11Jul2017
06Jul2017
More Azure Site Recovery bugs in Windows Server Essentials?
Previously, I wrote about the Azure Site Recovery plugin for Windows Server Essentials Dashboard. One might say that it hasn't been the best product so far, in that getting it to work without hiccups is apparently luck of the draw. Â Microsoft Support hasn't been able to reproduce...
29Jun2017
How I advise my clients on compliance & security
Information Security is becoming more and more important in today's world. Here in the North America (including Canada and the US), we have several laws that require us to meet certain compliance requirements as it relates to Information Security for various industries. Â Other nations, such as those belonging to the...
22Jun2017
How to securely deploy Remote Desktop Services (RDS) with the Gateway Role
Remote Desktop can be deployed in any number of different ways, and not all of them are created equally when it comes to security. In the Enterprise, we'd most likely see RDS deployed using a "DMZ" or "Demilitarized Zone," which is a special type of network, that usually contains some...
15Jun2017
How to migrate from Office 365 Essentials Dashboard Integration to Azure AD Connect
As we've previously discussed on this blog, Windows Server Essentials comes with the ability to integrate with Azure AD & Office 365, using the Essentials Dashboard plugin. It is important to know that this technology is very different from the more widely...
08Jun2017
Soft (SMTP) vs. Hard (immutableID) matching with Azure AD Connect
If you are setting up Directory Synchronization from scratch (there are no users in the cloud yet), then Azure AD Connect will be pretty straightforward--the on-premises objects (and passwords if you choose that option) will be synchronized to the cloud, and you can assign services to the user accounts from...
01Jun2017
My Essential Checklist for Settting up any New Windows 10 Pro Device
This post features the things I do when setting up any (personal) Windows 10 Pro device, whether it's for myself, my family members, clients, or anyone really. I usually do these things with security / compliance in mind--but some of it comes down to preference (I think the differences between these will...
25May2017
How to manage permissions with Active Directory (the right way)
How do most people use Active Directory groups to manage permissions? Â You probably already know the answer: Global security groups. For example, if there is a directory on the file server specifically for "Payroll," then we normally see folks creating a Global security group that corresponds to "Payroll," populating that...
18May2017
5 Tips to Help Tighten your Security Using BIOS/UEFI
In the olden days of PC's, BIOS or "Basic Input-Output System" was something only the nerdy computer geeks were aware of, and the typical user never really went in there, or ran any kind of updates for it, unless explicitly instructed to by a support professional. Usually getting into BIOS...
11May2017