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One of the great new tools in Windows Vista and Windows 7 is the ICACLS command line command. While I’m very annoyed with Microsoft for not supporting the old CACLS syntax and adding the features of ICACLS (all our old CACLS-based batch files break), I have to admit that a few capabilities are very welcome. One such capability is the function used to export and import ACLs from and into objects.

For example, imagine you are about to make several permission changes to a directory structure. You want to ensure you can revert to the current permission structure if you make mistakes. ICACLS allows you to quickly export the permissions for an entire directory structure with the /save switch.

The ICACLS syntax for ACL (or permission) export is as follows:

ICACLS folder_name\* /save filename.acl /T

The /T switch is used to indicate that directory recursion should be used. The /save switch is used to export the results. For example, to save the permissions in a directory named HORSES on the C: drive and all subdirectories and folders, execute the following command:

ICACLS C:\HORSES\* /save horses.acl /T

The file, horses.acl, will contain the permissions in text format. Later, you can import the permissions with the /restore switch if required. To restore the permissions, execute the following ICACLS syntax:

ICACLS C:\HORSES /restore horses.acl

Of course, the ICACLS command provides syntax for permission management as well as backing up and restoring the permissions; however, this new feature is one of the most important to know about. Hopefully, you find this information useful.

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In order to get the support for non-HAV Windows Virtual PC, you will need to download and install Windows Virtual PC itself and then download and install the update that removes the requirement for HAV. Both can be found here at Microsoft's website.

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In the course, we'll be covering SQL Server installation, administration, security, optimization and troubleshooting. Each student will have a computer to work on and about half of the activities will be hands-on labs. We cram a lot of information into the two days so many of the activities are demo only so that I can show you as much as possible in our time together. For more information on this SQL Server training class and to see when and if it's coming to your area, ceck out the ASPE page here: http://www.aspe-it.com/courses/9580/.

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The wavelength is an important factor in wireless networking. The wavelength dictates the optimum size of the receiving antenna and it determines how the RF wave will interact with its environment. For example, an RF wave will react differently when it strikes an object that is large in comparison to the wavelength than when it strikes an object that is small in comparison to the wavelength.

The wavelength and the frequency are interrelated. For a given medium, if you know the wavelength, you can calculate the frequency and if you know the frequency, you can calculate the wavelength. The wavelength is directly related to the frequency and the speed of light. If you know the frequency, you can calculate the wavelength. If you know the wavelength, you can calculate the frequency.

One of the great discoveries in the history of electromagnetism is that electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light. Since we know the speed of light to be 299,792,458 meters per second (or the simple 300,000,00 meters per second, if you prefer), we also know that this is the speed at which electromagnetic waves travel in a vacuum. This was theorized by James Clerk Maxwell and proved through experimentation by Heinrich Hertz.

You are probably familiar with measurements like 100 megahertz and 3.6 gigahertz. These measurements refer to the number of cycles per second. When we say that the access point is using the 2.45 GHz (gigahertz) spectrum, we say it is using the spectrum that uses a wave cycle rate of 2,450,000,000 times per second. This measurement is named for Heinrich Hertz and his research in electricity and magnetism. A kilohertz is 1,000 hertz or cycles per second. A megahertz is 1,000,000 hertz and a gigahertz is 1,000,000,000 hertz. A terahertz is one trillion hertz, but these frequencies are not commonly found in today’s wireless communications.

Since we know that RF waves travel at the speed of light we can calculate the frequency when we know the wavelength or the wavelength when we know the frequency. The following formula can be used to calculate the wavelength in meters when the frequency is known:

w = 299,792,458 / f

Where w is the wavelength in meters and f is the frequency in hertz and the medium is a vacuum. Therefore, the 2.45 GHz spectrum would have a wavelength that is calculated with the following formula:

w = 299,792,458 / 2,450,000,000

The result is .123 meters or approximately 12.3 centimeters in length. This translates to about 4.8 inches. To calculate inches from centimeters, just multiple the number of centimeters times 0.3937. The formal character used to represent a wavelength is the Greek lambda (λ), and the symbol for the speed of light is c. Therefore, the formal representation of the previous formula would be:

λ = c / f

The calculation for frequency is just the opposite. You will divide the speed of light by the wavelength in meters to discover the frequency. Keep in mind that the numbers we’ve been using have been rounded and that impacts the results of the following formula; however, the results are close enough to recognize that a wavelength of .123 meters would indicate a RF wave in the 2.45 GHz spectrum:

f = 299,792,458 / .123
f = 2437337056.91

Due to the complex measurement number that is the speed of light, this number is often rounded to 300 billion meters per second. While this will change formula results, the findings are close enough for understanding the behavior of RF waves; however, engineers developing RF systems must use more precise measurements. Additionally, formulas like the following simplify matters:

wavelength in inches (λ) = 11.811 / f (in GHz)
wavelength in centimeters (λ) = 20 / f (in GHz)

Because wireless networks use such high frequency ranges, formulas like this make the calculations easier.
 

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I want to answer a question I receive a lot in this post. The question is this: Why do you write about so many different technologies? The easy answer is that I love technology. However, the deeper answer comes from my philosophy of technology utilization in organizations. This philosophy can be summed up as Information Business Technology. We don’t want to store, transfer, manage and destroy information just for the sake of information. We don’t want to implement, manage and upgrade technology just for the sake of technology. The pivot point that brings these two factors together is the business (or organization if you’re in a non-profit or government institution). The point is simple we manage information and technology for the benefit of the business.

Since I am an Information Business Technology professional, I make sure I know about technologies impacting the three key areas of information utilization: information storage (databases), information transfer (networks) and information processing (clients and applications). I am an expert in Microsoft’s SQL Server storage technology and in wireless networking transfer technologies. I am also an expert in Windows desktop technologies and applications. These are the primary technologies on which I’ve chosen to focus. For this reason, I write about SQL Server, wireless networking and other related networking technologies, and Microsoft desktop and server operating systems; however, I never lose sight of my purpose Information > Business > Technology.

With the upcoming release of Windows 7, I’ve been thinking a lot about this question: How does Windows 7 improve on information processing within my philosophy of Information Business Technology? My intent is not to fully answer this question here, but to point out how my philosophy impacts my thinking and decisions related to technology investments. First, we can all agree that – on the same hardware – Windows 7 is faster than Vista. This is a big improvement for users of Vista, but it does nothing for users of Windows XP. If my users are on Windows XP with no driving business need to move to Vista (losing support, incompatible applications – the rare app that works with Vista but not XP, etc.), the fact that Windows 7 performs better than Vista is of no real value to them.

Without burdening you with the complete discussion of Windows 7 (which I do believe has a number of excellent business-value benefits over XP), suffice it to say that we must ensure business value comes from our technology investments. Thanks for the questions. It’s always a good reminder for me too.

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The one feature that I feel is most appealing is XP mode. The press is covering XP mode as if it is a band-aid and something that is less than beneficial in the long run (see NetworkWorld, June 1, 2009); however, I see it as an essential component of the new operating system. The biggest complaints about Vista have been in two categories: performance and compatibility. Windows 7 seems to be performing better than Vista on like hardware, but I’m not going into that in this post. In my opinion, Windows 7 is better than Windows Vista even if it performs the same. The XP mode makes it worth it.

I know that some will say you could use either Terminal Services on Windows 2003 servers or Virtual PC on Vista to run XP apps that are not otherwise compatible; however, those solutions are much more costly (Terminal Services) or confusing to the users (Virtual PC). With XP mode the applications run as apparent local applications but are indeed running in an instance of Windows XP. Yes, there will be more work for the IT group, but the goal is seamless operations for the user. (The "more work" for IT would be in updating and maintaining the "XP instance" as well as the Windows 7 installation.)

I think it’s worth it. For me, yes I’d rather use Virtual PC or VMware Workstation, but for my users I’d much rather them have the simpler tool that XP mode will provide. Time will tell, but I am one techie who likes the looks of Windows 7 so far.

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Here’s the problem: How do we deal with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act), which places the responsibility on the organization to ensure they are in compliance? And HIPAA is just one concern; we must additionally be concerned about PCI-DSS (a payment card processing guideline) compliance and other more niche regulations as well. Will Microsoft reveal how they are communicating with the machine and the machine with SCODM so that we can be sure we are in compliance? I’m not sure, but these things must be considered.

The service may be beneficial to small and medium-sized businesses, but large organizations will likely choke on the thought of losing control. I think it was stated well by Jake Muszynski, an analyst at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, when he said, “I don’t know that I want to store data about my machines and their vulnerabilities in the cloud.”

Is this just an issue for techies? Well, sort of. It also acts as a reminder for any business owner. Is your data secured? Have you thought about it lately? And this brings me to an important tip: watch what you blog and tweet about. You can reveal sensitive information that will make it easier to penetrate your network. This is the very issue of concern to Mr. Muszynski; he did not want information about his system configurations floating around in the cloud.

I teach computer security classes and one course I teach is on the topic of ethical hacking. Now, for those uninitiated, ethical hacking is the process of discovering vulnerabilities in networks and systems with permission. Of course, unethical hacking is doing the same without the permission. In these courses, one of the methods that students learn about is information gathering. One of the primary tools we use for information gathering is blogs and tweets by company employees. For example, imagine a company employee has the following set of tweets:

• Upgrading my computer to Windows Vista
• Planned to install service pack 1, but ran out of time… will finish tomorrow

Now, this is a very simple example, but I now know that a Vista machine without the most recent updates may be on the network. I’ve seen far worse blogs and tweets, but I won’t post them here because you can still search and find them through Google and other engines. The point is simple; Microsoft has reminded us about the dangers of online content by announcing a new online service. The service may be valuable to many small and medium-sized businesses, but – regardless of size – we must be very careful about the content we place online through managed services and even social networks. I love social networking, but we must use caution when creating content.

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