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SBS-MVP 2009

I got an email from Microsoft that I’ve just received the Small Business Server Most Valuable Professional [SBS-MVP] award for 2009. Yay! 🙂

Whoop, there it is!

Also re-awarded with the SBS-MVP this January are several others, including:

Congratulations folks!

Also, sadly Michael Jenkins is retiring from the MVP program, but he’ll still continue to be heavily involved and very active in the SBS/SMB community. Thanks for all of your hard work Michael.

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Invitation – 4-Year Anniversary of the KYSBSUG

03/19/2008 @ 6:30 PM EST – REGISTER TODAY!

INVITATION: You are cordially invited to the 48th consecutive Kentucky Small Business Server User Group (KYSBSUG) meeting!

  • TOPIC: 4-Year KYSBSUG Anniversary Party (Meeting #48)
  • WHEN: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 @ 6:30pm – 8:30 PM EST
  • VENUE: Fox and Hound Pub and Grille – Google Map
  • ADDRESS: 302 Bullitt Lane, Louisville, KY 40222
  • COST: FREE + whatever you choose to spend on food.
  • EXTRAS: Free appetizers, pool tables, really cool door prizes
  • WHO’S INVITED: KYSBSUG Members, IT Pros, Network Admins & folks interested in Microsoft Technologies
  • MAP: Click here of click the picture below for a satellite image & directions

Link to the venue - Fox & Hound

The venue of the Fox & Hound should be very familiar to everyone. We’ve had one KYSBSUG meeting there already, as well as the Louisville Geek Dinner events. (Note – This time we’ll be on the right-side rooms as you walk in the door).

 

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY:

kysbsug_logo In March 2004, at a Microsoft TS2 event in Louisville, Kentucky, a very nervous Microsoft SBS user stood up in front of the crowd and announced the first SBS User Group meeting in Kentucky.  Happily, people showed up at that first meeting, and they’ve showing up every month since then.

48 months later… it’s amazing how much has changed, even just from a software perspective.

For example, here’s some Microsoft software that’s come out since meeting #1:

  • Office XP Service Pack 3
  • SBS 2003 Service Pack 1
  • SQL 2005
  • Office 2003 Service Pack 2
  • SBS 2003 R2
  • Microsoft Vista
  • Microsoft Office 2007
  • Exchange 2007
  • Windows Mobile 6
  • Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2
  • Windows Home Server
  • Office 2007 Service Pack 1
  • Vista Service Pack 1
  • Office 2003 Service Pack 3
  • Windows Server 2008
  • Centro (Windows Essential Business Server 2008)
  • Cougar Beta 2 TR (SBS 2008)

…and that list is FAR from complete – there are tons more servers and desktop & productivity applications that have come out in the last 4 years.

HOW THE GROUP HAS GROWN

Our local SBS group in Louisville, KY has gone through quite a lot of meetings and changes since this all began.  We started with 7 folks, 3 pizzas, a conference room, no WiFi, and no PowerPoint slides. Since then:

  • 48 consecutive monthly meetings
  • 130 subscribers to the mailing list
  • SBS Partner Tour March 2005 – Hosting.com (70+ attendees)
  • 70-282 Study Group & Cram Sessions
  • SBS Partner Tour September 2006 – Indiana University (110+ attendees)
  • Live presentations by Microsoft TS2 & Technet folks
  • In-person & webcast presentations by Microsoft MVPs from Ohio, Alabama, Florida, Iowa & California
  • Meeting attendees via LiveMeeting and web cam from all over the USA, Canada, and even Belgium
  • Enough pizza, subs, napkins, plates, cups & 2-liters to fill a couple of minivans (at least)
  • And 1 really cool cake

It’s been a great ride, and we’d like to celebrate it with you. We’d like to ask your help in spreading the word about the event, and we look forward to seeing as many people turn out as possible. 🙂

REGISTER TODAY!
https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=126608 

SPECIAL THANKS:

The Kentucky Small Business Server User Group would like to extend a special ‘thank you’ to Jeff Slyn (Owner) of SLYN Systems & Peripherals and Katie Goldstein (Event Coordinator) and Scott Hack (General Manager) of Fox and Hound Pub and Grille for their invaluable assistance in organizing this event!  You guys totally rock!! 🙂

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KYSBSUG Feb 2008 – Windows Mobile Hands-On Lab

windows_mobile_palm_treo Are you interested in setting up a Windows Mobile device with SBS, but just haven’t gotten around to doing it?

If so, you’re not alone.  Next to Windows SharePoint Services, Windows Mobile devices are the most under-used killer technology in SBS.

This month our topic for the KYSBSUG meeting is a free hands-on lab / boot camp to get IT Pros and network administrators comfortable with testing, rolling out, and supporting Windows Mobile devices with SBS.

In addition to offering training on Windows Mobile 5 & 6, we’ll also provide resources for connecting Palm mobile devices (such as the new Palm Centro) and Apple iPhones with SBS. 

If you’re shy and have never used Windows Mobile devices before, this event is for you! We’ll take you from a-to-sync. 🙂  Or, if you’re already are a Windows Mobile pro, you’re still invited to attend, compare notes on local wireless carriers, help users with the labs, and be registered for the door prizes.

You are invited to register and attend in person!
Cost:  FREE

Event: KYSBSUG February 2008 Meeting (#47)
Topic: Windows Mobile Hands-On Lab / Boot Camp
Date: Wed Feb 20, 2008
Time: 6:30 PM Eastern – 9:00 PM Eastern
Location: Money Concepts
Address: 323 Townepark Circle
City St Zip: Louisville, KY 40243
Registration Required?: Yes
Invitees: IT Pros, Network Administrators, KYSBSUG Members & Geeks
Registration URL: http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=125230

Below is a list of what you’ll need to complete the lab.

Note: If you’re missing any of the pieces below to complete the lab, don’t worry. You’re still invited to attend to receive a copy of the simulator software and to see what pieces you need to put in place to properly configure a Windows Mobile device on your (or your customer’s) network. Just be sure to bring a flash drive.

IMPORTANT – You DO NOT need to have a Pocket PC or SmartPhone to complete this lab. We will provide attendees with a Windows Mobile emulator that runs on your PC. (We also have a Palm emulator as well).

To complete the lab you will need:

  • Laptop PC (Vista or XP) with WiFi
  • 1 GB of RAM
  • 1-1.5 GB available hard drive space
  • Remote access to an SBS server with RWW properly configured (CEICW already run & ports open in your firewall)
  • An ‘A’ record pointing to your RWW site (such as remote.domain.com or server.domain.com)
  • Administrator credentials for your SBS server
  • AC powerstrip / surge protector or extension cord
  • 1 GB or larger USB flash drive

OPTIONAL – If you DO decide to bring a SmartPhone or Pocket PC, please also bring:

  • Your Windows Mobile device
  • The charger / AC adapter
  • The data cable / cradle
  • Any software (CDs) that came with the phone
  • An SD / Mini SD / Micro SD card (whatever your device takes)
  • A card reader or adapter to read the SD card on your PC

There is already a lot of interest in this topic and seating is limited, so please register early to guarantee a seat.

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Notes from November 2007 KYSBSUG Meeting

kysbsug Thanks to everyone who attended the November 2007 Kentucky Small Business Server User Group (KYSBSUG) meeting last night on "Best Practices".

SPECIAL THANKS:

  • Thanks to all who attended, especially those traveling from Lexington.
  • Also, MAJOR thanks to Matthew Snoddy from Network Therapists for presenting!  We’re really looking forward to the Lexington SBS group launch in January!
  • And thanks to those who stayed after to attend the WHS build

GRAND PRIZE WINNER:

  • Windows Home Server Lee Johnson from Sentry Computer Systems took home the copy of Windows Home Server

    Congratulations Lee on finally winning something 😉

URLS MENTIONED LAST NIGHT:

  • SBS 2003 Best Practices Analyzer v1.3 (1.1 MB)
  • Exchange 2003 Best Practices Analyzer v2.8 (6.8 MB)
  • ISA 2004 Best Practices Analyzer v5.5 (2.8 MB)
  • WSS v3 & MOSS 2007 Best Practices Analyzer (1.4 MB)
  • Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer v2.1 – Beta 2 (1.3 MB)
  • Visio 2007 Connector for MBSA 2.1 (1.1 MB)
  • lookinmypc LookInMyPC (1.2 MB) – LookInMyPC generates a complete, comprehensive system profile that includes information on all installed hardware and software. Additionally it provides system diagnostic information such as details on running processes, installed services, startup programs, Windows updates and hot fixes, active network and Internet connections, TCP/IP port usage, event log detail, and much more. All this is provided in an easy to read, formatted report that you can view and print using your web browser.
  • AccessEnum v1.32 (51 KB) – AccessEnum gives you a full view of your file system and Registry security settings in seconds, making it the ideal tool for helping you for security holes and lock down permissions where necessary.
  • JDiskReport JDiskReport v1.3 (0.6 MB) – JDiskReport enables you to understand how much space the files and directories consume on your disk drives, and it helps you find obsolete files and folders.

    The tool analyses your disk drives and collects several statistics which you can view as overview charts and details tables.

    This is ad-free uncrippled no-charge binary multi-platform software that never expires.  (Requires Java).

  • The Dude 2.2 The Dude v2.2 (1.8 MB)  – The Dude is a network monitor that will enable you to scan all the devices within a network subnet and then draw a map of the network devices and tell you where your workstations are connected and warn you of service problems.

    Better still, your network doesn’t need to be internal. If your company has a network between offices, The Dude will enable you to map the entire network.

  • PsEXec v1.9 (1 MB) – PsExec, from Microsoft / Sysinternals is a light-weight telnet-replacement that lets you execute processes on other systems, complete with full interactivity for console applications, without having to manually install client software. PsExec’s most powerful uses include launching interactive command-prompts on remote systems and remote-enabling tools like IpConfig that otherwise do not have the ability to show information about remote systems.

    Note: some anti-virus scanners report that one or more of the tools are infected with a "remote admin" virus. None of the PsTools contain viruses, but they have been used by viruses, which is why they trigger virus notifications.

  • SIW - System Information for Windows System Information for Windows (SIW) v1.71 (1.3 MB) – SIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner.

    This standalone utility does not require installation (Portable Freeware) – one less installed program on your PC as well the fact that you can run the program directly from an USB flash drive, from a floppy, from a network drive or from a domain login script.

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KYSBSUG – Sept 2007 – SBS Hacks

image You are invited to attend the September 2007 Kentucky Small Business Server User Group (KYSBSUG) meeting.  This is our 43rd consecutive monthly meeting!

Title: KYSBSUG Meeting – Sept 2007
Date:  Wed Sept 19, 2007
Time:  6:30 PM Eastern
Venue:  University of Louisville – ITRC Building (Shelby Campus)
Address:  9001 Shelbyville Rd, Louisville, KY USA, 40222
Registration URL: https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=121293

Topic:  SBS Hacks

Description: 

Share your favorite SBS Hacks, tweaks, and work-arounds that make SBS really hum, and learn what everyone else is doing. 

We’ve got a handful of specific hacks & tweaks lined up, but we plan on opening up the floor to let everyone participate.  To encourage everyone to share, each registered attendee who shares their favorite hack gets a door prize!  If you’re new to SBS, this is a great chance to learn from the pros.  And even if you’re a long-time SBSer, we’ve got still some tricks you’ve never seen before!

At the end of the evening we’ll hold a drawing for ‘Best SBS Hack’ and the winner walks away with a Microsoft Polo shirt!

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Invitation – Live TS2 and KYSBSUG Events Next Week

You know him and love him from the 2005 & 2006 SBS Tours, the 70-282 Exam Prep Series 1 & 2, and numerous webcasts and live events.  And once again, I’m happy to announce that our favorite Microsoft TS2 Presenter, Ronald Grattopp, is coming back to Kentucky!

  • TS2 Live Seminar – Lexington, KY
    Tuesday June 19, 2007
    Start time:  1:00 PM Eastern

    Venue: Regal Hamburg Pavilion 16
    1949 Starshoot Parkway
    Lexington Kentucky 40509
    Registration URL:  Click here

  • June 2007 KYSBSUG Meeting – Louisville, KY
    Wednesday June 20, 2007
    Start time:  6:30 PM Eastern

    Venue: Money Concepts
    323 Townepark Circle
    Louisville, KY 40243
    Start time:  6:30 PM Eastern
    Registration URL:  Click here

  • TS2 Live Seminar – Louisville, KY
    Thursday June 21, 2007
    Start time:  1:00 PM Eastern

    Venue: Cinemark Tinseltown USA
    4400 Towne Center Drive
    Louisville Kentucky 40241
    Registration URL:  Click here

More Details on the June 2007 KYSBSUG Meeting Next Wednesday!

This month Ron Grattopp will be joined by Tim Barrett, and they will be co-presenting a deep dive on Windows SharePoint Services version 3 (WSS3).  Come learn the best practices for installing WSS3 on SBS, shortcuts to deploy the “Fabulous 40” templates, and other tips and tricks on WSS3.

“How deep is this deep dive” you may ask?  We have over 8 hours of content on WSS3, so we’re prepared to talk about all aspects; from deployment, to extending, to business value.  (The event is only 90-120 minutes long, so we’ll cover the content that the audience wants to hear.)

As always, there will be excellent networking opportunities and Ron is bringing some cool swag.

This Live event is FREE to attend, but registration is required:
http://www.clicktoattend.com/?id=119143

The venue is a little tricky to find, since it’s so new it doesn’t show up on most maps, but fortunately there is a map available on Map Quest:

Map to KYSBSUG Meeting at Money Concepts – 323 Townepark Cir Louisville, KY 40243, USA

And if you get lost, just call my cell (502) 817-3456 and I’ll give you directions.

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Your 2 Cents About Microsoft Community Support

The Windows Server Product Team would like to hear from you about User Group Community support.

This is a direct anonymous survey, with the goal to improve services targeted towards User Groups. Microsoft wants to know what your experiences are with the community resources and information that is available to you today as a member of the User Group Community. They also want to know what you think could be done to improve your Community Experience.

This is your chance to make your voice heard, so please take a couple of minutes to provide your candid feedback via the survey so they can provide the most effective experience possible.

Link to the survey: User Group Community Survey.

Thanking you in advance,

The Windows Server Community Team

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No Geek Left Behind – Episode 005

After SMB Nation wrapped up, geeks from around the globe split up and went their separate ways.  Some went back to the hotel to relax with help from the new CBD oil UK products, some had to catch a plane, and others went to parties, etc.

But nearly a dozen geeks hung out together for a special behind-the-scenes tour arranged by Allen Miller and the Seattle Aquarium staff and management.  So if you were one of the SBSers invited on the tour and weren’t able to attend, you totally missed out on a fantastic time!

Here’s the roster of attendees:

On with the show… (And be sure to turn up your speakers because the dialog on this tour was as good as the pictures – seriously! 🙂

Title: No Geek Left Behind – Episode 005
Subject: Seattle Aquarium Geek Tour
Run time: 19 minutes 40 seconds

Pocket PC Version: WMV 27.5 MB (208×160)
Windows Version: WMV 35.1 MB (320×240)
Mac version: MOV 79.8 MB (320×240)

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2006 SBS Tour Photos

SBS Tour in LouisvilleThe pictures I took at the SBS Tour in Louisville last week on 18 September 2006 are now online on Flickr.  Our presenters were Ron Grattopp from the TS2 team and Paul Fitzgerald who is the Lead Program Manager for SBS.

If anyone else has event pictures that they’d like to share from the Louisville event or one of the other 12 cities, Flickr is a lot easier than emailing pictures back and forth, and it’s free for a basic account.

Direct link for the Louisville pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timbarrett/sets/72157594302123073/detail/

Also, when uploading my pictures to Flickr, I saved them under the tag “2006 SBS Tour”.  That way if anyone else uploads pictures to Flickr with the same tag (be sure and enclose the tag in quotation marks), all the pictures from the entire tour will show up in one single location:
http://flickr.com/photos/tags/2006sbstour/

(If the Louisville link above breaks, just go here and click ‘2006 SBS Tour’ on the right). 

Happy uploading! 🙂

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Interview With A Vladpire

Like any good dev guy, he needs sunglasses to go out in the daylightLast night at the Kentucky Small Business Server User Group meeting we interviewed Vlad Mazek of OwnWebNow / Vladville / SBS Show / Vladfire fame. Vlad is a prominent SEO reseller in the state of Kentucky.

We managed to tear Vlad away from his role as ‘The Unofficial Chuck Norris of the SBS Community‘ long enough to learn about:

If you missed it, don’t worry, we TiVoed it for you:

Title:  KYSBSUG – August 2006 Meeting w/ Vlad Mazek
Recording ID:  KYSBSUG200608
Organizer:  Tim Barrett
Recording On:  Wednesday, Aug 23, 2006 3:47 PM (PDT)
Duration :  1:43
URL:  Click here

Special thanks to Susan Bradley for the use of the LiveMeeting account!

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