Experimenting with Windows Azure and understanding its runtime environment better

Overview I recently learned how to develop, test and deploy a Windows Azure application. This post describes how created and deployed a sample application. Please note that I am not a member of the Windows Azure team and this post covers my own personal experience with the service. Tools My experimentation was made easier by the … Continue reading Experimenting with Windows Azure and understanding its runtime environment better →

Examining cmdlet parameters in PowerShell V2

One of the interesting things about PowerShell is how easy it is to discover its cmdlets and parameter. In PowerShell itself or in the ISE, you can just start typing a command and then press the <TAB> key complete it. One other interesting bit is how you can use the Get-Command cmdlet to discover all … Continue reading Examining cmdlet parameters in PowerShell V2 →

PowerShell v2: Get-Date vs [System.DateTime]::Now – What’s the difference?

I was trying to figure out why people use the more complicated [System.DateTime]::Now instead of the simple Get-Date.They do the same thing and they both return an object of type "System.DateTime". PS C:> Get-DateThursday, April 08, 2010 10:46:48 PM PS C:> [System.DateTime]::NowThursday, April 08, 2010 10:46:59 PMThe only possible different is the performance. Yes, Get-Date … Continue reading PowerShell v2: Get-Date vs [System.DateTime]::Now – What’s the difference? →

Using PowerShell V2 to gather info on free space on the volumes of your remote file server

Overview In a previous blog post, I have examined some of PowerShell’s control structures and included an example gathered some information from web. If you haven’t seen it, you can check it at http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2010/04/04/experimenting-with-powershell-v2-scripting-variables-and-control-structures.aspx. At the end of that post, I suggested a project to check free spaces on file servers. That’s what this post … Continue reading Using PowerShell V2 to gather info on free space on the volumes of your remote file server →

Experimenting with PowerShell V2 scripting, variables and control structures

Last week I was testing Visual Studio 2010 to write a C# application to export all my blog posts to a file. I described that in some detail at http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2010/03/21/experimenting-with-visual-studio-2010-and-backing-up-the-entries-on-my-blog.aspx I am performing the exact same task, but this time using PowerShell V2. The basic idea is still the same and I am still using … Continue reading Experimenting with PowerShell V2 scripting, variables and control structures →

Comparing RPC, WMI and WinRM for remote server management with PowerShell V2

1. OverviewIn a recent blog post, I was looking at PowerShell V2 remoting in Windows Server 2008 R2. If you haven’t seen it, take a look at http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2010/03/31/experimenting-with-powershell-v2-remoting.aspx. In that post, I mentioned three different ways to gather information about services on a remove server (throughout this post, I use this task as an example … Continue reading Comparing RPC, WMI and WinRM for remote server management with PowerShell V2 →

Why Hyper-V VHD Files Are So Large – And How To Efficiently Copy Them

Interesting blog post covering a tool to copy VHD files.The tool was created by a Microsoft MVP.Details at http://blogs.technet.com/wchomak/archive/2010/03/31/why-hyper-v-vhd-files-are-so-large-and-how-to-efficiently-copy-them.aspx

Experimenting with PowerShell V2 Remoting

As I continue to experiment with PowerShell v2 in Windows Server 2008 R2, I will share some of what I learn here on the blog. This time I am focusing on PowerShell Remoting. If you never played with PowerShell before, please start by reading http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2009/07/25/experimenting-with-powershell.aspx and http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2009/08/09/experimenting-with-powershell-cmdlets-snap-ins-and-modules.aspx Remoting In general, “remoting” relates to the ability … Continue reading Experimenting with PowerShell V2 Remoting →

How DFS Replication (DFS-R) secures its communication

During a recent internal conference, someone asked me about how DFS-R (DFS Replication) in Windows Server 2008 R2 secures its communication. I wasn’t sure at the time, so I talked to a few people that work with DFS-R and spent some time looking into that. It turns out that DFS-R uses security above and beyond … Continue reading How DFS Replication (DFS-R) secures its communication →

Experimenting with Visual Studio 2010 and backing up the entries on my blog

I spent some time today experimenting with the Visual Studio 2010. As I learned a long time ago, the best way to experience a development environment or programming language is to try to implement a solution with it. So I set out to create a small tool to download all my blog posts at http://blogs.technet.com/josebda. … Continue reading Experimenting with Visual Studio 2010 and backing up the entries on my blog →