G->TechLink: G->Pointer's Technology Link

When working with multiple machines I found it rather stupid that the Windows explorer always shows "My computer". I have 10 mstscs open and then wonder why I copied that file. But this can also be renamed: just name it like the Hostname and you will never work or copy on/to/from the wrong machine. Keywords: Windows, Disk Management

Why do disk letters start with C:? When my nephew asked me this he was 20 years old and I knew I was getting old. In the late days of floppy disks the first 2 drives were always the (removable) disk drives A & B. Only later computers started to get hard disk drives that were built into the machines and as such they got the next letter: C. A long time ago on Windows it could even generate issues if you would assign custom drives to the letters A: and B: because Windows still expected floppy drives there. Often you would end up partitioning a hard disk having the Windows operating system partition on C:, the optical drive on D: and then multiple partitions more on letters later in the alphabet. These days are gone. At least I got accustomed to put the optical drive on A: and an external hard disk on B:. The hard disk partitions start at C: and go throughout the letters in a more logical fashion. (and today you usually anyways just have one optical drive, not a dedicated CD-...

The advantage of a linked list data structure over a plain array is that you can easily insert new items to the linked list. There is a good example and analogy in this post : "You have some errands to do, so you grab a piece of paper and write: bank groceries drop off drycleaning Then you remember that you also need to buy stamps. Because of the geography of your town, you need to do that after the bank. You could copy your whole list onto a new piece of paper: bank stamps groceries drop off drycleaning or you could scribble on the one you had: bank ....... STAMPS groceries drop off drycleaning As you thought of other errands, you might write them at the bottom of the list, but with arrows reminding yourself what order to do them in. This is a linked list. It's quicker and easier than copying the whole list around every time you add something. Then your cell phone rings while you're at the bank "hey, I got the stamps, don't pick u...

On first glance it might be tempting on smaller networks to put the Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) on the DC; it won't drag that much performance, right? But no, according to MSDN the impact will be "If WSUS is installed a domain controller, this will cause database access issues due to how the database is configured." Sources: WSUS: WSUS should be installed on a non-domain controller Guidance about WSUS on a Domain Controller Step by Step : Installing & Configuring WSUS in Server 2012 R2 Step by Step : Installing & Configuring WSUS in Server 2012 R2, Comment Keywords: Windows Server 2012 R2, Updates, WSUS, Domain Controller

Probably there are many ways to decide on how to purchase server hardware, but a simple approach is (yet another) triangle of parameters: Performance Availability Cost The nice picture the two presenters give: you will allow more cost on an important business-critical server to assure performance and availability, as compared to hosting a website with cat pictures. First you should investigate the minimum and optimal requirements for the application you want to run on the server. Also, you would try to anticipate current and future usage/users on the system. Try to anticipate ahead for 3-5 years. You don't want to just plan for the immediate now, but for the foreseeable future. Furthermore keep in mind that some amount of processor time, memory, storage and network will be already eaten up by Windows itself. Also take a good look at mandatory Windows Server services that are required by your application or service and add them to the list of the required hardware. The...

Share permissions add up (you have permissions from multiple groups, so you get more permissions each). Folder/NTFS permissions add up (you have permissions from multiple groups, so you get more permissions each). BUT share and NTFS permissions added up together, actually limit down to the file permissions. E.g. you have read-write for the share, but only read from NTFS; subsequently you will only be able to read a file or folder, but not write to it. Sources: Security Fundamentals: Part 2 at about 40 min. Keywords: Security, Windows Server 2012 R2

C onfidentiality deals with keeping information, networks and systems secure from unauthorized access. can be achieved by using encryption, authentication, and access control. S ecurity is defined as the consistency, accuracy, and validity of data or information. can be achieved by hashing. A vailability describes a resource being accessible to a user, application, or computer system when required. It should be well understood that those do actually contradict - especially confidentiality and availability. Confidentiality (keep data from people) VS Availability (get people to data). The key is that you want to be able to give access at the appropriate data at the appropriate time. This then directly connects to the next slide: Least Privilege Users, applications and systems should have no more privilege than necessary to perform their function or job. Attack Surface Set of methods and avenues an attacker can use to enter a system and potentia...