• Understanding VMware vSphere: Editions, Licenses, and Pricing for the SMB Market

    Understanding VMware vSphere: Editions, Licenses, and Pricing for the SMB Market

    Following Broadcom’s takeover of VMware, the new owner significantly streamlined the portfolio, primarily selling products through bundles to large companies. However, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often only require vSphere, of which there are now only a few editions available. The Essentials Plus Kit often turns out to be the most expensive due to the…

  • Secure Your Spot: Registration Now Open for Microsoft Windows Server Summit 2024

    Secure Your Spot: Registration Now Open for Microsoft Windows Server Summit 2024

    Learn from experts and get ready for the future of Windows Server. Stay ahead of the curve and learn about the latest innovations and best practices in the world of Windows Server. Join us March 26 to 28, 2024 at the Windows Server Summit for a free virtual event sponsored by Intel®. This technical event…

  • Using a Bash Script to Associate an Elastic IP Address to an EC2 instance

    Using a Bash Script to Associate an Elastic IP Address to an EC2 instance

    In previous articles, I explained how to create an AMI from an EC2 instance and then launch the instance with scripts. Next, you probably want to assign an Elastic IP (IPv4 address) to the instance. In this post, you will learn how to allocate, release, associate, and disassociate an Elastic IP with the AWS CLI…

  • How to Adjust Privacy Settings in Microsoft Edge: Disabling Tab Grouping, Creator Following, Similar Sites, and Shopping Recommendations

    How to Adjust Privacy Settings in Microsoft Edge: Disabling Tab Grouping, Creator Following, Similar Sites, and Shopping Recommendations

    Microsoft regularly uses its platform to push its software and cloud services onto users, often providing little value but bloating the system or siphoning off data. This is applicable to various Edge browser features that are active by default but can be disabled via GPO. Microsoft has long been installing Windows add-ons without user consent.…

  • A Deep Dive into MaxPowerSoft Active Directory Reports

    A Deep Dive into MaxPowerSoft Active Directory Reports

    MaxPowerSoft Active Directory Reports generates various types of reports, eliminating the need to create PowerShell scripts to retrieve Active Directory data manually. In this review, I will elaborate on the key functionalities of the AD Reporting tool that are most beneficial. The AD Reporting Tool’s user interface resembles a Microsoft product, and you can customize…

  • How to Upgrade to Windows 11 on Unsupported Hardware

    How to Upgrade to Windows 11 on Unsupported Hardware

    In this article, we’ll examine the process of updating a Windows 10 computer to Windows 11 23H2 using unsupported hardware. This includes computers that lack a TPM chip and utilize older CPU models. Microsoft’s stipulated minimum requirements for the installation of Windows 11 include a hardware TPM chip, Secure Boot, and a new CPU (released…

  • How to Convert Certificate Format Using OpenSSL

    How to Convert Certificate Format Using OpenSSL

    OpenSSL is an open-source library and a command-line tool that helps admins and developers perform various cryptographic tasks, such as generating key pairs, certificate signing requests (CSR), verifying certificates, encrypting and decrypting data, identifying certificate information, verifying file integrity and much more. In this post, you will learn how to convert TLS certificates into different…

  • How to Verify Digital File Signatures using SigCheck

    How to Verify Digital File Signatures using SigCheck

    SigCheck, part of the SysInternals suite, is a command-line utility offering security features such as verifying the digital file signature and calculating file hashes using multiple hashing algorithms. Distributing digitally signed files to customer computers is a common practice for trusted software publishing companies. The code-signing process uses a certificate from a reliable certification authority…

  • Step-by-step Guide: How to Add an ESXi Host to VMware vCenter Server (vCSA)

    Step-by-step Guide: How to Add an ESXi Host to VMware vCenter Server (vCSA)

    Let’s examine how to incorporate a standalone host with an ESXi hypervisor into the VMware vCenter Server (vCSA) for administrative centralization and utilization in cluster setups. Establish a connection to the vCenter Server by launching the vSphere Client URL in your internet browser (https://vcenter_server_fqdg_or_ip/ui). Choose the datacenter, folder, or cluster where you intend to introduce…

  • Comparing Sudo for Windows vs. Runas and Sudo for Linux

    Comparing Sudo for Windows vs. Runas and Sudo for Linux

    Sudo for Windows has been available since Build 26052 and is currently only accessible through the Windows Insiders program as part of preview builds for Windows 11. At this time, it appears that sudo will not come to Windows Server 2025. In this article, I explain how to use sudo in Windows 11 and compare…