TechNet Blogs

Today at RSA Conference 2014, Microsoft released a new version of its Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET), “EMET 5.0 Technical Preview.” EMET is one of our most popular free security tools that helps IT Professionals and Developers manage risk for their organizations. Typically it is used by IT Professionals and Developers to help protect systems from exploitation via software vulnerabilities. Read more

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Five hundred acres. Over 125 buildings. One massive energy bill. Something big had to change on the Microsoft campus—we needed to explore what building inefficiencies were causing such a large energy bill. Fixing this problem with “smart” technology was a unique business opportunity for Darrell Smith, Microsoft’s Director of Facilities and Energy. It also provided a proof point for the Internet of Things, and a win for sustainability. We were lucky enough to take a tour of one these smart buildings and see what this solution looks like in action. Here’s what we saw:

Making sense of the sensors with the Internet of Things

The campus, just like Microsoft, grew fast in the 1990s. Although buildings and labs were built quickly, each layer—the infrastructure, gas, electric, and so on—was completed in a silo. The result was a functional but inefficient workspace that made synchronizing maintenance efforts difficult. “It used to take me four to five hours with an army of men in trucks just to see how the campus was doing,” said Smith.

Although the campus was equipped with 30,000 sensor-enabled pieces of equipment, they weren’t connected. According to Smith, “every system was speaking a different language and we couldn’t understand any of it.” To rip out and replace the existing equipment would’ve cost more than $60 million. Smith knew this wasn’t an option—not only was it expensive but it was disruptive and too long a process.

“Sure, we could’ve done it over time,” said Darrell. “The conversation would’ve gone like this: me–‘I need to shut down your lab for energy maintenance.’ Them–‘How does 2021 sound?’” Instead, Smith and his team enlisted the help of three partners to create something better. The result was an “Internet of Things meets Big Data” solution that reasserts its value each day. (To read more about the Microsoft’s smart building sustainability revolution check out 88 Acres.)

200 problems, but savings ain’t one

Smith knew he had to get those sensors to talk to each other—and needed a way to glean meaningful insights from the data those sensors could provide. Smith did what any software company employee would do when an out-of-the-box solution wouldn’t fit: he made one up.

Smith, his team, and their partners found a way to get those 30,000 sensors to speak the same language by translating the data from different sensors into a single, universal “language.” The team then figured out exactly how to prioritize incoming issues by automatically analyzing that incoming data.

"Every day there’s a list of 200 problems that cost the company hundreds of thousands annually, but by addressing the top 10 issues one at a time, Microsoft can cut that cost by 50 percent."

Now more than 500 billion data transactions come streaming through the Redmond Operations Center (ROC) daily: everything from HVAC problems to electricity use to exhaust fans. The data is then sorted and listed according to the issue’s annual cost. Every day there’s a list of 200 problems that cost the company hundreds of thousands annually, but by addressing the top 10 issues one at a time, Microsoft can cut that cost by 50 percent.

According to Smith, 48 percent of problems can be fixed instantly and 52 percent need to be fixed manually. The difference now is in knowing how to prioritize those issues. With this data they’re able to keep track of how many times a particular unit breaks down. For example, Smith and his team uncovered an entire batch of defective HVAC units that had been causing problems for years. Microsoft realized $400K in energy rebates for only six buildings, and estimates paying back the investment in 18 months.

The “smart” thing to do

“I used to have no data with which to do my job. Now I have enough data for a thousand jobs,” said Smith. Already several universities and the Pentagon have shown interest in his solution. “What we’re doing here resonates with everyone. Our biggest competitor isn’t another company, it’s inaction,” concluded Smith. Using the Internet of Things to gather data, and analytics software to understand it, is an enormous business opportunity that powers sustainability. It’s also a way to prove that sustainability benefits the bottom line. Either way, everyone wins.

The reality is, this smart technology is already at hand. Wireless sensors and cloud computing make the Internet of Things affordable for businesses big and small. Although the decision to switch over requires an initial investment, it greatly reduces operating costs and pays itself back in little time.

What inefficiencies do you notice in your workplace? For every one thing you notice there’s much more that’s unseen. Today, we have the tools to start addressing these problems. How can your business begin to invest in smart technology?

By Adrienne Hall, General Manager, Trustworthy Computing

Since Microsoft’s founding nearly four decades ago, computing and technology have experienced some momentous shifts with regard to trust. The emergence of security concerns related to the internet was one such shift. It prompted Bill Gates to launch Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing (TwC) initiative in 2002, in a memo calling for changes to ensure customer trust at every level.

We are currently in the midst of another seismic shift with regard to trust — the vigorous global discussion that began last year with disclosures of widespread government surveillance programs.

Today at the RSA Security Conference USA in San Francisco, Scott Charney, Corporate Vice President, Trustworthy Computing, gave a keynote speech about the changing cybersecurity landscape: Conundrums in Cyberspace—Exploiting security in the name of, well, security. See more >>

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Exchange Online Protection provides enterprise-class reliability and protect against spam and malware, while maintaining access to email during and after emergencies. It provides a layer of protection features that are deployed across a global network of data centers, helping you to simplify the administration of your messaging environments.

Reiterating our SLAs.

Five financially backed SLAs attest to a high quality of service, including protection from 100% of known viruses and 99% of spam.
Globally load-balanced network of data centers helps to ensure a 99.999% network uptime.

However, it is important to understand that while EOP will eliminate unwanted emails – but for a few organizations, with specific requirements, IT administrators can customize EOP policies. And, EOP also learns from end-user reporting and gradually streamlines itself.

Plan of Action.

Tweak
1. Set anti-spam options
  1. Mange your connection filters by adding IP addresses to IP Allow and IP Block lists. Learn more at Configure the Connection Filter Policy and Safe Sender and Blocked Sender Lists FAQ.
  2. Phishing: It's recommended that organizations who are concerned about phishing turn on the SPF record: hard fail and Conditional Sender ID filtering: hard fail options. Learn more at Configure Content Filter Policies and Advanced Spam Filtering Options.
  3. Spoofing: When you set up EOP, you added an SPF (sender policy framework) record for EOP to your DNS records. The SPF record helps prevent spoofing. For more information about how an SPF record prevents spoofing and how you can add your on-premises IP addresses to the SPF record, see Customize an SPF Record to Validate Outbound Email Sent from Your Domain
  4. If you are using the default content filter action, Move message to Junk Email folder, in order to ensure that this action will work with on-premises mailboxes, you must configure two Exchange Transport rules on your on-premises servers to detect spam headers added by EOP. For details, see Ensure that Spam is Routed to Each User's Junk Email Folder.
2. Set Anti-Malware options
  1. Review and fine tune your malware filter settings in the EAC. Learn more at Configure Anti-Malware Policies.
3. Create Transport Rules
  1. Create transport rules (custom filters) to meet business needs.
  2. When you deploy a new rule to production, select one of the test modes first to see the effect of the rules. Once you are satisfied that the rule is working in the manner intended, change the rule mode to Enforce.
  3. When you deploy new rules, consider adding the additional action of Generate Incident Report to monitor the rule in action.
  4. If you are in a hybrid deployment configuration, with part of your organization on-premises and part in Office 365, you may want to create rules that apply to the entire organization in a seamless manner. You can only do this if you use predicates and actions that are available both on-premises and in Office 365. While most predicates and actions are available in both deployments, there is a small set that are specific to a particular deployment scenario. Learn more at Transport Rules.
Report Microsoft – How?
1. For Spam
  1. Submitting Spam and Non-Spam Messages to Microsoft for Analysis
    1. Junk Email Reporting Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook
    2. Use Transport Rules to Block Spam Reporting to Microsoft
      
      Summary
      False Negative?

Use Junk Email Reporting Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook.
Send to junk@office365.microsoft.com.

False Positive?

Release
- Release a Quarantined Message and Optionally Report it as a False Positive (Administrators).
- Release a Quarantined Message and Optionally Report it as a False Positive (End Users).
- If you use the Move message to Junk Email folder action when configuring your content filters (this is the default action), end users can release false positive messages in their Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft OWA Junk Email folder using the Not Junk right-click menu option. In this case, the message is not automatically submitted and must be submitted via email, as described in the following procedure.
Send to not_junk@office365.microsoft.com.

For Malware
1. False Negative? (submit a sample)
  If you have received malware such as a virus that made it past the filter, please save a copy of the email message with its attached virus, go to the Malware Protection Center and submit a sample using the detailed instructions on that page. When submitting the file, in the Product drop-down list select Other, select the I believe this file contains malware option, and in the Comments field specify Exchange Online Protection. After we receive the sample, we'll investigate and if it's determined that the sample contains malware, we'll take corrective action to prevent the virus from going undetected.
2. False Positive? (submit a sample)
  Similar to submitting malware, go to the Malware Protection Center and submit a sample using the detailed instructions on that page. When submitting the file, in the Product drop-down list select Other, select the I believe this file should not be detected as malware option, and in the Comments field specify Exchange Online Protection. After we receive the sample, we'll investigate and if it's determined that the sample is clean, we'll take corrective action to prevent the file from being detected as malware.

Troubleshoot
1. Troubleshoot general issues and trends by using the reports in the Office 365 admin center or the Excel reporting workbook. Find single point specific data about a message by using the message trace tool. Learn more about reporting at Reporting and Message Trace in Exchange Online Protection. Learn more about the message trace tool at Trace an Email Message and Message Trace FAQ.
2. Help and Support for EOP

Anti-Spam and Anti-Malware Dig In

Anti-Spam and Anti-Malware Protection

Anti-Spam Protection

Anti-Spam Protection FAQ

Safe Sender and Blocked Sender Lists FAQ

Manage Safe Sender Lists for Bulk Mailers

Configure the Anti-Spam Policies

Configure the Connection Filter Policy

Configure Content Filter Policies

Advanced Spam Filtering Options

Configure End-User Spam Notifications in Exchange Online

Configure the Outbound Spam Policy

Sample Notification When a Sender is Blocked Sending Outbound Spam

Request That a User, Domain, or IP Address Be Removed from a Block List After Sending Outbound Spam

High Risk Delivery Pool for Outbound Messages

Spam Confidence Levels

Submitting Spam and Non-Spam Messages to Microsoft for Analysis

Junk Email Reporting Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook

Install and Uninstall the Junk Email Reporting Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook

Report Junk Email Messages to Microsoft

Troubleshooting and Support Information

Use Transport Rules to Block Spam Reporting to Microsoft

Anti-Spam Message Headers

Quarantine

Quarantine FAQ

Manage Quarantined Messages

Release a Quarantined Message and Optionally Report it as a False Positive (Administrators)

Release a Quarantined Message and Optionally Report it as a False Positive (End Users)

Anti-Malware Protection

Anti-Malware Protection FAQ

Configure Anti-Malware Policies

Further Research

Usual Topics

Exchange Online Protection

Exchange Online Protection Overview

EOP General FAQ

EOP Queued, Deferred, and Bounced Messages FAQ

Set Up Your EOP Service

Set Up Mail Flow Through Exchange Online Protection

Forefront Online Protection for Exchange (FOPE) Transition Center

Before Your Transition

During Your Transition

After Your Transition

Understand how Licensing Works After Your Transition

FOPE to EOP Transition FAQ

Switch to EOP from Google Postini, the Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, or Cisco IronPort

Use Inbound and Outbound Connectors to Configure Custom Mail Flow

Test Mail Flow with the Remote Connectivity Analyzer

Inbound and Outbound Connector FAQ

Scenario: Outbound Smart Hosting

Scenario: Regulated Partner with Forced TLS

Scenario: Conditional Mail Routing

Best Practices for Configuring EOP

Exchange Online Protection IP Addresses

Recipient, Domain, and Company Management in EOP

Recipients in EOP

Manage Admin Role Group Permissions in EOP

View or Edit Managed Domains in EOP

Use Directory Based Edge Blocking to Reject Messages Sent to Invalid Recipients

Messaging Policy and Compliance in EOP

Anti-Spam and Anti-Malware Protection

Reporting and Message Trace in Exchange Online Protection

Exchange Admin Center in Exchange Online Protection

PowerShell in Exchange Online Protection

Help and Support for EOP

por Saboori Anoosh

Los certificados digitales son un mecanismo clave para determinar la identidad en Internet. La confianza en estos certificados es el resultado de confiar en la entidad emisora, es decir, la Autoridad de certificación (CA). Por desgracia, como resultado de una serie de incidencias relacionadas con la CA en los últimos años, esa confianza se ha visto afectada. Una serie de enfoques para hacer frente a esta menor confianza han surgido en el mundo académico y la industria, incluyendo pines con claves públicas, soluciones de notarios en red como Perspectivas y Convergencia, y hacer pública la lista de certificados emitidos por entidades que requieren CAs para operar un servicio Web simple o protocolos más complejos como Transparencia de certificados (CT).

Problemas con el modelo de confianza de los certificados de hoy

Hoy en día, los exploradores basan las decisiones relacionadas con la confianza en la inclusión de las raíces de confianza en el almacén raíz. Por lo general, la inclusión en el almacén raíz se basa en factores como WebTrust para CA o auditorías ETSI TS 102 042 y el cumplimiento de las directrices de la industria publicado por CA Browser Forum para certificados SSL. Cada proveedor de navegadores puede especificar requisitos técnicos adicionales.

Microsoft requiere que cada CA raíz aporte pruebas de auditoría exitosa de un auditor externo calificado en forma anual. Además, la CA raíz también debe firmar un acuerdo contractual para seguir requisitos técnicos, como el uso de algoritmos criptográficos fuertes.

En todos los navegadores, las raíces de confianza son tratadas de manera efectiva por igual y, en su mayor parte, pueden emitir certificados para cualquier nombre de dominio. Si una CA está en peligro (por ej. DigiNotar) o falla en seguir sus procedimientos operativos establecidos (TurkTrust, ANSSI), a menudo resulta en certificados mal emitidos o fraudulentos que pueden utilizarse en ataques con un intermediario (MITM) para suplantar la identidad de los sitios Web. Las CAs no son infalibles y, cuando surgen problemas, tienen una tarea muy difícil al detectar certificados emitidos de manera fraudulenta o indebidamente de manera rápida o siquiera de detectarlos.

Es difícil detectar los certificados fraudulentos (o de cualquier estado criptográfico fraudulento en general) utilizados en ataques MITM, porque el atacante a menudo borra cualquier evidencia de la emisión de la CA comprometida. Detectar los ataques desde el punto de vista de la víctima también es difícil porque ésta no tiene datos de referencia desde la perspectiva de los usuarios que no están bajo ataque.

La disminución en el costo de la capacidad de procesamiento ha aumentado considerablemente la probabilidad de ataques contra algoritmos criptográficos débiles. En mayo de 2012, se identificó una compleja pieza de malware conocida como "Flame", que esencialmente suplantó el canal de Windows Update aprovechando una CA operada por Microsoft que seguía utilizando MD5 y que había convencido a las víctimas de descargar los archivos binarios como una actualización de seguridad de WU. Este incidente nos ha enseñado que no es suficiente simplemente exigir todas las CAs para dejar de utilizar algoritmos con cifrado débil. También debemos supervisar estrechamente el ecosistema en cuanto a cumplimiento e impulsarlo para cambiar a algoritmos más fuertes al anunciar con anticipación los plazos para bloquear los algoritmos de cifrado débil en los productos de MS.

Visión de Microsoft para mejorar la confiabilidad de los certificados

Microsoft cree que la mejor forma de mejorar la seguridad de los certificados es tener la capacidad de detectar certificados fraudulentos o mal emitidos al azar y con rapidez.

Al igual que el filtro SmartScreen de Internet Explorer que está diseñado para advertir a los usuarios cuando intentan visitar un sitio Web con phishing, creemos que la supervisión de Internet para detectar certificados fraudulentos o indebidamente emitidos debe ser parte integrante de la experiencia de navegación. También creemos que una solución viable para mejorar la seguridad de los certificados no puede añadir más complejidad o más carga sobre los operadores de sitios Web y de los usuarios finales.

En Internet Explorer 11, hemos ampliado la telemetría recopilada por el filtro SmartScreen para que incluya los certificados SSL de sitios Web. Estamos construyendo herramientas para analizar la información en nuestros servidores y crear inteligencia acerca de los certificados emitidos por cada CA raíz de confianza por IE como lo han visto nuestros usuarios en todo el mundo. Nuestro objetivo inicial es mostrar posibles ataques MITM públicamente mediante certificados de confianza que afectan a miles de usuarios de IE11. Con el tiempo, vamos a mejorar la función de detectar ataques contra un número menor de usuarios de IE.

Los siguientes son ejemplos de algunas situaciones en las que podemos detectar certificados emitidos de manera fraudulenta o indebidamente con estos datos, además de detectar CAs que no cumplen los requisitos técnicos definidos en el programa de CA raíz de Microsoft o en las directrices del CA Browser Forum.

1. Un sitio Web tiene un certificado que es capaz de ser utilizado como una CA subordinada. Esto indica que el certificado se ha emitido erróneamente.
2. Si un sitio Web de repente presenta un certificado diferente sólo en una determinada región donde una CA diferente emitió el certificado. Esto puede indicar un posible ataque MITM en un determinado país o región.
3. Hubo un cambio súbito y significativo en los campos que una CA incluye en los certificados que emite. Por ejemplo, la omisión o cambio de ubicación del sistema de respuesta OCSP. Esto indicaría que una CA está comprometida o que no ha seguido los procedimientos operativos estándar.

Cuando se identifican certificados potencialmente emitidos de manera fraudulenta o indebidamente, vamos a trabajar con la CA para identificar la causa. En función de la gravedad y la magnitud del problema, la CA puede revocar el certificado usando un mecanismo de revocación de certificados basado en estándares. Por otra parte, Microsoft también puede utilizar la Lista de certificados de confianza no permitidos para revocar certificados que afectan la seguridad de un amplio conjunto de los clientes de Microsoft.

Tenga en cuenta que está fuera del alcance de este documento la detección de ataques homoglíficos (donde los seres humanos son engañados por similitud visual, tales rnyspace.com y myspace.com) y certificados fraudulentos expedidos como resultado de los ataques internos.

Transparencia vs. Privacidad

Muchos clientes consideran los registros DNS internos como información confidencial que no desean hacer pública. Al mismo tiempo, pueden preferir adquirir certificados de CAs de los servidores públicos en su red interna donde el nombre del servidor es el subdominio de un nombre de dominio público que no aparece en registros DNS públicos. Dado que cada vez más empresas permiten a los empleados traer su propio dispositivo (BYOD) y utilizarlos en las redes internas, creemos que los clientes deben tener la opción de adquirir certificados de una CA pública de los servidores internos sin revelar información de la red interna al público.

Creemos también que el suscriptor de un dominio debería tener la posibilidad de supervisar todos los certificados emitidos por todas las CAs que contengan sus nombres de dominio, una vez que el suscriptor del dominio pruebe el registro del dominio. Esteservicio podría ser similar al Servicio de datos en redes inteligentes (SNDS) administrado por Outlook.com para permitir que los propietarios de espacio de direcciones IP ayuden a luchar contra el correo basura. Además, se puede notificar a los suscriptores de dominios por correo electrónico cuando aparezcan nuevos certificados con sus nombres de dominio en nuestra base de datos. El suscriptor del dominio tendría la opción de reportarnos certificados sospechosos y notificar a la CA para revocar el certificado sospechoso.

La privacidad es un componente básico de la computación confiable. Microsoft se compromete a ayudar a garantizar la privacidad de los usuarios al tiempo que proporciona protección contra sitios Web peligrosos. La telemetría presentada al servicio Web SmartScreen para su evaluación se transmite en formato cifrado de HTTPS. Los datos no se almacenan con la dirección IP de un usuario o cualquier otra información personal identificable. Debido a que la privacidad del usuario es importante en todos los productos y tecnologías de Microsoft, Microsoft ha tomado medidas para ayudar a garantizar que no se retenga ni use ninguna información personalmente identificable para otros fines que no sean mejorar la seguridad en línea. Los datos no se utilizarán para identificar, contactar o enviar publicidad a los usuarios. Puede leer más en nuestra declaración de privacidad.

Conclusión

En conclusión, con IE11, usted puede sentirse más seguro cuando navega al sitio Web con su correo electrónico o banco preferidos. Lo hacemos de una forma transparente desde la perspectiva del usuario y de la CA de confianza recogida a través de telemetría como parte de la actividad de exploración del usuario y la realización de análisis en nuestros servidores backend. Las nuevas actividades relacionadas con certificados para el nombre de un dominio se pueden reportar automáticamente a los suscriptores de dominios, quienes pueden decidir si es necesario o no su revocación. En resumen, Microsoft está trabajando duro para proteger al usuario contra certificados emitidos de manera fraudulenta o indebidamente con una solución que no requiere cambios en las operaciones existentes de sitios Web o usuarios de IE.

Reconocimiento

Muchas gracias a Kelvin Yiu y Anthony Penta por la co-autoría de este blog. Además, gracias a Nelly Porter, Kevin Kane, Glenn Pittaway y Magnus Nystrom por la revisión del mismo.

Original: http://blogs.technet.com/b/pki/archive/2014/02/22/a-novel-method-in-ie11-for-dealing-with-fraudulent-digital-certificates.aspx

With Exchange 2013, we released a new data loss prevention (DLP)capability based on deep content analysis that helps you identify, monitor, and protect sensitive information. We’re continually looking to expand our DLP capabilities, and today we’re bringing two new ones to you—Document Fingerprinting and Policy Tips in Outlook Web App (OWA). Both are being rolled out for Office 365 users right now, and they’ll be part of the Exchange Server 2013 SP1 release for our on-premises users (please stay tuned for more information on SP1).

Review the complete blog at http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2014/02/25/data-loss-prevention-in-exchange-just-got-better.aspx

Read my favorites blogs:

Assigning File Share permissions using Power Shell

Disk Read Error when migrating virtual machine from one cluster to another

Designing a backup less Exchange 2010 Architecture

Appear Offline in Microsoft Office Communicator Server 2007

Microsoft Exchange 2010 Test cases

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Disaster Recovery

Over the past several weeks, my teammates have all contributed to a very valuable series of blog articles entitled “Disaster Recovery Planning for IT Pros”. They’ve covered topics such as how to get started in planning, and Server Virtualization and how it applies to Disaster Recovery, and testing your recovery plans. And they’ve discussed technologies that can help – the tools in your DR tool belt - such as Hyper-V Replica,Windows Azure, and the newer Windows Azure Hyper-V Recovery Manager.

For the full list of excellent articles, CLICK HERE.

“What is an Offline Backup?”

Before I dive in here, I want to be clear about what I’m covering. For the purpose of this discussion, I’m not talking about tapes or off-site storage of backed up data. That’s something more commonly called an archive. Regular storage and archival for recovery from past history is an important (and big) topic in-and-of-itself; perhaps the topic of another blog series for another day. For this article, however, I’m talking about having a copy of some important digital asset that was saved in a way that can safely and fully be recovered as a complete unit, in case the original location is unable to house that asset. (Yeah.. a disaster.) That digital asset could be a server OS installation, a directory, a database, a virtual machine, a desktop image, file storage, an application; really whatever you consider valuable and worth the effort (and cost) to have protected in a way that can be quickly restored if the worst should happen.

“Do I really need an offline copy these days?”

That’s a fair question. With all of the excellent (and many now built-in and included) technologies in modern operating systems such as Windows Server 2012 R2 , it could be argued that you don’t really need to create backups of some items. A virtual machine will start running on another cluster node if the hosting node fails, and the storage supporting that machine could be on always-available file server cluster (Scale-Out File Server), with redundant paths to the storage, and supporting arrays of disks that, if they or the controllers that support them fail, are redundant and easily replaced even while the data continues to be available. (And I haven’t even touched on application availability within a virtual machine or the benefits of virtualization guest-clustering.)

But even with all of this great technology, not all data or files or applications are equally important, and not all are worth the same amount of investment to ensure their availability and – important to our DR topic – their recovery in case of a really bad thing (disaster) happening.

The case for the offline backup will be determined by these factors:

The importance of that data (The RPO and RTO)
The technologies you’re willing to invest in to support continuous availability

“How important is your data?”

As part of the planning process (which Jennelle introduced to you early in our series), you’ll take an inventory of all of your digital assets, and then make a priority list of all of those items. The priority should be in order of MOST critical (i.e. My business can’t function or survive without) , to LEAST critical (no big deal / can rebuild / etc) assets. Now, going on the assumption that at some point your datacenter is turned into a “steaming pile”, you’ll draw a line through your list. Items above the line are critical to your business overcoming the disaster. Items below the line.. not worth the investment in time or effort. (Note: that line will shift up or down as you work through this, as you get into actually figuring out the costs associated with your plan, and importantly as you re-evaluate on a regular schedule your disaster preparedness.)

For each of your inventoried and prioritized digital assets you’re also going to be defining a couple of objectives – the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and the Recovery Time Objective (RTO).

The RPO is the answer to the question: “How much data can I afford to lose if I need to recovery from an offline copy of that data?” In its simplest terms, it decides how often or how frequently I make a new offline copy of that asset. An example in Hyper-V Replication would be the setting that determines how frequently a new set of changes are replicated to the virtual machine’s replica copy. If I’m replicating changes every 5 minutes, then at most I could lose up to 5 minutes of changes should the worst happen, so my RPO is 5 minutes. Is that good enough? Maybe. It depends on what that virtual machine is actually doing for you.

The RTO describes how long you’re willing to wait to bring that digital asset back online. If I’m still doing all of my backups to tape, and then shipping those tapes offsite, it’s going to take a lot longer to recover at a new location than it would, say, to take advantage of another site and/or Windows Azure to host your stored backups. Can I afford to wait a day or two? An hour? A few minutes? How critical that asset is to your business continuity will help you set a desired RTO for that item.

“How much are you willing to spend?”

Again, there are expensive and there are cheaper options for addressing the RPO and RTO, and you’ll ultimately base how much you’re willing to invest by the relative importance of the digital assets in bringing your company back quickly (or as reasonably quickly) from disaster.

“And once I’ve implemented everything, I’m done?”

Of course not. You’ll regularly test your recovery. And less frequently – but still critically – you’ll occasionally re-evaluate your priority list and the methods for meeting your objectives. Of all people, IT Pros know how quickly technology evolves. What seemed like a good, solid plan and a decent implementation of tools last year may not fit as well today now that newer/better/faster/cheaper options are available. And that’s not even considering the shifting nature of your own environment, the servers, the applications, the growth of data.. all need to be re-considered on a regular basis.

In conclusion…

There is definitely a case for offline backup. What and how you do that backup will be defined by you, based on priority, and adjusted by cost. And making those decisions and implementing your plan isn’t the end of the process. You must revisit, re-inventory, re-prioritize, adjust and test your plans on a regular schedule.

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This is post part of a 15 part series on Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity planning by the US based Microsoft IT Evangelists. For the full list of articles in this series see the intro post located here: http://mythoughtsonit.com/2014/02/intro-to-series-disaster-recovery-planning-for-i-t-pros/

The Windows XP standard desktop wallpaper, Bliss.

On April 8, 2014, after more than a decade, Microsoft will end support for Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003. What does this mean? Windows XP users will no longer receive new security updates, nonsecurity hotfixes, free or paid support options, or online technical content updates from Microsoft.

Windows XP was released in October 2001, and its development began in the late 1990s. Office 2003 has had a similar history. Most Microsoft software is supported for 10 years; retiring a product is a normal part of any product lifecycle. Windows XP and Office 2003, however, have been supported for more than a decade, or since “Baywatch” went off the air.

“It’s been a great run for these popular products, but a decade later, times and technology have evolved,” says Jay Paulus, director, Windows marketing, Microsoft. “Windows XP and Office 2003 weren’t designed for the world we live in today, where technology is increasingly mobile and we have services like OneDrive, which give us access to our files wherever we are, not to mention the new generation of devices and the always-on Microsoft Office 365.”

What happens after April 8, 2014?

Computers currently running Windows XP and Office 2003 won’t stop working on April 9, but over time security and performance will be affected: Many newer apps won’t run on Windows XP; new hardware may not support Windows XP; and without critical security updates, PCs may become vulnerable to harmful viruses, spyware and other malicious software that can steal or damage personal information and business data. A modern OS and productivity suite is needed to be fully secure and mobile — with Office 365 you can access all of your documents and tools from virtually any location and nearly any device. In addition, driver support will be discontinued, meaning that new printers, scanners and other devices may not be compatible with PCs running Windows XP and Office 2003.

“After April 8, PCs running Windows XP and Office 2003 should not be considered protected, and it is important that customers move to a supported operating system and productivity suite, like Windows 8 and Office 365, so they can receive regular security updates to help protect their computer from malicious attacks,” Paulus says. “The best way to ensure that you are keeping your personal data safe is to upgrade to a modern Windows PC or tablet.”

It’s common for older operating systems to be more vulnerable to security risks. As Windows XP has watched a decade pass by, cybercriminals and the technology they use have grown more and more advanced. Windows XP is five times as susceptible* to viruses and attacks as Windows 8.1. Windows XP does not have the advanced technology needed to protect against these worsening threats and, after April 8, there will be no additional security updates to help keep users safe. Because of these security and performance risks, Microsoft recommends updating to a modern operating system, such as Windows 8.1. Upgrading to a modern productivity suite like Office 365 will also substantially improve security, with built-in security and compliance features that protect against malware and other cyberattacks.

Make your move into the modern PC era

Not only is a modern operating system a better security choice, it provides the experience you expect today:

The best Windows yet. Windows 8.1 builds on the advancements of Windows 7, delivering a faster and more secure operating system that has been designed with the new mobile lifestyle in mind, from exciting new form factors — scaling from 8-inch tablets, two-in-ones and large-screen all-in-ones — to offering major advancements in battery life to support mobility.
Highly personal. Windows 8.1 was built around you and features an improved and even more customizable Start screen with variable tile sizes and more background designs and colors so that each Windows device will look completely personal to the individual. In addition, customers can choose how to start their Windows experience — at the Start screen or directly in the familiar Windows desktop.
Enhanced search. The new Bing Smart Search gives you the easiest way to find anything you’re looking for. Simply swipe or type from the Start screen and Smart Search will find what you need — whether it’s a document on your PC, a photo album in the cloud, your favorite app or a website.
Wide range of apps and services from the start. Windows 8.1 is the most complete out-of-the-box experience. It offers a range of apps and services that are available from the Start screen, allowing customers to quickly and easily do the things they love on Windows, including video chatting with loved ones via Skype, effortless emailing in the Mail app, watching movies and TV video on Xbox Video, writing a proposal with Office, finding a new recipe with the Bing Food & Drink app, or listening to free streaming music via Xbox Music. And Windows 8.1 comes with the new Internet Explorer 11, which is fast, fluid and the only browser designed from the ground up for touch devices. Internet Explorer 11 brings enhanced touch performance, speed boosts, and synchronized browsing history, favorites and settings across all of your Windows 8 devices.
A beautifully redesigned store. The Windows Store is all about highlighting these great apps and simplifying user engagement — and that’s reflected in the new design. Fresh layouts and categories such as “New & Rising” make it easier for users to stay up to date on the hottest new entries to explore. Personalized recommendations use Bing’s advanced recommendation and relevance system to help users find new favorites. And with Windows 8, apps are updated automatically, so you can feel confident that you have the newest and best version of any app.
Deep cloud integration with OneDrive. Storing your files in the cloud makes it easier than ever to work from virtually anywhere and know that your files are always with you — across devices and locations. With OneDrive Smart Files, you can create, edit, save and share files anywhere, anytime, and your files are always with you, both on and offline, on whatever device you’re on.

A comparison of Windows XP and Windows 8.1 is available here.

A new Office, new devices for a new OS

Switching to Windows 8.1 offers the benefit of upgrading to Office 365 — the next generation of familiar Office productivity applications in the cloud. The subscription-based service offers familiar Office tools and maintains file integrity and design when documents are edited by multiple people, and it provides enterprise-class security and privacy. Office 365 customers will benefit from the following:

Familiarity and more. Familiar Office apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote — are made more powerful with new features, including an intuitive admin console for simple management and control.
Increased flexibility and productivity. Office 365 is in the cloud, so it’s always up to date with the latest version and features. The cloud also allows employees online or offline and in any location to have access to the most up-to-date versions of the files and tools they need on almost any device.
Lower cost. Office 365 is a service, providing low upfront costs and lower ongoing IT costs, with the flexibility to add users and additional services as the business grows.
Increased collaboration. Employees can work on the same document as their co-workers in real time and from virtually anywhere. Shared calendars and easy online conferencing make collaboration second nature.

Businesses can learn more about Office 365 here.

The majority of PCs running Windows XP are not capable of upgrading to Windows 8.1 due to the age of the hardware. However, customers can check here to see if a Windows XP PC meets the system requirements for upgrading to Windows 8.1. If not, the easiest path to Windows 8 is often with a new device; customers can stay up to date on the latest offers on Windows PCs and tablets and get tips on choosing a new PC via the Windows Buying Guide.

“Today’s PCs are faster and more powerful, with quicker startup and shutdown times,” Paulus says. “Not only do these modern devices offer the full power of Windows 8, they also include great services like OneDrive and access to new apps and improved productivity solutions such as Office 365.”

Businesses boost bottom line with modern OS and productivity solutions

Similarly, companies still on Windows XP are missing out on the benefits of using new technology: enhanced security, broad device choice, higher user productivity and lower total cost of ownership. The modern workforce requires tools that allow them to stay productive virtually anytime, anywhere. As a result, businesses have an ever-increasing need to protect data and ensure security, compliance and manageability. Windows 8 and Office 365 are designed to meet these diverse needs, while Windows XP and Office 2003 are not built to address them.

A great example of how Windows 8 is enabling greater productivity and efficiency is Meiji Yasuda. Meiji Yasuda, one of the largest and most well-known insurance companies in Japan, worked with Microsoft Japan and Fujitsu to upgrade 30,000 insurance sales personnel from Windows XP to Windows 8 tablets for use as their mobile sales devices.

Windows 8.1 is the operating system for businesses today. It builds on Windows 7 fundamentals such as increased speed, reliability and security while creating a modern platform designed for a new generation of hardware experiences — from tablets and innovative touch devices to traditional desktops and laptops.

“Windows 8 and Office 365 are great for businesses because they are designed to deliver the experiences employees want and the enterprise-grade capabilities businesses need,” Paulus says. “With an ever-increasing lineup of devices, there is a device to fit the specific needs of any size business. You can choose the device that is right for your company — whether it be a touch device or using a mouse and keyboard — and have a great Windows 8 and Office 365 experience.”

* Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Vol. 15.

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Microsoft News Center Staff

Приветствуем, друзья!

Мы хотим поделиться с вами новыми курсами виртуальной академии Microsoft, которые будут очень полезны для системных администраторов и ИТ-специалистов.

Высокая доступность SQL Server и оптимизация работы баз данных в облаке

Данный курс был создан по материалам конференции Cloud OS Summit и описывает вопросы построение производительных решений на базе SQL Server с высокой доступностью, оптимизированных для размещения в облачном окружении.

Совместимость и перенос приложений Windows

С помощью данного курса ИТ-специалисты и компании могут спланировать и организовать перенос приложений с платформы Windows XP на Windows 7. В рамках данного курса разработчик архитектуры Майкрософт Крис Джексон (Chris Jackson) подробно рассказывает о разных аспектах обеспечения совместимости приложений: планировании, средствах, диагностике и устранении неполадок.

Устранение неполадок, связанных с запуском и потреблением ресурсов Windows 8

Получите подробную техническую информацию от опытных инженеров Майкрософт об устранении неполадок, связанных с замедлением загрузки и потреблением ресурсов Windows 8. В рамках этого курса основное внимание уделяется средствам и рекомендациям по устранению проблем с медленной загрузкой системы. При этом вы получите массу полезных советов и практических рекомендаций. Пройдя этот курс, вы познакомитесь с использованием Xperf и других средств.

Что такое Active Directory

Данный курс содержит начальные сведения о ролях Active Directory в Windows Server. Он предназначен для учащихся начального уровня, желающих ближе познакомиться с ролями сервера Active Directory и их основными функциями.

Подготовка и управление инфраструктурой с помощью System Center 2012 R2

Многие организации имеют весьма разнообразную базовую инфраструктуру. Начиная от разных единиц оборудования и заканчивая разными гипервизорами. В любом случае необходима возможность согласованного управления. Благодаря System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager они получают возможность согласованного управления всеми этими гипервизорами. В рамках данного курса рассматривается развертывание вычислительных, дисковых и сетевых ресурсов, а также создание на основе этих имеющихся ресурсов частного облака. Наконец, этот курс расскажет о повседневных операциях по поддержанию работы инфраструктуры и развертывании служб для конечных пользователей, а также архитектуры, обеспечивающих работу служб.

För att inspirera fler kvinnor att söka sig till it-branschen har Microsoft instiftat priset Årets it-tjej. Ett pris som premierar och visar upp talangfulla tjejer som studerar it.

Vinnaren bjuds in till flera spännande och inspirerande evenemang under året, och får en egen mentor på Microsoft. Dessutom blir hon medlem i ett slutet nätverk av tidigare finalister som nu är verksamma i branschen. Årets it-tjej kommer under året fungera som ambassadör för Microsoft och blir en förebild för andra unga tjejer som är intresserade av it.

Microsoft bjuder in de tre toppkandidaterna till Universum Awards på Berns i Stockholm den 6 mars där en av dem koras till Årets it-tjej 2014.

Dessa är årets finalister till Årets it-tjej 2014.

Amanda Pethrus studerar Informations- och kommunikationsteknologi med inriktning Digital Media Teknologi på Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH). Vid sidan av studierna är Amanda engagerade i ett antal projekt, där teknik och entreprenörskap är gemensamma nämnare. Amanda är Event Manager för studentinkubatorn på KTH, men brinner också för sitt arbete på Womengineer, en organisation som jobbar för att få in fler kvinnor till tekniska utbildningar.

Sofie Lindblom studerar till civilingenjör i Medieteknik på Linköpings Universitet (LiU). Förutom studierna arrangerar Sofie arbetsmarknadsdagar vid universitetet, är studentambassadör för Spotify och bloggar för Womengineer. Sofie vill ändra på stereotyp-bilden av vem en it-tjej är och de förutfattade meningarna om vad en IT-tjej gör.

Sarah Bernelind studerar på Civilingenjörsutbildningen i Datateknik med inriktning mot interaktionsdesign på Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH). Sarah hittade till Datateknik via kompisar hon träffade på en av hennes resor. Vid sidan av studierna drivs Sarah av ett starkt engagemang, hon medverkade bland annat i uppstarten av tjejnämnden på datasektionen. Sarah vill ägna mer tid till att inspirera unga tjejer att satsa på teknik.

Today’s Tip…

Deduplicating (aka optimizing) exposes four different types of ‘jobs’ that can be done.

GarbageCollection – Checks the ‘Chunk Store’ for chunks that are no longer in use and removes them.

Optimization – Optimizes the volume by removing redundant ‘chunks’.

Scrubbing – Used for checking integrity and validate the checksum data. Think of it as a CHKDSK for Dedup.

UnOptimization – This job will probably not be used that often. It puts NTFS back into its legacy or unoptimized state. Normally you would only want to do this if you were moving the volume to a downlevel server.

NOTE: Deduplication at the file system level was first introduced in Windows Server 2012.

Microsoft har ofte opplæring i de forskjellige Microsoft teknologiene. I mars kan vi tilby to webinarer som inneholder Office 365.

1. Meld deg på webinar "Office 365 for nybegynnere" den 5 mars kl. 09-10! Her får du all info du trenger for å sette i gang med å selge Office 365. http://bit.ly/1jSE7yu

2. Bli med på webinar om Hybride miljøer i Office 365 den 13. mars kl. 09-10 og få innblikk i hvilke muligheter det er for å få Office 365 til å spille bra sammen med tjenester i eget datasenter. http://bit.ly/1gkXRVP

Bli med og øk din kunnskap om Office 365 og de mange mulighetene rundt dette nettsky produktet.

When accounts are provisioned in Office 365, there are certain self-service features that end users have access to without administrator interaction. For example, when logging in and selecting Office 365 settings, provisioned accounts have access to software downloads and the change password feature.

When an account has an Exchange license added to it, the provisioning process creates a mailbox for it in the service. This automatically enables Outlook Web App (OWA) for the user. Depending on the license type and the age of the mailbox, the user logon experience may be different. For example, on new accounts when the user logs in they may be taken to the introduction portal page.

For accounts that are aged or possess an Exchange-only license type the Introduction page may be automatically skipped and the user immediately redirected to OWA.

When a user is redirected to OWA they can access their self-service options by selecting the gear in the upper right-hand corner and selecting Office 365 Settings.

One of the administrative features we provide is the ability to disable OWA. This allows the administrator to restrict mailbox access via OWA, while allowing access from other clients – for example, Outlook. When OWA is enabled the feature shows enabled with the Disable action available.

When selecting the disabled option OWA will be unavailable. The mailbox then shows a setting of disabled with the Enable action available.

When a user attempts to access OWA from the Introduction page (selecting Outlook in the action bar) they are prompted with the following error:

X-OWA-Error: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Storage.AccountDisabled.Exception:

When a user has landed on this page and they require access to other services, they must manually return to the Introduction page. The issue arises when the mailbox is aged or has been provisioned with an Exchange-only license as the Introduction page is bypassed and the user is immediately directed to OWA. The user cannot use the back feature in the browser to return to the Introduction page and no option to select Office 365 settings is present on the failure page.

When this situation is present users can be directed to the following URL. This URL will bypass the automatic OWA redirection and allow the initial page presented to be the user.

https://portal.microsoftonline.com/IWGetStarted15.aspx?DisableIWLanding=true

This URL should allow administrators to continue to provide access to self-service options while OWA is in a disabled state.

The #ICreatedThis series celebrates the creations of Microsoft employees and customers.

As a kid, one of my great joys was coming home from school to show my parents something I made. “Look what I did” is a statement whose power we all learn at a very early age. Into adulthood, our careers and personal pursuits are often driven by the need to create. Whether it’s art, invention, science, or philanthropy, it’s great to sit back, reflect on something we’ve done and say “I Created This.”

It is that spirit that we are presenting a series of posts on this blog and through our social media properties called #ICreatedThis. The series celebrates the creations of Microsoft employees and customers.

We’ll introduce you to Microsoft employees that range from building administrators to Xbox game designers to sound effects engineers. You’ll also meet Microsoft customers doing amazing and unexpected things with Fresh Paint, Excel, and Kinect in their lives and careers. And we want your stories, too. What did you create using Microsoft products?

So join us on The Microsoft Facebook page and Twitter account to meet these inspiring creators, and share your creations using the #ICreatedThis hashtag. We can’t wait to see what you’ve made.

Rob Wolf
Microsoft News Center Staff

Each month at Microsoft, we hold a large team meeting known as an ‘All-Hands’ meeting. This is where we get together to have a monthly catch up, celebrate recent successes and often have speakers drop and chat to the team.

This month our meeting was (coincidently) all about careers, we were lucky enough to have Terry Ighararo (motivational speaker, author and IT guy) drop by and present his very inspiring ‘CEO of You’ presentation to the wider team. I tracked Terry down near the end of his presentation to gage his interest in pulling together a short blog post for the IT Professional. Luckily, he was happy to…

By Terry Igharoro, Motivational speaker, author and owner of emindstate

Have you ever considered yourself as an IT entrepreneur and your career as your business?
Hopefully you said yes because the truth is we are all entrepreneurs. The reason most people do not see themselves in this light is because at one point or another they have fallen victim to the world’s greatest deception, which is “Entrepreneurship is reserved only for people that start companies.” Whenever I deliver talks to organisations I usually ask the audience what they think an entrepreneur is and get the answers - a business owner, someone that starts a company, a risk taker and a person that makes money to name but a few responses.

What does the word entrepreneur mean to you?
Before we move on lets get clear on what I mean by entrepreneurship and why we’re all entrepreneurs. For over 15 years I’ve been in the pursuit of business, I have started, failed and succeeded many times. Over the last few years I became ferociously curious about what entrepreneurship really was, and through my investigations I came to the conclusion that entrepreneurship was simply ‘The Power to Create’. We all have the Power to Create and you’ve been exercising this power since the day you were born. Whilst I was researching entrepreneurship I came across a definition by Professor Howard Stevenson of Harvard Business School who said that ‘Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard for resources not currently controlled.’ This really struck me because I realized that all around me everybody including myself was in the pursuit of an opportunity, that opportunity being a better today than yesterday, a better result than the last.

As I look back over the years of my pursuit of opportunity I’m brought back to my year placement at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) where I was working as a 1^st and 2^ndline support in the IT department. At the time I was studying a BSc in Business Information Systems and all I wanted to do was design and build databases. However what I ended up doing was very different in fact I didn’t build a single database but I did learn a heck of a lot about how the systems that I would design would fit into such an organistion and how IT impacts all stakeholders - everyone from the students to the kitchen staff to the Dean. LSHTM had a kick-ass IT department but I could never understand until now why they didn’t want to go an start their own businesses - what I’ve come to realize now is that they were as a team and individuals already running a business and creating massive value for the organization. They were exercising their entrepreneurial capabilities by seeking problems and developing solutions. Every member of the team had to lead and manage the business of themselves in order for the team to succeed in with its objectives.

By the end of my placement I had more clarity about my own career path. I knew that I didn’t want to work within an organiastion but I did want to work with organisations. This is probably the first time that I realized that success is easier when you know where you are going, and here’s what I mean:

If you take out your smart phone and open up the map app, it will tell you exactly where you are right now and if you take a trip 30-mins up the road it will tell you where you are again. In fact you will always be in the correct location because the map app has two functions 1) tell you where you are 2) tell you how to get somewhere, however until you give the map a destination it can’t give you directions. Once you input a destination you’ll be given a route to get there, so even if you take a left when you should have gone right the map will simply recalculate and give you the best route to get to your destination. Your career is no different; you need to have an idea about where you want to go so that you know when you’re on the right path and you can withstand the setbacks, challenges, temporary defeats and diversions that you may have to take. As an IT entrepreneur you have to map out your own career path and create your own opportunities because your career is your business. At the very least you should have a personal vision statementto give you direction. Your vision statement should consist of the following:

Purpose –The reasons that you want to do something; your belief; your cause

Principle –How you will think and act to accomplish your purpose

Practice –The actions that you will take to realize your purpose and principle.

With a well-crafted vision statement you will always be clear on what you should be doing and how everything is contributing to your career goal.

Fear of Failure is a major stumbling block for most of us. It’s the reason why so many people never take any real risks and follow their dreams. The truth is that we’re all professional failures. Before any of us knew how to walk we failed many times to take 2, 3, 5, 10 steps. If we had given into our fear of falling over we would not be walking right now. Failure is a necessary part of growth and success because in failing we are actually learning. Anytime you think you’ve failed at something aim to see the valuable lesson and you’ll find the golden nuggets to help you move forward.

Successful people and the companies that they build are clear on their capabilities, and you should be as well. You should maintain an up to date SWOT analysis of yourself. A SWOT is basically an analysis of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. By being aware of your SWOT you will be able to better align yourself to do tasks that take advantage of your strengths, seize opportunities and reduce the risk of failure. About two years ago I wanted to build a mobile app so I decided that I would teach myself and I ended up getting stuck on a line of code for over 20 hours, that’s when I remembered that coding was never a strong point for me as I was an information architect. It would have been much wiser for me to outsource the development since I had already created the blue print for the app. Entrepreneurs don’t waste their time doing things they are not good at, they make sure they have an understanding of what needs to be done and then they delegate to a specialist.

IT is a business super power and is being recognizing it as the game changer. However the tech is only as good the people that develop and deliver it to the end user. As an IT professional or developer it’s your duty to be entrepreneurial in your approach to how you deliver value. You have to constantly ask yourself: How can this be done better?What are my stakeholder’s needs? How can I simplify? You can’t afford to rest on your laurels especially at the pace that the world is evolving. It’s a must that you position yourself as an IT entrepreneur with a primary objective of creating added value for all of your stakeholders.

If you choose not to engage with the inner entrepreneur it’s inevitable that you will be left behind because we are all competing on a global platform. The whole world is a stage and everybody has ‘The Power to Create’. The barrier to entry has been significantly lowered and now people from all over the word are able to showcase their ideas to a market thirsty for innovation.

Your Career is Your Business so make it your duty to:

Understand the needs of your stakeholders (your employer, employees, colleagues, clients and suppliers).
Go the extra mile, do more than what is required of you. Most people do just about enough to get by, if you go the extra mile you’ll eventually start to stand out as the go-to person.
Create MASSIVE Value. By understanding needs and then going the extra mile you should be able to start delivering massive value to your stakeholders.

Being entrepreneurial isn’t easy but it’s necessary. It’s also necessary that you maintain a motivated and positive mind-set because as we all know life is challenging and the spotlight is on you to deliver value. So here’s what I recommend:

Maintain focus on your purpose, this will help you to keep pressing forward whenever you feel like giving up.
Acknowledge all success. Whether it’s a big victory or small one acknowledge it because success breeds more success so aim to make a note of at least 3 successes everyday.
Get your FREE copy of my book Motivate 140. The book is made up of 140 of my motivational quotes. Each quote is 140 characters or less making each one easy to digest, easy to share and very Twitter friendly. Get yours today.

Get in contact with Terry Igharoro via LinkedIn at terryigharoro.com or emindstate.com. Find out more about Terry’s upcoming book ‘E Mind State: Think Like An Entrepreneur and GROW RICH’ here, or click here to get your free no obligation one-on-one strategy session.

Interested in getting further IT Career advice from the Microsoft TechNet team?
Find out more by checking out Andrew’s Careers advice for the IT Professional post.

On peut maintenant avoir des adresses IP statiques dans Azure. Dispos pour le moment uniquement via powershell / APIs . Il faut mettre à jour powershell pour Azure avec la dernière version.

Les nouvelles fonctions Powershell :

o Get-AzureStaticVNetIP

o Set-AzureStaticVNetIP

o Remove-AzureStaticVNetIP

o Test-AzureStaticVNetIP

Pour plus de détails, voir ce blog post, avec un script Powershell inclus : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/niallsblog/archive/2014/02/23/allocating-static-ip-addresses-within-a-vnet.aspx

Kevin discusses Offline Backup and Recovery in part of the Disaster Recovery Series our group is doing, nice article,

http://blogs.technet.com/b/kevinremde/archive/2014/02/26/the-case-for-the-offline-backup.aspx

Get ready to grunt and shout: Red Bull TV is now available on Xbox 360 in all Xbox Live markets, and a new and improved WWE app for Xbox 360 in the U.S. is also ready for your console, just in time for the launch of the WWE Network, Xbox Wire reports.

Red Bull TV specializes in high-quality programming that takes you behind the scenes and up close and personal with inspirational stories, people and lifestyles in sports, music, and culture. All Red Bull TV films, shows, clips and live programs are available to Xbox Live Gold members on Xbox 360 around the globe at no additional cost.

The WWE Network, announced in January, is a 24/7 streaming service that brings you all your favorite scheduled programming in addition to an on-demand library and access to all 12 WWE live pay-per-view events, including the upcoming WrestleMania 30 in April.

To learn more about these apps, including highlights from Red Bull TV's lineup, head over to Xbox Wire.

You might also be interested in:

· Support for Windows XP and Office 2003 ends April 8, 2014 — what’s next?
· “Dead Rising 3” new downloadable content “Chaos Rising” now ready for your zombie-killing pleasure
· Wonder what the innovators do in their off time? They tinker. In The Garage.

Suzanne Choney
Microsoft News Center Staff

227 Microsoft Team blogs searched, 60 blogs have new articles.
141 new articles found searching from 17-Feb-2014 to 23-Feb-2014

Last week saw the release of OneDrive, offering free cloud storage across Microsoft, iOS and Android devices. Today, Bing and OneDrive are offering 100 GB of OneDrive storage to all new and existing members of Bing rewards for just 100 credits. This level of storage is a $50 value, and is available for redemption at the Bing rewards website. The storage is valid for one year from redemption and must be redeemed by June 30, 2014.

OneDrive integrates with many products you may already use including Xbox One, Windows Phone and OneNote. You can use it to store your photos, videos, and documents so that you can seamlessly connect all the devices you use.

Bing Rewards allows you to earn credits by searching every day with Bing. You can join today by visiting Bing Rewards and following the instructions to create an account.

To learn more details about this offer, head over to the Bing Search Blog.

You might also be interested in:

David Chen
Microsoft News Center Staff

Now Available: EMET 5.0 Technical Preview

At Microsoft, the Internet of Things Powers Smart Buildings

RSA Conference 2014: Conundrums in Cyberspace—Exploiting security in the name of, well, security

Exchange Online Protection – Still Received An Unwanted Email?

Nuevo método en IE11 al tratar con certificados digitales fraudulentos

Data loss prevention in Exchange just got better

The Case for the Offline Backup

Support for Windows XP and Office 2003 ends April 8, 2014 — what’s next?

Свежая подборка новых курсов MVA для системных администраторов за февраль

Высокая доступность SQL Server и оптимизация работы баз данных в облаке

Совместимость и перенос приложений Windows

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