Ramblings on IT and Security
Running a GPU-accelerated remote desktop on a Linux virtual machine (VM) in Microsoft Hyper-V can significantly improve performance for graphical applications, GPU intensive workloads, and even remote testing. However, Hyper-V does not support full PCI passthrough like VMware or Proxmox. Instead, it provides Discrete Device Assignment (DDA), which allows passing a GPU directly to a VM.
Continue readingDid you know that Windows has had a built-in capability to function as a SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) system for years, provided you stay within the Windows ecosystem? This powerful feature, known as Windows Event Forwarding (WEF), allows you to centralize event logs from multiple Windows machines, giving you a comprehensive view of your network’s activities.
Continue readingA long long time ago, in a galaxy far far……. wait, that’s a different universe! But today I do want to talk about something very ancient, RFC2136 that was released in April 1997. This specific RFC describes the process of “Dynamic Updates in the Domain Name System (DNS UPDATE)“.
Continue readingToday I’ve learned,
That even software and designs from quarter of a century ago still influence the modern Cloud enabled world. In this specific case I’m talking about the PowerBI gateway and how it operates in an on-prem Active Directory environment. Allow me to explain…
Have you ever wondered how to seamlessly connect your on-premises Active Directory with Entra ID? Well, you’re in the right place because today, I’m diving into Entra Connect, formerly known as Azure AD Connect. But hold on tight, because we’re not just talking about the basics; we’re here to make sure you install and configure it like a security pro!
Continue readingTransitioning between Operating Systems can be a challenge. Many aspects of what you’re used to work differently and you should expect a learning curve.
Well, that was a weird intro for a blog post that has Linux networking in the title! Actually I’m saying goodby to Windows as my primary system…. yes you read that correctly. It’s not that I don’t like the system anymore, it’s the direction Microsoft is taking with AI and the integration into the OS that made me take this decision.
Continue readingIn the world of system administration and automation, PowerShell has been a trusted companion for managing tasks efficiently across a variety of environments. With the introduction of PowerShell Core 7, the capabilities of PowerShell expanded further by becoming cross-platform, allowing administrators to manage systems regardless of their operating system. Recently, I embarked on a journey to explore the capabilities of PowerShell Core 7’s remoting features, but as often happens in the world of technology, I encountered an unexpected challenge.
Continue readingIn today’s interconnected world, cybersecurity is not just a technical consideration but a vital component of any organization’s strategy. One essential principle to uphold in maintaining a secure environment is the ‘clean source’ principle. This principle dictates that we should trust only those software and systems that we can verify come from a trusted, clean source.
To support this idea, this blog post will demonstrate how to create a secure predictable environment for the creation of up to date of ISO files. We will be using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) and PowerShell, both widely trusted and accessible tools.
Continue readingI sometimes get nostalgic about the technology that was hot and happening a few years ago, this is especially true for Windows To Go. A nice little piece of technology that allows Windows to boot from a specially crafted USB stick. When it was introduced, it required specific USB pen drives as, at the time, USB equipped with internal fast storage was not really that common. Compared to what’s available now it was very expensive and limited to a few vendors. Although the UI for creating a WTG pen drives has been removed it’s really not that hard to manually create one.
Continue readingA couple of days ago I had to deal with a situation where our vulnerability tool was complaining that the root certificate store wasn’t updated for a while. This process runs every 7 days, so it takes some time before you will notice any error messages, as was in my case. After doing some research it turned out that the update service for the Microsoft root certificate program was blocked. That in turn triggered me to dig into the more technical side of the Microsoft Root certificate program.
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