Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Google Chrome getting business ready

Google now support GPO policy templates for administrators who want to set Chrome policies on their corporate-managed devices.

Download the policy templates zip file here and view the Chromium developer site for additional information.

 

Enter chrome://policy in your Chrome address bar, and Chrome will display all the policies which are currently in effect for that browser.

 

Policies which say “Applies to: Current user” are cloud-based user policies set from the Admin console, or they could be OS-user policies set by Group Policy Objects (GPO). Group policies can be per user or per machine. Device policies will show up as “Device” on Chrome devices, and “Machine” on Windows/Mac/Linux computers.

Machine Policies are applied through Group Policy Objects (GPO) on Windows and through the Admin console for Chrome OS ("Applies to: Device"). These are device-specific and apply to all users, regardless of which browser they’re using or whether or not they’re signed into Chrome or the device.

OS-user policy is applied to Chrome when a user signs into their corporate-managed computer. These policies are set using GPO on Windows. OS-user policies take precedence over cloud policies set for Chrome.

Chrome Profile refers to a user’s Chrome experience when he signs in to the Chrome browser on his machine. These are also called cloud-based user policies in the documentation, and they’re set by an administrator using the Admin console.

 

When there is a conflict between policies set on different scopes, the one that’s higher on the list above takes precedence. Machine Policies take precedence over OS-user and Chrome Profile policies.

https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/187202?hl=en

Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Windows Licences and Azure


Windows Server 2012 r2 brings a consistent licensing model and common features (for enterprises). These options are Standard and Datacenter.

Both Standard and Datacenter editions provide the same set of features; the only thing that differentiates the editions is the number of Virtual Machines (VMs). A Standard edition license will entitle you to run up to two VMs on up to two processors (subject to the VM use rights outlined in the Product Use Rights document). A Datacenter edition license will entitle you to run an unlimited number of VMs on up to two processors.

All features that are available in the Datacenter edition are also available in the Standard edition, including high availability features like failover clustering. The only difference between the two editions will be virtualization rights.

 

Hyper-V and Azure?

Windows Server licenses are not eligible for License Mobility through Software Assurance. The license to run Windows Server in the Azure environment is included in the per-minute cost of your Windows Virtual Machine. Licenses for use of Windows Server on-premises (whether in a VHD or otherwise) must be obtained separately through volume licensing.

Can you, the customer bring their own image that has applications and middleware on top of Windows Server?

Yes, Azure will charge the Windows Server Virtual Machine rate applicable for their instance. Customers are responsible for proper licensing of any application or middleware in the image.

Do you need Windows Server CALs to connect to a Windows Server image that is running in Azure Virtual Machines?

No. Windows Server CALs are not required for accessing Windows Server running in the Azure environment because the access rights are included in the per-minute charge for the Virtual Machines. Use of Windows Server on-premises (whether in a VHD or otherwise) requires obtaining a separate license and is subject to the normal licensing requirements for use of software on-premises.

 

Windows Server 2012 R2 Editions

 

Windows Server Datacenter

Windows Server Standard

Maximum number of users

based on CALs

based on CALs

Maximum SMB Connections

16,777,216

16,777,216

Maximum RRAS Connections

unlimited

unlimited

Maximum IAS Connections

2,147,483,647

2,147,483,647

Maximum number of 64-bit sockets

64

64

Maximum RAM

4 TB

4 TB

Server can join a domain

Yes

Yes

DirectAccess

Yes

Yes

Server Roles

 

Windows Server Datacenter

Windows Server Standard

Active Directory Certificate Services

Yes

Yes

Active Directory Domain Services

Yes

Yes

Active Directory Federation Services

Yes

Yes

AD Lightweight Directory Services

Yes

Yes

AD Rights Management Services

Yes

Yes

Application Server

Yes

Yes

DHCP Server

Yes

Yes

DNS Server

Yes

Yes

Fax Server

Yes

Yes

File Services

Yes

Yes

Hyper-V

Yes

Yes

Network Policy and Access Services

Yes

Yes

Print and Document Services

Yes

Yes

Remote Access

Yes

Yes

Terminal Services Application Sharing

Yes

Yes

Terminal Services Gateway

Yes

Yes

Web Services (IIS)

Yes

Yes

Windows Deployment Services

Yes

Yes

Windows Essentials

Yes

Yes

Windows Media Services support (Streaming Media Services)

See Installation Options documentation

See Installation Options documentation

WINS Server

Yes

Yes

Features

 

Windows Server Datacenter

Windows Server Standard

RODC – read only domain controller

Yes

Yes

Automatic Virtual Machine Activation

Both guest and host

As guest

Best Practices Analyser

Yes

Yes

BranchCache Hosted Server

Yes

Yes

BranchCache P2P Cache

Yes

Yes

Windows Control Panel

Yes

Yes

Distributed File System Replication

Yes

Yes

Data Deduplication

Yes

Yes

ISCSI target support

Yes

Yes

DirectAccess

Yes

Yes

Dynamic Memory (in virtualization)

Yes

Yes

Failover Clustering

Yes

Yes

"Hot" add/replace RAM

Yes

Yes

IPAM (IP Address Management)

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Management Console

Yes

Yes

Minimal Server Interface

Yes

Yes

Network Load Balancing

Yes

Yes

Support for Non-volatile Memory Express

Yes

Yes

Windows PowerShell

Yes

Yes

Server Core mode

Yes

Yes

Server license logging

Yes

Yes

Server Manager

Yes

Yes

SMB Direct and SMB over RDMA

Yes

Yes

Storage Management Service

Yes

Yes

Storage Spaces

Yes

Yes

Volume Activation Services

Yes

Yes

VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) integration

Yes

Yes

Windows Server Update Services

Yes

Yes

 

 

 

These are non-typical enterprise customer editions. Just here for completeness.

 

Windows Server Essentials

Windows Server Foundation

Microsoft Hyper-V Server

Windows Storage Server Standard

Windows Storage Server Workgroup

Maximum number of users

25

15

unlimited

unlimited

50

Maximum SMB Connections

16777216

30

16,777,216

16,777,216

250

Maximum RRAS Connections

50

50

250

50

50

Maximum IAS Connections

50

10

50

50

50

Maximum number of 64-bit sockets

2

1

64

64

1

Maximum RAM

64 GB

32 GB

4 TB

4 TB

32 GB

Server can join a domain

For migration only

For migration only

Yes

Yes

Yes

DirectAccess

See documentation

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Server Roles

 

Windows Server Essentials

Windows Server Foundation

Microsoft Hyper-V Server

Windows Storage Server Standard

Windows Storage Server Workgroup

Active Directory Certificate Services

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Active Directory Domain Services

Required

Yes (optional)

No

No

No

Active Directory Federation Services

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

AD Lightweight Directory Services

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

AD Rights Management Services

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Application Server

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

DHCP Server

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

DNS Server

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

Fax Server

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

File Services

Yes

Yes

Limited features

Yes

Yes

Hyper-V

No

No

Yes

Yes

No

Network Policy and Access Services

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Print and Document Services

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Remote Access

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Terminal Services Application Sharing

No

Yes

No

No

No

Terminal Services Gateway

No

See documentation

No

No

No

Web Services (IIS)

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Windows Deployment Services

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Windows Essentials

Default

No

No

No

No

Windows Media Services support (Streaming Media Services)

Yes

See Installation Options documentation

No

No

No

WINS Server

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

Features

 

Windows Server Essentials

Windows Server Foundation

Microsoft Hyper-V Server

Windows Storage Server Standard

Windows Storage Server Workgroup

RODC – read only domain controller

No

No

No

No

No

Automatic Virtual Machine Activation

As guest

No

No

No

No

Best Practices Analyser

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

BranchCache Hosted Server

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

BranchCache P2P Cache

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Windows Control Panel

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Distributed File System Replication

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Data Deduplication

No

No

No

Yes

No

ISCSI target support

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

DirectAccess

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Dynamic Memory (in virtualization)

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

Failover Clustering

No

No

Yes

Yes

No

"Hot" add/replace RAM

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

IPAM (IP Address Management)

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Management Console

Yes

Yes

Remote only

Yes

Yes

Minimal Server Interface

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Network Load Balancing

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Support for Non-volatile Memory Express

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Windows PowerShell

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Server Core mode

No

No

Yes--the only option

after setup

after setup

Server license logging

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Server Manager

Yes

Yes

From a remote computer

Yes

Yes

SMB Direct and SMB over RDMA

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Storage Management Service

Yes

Yes

Basic file server only

Yes

Yes

Storage Spaces

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Volume Activation Services

No

No

No

No

No

VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) integration

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Windows Server Update Services

Yes

No

No

No

No

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