CertTutor.net Live! UPDATE—brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine Networkand CertTutor.net.
http://www.certtutor.net
CertTutor.net Live! UPDATE contains the best of CertTutor.net Live!, the Internet's number-one certification discussion board. CertTutor.net Live! UPDATE features interesting posts and shares valuable information about how to make the most of the forums. Enjoy!
THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY
SPONSOR: WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES SURVEY
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES!
Take our short, confidential survey on wireless technologies and you could win an HP 1.3 megapixel digital camera worth $300. Click here!
January 10, 2003—In this issue:
1. COMMENTARY
- Cabling Gotchas
2. NEWS & VIEWS
- "Pirates, Beware!"
- Microsoft Releases Sample Modules
- A New Name for the Next MCSE
3. ANNOUNCEMENT
- The Microsoft Mobility Tour Is Coming Soon to a City Near You!
4. WHAT'S NEW FROM CERTTUTOR LIVE!
- Featured Threads:
- Maximizing Throughput
- Annual Review and Reflections on my IT Career
- Windows 2000 Professional Resource Kit
- Hot Threads:
- So Then, What Are You All Studying at the Mo?
- Problem with Router/Switch Transferring Connections
- What Does the Certification Means to You Now?
5. RESOURCES
- Link of the Week: EventID.Net
- Tip of the Week: Document, Document, Document!
- Question of the Week: 70-215
6. INSTANT POLL
- Results of the Previous Poll: The 2003 Job Market
- New Poll: What's in a Name?
7. NEW AND IMPROVED
- Learn More About the Microsoft .NET Framework
8. CONTACT US
See this section for a list of ways to contact us.
1. COMMENTARY
(contributed by Gregory W. Smith, [email protected])
Perhaps you've spent the past several weeks preparing for your next certification exam, studying complex exam-question situations and the troubleshooting steps that help you choose the correct multiple-choice answer. This approach might serve you well in the exam room, but in the real world, sometimes you need to examine the basics.
During the past few years, I've encountered several unusual troubleshooting situations in which cabling was the ultimate culprit. You might have heard of situations in which network cabling ran up an elevator shaft, where it fell prey to the electrical interference of the elevator's motor. Perhaps you've heard the story about the server that failed once a week, always on the same night. As it turns out, a cleaning person was unplugging the machine to plug in a vacuum.
IT professionals are quick to spread such stories across the Internet when others are to blame. These same professionals are probably less eager to pass on any tales that paint the troubleshooter in a less favorable light.
Perhaps the easiest problem to address is a broken tab at the end of a patch cable. If you have a crimp tool and can match the wires in the correct color order, you can quickly replace a patch cable. Other fixes, such as taping the cable in place, are far from ideal and invite failure—invariably at the worst possible time. Network cables that are too long can also pose problems on your network. Long and insufficiently twisted cables can result in cross-talk interference with network transmissions.
Another common problem can occur when you depend too heavily on network devices to auto-sense connection speeds and duplexes. The connection might not "shake hands" at full speed. In the worst-case scenario, a link that depends on auto-detection can jump between speeds, never connecting properly. If you encounter such problems, be sure to check your hardware's documentation.
Other common cabling troubles result from using crossover cables instead of straight-through cables, and vice versa. Interestingly, some of the latest switches can auto-detect cable configurations, which lets you use either cable type. But to ensure that you avoid problems, you should confirm that you have the right connectors at both ends and use a quality cable tester to check for shorts and breaks in the line.
Cable trouble—particularly when SCSI cables are involved—can also result in strange server behavior. Because the SCSI bus provides a linear connection between the SCSI card and SCSI devices, the cable should be terminated at both ends. This advice seems simple enough, but many devices can act as terminators themselves. Connecting terminated devices in the middle of the cable makes communications to other devices unreliable at best.
Another common SCSI termination problem might occur if you connect a 50-pin device to a newer 68-pin controller. If the device you're connecting is the only device on the SCSI chain, you should have no problem. If, however, the device shares the chain with 68-pin devices, problems might arise. First, the slower device slows performance on the entire chain. Second, the 68-pin-to-50-pin adapter must terminate the 18 unused pins; some adapters can't do this, and as a result, performance suffers for the 68-pin device.
Finally, don't use traditional 40-pin IDE cables to connect your drives to current-generation IDE controllers, even though they do fit. Use the new 80-pin cables, which place a ground wire on every other wire. These new cables keep the signal clean and provide faster, error-free communications. Until next time, stay connected, and keep on running!
2. NEWS & VIEWS
Microsoft has published a Web page to promote the efforts of its new antipiracy manager, Dave Swartzendruber, as he attempts to seek out and shut down sites that violate the nondisclosure agreement (NDA) that all candidates agree to when they take a Microsoft certification exam. Swartzendruber and Microsoft Legal have already seized the assets of one Web site operator. To learn more about the initial success of this program, visit the Microsoft Web site.
http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/mcp/program/piracy.asp
Microsoft has posted sample modules from the Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) on its Training & Certification Web site. Visit the Microsoft Web site for more information.
Microsoft announced a new name (Windows Server 2003) for the next version of its server product this week. As a result, the next MCSE certification will be called the Windows 2003 MCSE. For more information, see the Microsoft Web site.
3. ANNOUNCEMENT
(brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine and its partners)
This outstanding seven-city event will help support your growing mobile workforce. Industry guru Paul Thurrott discusses the coolest mobility hardware solutions around, demonstrates how to increase the productivity of your "road warriors" with the unique features of Windows XP and Office XP, and much more. You could also win an HP iPAQ Pocket PC. There is no charge for these live events, but space is limited so register today! Sponsored by Microsoft, HP, and Toshiba.
4. WHAT'S NEW FROM CERTTUTOR LIVE!
CertTutor.net Live! is the Internet's number-one training and certification discussion board. Each week, CertTutor.net Live! receives thousands of posts about Windows XP, Windows 2000, Cisco Systems, and more. We've selected three of these posts to feature here in CertTutor.net UPDATE. To join in the conversation at CertTutor.net Live!, register at this URL.
FEATURED THREADS
This thread, which touches on a configuration problem that can create some interesting side effects, is a good read for anyone interested in using existing hardware to attain higher network speeds.
CharlesT landed his first job, an IT position, a year ago and now faces his first annual review. How do you think he did? How would you do in his position? And what can you learn from his experience?
http://certtutor.net/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=2&threadid=37189
In this thread, PackisBack wants to know about the value of the "Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Resource Kit" for preparing for Exam 70:210: Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional. CertTutor.net members suggest legal ways that PackisBack can get the resource kit without paying the full retail price.
HOT THREADS
5. RESOURCES
The next time you encounter a cryptic event ID in your logs, see the EventID.Net Web site for some decoding help.
Take the time to document the configuration of the computers you care for, whether you maintain one PC or a bank of cutting-edge servers. Sooner or later, hardware or software will fail. Documentation helps you prepare for the inevitable.
This week's question will help you prepare for Exam 70-215: Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows 2000 Server.
QUESTION
You've set up a test domain at home called MOISTHEBEST. Your Windows 2000 Server, 2KSRV, is running as a domain controller (DC) with Microsoft IIS, DHCP, DNS, WINS, and RRAS installed.
You've also set up a Windows XP Professional Edition workstation as a member of the MOISTHEBEST domain. You have your own user account, mbouillon, which is a member of the Domain Administrators group, and another account, pogo, which has standard user access rights.
You create a site off the C:\inetpub\wwwroot directory called martydev. To access this site, you enter http://2ksrv/martydev/index.html in the browser on your XP Pro machine. You can also log off of your XP Pro session, log back on with the pogo account, and enter the same URL to view the site.
Next, you use Terminal Services remote administration mode to log on to 2KSRV with your mbouillon account. You navigate to the C:\inetpub\wwwroot\martydev directory, right-click the index.html file, click Advanced, and encrypt the file. Finally, you click OK, then click Apply. Which of the following statements are false? (Select all that apply.)
A. If you log on to the XP Pro system with the mbouillon account and attempt to access http://2ksrv/martydev/index.html, the system will ask you for authentication credentials.
B. If you log on to the XP Pro system with the mbouillon account and attempt to access http://2ksrv/martydev/index.html, the system won't ask you for authentication credentials.
C. If you log on to the XP Pro system with the pogo account and attempt to access http://2ksrv/martydev/index.html, the system will ask you for authentication credentials. If you enter the username MOISTHEBEST\POGO and the pogo account password, you can view the Web page.
D. If you log on to the XP Pro system with the pogo account and attempt to access http://2ksrv/martydev/index.html, the system will ask you for authentication credentials. If you enter the username MOISTHEBEST\MBOUILLON and the mbouillon account password, you can view the Web page.
ANSWER
The correct answers are A—If you log on to the XP Pro system with the mbouillon account and attempt to access http://2ksrv/martydev/index.html, the system will ask you for authentication credentials; and C—If you log on to the XP Pro system with the pogo account and attempt to access http://2ksrv/martydev/index.html, the system will ask you for authentication credentials. If you enter the username MOISTHEBEST\POGO and the pogo account password, you can view the Web page. Because your XP Pro machine is a member of the domain, the system won't prompt you for authentication credentials if you're logged on with the account you used to encrypt the Web page. If you log on with another account, the system will prompt you for authentication credentials. If you then enter the encrypting account credentials, you can view the site.
6. INSTANT POLL
The voting has closed in the CertTutor.net nonscientific Instant Poll for the question, "Do you think the IT job market will improve in 2003?" Here are the results from the 203 votes:
- 19%: Definitely - 56%: I certainly hope so - 23%: Probably not - 2%: Definitely not
The next Instant Poll question is, "What do you think of the new name for Microsoft's next server product, Windows Server 2003?" Go to the CertTutor.net home page and submit your vote for a) I love it!, b) It's OK, c) I hate it!, or d) I just wish Microsoft would make up its mind.
7. NEW AND IMPROVED
(contributed by Carolyn Mader, [email protected])
Global Knowledge is now offering courses about the Microsoft .NET Framework. The .NET Fundamentals course gives managers, developers, or project managers an understanding of what the .NET development framework has to offer. The course explains how the .NET Framework compares with previous Microsoft development platforms. The ASP.NET Web Programming course shows you how to create ASP.NET Web applications that use ADO.NET, XML, and Web services technologies. The C# Programming course analyzes the C# language and demonstrates how to construct powerful .NET applications. The VB.NET Programming course looks at the different components of the .NET Framework and focuses on the differences between Visual Basic .NET Visual Basic (VB) 6.0. For pricing, contact Global Knowledge at 919-461-8600 or 800-268-7737.
http://www.globalknowledge.com
8. CONTACT US
Here's how to reach us with your comments and questions:
- ABOUT THE COMMENTARY — [email protected]
- ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER IN GENERAL — [email protected]
(please mention the newsletter name in the subject line)
- TECHNICAL QUESTIONS — http://www.certtutor.net/forums
- QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR CERTTUTOR.NET LIVE! SUBSCRIPTION?
Customer Support — [email protected]
- WANT TO SPONSOR CERTTUTOR.NET LIVE! [email protected]
