I recently ran into a strange problem which turned out to have an even stranger solution. I was resurrecting an old laptop for use in my model railroading hobby. It had not been used since 2021 when I got a shiny new one for work. I had lost the shift key on one side and the screen was failing. Simple: order the parts; fix the laptop; bring it up-to-date. Which I did but I ran into a wall bring it up-to-date. Like everything I do, it seemed easy but turned into an adventure.
IT Engineering
When Will The Obvious Become Obvious?
The latest compromises via the SolarWinds and Exchange ‘Hafnium’ hacks bubble up an issue I just can’t resist commenting on.
DNS – Myths and Folklore.
Sometimes I run into the same incorrect opinions so often I just want to vent and do a post like this. I don’t know if anyone reads this stuff but it is therapy for me. DNS and Active Directory is one of these subjects. So here we go…….
DNS Design – Centralize or Decentralize?
This post discuses the design and placement of DNS for Active Directory. These design imperatives are my own and not Microsoft’s although they are derived from my experiences for twenty years as an Engineer with Active Directory design starting with the NT5 Server Beta in 1998.
Creating Certificate Requests Using the Certificate Snap-in – Pitfalls and Ladders
There have been a number of changes to the security certificate world lately. Validity periods have shrunk from 3 years to 2 years and now to 1 year. SHA256 has taken over the world. Wildcard certificates have gone from risky to accepted and supported in many scenarios. All this means we are all rekeying and deploying certificate’s a lot more. Just to make it more fun, there are more options involved. So, it is best to make the task as error free and quick as possible.