Solid State Hard Drives for database performance

Solid State Disks (SSDs) aren’t just for netbooks: they have the potential to transform server specification, especially for database systems. SSDs aren’t much in the business eye at present but we expect them to become a hot topic over the coming year.

Turn DPM and Windows Storage Server into an appliance

Combine windows storage server and add windows system center data protection manager and you can get a backup and dr appliance you can build – or a service you can sell.

Controlling anti-social networking – a guide to blocking employees access to Facebook, MySpace and more.

Right now, your customers’ employees are looking at Facebook and surfing MySpace. If that doesn’t worry their employers, it should.

Social networking has only gained popularity in the last three or four years, but it is generating the same concerns that instant messaging did at the start of the decade.

Set up event subscriptions in Windows Server 2008

Set up an event subscription between two Windows Server 2008 systems

Open the Reliability and Performance Monitor console, right-click on Data Collector Sets > User Defined, and create a New > Data Collector Set. Name the Data Collector and choose to Create manually (Advanced).

SQL Server Alternatives

We’ve talked mostly about SQL Server mainly because Microsoft has focused not just on enterprise level BI, but also on the needs of smaller companies. David Hobbs-Mallyon, SQL Server product manager, claims: ‘Right from the start, Microsoft has

Planning an Upgrade with MAP Toolkit 4.0

Managing virtualisation for the desktop

Microsoft’s Desktop Optimization Pack includes two virtualisation tools, one for Windows itself and one for individual applications. what is involved with setting these up, and what are the benefits and downsides?

Managing and migrating firewalls

Firewalls can provide you with a host of information about what’s going on inside and outside your customer’s network. But that information isn’t necessarily easy to manage and analyse.

All-Access Pass

Good security requires good passwords. But good security is as much about ensuring access by authorised users as it is about preventing access by interlopers. Recovering, resetting, or removing passwords is sometimes a necessity. Here’s how.

Social networking for your business

Once considered a fad for teenagers, social media tools have become accepted components of any business’s marketing strategy. Dell is on Facebook; SAP is on LinkedIn; IBM has a large presence on the animated virtual world Second Life. Should you be there, too?