I serve on the Microsoft Partner Advisory Council for small business partners. There are members of this PAC spread around the Country and we are charged with getting information out to the communities we participate in. As part of that effort I’m posting items related to the Microsoft partner program here on the blog. I hope that you will find them useful. There’s often that nugget that can get you a rebate, or a second-shot training voucher, a discount or licensing training that can end up making you more money. Keep in mind that this information is USA based.

SMBKitchen Project! A big part of being successful is being “in the know”. This is one of the goal of our Enterprise Solutions for SMB project at Third Tier. If you aren’t subscribed, go here to learn more and get signed up. http://www.thirdtier.net/enterprise-solutions-for-small-business/

Attention UserGroup Leaders! Third Tier would like to offer a member of your usergroup a free subscription to the SMBKitchen Project. Hold a drawing, then send amy@thirdtier.net an email to let her know who won. If you’d like us to give your group an introduction to what this project is all about we are happy to do so.

New Contest! – Microsoft TechEd “Cloud Challenge” for IT Pros

Challenge Task: Build a Virtual Network on the Windows Azure cloud platform for FREE ( 15-20 mins )

• Chance to Win:
• FREE Pass to Microsoft Tech Ed 2013
• FREE Surface Pro
• FREE Microsoft Certification Exam Voucher
• Details at: http://aka.ms/CloudChallenge201304

Free Money! Move Office 2007 customer to Office 365

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So who wrote this blog and what do they do for a living anyway?
We’re Third Tier. We provide advanced Third Tier support for IT Professionals.
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Moving from my desktop and laptop to a Surface RT has changed the way I surf the web.  The Surface RT allows me to comfortably read in my chair, or in bed, without a 7lb monitor and keyboard combination in my lap.  The Surface RT is a great way to catch up on blogs, articles, or even fact checking interesting things I am watching on American Experience.

One area that has really bugged me with the Surface is the advertisements on websites.  Most ads sit in the corner of the website and tell me about great hotels and discount vacations to Peru.  That is great, but what gets me is advertisements that misbehave.  Ads that pop up on the screen, open new windows, or even scroll with you in the middle of the screen when you try to read.  On a desktop, and desktop OS, you can close these ads much easier, but try hitting that tiny X when it is off screen on a tablet device.

Internet Explorer 9 introduced a feature called “Tracking Protection”.  What this feature does is prevent your browser from displaying content from websites that us tracking cookies, or cookies that follow you from site to site.  By default, it is disabled.  If you enable it, any site that track you across 10 or more websites is automatically blocked.

Do you want to take it a set further and block more sites automatically?  There are several third party list that are maintained that will block ads automatically.  A list of providers is available at http://www.iegallery.com/en-us/trackingprotectionlists

I use EasyList  and FanBoy’s List to maintain my tracking protection.  By default I am spared from any website tracking, as well as preventing pop ups and different types of “floating advertising”.  These list are very aggressive in blocking content.  Other providers such as TRUSTe allow advertising that is from companies that demonstrate respectful consumer privacy practices.

A nice side effect of this is that browsing is much faster.  Without the web browser having to fetch content from multiple sites, the main page loads in half the time that it did before.

To enable the tracking protection list, just browse to: http://www.iegallery.com/en-us/trackingprotectionlists and add the list you want to add.

If you need to remove, or manage a list, open the desktop version of Internet Explorer.
Alt –> Tools –> Internet Options –> Programs
Click on Manage Add Ons.

From here you can enable, disable, or remove a Tracking Protection List.  Your Personalized List will also show sites that are automatically added, or you can add sites manually.

I first enabled this feature on my Surface RT, due to a website that I like to read on a daily basis, but due to the format of their advertisements the site was un-readable on the tablet.  All the tips here work on any IE 9 or newer web browser, on Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Internet security and advertising go hand in hand.  We need to have a fast and smooth browsing experience, and advertisements and the servers they are hosted on are often not very fast, or secure.  Tracking your browsing habits, and sending that information to other companies without your knowledge or consent can be controlled by setting the proper settings in your browser.  The built in Tracking Protection List in IE 9 and IE 10 is a great way to improve your browsing experience.

Phil describes himself as chef de partie of the SMBKitchen Crew. There he goes again depreciating himself and trying to move into the background. Those of you that know Phil know that he’s more than that. Phil is an important member of this crew. On his blog Phil says,

I believe that the SMBKitchen project will provide awesome returns for IT Professionals looking to take your IT Practice to the next level with all of the changes happening in our industry. If I didn’t believe that this post would never have happened.

As I state in my SMB Nation presentation, our goal here at MPECS Inc. is to be the best On-Premises IT Solution Provider. Period. SMBKitchen just happens to fit right into that vision!

Phil’s main area of contribution is going to revolve around consulting to the right clients and implementing Hyper-V cluster solutions for businesses as small 10 users. How do you do that? Who would buy that? How much does something like that cost? Are the first questions that jump to mind. Well as Phil will show us, it’s about picking the right niche for your small IT firm to work in. Hyper-V clusters or even on-premise servers aren’t for every business. But there businesses out that need this technology today and into the future.

That’s why Phil wanted to be part of the SMBKitchen Crew.  You see with all of the Clouds coming down on small business, Phil looked around and said “where does my business fit?” We all need to do the same. Identify what we are really, really good at, target the market that needs those services and build an IT company from that premise. Then we need technical skills and consulting skills to convey the message to potential clients. Phil is going to show us how he’s done it already.

If you haven’t signed up for the Enterprise Solutions for SMB then please join us now. We’ve just launched this month, papers are flowing in and our webinar schedule is about to kick-off. Now is the perfect time.

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So who wrote this blog and what do they do for a living anyway?
We’re Third Tier. We provide advanced Third Tier support for IT Professionals.

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I purchased a Windows RT edition of the Microsoft Surface while in Texas for a training session. We don’t have a Microsoft store in Michigan so I was excited to have an opportunity to check out the Surface in person before buying one. This was before most of the commercials hit and articles were written so by now you know all of the basics of what Surface is all about. Here’s a few things you might not know. This list is geared toward business use of Surface.

1. BitLocker Device Encryption is enabled and on by default. This means that the Surface RT is fully encrypted. This is not only cool but also means that it is compliant with SEC and other regulations that require you store data only on encrypted devices. Microsoft got this one right by putting security first. Make sure you go into the Control panel and backup your BitLocker key.
2. You don’t need the official Video cables from Microsoft. The Surface has a Micro HDI port. So obtain a Micro HDMI to HDMI cable or Micro HDMI to VGA cable from anywhere and you are good to go. The Surface also support 1920×1080 in HDMI on the second monitor and WindowsKey-P still brings up your presentation menu. It makes a great and impressive presentation device. Just make sure you are connecting to external speakers.
3. The Remote Desktop App is pretty good. For the busy IT profession, Remote Desktop is essential. This app is the same as the one that ships with Windows 8. While at first it seems limited because of the full screen, on the Surface this is actually a benefit. Let’s face it, the Surface isn’t a Laptop or a PC. It’s a companion and a well running Remote Desktop on a companion PC is a very cool tool to have.
4. You can run Remote Apps on it. Because the Remote Desktop app is available and Remote Apps are really just a .rdp file you can run Remote Apps on Surface. This will be a big boon to businesses that are running apps that don’t have an RT version yet available.
5. It’s pretty secure. Windows Firewall is enabled but it’s completely hidden from view and there’s no management tool for it on the device. All applications run under DEP, no exceptions allows. Windows Defender is installed and running. You can’t join and RT device to a domain but you can manage it through Intune – soon – so we’ll have to wait to see how extensive the control are. But RT does respond to a set of powershell commands.

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From our friends at Storagecraft

Hurricane Sandy Help

In light of the severe damage many people are facing as a result of Hurricane Sandy, StorageCraft wants to help partners and IT Administrators as much as possible. For the next two weeks, StorageCraft is offering free downloads of the three-day version of StorageCraft® ShadowProtect® IT Edition. This will help MSPs, VARs and network administrators recover an unlimited number of servers, desktops and laptops. If you’re affected by the storm, please let StorageCraft know if there is another way that we can help you and your customers get business backup up and running.

Please visit http://www.storagecraft.com/sandy/ to download now.

For more information please contact your StorageCraft represenatative. We will be posting more information on the StorageCraft Recovery Zone in the future.

The final part series looking at ClearOS, one of the major commercial alternatives to Small Business Server.  In this post I present my conclusions.  Be sure to read part one for an overview of ClearOS and part two for an introduction to the installation process. Part three looks at the domain and file sharing. Part Four covers messaging solutions. Part five covers backup and recovery.

Part Six: Conclusions and what else you need to know.

ClearOS, what do I think about ClearOS and would I recommend it to someone to install as a file and messaging solution.  I like it.  I like the product.  I like what it brings forth as a solution.  It provides an easy to setup, centralized administration environment for a small business.  It scales, you could use the server to support a network of hundreds of users if you so desired.  There is a large inventory of applications that you can install from the Marketplace to make this a true all in one solution.  These applications include web filtering, gateway anti-virus, and a firewall product as well as the file sharing and messaging that I reviewed.  The web administration interface is great way to administer the server.  This is one area that Windows has been lacking in for years.  Everything that I need to do on the server can be done from a central console that is accessible from a web browser.  If the change I need to make cannot be done from the WebUi, SSH allows me quick access to the console of the server.  Included in the centralized administration of users, groups, and computers, password polices can be defined and enforced on the clients.  ClearOs is the easiest setup and implementation of OpenLdap I have seen, it does just work.  Samba file share works as well across all versions of Windows.  Zarafa is a compelling Exchange alternative, and its integration with the LDAP directory provides true single sign on for users.

The largest hole I see in the ClearOS solution is in its backup and recovery.  By default there is only a configuration backup from the WebUi, and no way to schedule it or send it to an external disk. This is a huge issue for small business that need a set and forget backup solution.  Linux does not have a volume shadow copy service like Windows, so backing up open files can be difficult.  Monitoring the server health is not intuitive, and where there are applications such as disk usage, it does not alert you if the disk is getting close to full.  There are logfile monitoring tools but they only aggregate what is there.  While the offering is complete, providing all that you need in a server for small business, the applications could use some further refinement.  For example the ability to add a Public Folder store in Zarafa from the WebUi, or creating a way to move FlexShares to a different disk if you need to.

The ultimate decision to install ClearOS is going to break down to three options; cost, feature set, and familiarity with Linux.  If cost is an absolute hard line factor, ClearOS is cheaper than Microsoft solutions. Purchasing the bare minimum support contract makes it extremely cheap.  If all you need is a centralized directory server and a messaging platform, ClearOs has the features you need, and many more.  Familiarity with Linux is required to deploy Clear OS. You don’t need to be an expert, but the ability to SSH into the console and navigate the file system needs to be in your skill set.  While there is no supported migration path from a Windows domain, it could be done by purchasing an ActiveDirectoy connector in the marketplace.  Overall, ClearOS is a compelling option for a single server, on premises, solution.

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If you have Windows 8 joined to a domain that has WSUS in it, and you go to install software that requires .Net 3.5 you may get an error, 0x800F0906

This is due to having the machine that is controlled by WSUS policies and the .Net 3.5 not being approved in WSUS.

An easy way to install it manually is to install the Windows 8 Source media and run the following command from an administrative command prompt:

DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx3 /All /LimitAccess /Source:d:\sources\sxs

• Use /All to enable all parent features of the .NET Framework 3.5.
• Use /LimitAccess to prevent DISM from contacting Windows Update.
• Use /Source to specify the location of the files needed to restore the features

Make sure you replace /Source:d: with the drive letter or location of your install media. Also don’t forget, that natively in Windows 8 you can mount an ISO file by double clicking on it.

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So who wrote this blog and what do they do for a living anyway?
We’re Third Tier. We provide advanced Third Tier support for IT Professionals.
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Office 365 presents several different options for configuring co-existence between your onsite servers and the Office 365 servers. Configuring the way your clients sign in becomes a maze full of choices and confusing lexicon. There are several different methods that you can choose when it comes to configuring the client experience after subscribing to Office 365.

First, let’s talk about the SignIn Assistant and the Office 365 Desktop Setup tool. The Office365DesktopSetup is a dot net based tool that launches and checks to see if you have a valid copy of Office, and if you need to install the Sign In Assistant. It also installs updates and the office social connectors. You launch the Office 365 Desktop Setup Tool from the Downloads page of your Office 365 Account. You enter your username and password and then it searches for the necessary updates and installs them. You are prompted to download and install the Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistanonfiguring Office 365 on the desktop using is still a manual process. You are still required to enter your password for Lync (you have the option to save it) on the first run, but the settings are all configured for you. You are prompted to log in to the SharePoint Team Site. Outlook profiles are automatically configured you need to enter your username and password. Overall, the Desktop Setup tool improves the speed and accuracy of setting up Office 365 Client Applications. The Sign-In Assistant helps ensure that your users are prompted “less” for a username and password, but it does not provide any sort of single sign on experience.

The next option often talked about is DirSync. Dirsync is a process that allows you to sync your Active Directory to the Office 365 Cloud. It does exactly that. If you have large amounts of users, security groups, or distribution Groups DirSync is the tool for you. DirSync does NOT synchronize passwords. Dirsync does NOT change the client sign on experience. You need to still set up the desktop applications the way that I mentioned before, either manually, or by using the Office 365 Desktop Setup tool. If you have a many different distribution groups and memberships in these groups, DirSync takes the on premises directory structure and puts it in the cloud. Dirsync CAN NOT be installed on a domain controller. Passwords can still be out of sync if they are not changed to match in both locations. With DirSync you must have your clients UPN match the SMTP address for it to work as well, if it does not, users will get a default .onmicrosoft.com email address. Dirsync also installs Forefront Identity Manager, and SQL 2008 Express. Using DirSync give the users a common sign in name for both On Premises servers and Office365. For example, a user can sign in as Robert@Plant.com to his desktop and to Office 365. This can be problematic, if Roberts password are different in each location so when using Dirsync you need to make sure that your password expiration policies match of both ends.

Federation and Single Sign On is the next often talked about feature for Office 365. This truly does change the users sign on experience, as they get a seamless sign on experience. Configuration of the desktop applications can be done automatically, and the user gets no prompts for a username and password. This is because a Trust is created between the on premises domain, and the Office 365 domain. This is the most complicated setup of any Office 365 deployment. This requires a Federation server. This requires an ADFS Proxy Server. This requires a Domain Controller. This also requires DirSync This is a dead minimum of three servers in addition to your domain controller. All request are being authenticated by the on premises Active Directory Domain Controllers, so if the on premises servers are down, no one is able to log into Office 365.

Another option you have is using the SBS2011 Essentials Office Integrations Module (OIM). The OIM is a dashboard widget for SBS2011E that provides Password Synchronization between the SBSE installation and the Office 365 Subscription. It is important to understand that this is not Single Sign On, it is synchronization. The OIM allows you to create Office 365 Accounts, manage Office 365 Accounts and sign into the Office 365 service using the same username and password that they use on the desktop. If a user changes the password on the desktop or using Remote Web Access, it is pushed to the Office 365 Service. It is important to note that the user should not change their password on the Office 365 service, as this will break the synchronization between the OIM and Office 365 . The OIM is also available in the new Server 2012 Essentials and will provide the same functionality. You should still deploy the Sign In Assistant on each client so that you can ensure the applications are setup and configured properly. While this is the easiest way to synchronize the passwords between your on premises server and Office 365, it is only currently available on SBS2011 Essentials and is limited to twenty five users. It is recommended to disable the password expiration on Office365 if you only have users that are created by Essentials. If you have users that are not in the Essentials domain, they make sure the password policy matches on both your on premises server and the Office 365 Server

As you can see, there are four different options when it comes to working with Office 365 in your current Active Directory environment. Everyone can setup and maintain separate accounts from AD and Office 365. Dirsync adds the ability to ‘push’ AD Attributes to the Office 365 service, but requires a server that is not a Domain Controller. Federation offers Single Sign On, but it requires a complex setup and for optimal results should have several layers of redundancy. The OIM for the Essentials line of products is the most promising for the smaller businesses that want the benefits of an on premises directory server, while hosting productivity services in the cloud. The OIM offers basic password synchronization that helps users be able to easily sign to the service.