Windows shopping for an enterprise admin

With the year coming to a close and many post-black-Friday deals trying to entice one and all toward spending a little before the close of this decade, there are a few visions of technology (or tax write-offs) dancing in my head. A netbook, you say? Or perhaps a cool gaming system? Maybe, but those aren’t the kind of items that will appeal to admins who are serious enough about their work that they want to take it home with them. So, come window shopping (or, more appropriately,  Windows shopping) and see if anything strikes a chord for yourself or someone you are looking to bring a smile to.

A new server for home, with all the trimmings It all begins with a new server — not just any server, but a 64-bit server that can handle Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V (meaning it has to have hardware-assisted virtualization, which shouldn’t be a problem these days), with quad-core processing and 16GB of RAM. Perhaps that is a bit overkill for my home, so the Dell PowerEdge T110 ($399 and up) is a nice starting point with room to grow.

[ Indulge your gadgetry desires with one of our recommendations from InfoWorld’s 2009 geek gadget gift guide. | Go retro with our top vintage tech gift suggestions. ]

What will I put on my new PowerEdge? For starters, I’m going to be setting up Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V. From a lab environment (or in this case, a home lab environment), nothing beats the price and ease of configuration that Hyper-V provides. Once Windows Server 2008 R2 is installed, I simply have to enable the role through Server Manager; the hypervisor slides into place and lifts the parent OS up off the bare metal, and I’m all set for child VMs.

[ Learn more about Server 2008 R2 in J. Peter Bruzzese’s blog “Don’t upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2 until you read this” and learn more about Hyper-V in the blog “The hypervisor war rages on: A look at the new Hyper-V R2.” ]

My first child VM will be a domain controller (DC). I could make my parent OS the DC, but it won’t work as easily with my backup/recovery plan (to be explained momentarily). Thus, I’ll put a DC in play first. Then my second child domain will be my Exchange 2010 Server. With the new features 2010 has to offer, I’m going to run it in-house. Even better, I’m going to set up unified messaging and let Exchange handle my incoming calls and voice mails so that everyone at my home has a universal inbox. How’s that for a gift that keeps on giving?

Setting up unified messaging will require some form of IP gateway, which handles the incoming line and passes calls through to phones. If nobody answers, it should enable the Exchange Unified Messaging server to pick up and allow the person to leave a voice mail. I can also call in and retrieve my messages, schedule, contacts, and so forth, as well as make adjustments through Outlook Voice Access (OVA). In my case, with a home environment, I’m going to use the AudioCodes Media Gateway, and I need just two FXS ports because I only have two phones to worry about. You can go with four or more depending on your budget.

[Learn more about Exchange 2010 in J. Peter Bruzzese’s blog “Now’s the time to get serious about Exchange 2010” and the blog “Deploying Unified Messaging without going insane.” ]

You might be thinking, “I read somewhere that unified messaging is not a supported Exchange role even in Exchange 2010 with virtualization.” That is correct — it’s not supported. But it still quite functional, especially under a low workload, as this unified messaging server will be. I’ve seen it working in a full production office on a virtual server with no complaints from the admin, so I’m not worried.

What next? Another child VM running SharePoint 2010. Even in beta form, this new version of SharePoint has me in eager expectation of the final release. After working with SharePoint 2007 and learning to love it, SharePoint 2010 has every adjustment and new feature I’ve been waiting for — and I want one at home to play with.

Next up? System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM). Although it’s not nearly as powerful as other backup/recovery or archive products (such as Mimosa NearPoint), I’m impressed that the easy-to-use DPM allows me to quickly back up all my child VMs. I can go with a host- or guest-level backup; I’m still debating which would be better. I believe the host-level backup is the more cost-effective solution and provides great flexibility, especially if your VMs are VSS-capable; that’s the case with the ones I’ll be creating using Windows Server 2008 R2 for the VM systems. The problem with a host-level backup is that while it allows me to back up my VMs and restore them in their entirety, I cannot navigate to and restore individual elements. To do so, I would need to use a guest-level backup. Perhaps I’ll incorporate a bit of both.

Now you may be wondering how in the world anyone could pay for all this primo software. That leads me to the ultimate gift for an enterprise admin: a TechNet subscription. For $350 a year, you get full-version software, support, tools, and so forth that will bring a smile to any admin’s face.

A wishlist beyond Windows Of course, even Windows admins want things that aren’t Windows servers. Here are some additional desired items:

• An Android 2.0 phone: I never bought into the iPhone since it wasn’t enterprise-ready upon release and wouldn’t sync with Exchange, thus souring my take on it even after the next version was able to connect. I’ve never liked Windows Mobile. The BlackBerry is a great product, but as an Exchange admin, I don’t like the idea of needing a separate BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The Droid phone is new and offers basic Exchange support; I haven’t had a chance to play with one yet, so I’d like to see what it can do.
• A Jitterbug: I have a retro side that wants another phone that sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Android and boasts large number buttons, no camera, no games, no texting, and a dial tone. I know this phone is marketed to older folks and falls in line with the Clapper and those “I’ve fallen and can’t get up!” devices, but I want one. At $150 for the phone and monthly plans as low as $15, I believe a Jitterbug will look great.
• Last but not least, all enterprise admins need to get in some good exercise. I like to run (and I’ll be doing a half-marathon at Disney World in January), but running can lead to some nasty injuries — especially as we get older. After reading “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall, I’m more eager to keep running. One suggestion is that we have so many injuries because we use such fancy running footware and that running barefoot would be better. I’m a believer, but I don’t like the idea of stepping on glass. So, another great gift for the person who has everything else is a pair of Vibram Five Finger running shoes — I use the word “shoe” lightly.

There you have it: my current list of awesome gifts — which I mostly plan on giving myself in the months ahead. They’re everything I need to keep me sharp for work, allow me to investigate new technology, give me boasting privileges among my peers, improve my gaming (if the prices come down on the curved monitor), keep me running injury-free, and prove myself too cool for the phone wars with a supersleek Jitterbug in one hand and a Droid in my back pocket, of course — I’m not a total dork.

What might you add to a list of this sort?

This article, “Windows shopping for an enterprise admin,” originally appeared at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments on Windows Server and Microsoft at InfoWorld.com.