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AD Replication protocols "too valuable to expose"
I caught this in an article on Microsoft's antitrust issues in Europe. While Microsoft does provide source for some of their networking protocols (through the MCPP), the AD replication protocol, which is proprietary, is deemed "too valuable to expose". This is unfortunate because it means that other directory vendors will never be able to plug a non-MS directory server into an Active Directory environment and have it act as a "domain controller". This most notably affects SAMBA, but I'm sure other vendors would be interested too. I can understand there are some serious security issues to deal with by opening the replication protocols, but this could be an opportunity for MS to create a de factor standard for LDAP multi-master replication, which is lacking in the current LDAP specs (and is the biggest cause of lack of interop between directory servers today).
# posted by Robbie (12/26/2004 12:14:43 AM)
NetPro Finalizes Directory Experts Conference 2005 Speaker Lineup
I've presented at most (all but one I believe) DEC conferences since they started in 2002 and I must say the 2005 speaker lineup has to be the best so far. There is a mix of the brightest from MS (glad to see Don Schmidt will be presenting this time) and several non-MS speakers which always have something interesting to say (Wook, Paul, Alan, Alain, etc).
Too bad I'm not able to join them this time around...but grad school calls.
# posted by Robbie (12/26/2004 12:02:03 AM)
New Download: Resource Tool Kit 2.0 for Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003
"A set of command line and UI-based tools for remote administration and configuration of a server running Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003."
Download
# posted by Robbie (12/25/2004 11:30:57 PM)
Group Policy Webcasts
There are 14 different recent group policy webcasts available here.
# posted by Robbie (12/25/2004 11:10:55 PM)
About ADFS
Have you heard of ADFS yet? It stands for Active Directory Federation Services (formerly known as Trustbridge) and provides an environment for identity and access management. In this .NET Show, you can learn more about ADFS and how it might apply to your organization. You can also download the full show here.
# posted by Robbie (12/25/2004 10:49:20 PM)
Active Directory at DHS
In this article, you can read about the IT priorities at the Department of Homeland Security (one of them being AD).
# posted by Robbie (12/18/2004 11:38:21 PM)
Future path of Windows Server outlined
Here you can find more on the SP1 and R2 roadmap for Windows Server 2003.
# posted by Robbie (12/18/2004 11:35:53 PM)
OctetString Fortifies Virtual Directory Leadership with Upgrade, New Web Site
"Software firm releases Virtual Directory Engine (VDE) 3.0.1 with enhanced compatibility for Sun One, Microsoft Active Directory and launches new Web site with detailed solution scenarios."
Continue at source.
# posted by Robbie (12/18/2004 11:34:48 PM)
Windows Server 2003 R2 Enters Beta
"Windows Server 2003 "R2" formally entered the private beta testing stage this week, Microsoft senior vice president for the Windows Server Division Bob Muglia said on Friday.
R2 or Release 2 is the codename for the second version of Windows Server 2003. Expected to ship in the second half of 2005, Microsoft describes the product as consisting of two discs. One will contain Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 with a few enhancements and the other disc will contain optional components that users can install as needed. Most of the optional components will be pulled from the dozen or so free feature packs that Microsoft released with or after Windows Server 2003."
Continue at source.
# posted by Robbie (12/18/2004 11:32:24 PM)
NetPro Bolsters Infrastructure Security Offering With Two Major Upgrades
"NetPro Computing, Inc., a leading provider of distributed services management software, today announced ChangeAuditor 2.0 and DirectoryLockdown 3.5, solution upgrades that dramatically enhance the company's Active Directory security offering. Used together or as stand-alone solutions, ChangeAuditor and DirectoryLockdown enable administrators to harden the security of their Active Directory environments by providing unprecedented insight into changes and preventing unauthorized changes that could create security breaches and business-crippling issues."
Continue at source.
# posted by Robbie (12/18/2004 11:30:25 PM)
NetPro and Microsoft to Offer In-Depth Active Directory Security Training at DEC 2005
"Led by instructor Sanjay Tandon, Program Manager for Active Directory Security at Microsoft Corp. and currently responsible for threat and risk assessment of Microsoft's authentication, authorization and identity management infrastructure, the intense one-day workshop will drill down on the key requirements for protecting and securing Active Directory. It will be held on Sunday, March 13th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Westin Bayshore Resort and Marina in Vancouver, British Columbia. To learn more about the pre-conference training, please visit: http://www.netpro.com/events/dec2005/training.cfm"
Continue at source.
# posted by Robbie (12/08/2004 01:42:24 PM)
Free White Paper from Centrify: Active Directory-Based Identity and Policy Management of Cross-Platform Environments
"Need to support an increasingly complex environment with Windows, Unix/Linux and Java/J2EE platforms? Struggling with multiple identity stores and a lack of enterprise-wide policy management? This free, detailed white paper covers:
* The administrative and security challenges faced by IT administrators responsible for mixed environments.
* The pros and cons of the various alternatives.
* The technical and business case for leveraging your Active Directory investment to manage more of your enterprise.
* How Centrify's seamlessly unified technology helps you solve those problems without requiring costly or intrusive changes to existing systems."
Continue at source.
# posted by Robbie (12/05/2004 11:18:35 PM)
Into Active Directory scripting? Get to know Joe
Here here. Laura Hunter gives some good advice about getting to know Joe. Well most of us in the MS directory services world know him as just Joe and his tools as Joeware. He is a big time consultant now with HP, fixing AD and Exchange messes all over the world. His tools (adfind and admod to name a couple) are 10x better than the command-line tools provided by MS. He recently released one of the only Exchange command-line tools available in the wild called ExchMbx. He actually wrote that tool because as he was writing the Exchange chapter in my upcoming Windows Server Cookbook, he had few command-line solutions to include (Exchange is not very CLI friendly). So he wrote a tool to do some basic Exchange data manipulation. Very cool. Joeware is right up there with Sysinternals in my book.
# posted by Robbie (12/05/2004 11:13:19 PM)
Article: Microsoft and Sun - More Promises, No Deliverables
The saga continues. If you were hoping to get more news about the Sun/MS partnarship and specifically what it means in the directory services space, I'm afraid you still have to wait. We are told that more information will be provided during the first part of 2005. The promises and delays are starting to remind me of a MS operating system release. We've just seen beta 1 of the MS/Sun partnership announcements. RTM of the announcements should be available the first part of 2005 with a full release by mid-year. Shessh.
Read more here.
# posted by Robbie (12/05/2004 11:06:58 PM)
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