John R. Pattison
Custom software developer. IT consultant. Geek.
A quick overview of Windows Small Business Server 2008
Aug 21st
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 20th
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 20th
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 20th
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 15th
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 14th
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 14th
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 13th
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 12th
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 >
Info et Cetera has a new website
Aug 12th
We rolled out a new website for Info et Cetera consulting today.
The big change we made was switching from the focus being a resume-like list of projects to a case study approach that highlights some of the more interesting projects we’ve done, while giving visitors a flavor for the type of work we do.
We used Graffiti CMS as the platform for the site, which is actually the same platform that this blog is running on now. Very impressed with the ease of theming the site. In particular, I love that you can create different templates for various categories.
So check out the More >