Implementing An Advanced Server Infrastructure

The book I read to research this post was Implementing An Advanced Server Infrastructure by Steve Suehring which is a very good book that I bought on kindle. This book is aimed at those taking the MCSE exam and if you are just looking for a general introduction to Windows Server 2012. The book only covers the subject in a general way and expects you to have a working knowledge although there are lots of links to websites and blogs to need to read about it in more detail. This book mostly covers setting up users and hows Windows Server automates this. You can set up a range of users called a scope using these kinds of features. In Windows users have roles which are general permissions on the computer different to what we call permissions which are object based normally with in a program. The two biggest updates with in Windows Server 2012 are probably cloud computing and virtualization. Cloud computing is websites generally that offer web based software or software as a service. This is normally something you don’t download although there are exceptions which are then called hybrid computing. Virtualization which can often be run with out an operating subject to having the computer meet certain requirements which is called on the metal is normally a client with in a client especially for going on the internet with limited permissions. This limits damage that can be done by malware because certain things are simply disabled. Something you also need is certificates of called CA’s or certificate authorities and you should always use a 3rd party provider. This encrypts information going from one computer to another so have to be installed at both ends. You normally install certificates into AD FS or active directory federation services. I did enjoy reading this book and do recommend it. It is around 450 pages so is a substantial length to.

 

Dropbox

The book I read to research this post was Dropbox In 30 Minutes by Ian Lamont which is a very good book that I bought from kindle. This book is around 100 pages so is a fair length and as the title suggests is intended to be read in 30 minutes and there is a whole series of these mostly on computing. Dropbox is the first website to be a cloud computing service and allows you to synchronize your computer either Mac or Pc with smartphones and tablets and online storage. The first 2 GB is free and it only updates new files and changed files each time. The website for it is http://dropbox.com and there is a mobile site at m.dropbox.com. If you have application software installed it doesn’t synchronize files with that program automatically. That you must do separately and when you delete a file it is possible to restore it with in 30 days. There is also a service called Packrat for businesses and pro users that restores files deleted more than 30 days ago. Anyone with a paid account is a pro user. There is a piece of Dropbox software that you install on your computer and when you are online automatically synchronizes your computer with your account in the background. Most computers built in the last few years work with this software. Of course there are other similar services to Dropbox like Skydrive and many of these also have a basic free storage option. I did really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it. Nobody seems to have written a full length manual on this subject which I think I for one would definitely buy but maybe there isn’t enough to it to justify that.

Microsoft SQL Server 2014

The book I read to research this post was Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Technical Overview by Ross Mistry et al which is an excellent book which I bought from kindle. This book is quite long and is a free download on kindle so represents good value. It isn’t a how to guide and hasn’t enough space to cover all the features of SQL Server but is aimed at Database Administrators who want the general picture prior to upgrading. The new version integrates with the cloud product Windows Azure so it is like a hybrid cloud product. In addition you can save data to a URL if you use a 3rd party cloud site or company website. There are several major versions which are Enterprise, Business Intelligence & Standard. In addition there are some cheaper niche products Web, Developer & Express version with Express being a free entry level product. With the Enterprise version you can have up to 2048 processors on the server and up to 8,000 virtual account users. It is very much for large companies. The Express version lets you have tables up to 10 GB so is very much aimed at small businesses. It integrates with Excel which if you get one of the current Professional Plus or standalone versions has features like powerpivot tables for doing statistical analysis on data. They did start to move in this direction with the 2010 version and the 2013 & 365 versions contain a lot of additional features. This will normally have Windows 2012 R2 as the operating system but will also work to a lesser extent with Windows 8. Windows 2012 has many cloud computing features many specific to certain providers. In fact is the main upgrade in that program. I’m not hugely knowledgeable about SQL Server but found this book very interesting and with it being free you can’t go wrong. Microsoft Press are doing free entry level books on the various current Microsoft products for free to help sell them with more specialized publications obviously for sale that you have to buy.