iFilters are “translators” that Microsoft products can use to enable search indexing of different file types.

Products that take advantage of iFilters include;
- SharePoint (2010)
- SQL Server (In particular the “SQL Server Full Text Search” service)
- Windows Desktop Search

iFilters;

• Microsoft Office – (Includes; 2010, 2007, 2003, OneNote, Visio, Publisher, ODF and Zip)
• PDF – 64-bit (Adobe), 32-bit (Adobe)
• WordPerfect (32 & 64 bit)
• RTF (Direct link to file, extracted files include instructions)
• Archives (ZIP, CAB, EXE, RAR) (NOT free)
• PDF - FoxIT (64-bit) (NOT free, but the Adobe 64-bit PDF iFilter can be slow)

Useful iFilter Links

A site which, whilst a little outdated, provides some good iFilter information;
http://www.ifilter.org

A “shop” for iFilters, be aware that most commonly required ones are free, above!
http://www.ifiltershop.com

Resource of downloadable iFilters (This site can be quite slow to load)
http://www.citeknet.com

Full SharePoint 2010 iFilter list;
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg405170.aspx

Setup SharePoint 2007 Office 2010 iFilters;
http://techtalkpt.wordpress.com/2008/01/02/ifilters-for-moss-2007/

Clear instructions on setting up an iFilter;
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/sharepoint/PDFiFIlterSharePoint2010.aspx

SharePoint virtualization is an oft discussed area of IT consolidation and thus features a number of opinions and guidelines. One of its most misunderstood areas is database virtualisation.

Whilst it is generally felt that the database foundation of the system should not be virtualized (as with almost all virtualization projects, the inclusion of the database layer is generally not considered best practice) this does not mean it should not be considered as it can provide a number of benefits in specific scenarios.

Database virtualization is always contentious, but it is important to understand why this is the case and consider the effect of changing technologies in this area before discarding it out of hand.

The main factors which cause concern here are the very intensive nature of IO performed by databases which puts great pressure on any disk array used to host such a virtual machine, and their traditional lack of compatibility with many virtualization platform’s tools, specifically around synchronisation of data and backup. As VMWare / Hyper-V, SQL Server, Windows Server and server hardware continue to evolve, particularly with a focus on virtualization/ cloud infrastructures, many of these concerns are, or already have been, addressed.

The fact of the matter is that you loose nothing in terms of tool compatibility in SQL if you virtualize it, you just also do not gain as much benefit from the virtualization in this regard as you would for other server roles / applications  because the virtualization platform’s functionalities may not be compatible with SQL Server. So at worst this is only ever a “no net gain” operation. Secondly, as concerns IO load on the hardware, well this one is pretty simple really, can your setup handle the rigorous IO load required to deliver a swift and timely SQL service to SharePoint? This question is the same regardless of your choice of virtualized or non-virtualized deployment of SQL server. That is to say the main factor here is good capacity planning & testing in your virtual environment, not the ignoring of database virtualization as an option!

I’m sure we all remember the worries surrounding databases over SANs / with iSCSI. Both of which are standard solutions these days.

So don’t panic or “assume yourself” out of seriously reviewing full virtualization of SharePoint 2010 & it’s database(s), it is not only possible, but may indeed provide a boost to not only any current project, but also your ability to evolve your solution / approach going forward.

Additionally, one important option to consider, specially in test or SME setups, is the implementation of a non-virtualized SQL Server whilst virtualizing the rest of the SharePoint 2010 stack, this is even effective in a single server situation. The virtual host can also run a non-virtual instance of SQL Server. Having said that, virtualizing SQL Server can also work well as long as you ensure you dedicate an array of disk / spindles to it & it’s logs directly. In this situation you can achieve a strong level of fault tolerance with a pair of virtual host servers both running separate but synchronised copies of SQL Server natively with the SharePoint roles virtualized “on-top” of this via Hyper-V etc.

Suffice to say that you should not discount SharePoint Database virtualization, but also that there are a wider range of options available than you might first think when reviewing SharePoint 2010 virtualization.

A few additional resources may prove beneficial in your own research into the matter;

- Nice, quick summary of key points around SharePoint 2010 virtualization.

- Superb summary blog from Microsoft on the topic of database virtualization of the SharePoint 2010 database.

- Excellent example / diagram of the use of Hyper-V to achieve SharePoint 2010 virtualization.

- Detailed review of capacity planning SharePoint 2010 virtualizations.

- In-depth look at database virtualization.

- Independent view of some of the benefits of including Hyper-V R2& System Center in your plans.

- Older, but still very informative, piece on SharePoint 2007 virtualization.

- Clear online presentation on the topic.

Another great project by the Beeb that we can all support!

If you, or anyone you know, has an Android mobile phone please grab the, free & safe, “UK 3G Survey” app from the Andoid marketplace and help contribute to the first realistic picture of 3G coverage! That’s it, you need do no more, it’s all automatic once you download and install the app on your phone.

More here; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13874818

Not that I’m advocating anyone use Vista when Windows 7 is so superior in almost every way, but I did just come across a little problem and it’s slightly concealed solution!

It seems that Vista “intelligently” disables the “WLAN AutoConfig” service if it detects your system is not a laptop. This probably seemed like a great idea at the time, and does slightly reduce the attack surface of your system, but also makes it impossible to use wireless until it is re-enabled!

A common symptom of this problem is the message “Windows wireless service is not running on this computer” when trying to use wireless for the first time.

So, if you ever find yourself in this, increasingly rare, situation, just;

1. Click on “Start”, right click “Computer” and then select “Manage”.
(If prompted to “allow” the operation, do so).

2. In Computer Management, under “Services and Applications”, select “Services”.

3. Scroll down to the “WLAN AutoConfig” Service, double-click it and, in the window that opens, set it’s “Startup Type” to “Automatic”, then click “Start” and “OK”.

You should be back up and running!

Microsoft just bought Skype.

Well, just when you think things are calming down IT wise something comes along and blows you out of your chair.

The possibilities for this one are HUGE and really show how important coms is to Microsoft. They just went from VoIP non-players to the new market leader in one swoop!

Integration with Lync, Windows Live, XBox Live & Windows Mobile 7 is sure to follow…

Yesterday I hit a reasonably strange problem, which took me quite some time to resolve, long enough, in fact, to prompt me to post this in the hope that anyone else encountering can avoid the circuitous route I took!

Symptom:

Windows 7 system unable to browse local domain resources (file shares etc) but access to Internet was fine. Was able to ping all local servers and DNS functioned correctly. Decided to remove system from domain and re-add. Upon attempt to re-add process was as normal, including request for domain administrator username & password, but despite using correct credentials, domain join would fail with message:

“The following error has occured when trying to join the “xyz” domain:
network path not found.”

Tried (try in order below as one of these may fix for you);
i) Checked that other Windows 7 systems could leave & rejoin domain. (They could, so it was clearly a machine specific issue)
ii) Reboot, followed by Disabling & Enabling NIC, followed by reboot.
iii) Check that current network is set to “Work” type /category.
iv) Disabling Windows Firewall (or other firewalls) temporarily.
v) Using another NIC (in this case WiFi).
vi) “Removing” NIC from Device Manager & rebooting.
vii) Removing system’s old account from Active Directory “Computers” container.
viii) Reinstalling TCP/IP stack. (netsh int ip reset in command prompt as admin)
ix) Remove & re-add “Client for Microsoft Networks” Client.

None of these fixed it for me and so was just considering a re-install, however I first tried the following, which did work!

Solution:

Remove ALL “Clients” / “Services” / “Protocols” from NIC (except IP4 & IP6 which are non-removable and would have been fixed by step “viii”, above, if they were the problem), reboot and re-add them. (this included, in our case, a “minimum working set” of; “Client for Microsoft Networks”, “Link-Layer Topology Discoverer Responder” & “Link-Layer Topology Discoverer Mapper I/O Driver”). Following their removal, rebooting & re-addition the system was able to join to domain as normal!
Hope this helps someone avoid my pain and as ever, feedback is appreciated on additional options / extra steps etc!

Loving “wordsquared.com“, and recommend everyone tries it at least once, very accessible and it’s such a simple, but clever idea.

It’s similar to Scrabble, except you play against everyone else in the world at once, on an infinitely growable board!

It’s hard to fully explain, but try it and I think you’ll be impressed!

(For the geeks amongst us it’s one of the first, large, applications to be created using “Node”, a new web application development platform, which specialises in realtime communications & rendering, which is how I stumbled across it)

When using Windows 7, if you receive a message in the bottom right of the desktop stating that “You are logged into a Temporary Profile.” this indicates that your user profile is corrupt. It also means that the system will not retain any profile changes / files created by this user until the problem is fixed. But never fear! There is a, relatively, simple solution;

1. Logout & login as a different / your “backup” user.
(If you don’t have a backup account please make one! You should always have one! It should be an “administrator” level account with a strong password)

2. Navigate to the “C:\Users” and backup / copy the folder with your problematic user profile’s name.
(If it does not exist then skip this step)

3. Delete the TEMP folder in this same directory.

4. Open “Control Panel” -> User Accounts ->User Accounts -> Manage User Accounts” & delete the problematic account.

5. Open “regedit” (via the “Search / Run” box of the start menu). & navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList”, check each sub folder to find which one belongs to the problematic user profile (via inspection fo the “ProfileImagePath” key) and delete the relevant folder.

6. Restart your system.

7. Login as your backup user again & re-create the problematic user from scratch.

8. Restart your system and login as your new version of your, now fully functioning, user!

(NOTE: You can now look through the “backed-up” copy of your old user profile folder, if you were able to make one in step 2, and copy anything you want to keep from it onto your new “clean” user profile. Remember to look through it with hidden files & folders visible; Organise -> Folder & search options -> View -> Show hidden files, folders & drives ).