecordSet("date") = strDate
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objRecordSet("time") = strTime
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objRecordSet.Update
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Next
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Next
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objRecordSet.Close
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objConnection.Close
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' =====================================================================
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Access DB has a simple table layout, and a couple of queries and comboboxes.

Table:

table


Form:

form1


Using the queries and by generating a PivotTable view, it’s easy to spot growth trends on disks.

Graph showing available free space:

graph


					




				



				

		

	




	



	
		

					


				
Windows 7 VHD boot option – no more VDI for testing?



				

					Posted on  February 21st, 2009 in Deployment, Server 2008, Vista, Windows 7 by alt-92 				



				

					
The beta version of Windows 7 (the public build 7000, and build 7022) offers support in BCDedit to boot from a VHD file on hard disk.    
As explained in this Edge video (http://edge.technet.com/Media/Boot-from-VHD-in-Win7/) the install behaves just like normal, with a few exceptions such as BItlocker support and Hibernate (since these are disk-dependent).    


It looks like a ‘nice to have’ feature for the ubertweaker and enthusiast at first, but think about this:


What if you need to support a DTA environment for desktops? Now, you don’t have to mess around with Virtualization software – just provision and deploy the VHD file with the appropriate configuration (such as a segmented VLAN for Test or Dev) and let your application developers use the same hardware.   
No double PCs, no double network outlets, no extra poweroutlets or powerconsumption (think green here).


Sure, it needs some tweaking (preventing disk access between images) but.. tempting nonetheless…