RunAs Radio

Richard and Greg talk to Brent Ozar about his experiences doing the Certified Masters in SQL Server 2008 program at Microsoft - a three week intensive course that stretches your knowledge in every aspect of SQL Server. The conversation also ranges into SQL Server 2008 R2 and the latest features of SQL Azure. Check out Brent's blog posts at http://www.brentozar.com/sql-mcm/.

Richard and Greg talk to Francois Doremieux while he was in France, talking about Microsoft Communications Server. The discussion digs into how telecommunications is migrating into an integration between instant messaging, email and telephony. While most of discussion focuses on the current version of Microsoft Communications Server, listen for some tidbits of what's coming next.

Richard and Greg talk to Robert Hamilton about Data Loss Prevention (DLP). Modern DLP products actually inspect data as it moves around the network, identifying any information that might be at risk and offering a number of responses to that finding. The conversation also digs into the balance between security and impairing productivity.

Richard and Greg talk to Eriq Neale about mixing Apple Macs and PCs in networks. The conversation digs into how Macs can access file shares in Windows network. There are even options for allowing Macs to log into Active Directory and with some third party tools, some group policy can be pushed onto a Mac. Eriq also talks about printers, virus scanning and the effects of BootCamp and Parallels for Mac.

Richard and Greg talk to Nick Simons about the upcoming Microsoft office Web Apps. Web Apps are lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote available through Sharepoint 2010 or soon via Windows Live SkyDrive. The conversation digs into how users can interoperate between regular Office 2010 and Web Apps as well as the ability to collaborate (simultaneously edit) a document with multiple users using both Office 2010 and Web Apps.

Richard and Greg talk to Amy Babinchuk about Essential Business Server (EBS). Amy digs into the challenges of setting up EBS's Threat Management Gateway with an existing firewall and how Feature Pack 1 addresses those problems. The conversation also delves into the issues around integrating EBS into an existing environment, including using the Microsoft IT Environment Health Scanner to make sure your existing infrastructure is healthy enough to add EBS too successfully. The health scanner is a must have for any environment!

Richard talks to Dave Sobel of Evolve Technologies about how small businesses can benefit from virtualization technology. The conversation ranges over migration to virtualization, how upgrades change with virtualization, the benefits to disaster recovery and more. Virtualization on the desktop is explored as well.

Richard and Greg talk to Robert Crane from the Computer Information Agency in Sydney Australia about Sharepoint 2010. The show digs into the issues that companies face when using Sharepoint without careful governance to manage their data well. Check out Microsoft's Sharepoint Governance Resource Center for more information.

Richard and Greg talk to Kevin Royalty about Home Server. Intended for the home, Microsoft's Home Server works great for small businesses with ten or less workstations, providing shared file services, an awesome backup solution and even remote access! Home Server offers a starting point before Small Business Server, but even after you've moved to SBS, you'll want to keep using Home Server for backup.

Richard and Greg talk to Doug Toombs about more free tools! Doug has a knack for finding great free tools for IT Pros. Here's the list from this show: WinAudit, KeyFinder, MyDefrag, Eraser, PhotoRec, AD Change Reporter and NMap.