Monthly Archives - May 2016

Automate the deployment of a standalone Hyper-V host server using PowerShell

In this article, I wanted to document a standard, standalone Hyper-V server deployment for a small business using nothing but PowerShell. The best practices for Hyper-V state that the role should be enabled on a server without the GUI (e.g. Core or Nano--although I rarely see this done in a small business setting). Best practices aside, I...
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Migration path from SBS to Office 365 & Windows Server 2016

So many small businesses adopted Microsoft's Windows Small Business Server (SBS) product--now that the product has been discontinued, these organizations tend to need a little more guidance regarding the migration path forward from SBS 2003, 2008 or 2011. Do I still need an On-premises Windows Server? With the option to move most SBS Server functions...
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Best Practices: Time synchronization with virtual Domain Controllers

In Hyper-V virtualization, a guest virtual machine has something called "Integration Services." By default, all of these services are pretty much enabled, including time synchronization. However, this can cause big issues if you have virtual Domain Controllers, and your physical host servers are not getting their time from a common, reliable source, such...
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How to Remove a Legacy Hybrid Exchange Server and migrate to Windows Server Essentials Office 365 Integration

If you performed a Remote Move migration from a legacy system such as SBS 2011 or Exchange 2010, and now you want to remove your hybrid server without losing the ability to sync passwords to Office 365, I have some good news for you: it's totally possible. Update: This is no...
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How-to Upgrade DirSync to Azure AD Connect (and move to a new server at the same time)

Many a small business using Exchange Online, Office 365 or other Microsoft cloud services has opted to enable Directory Synchronization--this means you can have the same credentials on-premises and in the cloud. Most commonly, this synchronization was achieved with a tool called DirSync. And wouldn't you know it, that tool is now being...
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