Custom software developer. IT consultant. Geek.
John Pattison
John R. Pattison is a Principal Consultant at Info et Cetera Consulting, based out of Worcester, Massachusetts. John focuses on developing custom line-of-business systems and leveraging cutting-edge technology as an enabler for smaller companies to achieve their business objectives and effectively compete against larger businesses in their market space. John is an MCPD, MCSD, MCDBA, and MCAD, and holds a BS from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Management Information Systems.
Posts by John Pattison
Deploying Windows Small Business Server 2008
Aug 21, 2008
My notes from today’s Microsoft Partner Program webcast…
Requirements
Requirements for primary server
Processor 64-bit only, 2GHz minimum, maximum of 4 physical sockets (no limit on the number of cores) Memory 4GB RAM minimum. 32GB RAM maximum. OS Drive Partition 60GB minimum. DVD-ROM Bootable from system BIOS Network Adapter 1 x 100Mbps Ethernet adapteber Monitor / video adapter Minimum 1024×768 Network devices Router that supports IPv4 NAT Internet Connection Required Firewall External firewall requiredRequirements for second server (if you’re running SBS2008 Premium Edition)
Processor 2GHz (can be x86 OR x64) Memory 2GB RAM minimum. 32GB RAM maximum. OS Partition 10GB minimum. 40GB recommended. More >A quick overview of Windows Small Business Server 2008
Aug 21, 2008
I thought it would be beneficial to post an overview post on SBS2008, to fill anyone in on the new product offerings that Microsoft is bringing to market.
Microsoft Small Business Server is growing up! Microsoft is introducing a new LINE of servers under the “Essential Business Solutions” umbrella:
- Windows Small Business Server 2008 (SBS2008)
- Standard: 1 user
- Premium: 2 servers (adds a server to run line of business software)
- Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (EBS2008)
- Standard: 3 servers
- Premium: 4 servers (adds a server to run line of business software)
For more information about the difference between SBS2008 and EBS2008, see Which Solution is Right More >
SQL Server – People Forgetting to Add Indexes to Foreign Keys
Aug 20, 2008
I had an interesting conversation with a colleague today who insisted that when you create a foreign key in Microsoft SQL Server, it automatically adds an index on the foreign key. Guess what — it doesn’t!! I think this is one of the most common mistakes made in SQL Server. I’ve seen wonderfully normalized databases where the developer did not create any indexes on the foreign keys. With today’s fast hardware speeds, this problem is often masked because when you’re working with a new database, everything usually runs smoothly anyway. It is after time that the problem manifests itself, as More >
Email Prioritizer
Aug 20, 2008
Microsoft Office Labs has released a neat prototype tool for Outlook 2007 that give you two clever features:
- Lets you turn on a “Do Not Disturb” feature for emails for a period of time that you specify
- Adds between 0 and 3 stars to each email to tell you the importance of the message
The former feature is clever, though I’m not sure how much I would use a “Do Not Disturb” feature. I tell clients to email me instead of calling me if at all possible, so blocking incoming email isn’t very fair. I guess where I might use a feature like More >
Cozi.com – Online calendar management for families
Aug 20, 2008
I can’t tell you how long I’ve been wishing and looking for something like this — a calendar application to manage a family’s calendar.
In my family, we just use a single Outlook calendar to manage everyone’s calendar. This way, I can look at my PDA and easily see where everyone is. Of course, my kids are 2 and 4, so this method works right now because I can easily distinguish between my entries and my wife’s entries. OF course, sometimes it gets more complicated, and we end up putting appointment titles in like "John and kids – Home Depot Workshop." More >
LogMeIn from my Windows Mobile Phone
Aug 15, 2008
I ran across a fantastic nugget of information this morning… LogMeIn has a client for Windows Mobile!
I’ve actually started using LogMeIn Free more and more, given that it is (a) free, (b) secure, and (c) a snap to install or walk a remote user through installing. No more firewall port forwarding like is necessary for Remote Desktop (or port changes via the registry if you need to remote desktop to more than one computer inside the same network).
So to my delight today, I went to http://www.logmein.com from my phone, a Samsung SCH-i760 running Windows Mobile 6 (it’s huge but it can do a More >
Microsoft Surface is coming to Sheraton Hotels, including BOSTON!
Aug 14, 2008
Since I first saw a demo video on Microsoft Surface, I’ve been chomping at the bit to see it in action, and more importantly get my hands on it!
Yesterday, I read an article that Sheraton Hotels has become the third company to sign on to purchase Surface computers (behind Harrah’s and AT&T).
Sheraton has purchased 13 units: Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers (3 units), Sheraton Boston Hotel (2 units), Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers (3 units), Sheraton Seattle (3 units), and Sheraton Gateway San Francisco Hotel Airport (2 units).
So it looks like I might need to find an excuse to head More >
Manually restoring the Windows XP registry
Aug 14, 2008
Let me start by saying I hate things like this, but sometimes you just need to do it… I had a client with a laptop that was stuck in an endless reboot loop. Safe mode, command prompt, etc. all led to a quick blue screen (“something about the registry”) and a reboot. For anyone who’s been there, this means registry corruption.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have my copy of ERD Commander with me, so I couldn’t use that to come to the rescue.
Fortunately, I found a great online resource that walks you through, step by step:
- Boot into the recovery console using the More >
Getting ready for Windows Small Business Server 2008
Aug 13, 2008
Windows Small Business server is just around the corner, and we’re gearing up for upgrades. We have a number of customers who have already expressed interest in upgrading from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008. In particular, customers are excited about Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, which brings a lot of great improvements, such as the improved Outlook Web Access interface and new features when used with Windows Mobile 6 (full mailbox search!).
Personally, I scheduled EIGHT webcasts this morning over the next couple weeks to get up to speed on SBS 2008. We’ll also be rolling out an internal SBS 2008 test More >
IntelliSense in SQL Server 2008 Management Studio – Only if you’ve upgraded your database server
Aug 12, 2008
Well, I finally got SQL Server 2008 installed today. I had downloaded the DVD last week when it RTM’ed, uninstalled SQL 2005, and fully planned to install 2008 on the release date, but alas had to wait because SQL Server 2008′s installation complains if you have Visual Studio 2008 installed WITHOUT SP1 installed. VS2008 SP1 was released yesterday, so today I was go for launch for VS2008 SP1 and SQL2008 installation.
So the biggest thing I was looking forward to in SQL 2008 was IntelliSense. In the past, I’ve thought about buying Red Gate’s SQL Prompt tool just for the IntelliSense feature, More >