November 2006 - Posts

• windows server 2003 Service pack 2 (Release Candidate) has improvements for SQL Server

  Find more info here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sp2/overview.mspx

  //Bart

  
  Posted Nov 29 2006, 07:21 PM by Bart Bultinck with no comments

  I just reviewed the technical overview for the upcomming service pack for windows server 2003. There will be some new features introduced and lots of enhancements. One the caught my eye is : Service Pack 2 provides performance improvement for SQL Server 2005 under intensive workloads. Service Pack 2 installation installs these improvements by default. Others I like are Enabling ‘Firewall Per Port’ Authentication, Improved IPsec filter management, Performance Improvements under Windows Virtualization (finaly blazing fast vpc's???) Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 is especially important for organizations planning on testing and deploying Windows Vista and Windows Server “Longhorn.” SP2 contains important enhancements to support the deployment and management of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 SP2. one thing to keep in mind: it needs lots of diskspace:

  Check the disc space requirements. The following are the approximate storage requirements for the installation of SP2.   Hard Disk Space that is required if you install Windows Server 2003 SP2 from a shared folder on the network (SPCD): Hard Disk space that is required if you install Windows Server 2003 SP2 from the Windows 2003 SP2 CD (Signed SPCD) Service Pack 600MB 1750MB Working Space 256MB 256MB Total Hard Disk Space Required 1200MB 2900MB

• publishing sharepoint or MOSS using ISA 2006 (or other sites ;-) )

  I just did some tests publishing sharepoint sites using FBA with ISA2006 using LDAP as authentication method. The process has been made very easy by using nice wizards. There are lots of improvements over ISA2004. The url mappings are far more exhaustive, working with certificates is now childs play. Listeners really rock now. I just love the SSO option to publish entire url sets using just only one listener. If this info deafens you: imagine switching from your OWA to your portal url and back without re-authenticating, then switching to your mysite and back to OWA, connecting to your extranet sites and back to OWA all without re-authenticating. ISA 2006 definitely rocks. I will dedicate some articles to this stuff. enjoy my modificated FBA logonscreen ;-) //Bart Posted Nov 27 2006, 10:24 PM by Bart Bultinck with no comments

• Funcast about blogs & wikis: the aftermath

  Last Wednesday Arlindo Alves [MSFT] and myself hosted a little funcast (31 minutes) about blogs & wikis in a sharepoint environment. Alltough it was my first "webcast-type-thing" it all turned out very well. (except my phone got disconnected and then my screen seemed to freeze, the keyboard allways typing tooooo many characters (hence all the spelling mistakes (please don't send me anymore emails about this )). For those who attended this session. Thanks a lot for freeing up your time to watch and bear with me being damn nervous. In case you missed out or want to see this short session again here is the URL for watching: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/microsoft/view?id=SMX73Z&pw=SP7q%7E2%3C%3Bp If you would like to comment on this funcast or ask questions, please do so. There's a community out there people ! There is lots more i wanted to talk about but since it's supposed to be an introduction to the topic, all things were kept simple. I'll try to post some nice things in the future. Maybe in the form of videos as those small movies tell more then using screenshots. //Bart Posted Nov 26 2006, 02:53 PM by Bart Bultinck with no comments

• My Funcast about blogs & wikis with sharepoint 2007 due in 20h !

  I just finished rebuilding the demo VPC with MOSS 2007 RTM version. Yihaa to differencing disks in VPC2004! Very short abstract: "November 22, Bart Bultinck will show you during this 30min demo session you how you can create your own blog and wiki site with Sharepoint 2007. Register now and freeze 30 minutes in your calendar." last minute registrations here: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032315615&EventCategory=2&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US //Bart (ready and prepared) Posted Nov 21 2006, 07:43 PM by Bart Bultinck with no comments

• WSS V3 :Coming Soon: New Application Templates for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

  Application Templates are out-of-box custom scenarios for the Windows SharePoint Services platform, tailored to address the needs and requirements of specific business processes or sets of tasks in organizations of any size. and the good news is there will be 40 of them (as in more then 30 ) Multi-Language Server Admin Templates   Absence and Vacation Schedule Budgeting and Tracking Multiple Projects Bug Database Call Center Change Request Management Compliance Process Support Site Contacts Management Document Library and Review Event Planning Expense Reimbursement and Approval Site Help Desk Inventory Tracking IT Team Workspace Job Requisitions and Interview Management Knowledge Base Lending Library Physical Asset Tracking and Management Project Tracking Workspace Room and Equipment Reservations Sales Lead Pipeline Board of Directors Classroom Management Clinical Trial Initiation and Management Competitive Differentiation Site Discussion Database Emergency Management for Government Agencies Employee Activities Site Employee Self Service Benefits Employee Training Scheduling and Materials Equity Research Manufacturing Process Management Marketing Campaign Planning and Execution New Product Development New Store Opening Product Portfolio and Profitability Management Request for Proposal Sports League Team Work Site Timecard Management Vendor Performance Rating i need more bandwith...... //Bart Bultinck Posted Nov 13 2006, 06:41 PM by Bart Bultinck with no comments

• I Was Ready! Vista and office 2007 launch in Brussels Belgium

  Thursday I and lots of coworkers attended the readyforanewday event hosted by Microsoft Belux. I attended some interesting sessions (MOSS 2007!, Groove) and had lots of fun talking to people and customers. Afterwards there was a great party. LTR: Karel Verhelst, Christophe Dejan, Bart bultinck, Tom Vandaele, another Bart The final keynote was done by Mr Bill Gates himself and in case you missed it you can view it below Bill Gates' Keynote Speech on Windows Vista Launch //Bart Posted Nov 11 2006, 05:55 PM by Bart Bultinck with no comments

• Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies - Community Technology Preview (CTP) November 2006

  Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Technologies (Reporting Services Add-in) allows you to take advantage of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2) report processing and management capabilities within Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The download provides the following functionality: A Report Viewer Web Part that provides report viewing capability, export to other rendering formats, page navigation, search, print, and zoom. Web application pages so that you can create subscriptions and schedules, and manage reports, models, and data sources. Support for using standard Windows SharePoint Services features including document management, collaboration, security, and deployment with report server content types. The Reporting Services Add-in works together with SP2, which is required on the report server. SP2 provides the following functionality for a report server that is configured for SharePoint integrated mode: Synchronization from SharePoint content database to the report server database. A custom security extension that uses SharePoint permissions to control access to report server operations. A new delivery extension that you can use in subscriptions to deliver reports to SharePoint libraries. A revised Reporting Services Configuration tool that you can use to configure a report server for SharePoint integrated operations. A new SOAP endpoint for managing report server content in SharePoint integrated mode. Warning: No automatic upgrade support Pre-release versions of the Reporting Services Add-in cannot be upgraded to a future version. Also, it is possible that you might not be able to upgrade the report server database that you create in this release. If this occurs, you will have to republish all data files and redefine subscriptions, schedules, report history. Get it here //Bart Posted Nov 11 2006, 10:06 AM by Bart Bultinck with no comments