IT Operations: Page

Data center monitoring system considerations

An effective monitoring system can track environmental variables and alert admins of a potential problem before it becomes a critical emergency.

By Bill Kleyman • Dec. 1, 2011

The challenges of change and configuration management

Due diligence, business alignment and proper deployment are key to mastering change and configuration management tools.

By Stephen Bigelow • Nov. 21, 2011

What to do when DNS records disappear

When working with DNS records in Active Directory, a small mistake can quickly become a big problem. Follow these steps to speed your recovery.

By Gary Olsen • Nov. 9, 2011

Best Practices for Active Directory forest trusts

The more domains you manage, the more you rely on forest trusts. Follow these tips to manage your AD infrastructure – and maintain your sanity.

By Jonathan Hassell • Nov. 1, 2011

Prioritizing alerts with server monitoring tools

Setting and prioritizing alerts with server monitoring tools can help an administrator respond quickly to critical problems without being bothered by insignificant alarms.

By Brien Posey • Nov. 1, 2011

Application performance tips: Workload optimization and software pathing

IT pros looking to maximize application performance should look beyond basic software, tuning to products from vendors pathing software and hardware.

By Joe Clabby, Contributor • Nov. 1, 2011

Migrating a Linux file system to a Windows file system (or vice versa)

In-place file system conversions are not only difficult – they're also downright dangerous. If you need to migrate data, you've got other options.

By Serdar Yegulalp • Oct. 24, 2011

Weighing the pros and cons of the Trusted Computing Platform

When used as designed, trusted computing can provide a high level of security, but limitations and potential for abuse prohibits its usefulness.

By Bill Kleyman • Oct. 3, 2011

Exchange 2010 auditing tools to track admin, end-user behavior

Compliance rules make tracking admin and email users a necessary evil. Thankfully, audit logging tools in Exchange 2010 can help.

By Ed Fisher, Contributor • Sept. 28, 2011

Using RamMap and VMMap Tools to Troubleshoot Windows Memory Issues

Even a veteran system admin can be challenged when investigating Windows memory issues. The free RamMap and VMMap tools remove much of the guesswork.

By Bruce Mackenzie-Low • Sept. 1, 2011

Best practices for securing Exchange ActiveSync

Sure, ActiveSync is easy to set up and administer, but how comfortable are you with its security? These best practices will go a long way toward protecting your CAS.

By Brien Posey • Aug. 23, 2011

Scripting: VMware PowerCLI vs. Microsoft PowerShell

VMware's PowerCLI sits atop Microsoft's PowerShell, but does it make scripting on a virtualization platform better?

By Michelle Laverick • July 6, 2011

Troubleshoot Windows boot problems with Xbootmgr

By working with the Xperf tool, Xbootmgr helps admins pinpoint the real cause of slow boot issues in Windows Server.

By Bruce Mackenzie-Low • June 7, 2011

Why mssphtb.dll was disabled in Outlook 2010

Exchange admins wonder why Microsoft disabled the mssphtb.dll utility in Outlook 2010. Our expert clears the air on this misunderstood search component.

By Serdar Yegulalp • June 2, 2011

Repadmin diagnoses Active Directory replication issues in Windows

Repadmin troubleshoots Active Directory replication issues, but it also includes some commands that Windows administrators might not recognize.

By Gary Olsen • May 3, 2011

A closer look at the Ntdsutil command-line tools for Active Directory

Dig into the slew of Ntdsutil commands in Windows Server 2008 and R2 that provide admins with improved Active Directory management.

By Gary Olsen • Feb. 22, 2011

Top three Windows server crashes (and how to avoid them)

Why wait until a server crashes to start the troubleshooting process? Admins can squash potential outages ahead of time by zeroing on the most likely culprits.

By Bruce Mackenzie-Low • Jan. 11, 2011

How to use WMI with Windows PowerShell scripts

With PowerShell, admins can harness the power of WMI to find all sorts of system and network information. The best part? It’s probably a lot easier than you think.

By Brandon Shell • Jan. 10, 2011

Using OpenNMS and SNMP for open source systems management

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) can allow a deeper look into system information gathered from OpenNMS. This tip walks through network monitoring with OpenNMS and SNMP.

By Jeff Gehlbach, Contributor • Dec. 9, 2010

How vulnerable is Microsoft IIS 7.5 to attacks?

While version 7.5 is more secure out of the box than past IIS releases, it doesn't guarantee 100% protection.

By Kevin Beaver • Dec. 9, 2010

Tracking system resources with free WinObj utility from Sysinternals

Mark Russinovich and company did Microsoft one better with the WinObj tool for tracking Windows system resources, though there’s still room for improvement.

By Serdar Yegulalp • Nov. 18, 2010

Using Nagios plugins for configuration and system testing

Using Nagios plugins can be vital in performing specific system tests and configuration. In this tip, you'll learn about using default and custom plugins in Nagios.

By Sander van Vugt • Nov. 8, 2010

Hyper-V Dynamic Memory vs. VMware memory overcommit

Memory allocation can be a guessing game in virtualized environments. Hyper-V Dynamic Memory and VMware memory overcommit tackle the problem in different ways.

By Brien Posey • Nov. 3, 2010

Exchange Management Shell, Queue Viewer: Message tracking tools

Learn how Exchange 2010 message tracking tools, such as Queue Viewer, allow solution providers to uncover potential mail flow issues in their customers' Exchange Server 2010 systems.

By Ken St. Cyr • Nov. 1, 2010

Remote server monitoring with Nagios

After the network monitoring tool Nagios is fully configured, learn the next step in setting it up for remote server monitoring.

By Sander van Vugt • Sept. 29, 2010