In my last post I described how you can configure jobs with VisualCron. Today, I will introduce the tool’s user interface and some of its special features.

You can install the frontend (the documentation calls it the client) and the backend (server) separately. The frontend can be used to manage jobs remotely for one or multiple servers. Of course, you can also install the client and the server on the same machine.

VisualCron’s product name fits very well because its graphical user interface makes it easy for you to track all of your jobs. The user interface resembles the ribbon interface used in some Office 2007 applications. Microsoft introduced the ribbon in Office because the features had become too numerous for the menus and toolbars of the old interface style to handle without being cumbersome. I suppose this was also the reason why VisualCron chose a ribbon-style interface type.

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IZArc claims to be “the best freeware ZIP utility” available. And indeed it is one of the most versatile ZIP applications out there. A screenshot of the application’s window doesn’t reveal anything spectacular but it’s nice to see the GUI without the need of installing the program. So I’ve included one.

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In the first post of this series I outlined some of VisualCron’s general advantages over the Windows Task Scheduler. When you read today’s post, you will notice that the tool has quite a few additional interesting features.

Before we dive into the details, let us have a look at how VisualCron works. The diagram below shows how a job has to be configured with VisualCron. For most jobs you have to configure one or more tasks (the actions you want to perform), triggers (defined circumstances that will initiate the task), and optional conditions (states that can prevent a task from being launched even if a trigger is present). As you can see in the diagram, VisualCron supports many more task types than the Windows Task Scheduler supports. Once the task has been launched, VisualCron can notify administrators by several means.

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VisualCron is raffling three licenses for 4sysops readers. The winner will receive a 5-Server license worth 717 US dollars and the two runners-up will each receive a 1-Server license worth 197 US dollars. More information about the contest can be found at the end of the article.

VisualCron is the most sophisticated task scheduling tool I have ever tried. I was already quite impressed with the Task Scheduler in Vista and Server 2008, but VisualCron comes with far more advanced features. The ability to manage task scheduling on multiple machines from a central location, in particular, makes the tool an interesting alternative for large organizations. VisualCron targets task scheduling for server environments, but you can also use the tool on desktops.

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Have you ever run out of storage and desperately needed a place to temporarily store large amounts of data? If so, then you should have a look at the Amazon S3 storage service. Of course, the service is not free, but prices are moderate. If you only need the space to overcome a temporary storage shortage, then the storage costs won’t really hurt your organization. The advantage over those free online storage services is that the amount of data you can store at S3 is more or less unlimited.

There are different ways to use S3; today, I will just discuss the possibility of copying files from your servers or desktop to Amazon’s online storage service. Amazon offers a simple web-based S3 file manager, but this is only something to use if you are on the run and want to access your S3 storage from an Internet cafe or so (if you dare). There are quite a few free Windows tools that allow you to upload and download files to S3. For this article, I tried three free S3 explorers: Amazon S3 Firefox Organizer(S3Fox) 0.4.7, S3 Browser 1.9.7 and Cloudberry S3 Explorer 1.6.3.

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When Windows 7 was still in beta, I asked 4sysops readers about their opinion of the new taskbar in Windows 7, a.k.a. Superbar. When I wrote the article at that time I was not really convinced of the value of this new feature, but I needed more experience. Using such a feature on test systems is quite different from working with it in a productive environment. I have been using Windows 7 on my laptop for a while, and my final verdict about the Superbar stands now. I also want to share how I use the Windows 7 taskbar.

I think this is an important topic, especially for IT pros, because we usually work with many applications simultaneously and switch between tools all day. Hence, finding the best method to switch tasks can increase your productivity significantly, even if the time needed to change from one tool another is only a second. These seconds add up over a long work day. Even more important is the fact that switching quickly between applications is essential for keeping your focus. If you need two seconds or more to switch between apps, then this will certainly have a negative effect on your concentration and will tire you out quickly.

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More than 1,100 4sysops readers took part in this poll. I asked whether a graphical user interface (GUI) or a command line interface (CLI) was preferred when it comes to Windows administration. The results are quite clear: 66% prefer a GUI tool, 17% prefer the command line, and for another 17%, it doesn’t make a difference.

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Many things have been said about Windows 7 and its benefits. However, the talk rarely covered the topic of IPv6. Surely it isn’t a new feature: Vista was fully Ipv6 enabled and an IPv6 network stack exists for Windows XP. But in my opinion IPv6 is worth mentioning when talking about Windows 7.

Most networks today are still based on IPv4 because the Clients are not IPv6 capable. A lot of companies hesitated to migrate to Vista and still run Windows XP without the IPv6 stack. However, this circumstance will change with the release and deployment of Windows 7. Might IPv6, which technically is an old story, become more attention when Windows 7 is deployed en masse?

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In my last post, I described how you can perform quick queries with MaxPowerSoft Active Directory Reports 5.1.1.1. Today, I will focus on the tool’s special features, that is membership reports, filters and print preview. Note that you can win a license worth 299 US dollars (see info at end of the article).

Group Membership

When you load a report and then select some users, the “Load Membership” menu item becomes available and you can load membership for those selected users. The detail grid with membership information will be loaded as a sub grid of every record and the “+” sign will be highlighted meaning that membership is available for that particular users. You can click that little “plus” sign, extend that row to see membership information.

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A few days ago, MaxPowerSoft released a new version of their Active Directory Reporting tool, which has quite a few interesting new features. 4sysops readers have the chance to win a license worth 299 US dollars (more information can be found at the end of this article).

The most obvious new feature of Active Directory Reports 5.1.1.1 is the new Outlook-like user interface. I think, it is the tool’s biggest advantage over competing products. It does not only look cool, it is also very effective. Even if you already have an Active Directory management suite, you definitely should have a look at this specialized AD reporting tool; it could speed up your reporting tasks significantly. You only need few minutes to have an idea about how you can retrieve all kinds of information from your domains with AD Reports.

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I hope some of you followed my recommendation and played a little with Amazon’s cloud management tool, AWS Management Console. It is really fun! Another option to manage EC2 is the free Firefox plugin Elasticfox. I wouldn’t recommend starting with the tool if you haven’t previously used EC2. The AWS Management Console is the better tool for beginners. However, Elasticfox is not really difficult to use. It just lacks the AWS Management Console’s Launch Wizard which makes it easier for EC2 newbies to find an AMI (OS image) to play with.

However, Elasticfox is an interesting alternative once you understood how EC2 works. Its biggest advantage over Amazon’s tool is that it is snappier. Working with Elasticfox feels like using a desktop tool, whereas the AWS Management Console is a typical web app and often a bit sluggish although it is based on Ajax. Elasticfox is probably also the better tool if you have to manage many instances because it uses the screen space more efficiently. The spreadsheet-like interface allows you view all relevant information quickly.

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In my last article in this series, I discussed the storage for my virtual server in Amazon’s cloud. Today I will focus on the bandwidth and instance costs. As we will see, things are getting a bit more expensive now.

Amazon EC2 bandwidth costs

One of the things I really dislike about EC2 are the bandwidth costs. One GB inbound data transfer costs $0.10 and one GB outbound traffic costs $0.17. This doesn’t seem to be much. However, in my case the bandwidth costs are a significant part of the overall monthly fees. In September, I paid about $15 for data transfer, which corresponds to approximately 90GB. I enabled HTML encryption in Apache after I moved to EC2, but this didn’t really help because most of my traffic comes from the screenshots. I also download backups of the database and the screenshots every day, which equals up to 15% of my monthly bandwidth costs. In my view, external backups are absolutely necessary because if someone hacks your Amazon account , then you might lose all your data even if you have backups within cloud.

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In my last post I complained about Amazon EC2’s complicated pricing structure. Today, I will chat a little about my pricing experience with my own server. Before I continue I should say that my somewhat negative remarks about EC2 in recent articles don’t mean that I dislike Amazon’s cloud. On the contrary; I like Amazon almost as much as I am a MS fan boy. Cloud computing is still in its infancy, so it is only natural that things have to mature.

Okay, let’s start with Amazon’s Simple Monthly Calculator. When you open the page, you will recognize that Amazon S3 (storage) is the only service that is already checked. The reason why this service is often essential for other services is because you always need a place to store your data. Hence, you have to include it in your price calculation.

S3 is needed for EC2 if you want to bundle AMIs (store OS images). Thus, S3 is not really necessary to run an EC2 instance (virtual server), but I think most EC2 customers are using this feature. There are five different factors that determine your monthly S3 costs: storage (GB-months), data transfer-in, data transfer-out, PUT/LIST Requests, and other requests.

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The first thing I did after a closer look at Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), was to check-out its pricing. I have read everywhere that cloud computing is such a cost saver, so I was curious to know how much it would actually cost to run a virtual server at EC2.

At first, prices appeared to be quite low to me. I mean, $0.10 per hour for a server appears to be pretty cheap. My coffee consumption seemed more expensive, or so I thought. But when I calculated its yearly price, it became clear that even I can’t drink that much coffee! The story could end here, if I didn’t stumble upon Amazon’s Simple Monthly Calculator.

I realized that I must have somehow missed the fact that there are other available options other than an hourly rate (virtual server). However, quite a few other cost factors come into play here that you should be aware of. In fact, the “simple calculator” looked extremely complicated to me. I was unfamiliar with many of the terms used, even though, I have read quite a bit about EC2 on Amazon’s web site.

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The introduction of PowerShell was a major improvement for all administrators who are not afraid of the CLI. However, it also has some drawbacks. For instance, it is not included in the OS and it lacks many features. Microsoft wanted to correct those shortcomings. PowerShell Version 2 is now a part of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 RC2 and offers many new Cmdlets. One area that was improved is the management of the Active Directory (AD).

If you want to use these new features, you have to add the Cmdlets first. PowerShell v2 is now modularized. This only works under Windows Server, because you need to install the role “Active Directory Services” and the feature “Remote Server Administration Tools.” You can use the Server Manager for the installation, or if you prefer typing the following commands, you will have the same results:

import-module servermanager
Add-WindowsFeature -Name “RSAT-AD-PowerShell” -IncludeAllSubFeature
import-module ActiveDirectory

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