Windows 2012 Seemingly Random ASR Reboots

I have been sitting on this topic for a bit of time as we tried to troubleshoot some seemingly random reboots to a brand new HP Proliant 360p server.

Background:

The project revolved around the installation of our first Windows 2012 server that would be promoted to a domain controller in a Windows 2003 domain.

After purchasing the system and installing the array card, oprical drive, extra memory, and 1.5TB of Sata hard drives we were off and running.

This was our first installation using the new HP Intelligent Provisioning. HP no longer ships Smart Start CD’s, instead Intelligent Provisioning is burned into the system to enable quick configurations. This software can also be a bit tricky, but I will go into that in depth in another post about Server installations.

Uploading documents to SharePoint 2010 is slow!

Recently we have had the need to upload large batches of documents to SharePoint to accessed externally. The issue comes when we use either the drag and drop or explorer functionality to copy documents and folders into SharePoint.

Now I read lots of articles on performance tuning and things you should and should not do. We have a relatively small single server SharePoint 2010 installation that is running on Windows 2008 with SQL 2008.

It should not be having any performance issues!

After doing some digging though I found a very simple solution.

Internet Explorer was the culprit in this case. Since the explorer view or the drag and drop is controlled primarily by IE, then it only makes sense that the settings in IE can affect the file transfer speeds.

1. In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
2. On the Connections tab, click LAN settings.
3. On the Local Area Network (LAN) Settings dialog, under Automatic configuration, clear the Automatically detect settings check box.

Surface Pro won’t connect to Wifi

With the release of the new Microsoft Surface Pro it seems we have entered a new age of computing. There are some slight differences and improvements. I have found there isn’t anything I cannot do on a Surface Pro that I could do on my Windows 8 Desktop.

Out of the box it is very slick. Setup is easy, it’s very intuitive, and FAST!

The one single problem that held me up for a day was trying to get it connected to our business class wireless.

Symptoms:

When trying to connect to a hidden network using either WEP or WPA2 Personal security the wireless will continuously change from disabled to enabled and never connect with credentials.

Installing your first Windows Server 2012 Domain Controller in a 2003 Domain – (Part 1)

For ages I have worked within networks that retain that Windows 2003 is the last Server upgrade they will install. Clinging to the ideal that it will live forever and they will never want for any new features.

Eventually all things must change in one fashion or another. New features, improvements and other efficiencies become a prevalent factor in adding new servers.

So where do we start on this journey into the unknown? The same way we do with any new technology…a leap of faith.

Best Practice, per-requisites and more…