SBS2003 Wizard Bug Discovered

Today I discovered a bug in the way that the SBS2003 wizard creates the NTP packet filter for ISA2000. The bug has been submitted to Microsoft for review.

Here it is:

The wizard creates a packet filter for NTP correctly except for one very important setting. It sets up the packet filter to use TCP instead of UDP. TCP and UDP are protocols used to transmit data. If you use the wrong protocol no one will talk to you.

I first noticed the problem when attempting to setup an SBS2003 server to sync with an external time source. This was done for a client that needed the domain time to be as accurate as possible because employees were going to be relying on it to provide accurate in/out time. Upon changing TCP to UDP and then following KB article 816042 the server is now in sync with an external time source.

Technology Briefing

Tomorrow is the first Technology Briefing for HCS. Only current customers are invited. We're dividing up the Metro Detroit area into East and West. This will not only prevent anyone from having to drive across town but will also result in a small event. The Technology Briefing is the first chance that HCS customers have had to meet each other and each event is taking place in the office of one of our clients. We'll be discussing Wireless Technology, new Releases coming from Microsoft, a dramatic shift in how we recommend you tackle viruses, spam and pests, HCS plans for the future, the Microsoft Small Business Council, and HCS project currently underway. The meeting is limited to 1 1/2 hours so it will be action packed.

New Website Coming Soon

We're working hard to create a real website. The current one is simply a billboard. The new website will be functional and hopefully useful to our clients. Based on Sharepoint we are taking our Intranet refining it and adding some new features. Once it's ready you'll be issued a user name and password that will get you into all of the areas pertaining to your company.

The new website is going to have these features:

Technology News Feeds
Help Desk
A Warehouse of helpful How-To's
A Private library of documentation pertaining to your account with us.

Additional feature requests are welcome. We expect the site to be ready in mid-late October.

Introduction: What am I doing here?

Welcome to the Harbor Computer Services blog site. A Blog is a collection of short bits of information written very casually. We'll be using this blog as a place to comment on new technologies, announce security warnings, explain new tech terms, outline quick how-to's, and the like. The best way to keep informed of what is happening here is to become a member and have the system alert you when a new post is made. Each new post will be pretty short and will take only a few moments to read. I hope that you will find this a valuable resource.