Windows Server

27 posts

Remote Desktop Services RD Farm: User gets Temp Profile Workaround

This morning we had a user unable to log on to a Remote Desktop RemoteApp session. The Details button while the logon process was running would reveal black blocks with nothing else. An admin logged on and found that the user’s profile disk (UPD) was not connected and we found […]

Veeam Error: Hyper-V 2012 R2: Writer ‘Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer’ is failed at ‘VSS_WS_FAILED_AT_PREPARE_SNAPSHOT’

This one was like finding a needle in the haystack as the Veeam forums had no mention of the actual fix for the following error: Failed to create snapshot (Microsoft CSV Shadow Copy Provider) (mode: Hyper-V child partition snapshot) Details: Writer ‘Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer’ is failed at ‘VSS_WS_FAILED_AT_PREPARE_SNAPSHOT’. The […]

Cluster, Server, and Client Must Do for Troubleshooting: Enable Windows Firewall Logging

When we set up a greenfield Active Directory Forest and Domain we do the following in Group Policy: New Group Policy Object (GPO) Linked & Enforced at the domain Level: Default Domain Security Policy Enable Remote Desktop Inbound: Allow users to connect remotely by using Remote Desktop Enable the Windows […]

Cluster Finesse – Rename Those Cluster Shared Volume Folders

We’re in a pickle and things are really stressful. Documentation is lacking so who wants to jump into a cluster troubleshooting situation when all we see is: C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1 C:\ClusterStorage\Volume2 ETC ETC In a busy cluster environment the number of CSV folders can be quite large. What we do is once […]

PowerShell Guide: Install Exchange Server 2019 CU11+ Into Server Core

We’ve added the following PowerShell Guide to our KB: PowerShell Guide: Install Exchange 2019 CU11+ into Windows Server Core The above PowerShell allows us to install on Windows Server Core but it also has the setup for breaking out the three components of Exchange into their own partition: D: Exchange […]

Windows Borders Tip: Add Some Colour to the Edges

One of the annoyances when working with multiple windows open is the inability to see their edges out of the box. A simple remedy: Start Settings Colors Choose an accent color Tick Start, taskbar, and action center Tick Title bars and window borders For those of us who are visually […]

Windows Server 2022 and RUFUS

We are setting up a new 2-node AMD EPYC Rome S2D (Storage Spaces Direct) cluster and hit a bit of a snag with the new version of RUFUS that lists the following options when formatting the drive: Windows 11 with TPM/SecureBoot Windows 11 without TPM/SecureBoot Our cluster nodes refused to […]

Printing Woes – Troubles with Drivers and BSODs (Blue Screens of Death)

We’ve been seeing mention of issues with printer and/or MFP drivers being the source of conflict with the current as of this writing Windows 10 20H2 cumulative update. Microsoft has released two out-of-band updates to try and address the problems being seen. What doesn’t seem to be clear is whether […]

Azure Stack HCI/Storage Spaces Direct: Optimal Network Configuration

There are many ways one can go about setting up the networking for an Azure Stack HCI (ASHCI)/Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) cluster. TL;DR Our rule of thumb is to start with four 25GbE ports via two network adapters for multiple nodes requiring switches or even in smaller […]

Lessons Learned: Rack Enclosures: PDUs, PDU Cables, and Cable Ties

This is what one of our Proof-of-Concept (PoC) rack enclosures looked like before we were finished buttoning things up: Four Node Storage Spaces Direct Cluster with Mellanox 40GbE RoCE Fabric In the end, we did a decent job of wrapping and coiling the massive 40GbE cables and the 250V PDU […]