Articles written by: Gordon Cowser

Mar 05, 2021

The New Microsoft Certifications

Wow, haven’t Microsoft hit the ground running with their new role-based training courses and Certifications! They started in the second half of last year with the […]

Nov 01, 2020

Introducing Microsoft Azure Role Based Certifications

At Microsoft Ignite 2018, the company announced significant changes for how they will certify Microsoft skills for Azure. The new paths going forward for Microsoft […]

May 02, 2021

New Azure Data Centres in Canberra Gain ASD Certification

I have been working with, and mentoring Azure training classes for several years now, and some of the perennial questions that keep cropping up are around the issues of […]

Jul 31, 2020

Are Your Systems Safe?

It has been quite a while since my original blog was published (Poodle or Terrier – Are Your Systems Safe back in June 2015) but it is sad to see there are still people […]

Jun 08, 2020

Get Microsoft Certified

You may already know that last year Microsoft streamlined its technical certification pathways. But what does this mean for you? As well as launching a heap […]

May 12, 2021

The Windows 10 Calculator – A Quick Squiz

Okay. This might seem like a dumb question, but who has used the calculator in Windows 10? Of course we all have at one time or another, starting with the basic add, […]

Feb 14, 2021

Is it really that hard to edit a Hosts file?

I have run quite a number of infrastructure courses, including basic networking subjects for many years now, and it still amazes me how often students get stuck trying […]

Jan 20, 2021

An Introduction to Windows Ink Workspace

For a long long time now I have always liked the idea of a smartphone/tablet/ touchscreen device with an interactive pen – it just seems so intuitive to me. And […]

Jan 13, 2021

AD DS vs Azure AD – So what’s the difference?

A common misconception I get quite often in classes is what exactly Azure Directory Services (Azure DS) is, and how it differs from Active Directory Directory […]

Nov 24, 2020

An update on Windows Update

When Windows 10 was released, Microsoft also instituted their new Windows As A Service (WAAS) model. This model did away with the previous “Patch Tuesday” (Patch […]

Nov 11, 2020

Document management in Exchange Server 2016

There has been many new and updated features associated with document management, messaging policies and compliance in Exchange Server 2016. Data Loss Prevention […]

Nov 10, 2020

Geek Time is back baby!

Who would have thought – Microsoft has brought back Geek Time, and it’s great to be a bona fide geek again! Microsoft have just announced (October 2016) their latest […]

Oct 27, 2020

PowerShell Basics series – PowerShell Blog Index

For quite some time now I have been posting a number of blogs around the theme of “PowerShell Basics…” as I believe that it is now critical that any IT professional […]

Oct 18, 2020

Outlook on the Web in Exchange Server 2016

Outlook on the Web (formerly Outlook Web App) – has been greatly updated and optimised for tablets and smartphones, as well as desktop PC’s. Supports all recent versions […]

Oct 07, 2020

Exchange Server 2016 features and updates – Part 2

Please find part 2 of my synopsis of the Exchange Server 2016 features and updates, started in my blog Exchange Server 2016 features and updates . In this follow up […]

Oct 06, 2020

Exchange Server 2016 features and updates – Part 1

September 2016 brought us the release of Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 3. There has been quite a lot of updates, feature upgrades and new features added etc., […]

Aug 25, 2020

PowerShell Basics Series – PowerShell Pipelining

I have been running the PowerShell Basics series of blogs for a while now, and in those blogs I have given a myriad of example commands, but so far I have neglected to […]

Aug 12, 2020

PowerShell Basics Series – Date and Time Manipulations

Have you ever wanted to include the current date and/or time into your PowerShell scripts, maybe to timestamp your log entries, or to time just how long your scripts […]

Jul 22, 2020

PowerShell Basics Series – Manipulating strings

We all should know by now that PowerShell is object oriented (i.e. it primarily retrieves and manipulates .NET Framework objects), but that does not mean that PowerShell […]

Jul 13, 2020

PowerShell Basics Series – Measuring objects (Part 2)

In my recent post “PowerShell Basics – Measuring Objects (Part 1)” I talked about the Measure-Object cmdlet and how useful it was in finding the Count, Sum, Minimum and […]

Jun 07, 2020

PowerShell Basics Series– Measuring Objects (Part 1)

Have you ever wanted a simple and easy way to count the number of words in text file, check the size of files in a directory (in sorted order) or how much memory your […]

May 19, 2021

PowerShell Basics Series – Sorting and Selecting

Once you start using PowerShell, and you start to view the output(s) of your cmdlets, you will quickly find you have a need to sort and filter (select) the results of […]

May 03, 2021

Changing your Default Browser and Other Apps in Windows 10

When Windows 10 was released, it came with 2 browsers, Internet Explorer 11 and Edge, and despite the fact that Edge was the “new kid on the block” so to speak, it has […]

Apr 21, 2021

Tune Your SSD for Windows 10 – Part 2

In my previous post I discussed some of the settings I have made to “optimise” my Surface 3 Pro and the wife’s laptop for Windows 10 on an SSD. Here are the rest of the […]

Apr 14, 2021

Tune Your SSD for Windows 10

Yes I know there are any number of hard disk utilities out there in the marketplace that offer to “optimise” your SSD for you, but I like to see and understand what […]

Mar 21, 2021

More PowerShell Constructs and Loop Management

In a previous article I talked about some of the main PowerShell constructs – the If, Switch and the ForEach constructs. Let’s continue on in that vein, and talk about […]

Mar 10, 2021

PowerShell Profiles – Have it your way (Part 2)

In PowerShell Profiles – Have it Your Way Part 1 I talked about the many PowerShell profile scripts available to you – right out of the box there are 4 for the […]

Feb 19, 2021

PowerShell Profiles – Have it Your Way

Did you know that PowerShell straight out of the box can have not 1 but 8 different profiles (at last count)! These profiles are a feature of the hosting applications – […]

Jan 21, 2021

Your Future in IT – A “Brave New World” for the IT Professional

I was reading an interesting article the other day called “Major Changes Coming from Microsoft Will Impact Your Career” by Jeffrey Schwartz, and it got me thinking about […]

Dec 14, 2020

Windows as a Service – The new Update Model

With the release of Windows 10 back at the end of July 2015, Microsoft also brought in a new update model, so out with the old monthly “Patch Tuesday” modality, and in […]

Sep 07, 2020

OneDrive for Business Gets Some Major Enterprise Updates

OneDrive for Business – along with the rest of Office 365 – is known for Microsoft’s newish business process of delivering new features and updates as soon as they are […]

Aug 04, 2020

The Many Flavours of Windows 10

OK so Windows 10 has finally been officially released, so what are we actually getting? As usual, Microsoft has released not just one Windows 10, but multiple different […]

Jul 17, 2020

Introducing PowerShell for Office 365!

As some of you may have already been aware, Microsoft has just released a website dedicated to PowerShell for Office 365. This website, is aimed at IT Administrators who […]

Jun 30, 2020

Poodle or terrier – are your systems safe?

System security is something that everybody – System admins, end users and everyone in between – should be ever vigilant about – even if you think you are covered, […]

Jun 09, 2020

Managing mobile devices with Windows Intune and SCCM 2012 R2

A lot has changed in the management of your mobile devices in just a short period of time. When the latest main release of SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager) was […]

May 22, 2021

New Hyper-V cmdlets in PowerShell 4.0

Whilst there have some great new features, updates and bug fixes in PowerShell 4.0, I think the new Hyper-V cmdlets added in PS 4.0 have been largely overlooked. […]

Apr 27, 2021

Group Managed Service Accounts in Windows Server 2012

Managed Service Accounts (MSAs) were first introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2 (and Windows 7) and what a great leap forward for administrators they were – finally, we […]

Mar 26, 2021

Directory Integration Tools – One wizard to rule them all!

If you have been following the Active Directory space over the last 12 months or so, particularly in the AD to Azure AD Integration arena, there have been a lot of […]

Feb 24, 2021

Security Compliance Manager Updated

As server administrators, keeping up to date on the latest security patches is a common task, but have you verified that your servers and workstations actually meet […]

Jan 05, 2021

Say goodbye to an old friend – and other end of life facts

Say goodbye to an old friend – Windows Server 2003 – a venerable workhorse if ever there was one – is about to be retired. More specifically, Microsoft’s end of support […]

Dec 11, 2020

The changing face of the Office 365 plans

Since Office 365 was first released in Australia back in 2011, Telstra have had a virtual monopoly on anyone in the small to medium business category (up to approx. […]

Nov 11, 2020

Active Directory Administrative Center (ADAC) Updated

OK all you budding server administrators, have you checked out ADAC (the Active Directory Administrative Center) lately? Now ADAC has been around for a while now, but if […]

Sep 05, 2020

Passwords and alternative credentials in PowerShell

On a number of PowerShell courses, I have been asked by students what is an easy way to use or save alternative (usually Administrator) credentials when remoting into […]

Aug 29, 2020

Setting up your first Office 365 Tenant account

In one of my previous blog articles, I talked about the variety of trial accounts available from Microsoft for anyone who is interested in evaluating various elements of […]

Jul 28, 2020

Get your head into the cloud for free!

I know many of you have been hearing about cloud computing for quite a while now. Some of you have already made the change, and a lot of you want to check out this whole […]

Jul 08, 2020

The “New” Exchange 2013 Edge Transport Server

When Microsoft released Exchange 2013 RTM back in December 2012, without an Edge Transport Server Role, many people thought that that was just Microsoft’s […]

Jun 05, 2021

TechEd 2014 – Australia’s largest Microsoft IT exhibition is evolving!

The word has gone around, and the faithful have been called to the annual technical pilgrimage. Yes, Microsoft TechEd Australia 2014 has opened its doors for bookings by […]

May 20, 2021

Hyper-V – Enhanced

Why can’t I attach my USB stick to my Virtual Machines (VMs)? Why can’t I simply drop a file or retrieve a file to/from my Virtual Machines that don’t have a direct […]

Apr 28, 2021

What’s new in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 SP1

In today’s post, I’ll give a rundown on some of the main features and improvements that I like in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 SP1. Before I start my list […]

Mar 24, 2021

Database indexing issues in Exchange Server 2013

In this blog, I want to change tack a little bit, and talk about an issue that has cropped up a number of times in the Exchange Server 2013 courses, as well as in […]

Feb 25, 2021

Get-Help – the PowerShell Way

Some of you may have noticed in a number of my previous blogs that I am a big fan of PowerShell and you are right. I have followed PowerShell from its early days of […]

Jan 13, 2021

PowerShell’s Remote Control in a Nutshell

Remote control of servers and workstations can be implemented in a number of ways. For example, administrators and help desk support personnel have been using Remote […]

Dec 04, 2020

Quoting in PowerShell for newbies

Quoting in PowerShell and embedding strings of text or evaluating expressions and variables in cmdlets are one of the main things that tend to trip up most newbies. […]

Oct 22, 2020

Dominate Your Exchange 2013 Design

OK. You have completed the 20341 – Core Solutions of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 course and you are now the greatest thing on earth when it comes to configuring and […]

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