Philip Elder
@MPECSInc
Followers
2K
Following
1K
Media
802
Statuses
9K
Microsoft MVP '09-Present. We design & build HA solutions for on-premises, data centre, & hybrid. Workload Migration Specialists. Active Directory Security.
Alberta, Canada
Joined August 2011
SECURITY: PHYSICAL ACCESS? DONE! PROTECTING ACTIVE DIRECTORY? NOT SO FAST! TL;DR This is by no means an exhaustive list but thoughts on where to start protecting AD. And, yes, I've mentioned it many times before! ;0) *** Most of us have seen the fob relay attacks and know how
0
0
7
The way we are set up here with our entire service lot on-premises if there is a RemoteApp friendly app in the Linux OS then the point is moot. Business runs on and works in Windows. So, RemoteApp and/or Session Host Desktop for those needs the rest can be off CorpNet. That
I’m starting to see more and more articles like this and fully recommend doing so. All my games work, LibreOffice opens all my files, it isn’t a bitch to install codecs anymore, and all my devices work (even my printer!). This generation of Linux is faquin GOOD.
1
0
0
I went from an iPhone X to an iPhone 15 Max and an Intel Core i7-3970 Extreme with SATA SSD RAID array to AMD ThreadRipper 3960x with bifurcated NVMe. Both were substantial improvements and cost but the joy? Priceless! ;-) I aim for 5 years so build/buy for that.
I’m jealous of people who can go years without upgrading. It makes the upgrade more enjoyable and noticeable than for tech enthusiasts who upgrade yearly or every two years.
0
0
1
BIFURCATION: Best M.2 x4 Card Goes to ASRock Rack RB4M2_G4/G5 The RB4M2_G4 pictured is one of our lab's setups. The RB4M2_G5 just arrived and is not on their site yet. Benefit: 4x M.2 NVMe Drives in one PCIe x16 slot Benefit: Airflow runs over the length of the M.2 Drive
0
0
3
We are losing a sense of who we are. Our humanity. Are we really no more than automatons? Cogs in a machine? Where's the dignity in that "culture"?
In a world where every layoff is blamed on AI “What I would tell you is, you know, the announcement that we made a few days ago was not really financially driven, and it’s not even really AI driven, not right now at least,” Jassy told investors. “It’s culture.”
0
0
2
My goal is to share knowledge, experience, wisdom, and maybe poke the bear once in a while. ;-)
There's more strategy to content creation than meets the eye. Especially when your goals are more than just impressions or views. There's actually A LOT there when you unpack it... There's a lot of fun in the art of content creation but I'm finding I also really enjoy the
1
0
3
It was called "Private Cloud" but that got co-opted by virtually every vendor looking to jump on the marketing push. Then it started biting into public cloud revenue so bubbye. Public Cloud has never been reliable. Old news. Almost 20 years old.
Hear me out: On-Prem Cloud. 🔥🔥🔥
0
0
1
Unreal. Absolutely unreal. Think maybe all y'all at Microsoft should maybe rethink the stupidity of letting go the braintrust eh? We'd be out of business we did crap like this to our clients. Do better. Hire back the passionate ones.
A Windows 11 bug is duplicating Task Manager process when you use the 'X' close button to exit it. This means Task Manager won’t quit on Windows 11, sending each instance to background. It appears that the October 2025 optional update (Build 26200.7019/26100.7019, which
1
0
1
With Europe's current on-premises push leading the way! Memory and NAND availability near nil & costs have jumped 50% to 100%. Orders have entered the "Allocation Zone" meaning our PO better be _big_ to get noticed & fulfilled. OEMs, AI, & DC builders are hurting. 8-O
First us-east-1, now Azure. Can't wait for the push back to on prem.
0
0
0
DNS is a fundamental part of network infrastructure. I am flummoxed as to how the two largest public cloud companies in the form of Microsoft and Amazon could have outages because DNS? Seriously. How?
We’re investigating reports of issues accessing Microsoft 365 services and the Microsoft 365 admin center. More details can be found in the Service Health Dashboard under MO1181369.
1
0
1
HARD LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED Lesson 1: RD Session Host on 2003 R2. Teaching: TSGrinder is a thing do _not_ expose RDP TCP 3389 or UDP 3391 direct. Mitigation: RD Gateway + DUO 2FA/MFA (or other such) * Learned that TSGrinder keeps getting updated for all of the new security
@MPECSInc Nightmare fuel
0
1
5
OUTLOOK (Classic): Clear the AutoComplete List We had a user whose AutoComplete list got corrupted so they were sending e-mail to places they should not have been. 1: Open Outlook 2: File tab --> Options 3: Mail tab 4: Scroll down to Sent Messages and click the Empty
learn.microsoft.com
Describes the Outlook AutoComplete list and provides instructions to manage it.
1
1
3
OUTLOOK (Classic): SETTING THE DEFAULT ZOOM LEVEL FOR THE READING PANE With the eyes getting older the letters need to get larger. 1: Inbox 2: Double click an e-mail 3: Click Zoom on the ribbon 4: Set the preferred level 5: Tick Remember my preference Click on another e-mail
0
0
1
I think their third in a year for IT taking out systems? Maybe .@AlaskaAir needs to bring in an IT consultant that knows how to facilitate an outside of the box perspective without stepping on anyone's toes? OFFER: I just happen to know such an IT Parachute Consultant! ;-)
Every airline gets their turn in the news. It is an immutable fact. Let’s see if they can get running by the morning. My money would be on yes.
0
0
0
This is another aspect to honour that ties into my last point above. https://t.co/3lGKHuJfr3 ^^^ Taking full responsibility for any problems we may create and making it right by starting with an apology. Thank you .@ElonMusk! :0)
My apologies for frustrations with the 𝕏 algorithm. We are working hard to fix the problem.
0
0
0
BUSINESS PEARLS: HONOUR: WHAT IS IT? WHERE IS IT? On the way in this morning I had a conversation with my youngest son (mid-teens) about honour. "Today is a good day to die!" a Klingon war cry. Or, there's always the proverbial "John 3:16" at the backstop in a baseball game!
1
0
2
Things that worked here on-premises during the AWS outage: - Active Directory, DNS, and DHCP - Exchange Server -- Outlook "classic" - SharePoint and SQL Server - File & Print Server -- Word, Excel, Visio - Remote Desktop Session Host & Remote App Servers - Hosting
Things that still worked during the AWS outage: - My Unifi networking and DNS - Starlink and Fiber - My email - My Linux servers - My Windows desktops - My puffy mattress - My PDP-11 and VAX
2
0
22
Starlink e-mail in the Inbox yesterday morning: You've been a long standing customer would you like a free Starlink Mini? Click HERE! Heh ... no-brainer I clicked HERE! :0) Once activated we can leave it in vacation mode for a few dollars per month. Why do we need it? A
0
0
1
NOT HUMBLE OPINION ABOUT CLOUD AND POOR SOFTWARE QUALITY! ;-) TL;DR It is passionate people that build a product to be passionate about! *** Let's be honest, and I mean brutally honest, the public cloud's attempt at Active Directory and Group Policy and automation is a failure.
@MPECSInc Even Microsoft has brought back Resource Domains in Azure, right after trying to kill them. The real issue isn’t architecture, it’s hack-level “just make the shit work” talent.
1
0
7
Car story: I had one of these: 1984 Mazda RX-7 I bought for $100. It had a highly modified 13b Wenkel, a Holley 650 4bbl sat on top of a custom intake, and the exhaust was also a custom built feedback setup. Rounding out the setup was a 5spd standard and the clutch was solid.
0
0
2