Windows Intune will be releasing an update to the anti-malware agent beginning on 23/4/2014. The service regularly releases anti-malware platform updates to guarantee consistency in protection, performance, robustness, and usability in a malware landscape that is constantly changing.
Since this is an agent update, computers may have to be restarted after the update is applied; in most cases however, a reboot is not required.
I have been receiving questions from a number of customers about the “Heartbleed” vulnerability that has been widely reported by the media. Many customers are concerned as to whether they are at risk by using cloud services from Microsoft and other providers. There a reasonable concern with any IT service when it comes to security. Your provider should be able to answer simple questions about whether a service is vulnerable or not to Heartbleed and what steps are being taken to mitigate the risk.… [Keep reading] “Are My Cloud Services Vulnerable to “Heartbleed”?”
Many customer today find it convenient and useful to store their files in the cloud. There are many companies who provide solutions in this space such as Microsoft (OneDrive), Dropbox, and Google Drive. The benefits of cloud storage are:
1) Easy access to your files from any location and any device
2) Reduces the risk of data loss if your device is lost or stolen
3) Cheap and easy to use
The downside of cloud storage is that it requires that your device is connected to the Internet in order to access your files. … [Keep reading] “Secure File Sharing with OneDrive for Business”
Multi-factor authentication is now available for both administrator and end user accounts. This service is now available Office 365, Windows Intune, and Microsoft Azure.
One of the risks of cloud technologies is that they are accessible from anywhere. This means that any hacker can try to log into your account from anywhere in the world. User names are usually public and widely known (i.e. an email address). The only thing standing between the hacker and your personal data is a password. … [Keep reading] “Protect Your Identity in the Cloud With Multi-Factor Authentication”
Recently I ran into a problem with an existing Remote Desktop Services 2012 R2 at a client site. The error occurred intermittently and after a number of retries, client could establish connection normally making the issue not always reproducible. This blog summarises the process of identifying the symptoms, possible causes, and the resolution steps.
The RDS farm consisted of two connection broker servers and two session hosts. The Remote Desktop Connection Broker is configured in HA mode using two DNS records pointing to two broker nodes for round robin. … [Keep reading] “Remote desktop client randomly unable connect to the RDS farm”
Cloud Computing is a revolutionizing the way IT is delivered. Today, business of all sizes rely on IT to operate effectively. IT is mission critical. Unfortunately, very few enterprises can afford the operational costs required to deliver a highly available IT environment.
The Cloud is changing the economics of delivering IT. Now, businesses of all sizes can subscribe to a highly reliable, elastic, cloud service for a fraction of the cost of running the infrastructure on premises. … [Keep reading] “Why You Should Move Your IT to the Cloud”
I receive a lot of questions on the benefits of upgrading to new versions of Office. Many people feel that they only use very basic features of Office. Therefore, there is no real benefit of upgrading because they will not use any of the new features. It is true that there are some advanced new features in Office 2013 that may not be of interest to the average user, there are some great new capabilities from which EVERY user can benefit.… [Keep reading] “Office Click-To-Run 2.0”
Every software vendor has a support lifecycle for its products. They release a product and then provide updates and support for a period of time. At the end of the support lifecycle, customers need to upgrade to a newer version in order to continue receiving support from the vendor.
Microsoft’s standard software lifecycle is 10 years for most of their products. This includes 5 years of mainstream support and 5 years of extended support. In some cases, Microsoft will continue support for longer than 10 years in response to a particular situation.… [Keep reading] “End of Life for Office 2003”
Earlier this month I attended the Microsoft Exchange Conference in Austin, Texas, which was a fantastic opportunity to find out what is in store for the future of Exchange and to connect with other peers and people from the product groups at Microsoft. There were over 100 sessions meaning MEC was packed with loads of quality information – although it was impossible to get to see it all. It was great to see these sessions presented by the Program Managers, Lead Developers, MVPs and Masters.… [Keep reading] “MEC ‘14”
SQL Server 2014 went RTM a couple of weeks ago and today it hits general availability for on-premises users via MSDN download, and for the cloud, where you can now spin one up as a VM from the Azure image gallery. So let’s saddle up and take Microsoft’s new Pegasi workhorse for a flying gallop through the hybrid cloud. Giddyup!
First to download the SQL Server 2014 Developer Edition (x64) from MSDN. It’s a hefty 2.6 GB image, meaning it’s time to put the new Kloud HQ 100 Mbps fibre link through its paces… four minutes later and we’re done, nice. … [Keep reading] “New backup to Azure feature in SQL Server 2014”