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Your users are complaining that a server is running poorly—do you know where to look to diagnose the problem? PerfMon can be an indispensible tool for this as it has numerous diagnostic capabilities. Get an overview of the key indicators you should use to diagnose a variety of common bottlenecks that can slow down your servers.

By Steven Choy (August 2008)
Secure Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions let you hide information in transit, validate senders, and authenticate messages. Learn how to secure e-mail using digital certificates and how to troubleshoot problems you may encounter on your S/MIME system.

By Matt Clapham and Blake Hutchinson (June 2008)
While locking is essential to support concurrent read and write activities on a database, blocking can adversely affect system performance. Learn how to optimize your SQL Server database to minimize blocking, and see how you can monitor the system to better understand how locking impacts performance.

By Cherié Warren (April 2008)
Moving from a legacy voicemail system to a unified messaging platform can be done fairly easily and with little disruption to your end users—as long as you have a solid plan in place. Here’s what you need to know to plan your migration, test your new systems, and implement unified messaging in your organization.

By Jeff Goodwin (July 2008)
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In the first of a series on Windows Deployment Services, Wes Miller lays a foundation for the discussion by looking at the architecture of the Pre-boot eXecution Environment (PXE), the history of Remote Installation Services (RIS), as well ...
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  It's not often you see the terms pure adrenaline rush and system administration scripting in the same sentence, but here’s your chance. The Scripting Guys discuss the rush of scripting Read more!
WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 integrate seamlessly with desktop applications in the 2007 Microsoft Office system, allowing users to easily collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, calendars, contact information, and more. That’s great for organizations that use Microsoft Office technology to boost information worker productivity, but it doesn’t help organizations ...
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It's not often that we get to talk about Microsoft Bob in TechNet Magazine.  Yet in the July 2008 installment of Windows Confidential, Raymond Chen explains how Microsoft Bob actually ended up in far more homes and offices than you might imagine.  Find ...
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In the July 2008 installment of the Windows PowerShell column, Don Jones discusses Read more!
Today's IT world demands ever-increasing collaboration between organizations and their partners and vendors. However, the powerful collaboration solutions that are implemented using products such as SharePoint tend to focus heavily on internal teams and the need to make information broadly available throughout an organization. In such cases, the challenges, ...
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August2008 August 2008
SQL Server: Top Tips for Effective Database Maintenance
Far too often, people who are not trained database administrators somehow end up responsible for a database. They lack the proper training and knowledge to maintain their database, and problems begin to develop. Here’s a primer for all those involuntary DBAs who need a crash course in database maintenance best practices. Paul S. Randal
Windows Administration: Taking Your Server’s Pulse
Your users are complaining that a server is running poorly—do you know where to look to diagnose the problem? PerfMon can be an indispensible tool for this as it has numerous diagnostic capabilities. Get an overview of the key indicators you should use to diagnose a variety of common bottlenecks that can slow down your servers. Steven Choy
System Center: Windows PowerShell in System Center Operations Manager
Windows PowerShell has been integrated into System Center Operations Manager 2007, offering a powerful way to perform and automate common administrative tasks. Get an overview of how you can use Windows PowerShell in OpsMgr to perform routine maintenance, manage agents, and more. Marco Shaw
Internet Information Services: Scaling ASP.NET Applications: Lessons Learned
The key to successfully scaling an ASP.NET application is having a collaborative effort between developers and network administrators, starting at the beginning of the application’s lifecycle. Find out what factors are necessary to scale an application, and see how this collaboration can help ensure the application will run as intended. Richard Campbell

Columns
From the Editor: Live from Tech•Ed
Joshua Hoffman
Letters: Readers Speak Out
Toolbox: New Products for IT Pros
Greg Steen
SQL Q&A: Partitioning, Consistency Checks, and More
Paul Randal answers your SQL Server questions, showing you how to perform consistency checks and other maintenance on very large databases, how to handle an accidental upgrade, and more. Paul S. Randal
Utility Spotlight: Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
Leftover Windows Installer configuration information can cause problems when you try to update or uninstall an application. You can solve the problem using the Windows Installer CleanUp utility, which can help you remove an application’s Windows Installer information and then reinstall the app. Lance Whitney
Inside SharePoint: Troubleshoot Messaging Integration
Integrating SharePoint into a secure messaging environment is no trivial task, but the positive impact on productivity will make the project worth all the effort. Here is some guidance on how to troubleshoot issues that may arise when you’re setting up the environment. Pav Cherny
Windows PowerShell: A Sneak Peek at Remote Management in Version 2.0
Windows PowerShell 2.0 is in the works and the latest CTP provides some great new capabilities. Here’s a look at remoting--one of the most exciting new features you'll find in Windows PowerShell 2.0 CTP2. Don Jones
Hey, Scripting Guy!: Taking the Express Route
With Windows Vista, the UserAccounts.CommonDialog ActiveX control for opening a file open dialog box no longer exists. Here's a look at how you can solve that problem using Visual Basic Express Edition. The Microsoft Scripting Guys
The Desktop Files: Windows Deployment Services 101
Explore the different versions of Windows Deployment Services, see how you can capture a custom OS image, and find out what you need for performing more automated installations. Wes Miller
Security Watch: Passwords and Credit Cards, Part 2
In the final part of this three part series, Jesper Johansson looks at how software vendors, security suites, and marketing efforts hinder true security efforts and he warns us about how these practices can lead to the collapse of the technology security ecosystem. Jesper M. Johansson
Sustainable Computing: Filtering the Greenwashing
Understanding your power consumption is now an essential part of managing an IT infrastructure. Learn about the strategies you can employ to implement power monitoring in your environment to better understand the power consumption of devices throughout your organization. Dave Ohara
Field Notes: IMAP Saves the World
Do you have e-mail saved in many different places, in different formats, and on different operating systems? Dara Korra’ti explains how you can access all your mail from one place using IMAP4. R’ykandar Korra’ti
Windows Confidential: Building on the Past
Raymond explains how the one-time powerful Alpha AXP system came out of retirement to help develop a new generation of 64-bit systems. Raymond Chen
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