The nine finalists have been selected from over 2,200 entries by a panel of judges based on the following criteria:

• 50% Accurately capturing the benefits of Windows Server 2008 R2
• 25% Originality
• 15% Community feedback on haikus
• 10% Strict Haiku Format (5-7-5 syllables)

Now it’s up to you to choose the winner.

Just visit this page to vote for your favorite Server 2008 R2 Haiku:

Hurry! Voting ends on Friday, January 29th, 2010.

The official contest rules for are listed here https://www.r2haiku.com/Home/Rules.

Free Server 2008 R2 Book Download — Still Available

The Server 2008 R2 Haiku contest might be over, but you can still get your hands on a free copy of the Server 2008 R2 book from Microsoft.

The book, written by Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker, is an introductory resource for learning about what’s new in Server 2008 R2 in terms of virtualization, management, the Web application platform, scalability and reliability, and interoperability with Windows 7.

 

Free Intro to Server 2008 R2 Video Training — Still Available

Our Intro to Server 2008 Training is still available for free with any training purchase.

This 6 hour course will help you master the new AD management tools, learn how to build an ASP.Net application server on Server Core, see what’s new in Group Policy and much more.

You can learn more about this course and how to get it free here.

Related posts:

• Server 2008 R2 Contest: Win an Xbox 360 Elite & Sony Home Theatre System
• Video: Coach Culbertson on Server 2008 R2 Training — Free for a Limited Time
• Master Server 2008 R2 for Free

A Server 2008 R2 haiku writing contest!

The winning prize is an Xbox 360 Elite and a home theatre system that’s valued at $3,675.

 
According to ars technica here’s what’s included:

• One Sony Bravia XBR 52″ LCD HDTV ($1999.99)
• One Sony Bravia 1000W 5.1 Home Theater system with Blu-ray disc player BDV-300 ($599.99)
• One Whalen 3-in-1 TV Stand BBXLF50GB ($314.99)
• One Xbox 360 Elite Video Game Entertainment System ($299.99)
• Installation services-advanced home theater setup from Best Buy Geek Squad ($449.99)

All you have to do to enter to win is write a haiku that talks about the benefits of Server 2008 R2.

A haiku is a three line poem with a format of 5 – 7 – 5 syllables on each line — however the syllable count isn’t required for this contest. Just make sure you fit under 140 characters, so your haiku can be posted on Twitter.

The contest is open to all residents of the US 18+ years old.

Here’s the Server 2008 R2 haiku I came up with, based on our recent Server 2008 R2 articles:

Free Intro to Server 2008 R2 Book Download

Microsoft has also made their Intro to Server 2008 R2 Book a free download, which you can get at here.

The book, written by Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker, is a great introductory resource for learning about what’s new in Server 2008 R2 in terms of virtualization, management, the Web application platform, scalability and reliability, and interoperability with Windows 7.

Free Intro to Server 2008 R2 Video Training

And if the book isn’t enough for you or if you need more hands on help with R2, check out our new Intro to Server 2008 Training available for free with any purchase, for a limited time.

This 6 hour course will help you master the new AD management tools, learn how to build an ASP.Net application server on Server Core, see what’s new in Group Policy and much more.

Related posts:

• Vote for Your Favorite Server 2008 R2 Haiku + Score Free Server 2008 R2 Resources
• Meet Our Contest Winners and See How You Can Be Next!
• Master Server 2008 R2 for Free

Ready to advantage of all the new features and tools that Server 2008 R2 has to offer?

 
Here’s a list of some free Server 2008 R2 resources to help you get started.

Free Server 2008 R2 Learning Resources

• Windows Server 2008 R2 at Microsoft

Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 R2 site is always a good place to start –it’s packed with free information and resources.

Some of the pages worth checking out include:

• What’s New in Windows Server 2008 R2 — a quick overview of the new features and options that you might be interested in implementing
• Frequently Asked Questions — find answers to some of the basic questions regarding R2
• Articles and White Papers on Server 2008 R2 — covering some general issues as well as more in depth areas that pertain to R2, like Hyper-V, Remote Desktop Services, High Availability, etc.
• Evaluate Windows Server 2008 R2 — a link to the free 180 day trial, virtual labs and more

• Windows Server 2008 R2 Blogs

There are a number of great blogs that will teach you a lot about R2 and the best part is — they’re all free! Here are a few worth checking out:

• Windows Server Division WebLog — the official Windows Server blog is updated on a regular basis and has a ton of info on Server 2008 R2
• 4sysops for Windows Administrators — great resource for any Windows SysAdmin
• Windows IT Pro — if you’re not familiar with this site already, make sure to check it out, any Windows admin will love it

• Windows Server 2008 R2 Forums

There are a couple of forums dedicated specifically to Server 2008 R2 that you might want to bookmark for future reference:

• Server 2008 R2 General Forum on Microsoft’s TechNet — for general questions and more specific topics including Server Core, deployment, migration, etc.
• Petri IT Knowledgebase — a very active forum that covers much more than Server 2008 R2

• Microsoft TechNet

And last but not least, don’t forget about the wealth of information you can find on TechNet. Here are two good links:

• The Windows Server TechCenter and
• Server 2008 R2 Information Center — were both recommended by Coach our Server 2008 R2 training instructor and Windows Server expert

Related posts:

• Video: Coach Culbertson on Server 2008 R2 Training — Free for a Limited Time
• Vote for Your Favorite Server 2008 R2 Haiku + Score Free Server 2008 R2 Resources
• Coach’s Critical Career Tips: The Ability to Research

Find out what the R2 training is all about from the man who created it, and learn a little bit about the new updated version of Server 2008 while you’re at it.

If you enjoy the video, check out Coach’s Server 2008 R2 training and see how you can get yours free.
But hurry — this is a limited time offer!

Related posts:

• Vote for Your Favorite Server 2008 R2 Haiku + Score Free Server 2008 R2 Resources
• Master Server 2008 R2 for Free
• Coming Soon: What’s New in Server 2008 R2 Training

Check out the contest details and sign up for our email updates before July 31st, 2009 for your chance to win.

Meet Scott — Last Month’s Winner

Last month we were giving away a brand new Plam Pre, since it was the hottest gadget of the month.

But our June winner, Scott Klassen of Bloomington, IL, decided that he would rather get a $500 Train Signal gift card instead of the awesome Palm Pre.

We feel honored that Scott decided to go with our training instead of the cool gadget of the month and we want wish him the best!

Scott — thanks for being a Train Signal fan! Best of luck in your studies and we hope you enjoy our training!

Related posts:

• One Xbox 360, One Lucky Winner, One Happy Day — The Results of our First Monthly Giveaway
• Last Chance to Win in Train Signal’s 7 Year Anniversary Giveaway
• Meet Our Contest Winners and See How You Can Be Next!

It’s easy — all you have to do is sign up for our email updates and you’re automatically entered to win a new prize each month.

This June we’re giving away a brand new Palm Pre — so make sure to grab your chance to win before the end of the day today.

Meet Our Past Contest Winners

May 2009

Last month we did things a little bit differently — we gave away two prizes instead of one.

One of the winners was chosen from our list of email subscribers.

Brigette Teets from Boise, Idaho won a pink iPod nano.

Congratulations Brigette!

 
Our second iPod went to one of our Twitter followers.

Aaron Sudduth from Greenwood, Indiana won a black iPod nano for tweeting about our contest.

Congratulations Aaron and thanks for joining us on Twitter!

April 2009

In April we gave away a Flip Mino HD — the world’s smallest HD camcorder that features 60 minutes of recording time, 4GB of storage and the Train Signal logo.

Bill Adams of Trinity, North Carolina was our lucky winner. Congratulations Bill!

You Could Be Next!

Stay up-to-date on our latest Windows Server info and free videos and get your chance to win a Palm Pre this month and a new prize each month after that. Get the details here!

Related posts:

• Server 2008 R2 Contest: Win an Xbox 360 Elite & Sony Home Theatre System
• One Xbox 360, One Lucky Winner, One Happy Day — The Results of our First Monthly Giveaway
• July Music Lovers Giveaway: Ten $25 iTunes Gift Cards

RODC is also useful in situations where you have poor network bandwidth, a computer without the resources needed for a full install of Server 2008, or when you don’t have a user with enough expertise to have access to the domain-wide AD DS database.

Do you need a full Domain Controller for a branch office of 5 people? No, you really don’t. Using Windows Server Core and RODC you can create an great experience for your remote users that’s more secure and cheaper to implement.

Today I’m going to show you how to turn your Server Core into a RODC. This is going to be a little different than deploying RODC on a full install of Server 2008 that Coach showed you because we’re restricted to the command prompt.

Free Instant Download

Download this video in high-quality WMV format

Or, download in iPod/iPhone format to watch on the go

Related posts:

• How to Setup & Utilize Remote Administration on Server 2008 Server Core
• How to Activate a Newly Installed Server Core Edition of Server 2008
• Lesson 6: Windows Server 2008 RODC – Read Only Domain Controllers

Remember, Server Core doesn’t have a graphical interface so you’re very limited in what you can and can’t do. So even though you can install roles and features directly on your Server Core and even do some basic configuration, Server Core can be very difficult to manage without Remote Administration.

By utilizing Remote Administration and a full install of Server 2008 on another computer you can manage your Server Core easily and successfully.

Remote Desktop and MMC

There are two areas of Remote Administration that we’re going to discuss today: Remote Desktop and MMC (Microsoft Management Console).

First I’m going to show you how to enable Remote Administration on your Server Core, also touching on Network Level Authentication and RSAT. Using DHCP as an example I’ll show you how to utilize both the Remote Desktop and MMC to administrate the DHCP server role.

Free Instant Download

Download this video in high-quality WMV format

Or, download in iPod/iPhone format to watch on the go

Related posts:

• How to Setup & Utilize RODC on Server 2008 Server Core
• How to Install Roles & Features on Server 2008 Server Core
• How to Activate a Newly Installed Server Core Edition of Server 2008

You might remember from last week that I compared Server Core to a work mule, saying that it’s typically setup to perform a certain function and you don’t get to interact with it as much as you would with a full install of Server 2008.

This is even more evident in today’s video, as the different roles and features that you install on your Server Core will define what type of work your little work mule performs.

Since Server Core has a limited set of roles and services (compared to the full install) I’ll first talk about what they are. I’ll show you a command that you can use to see the available roles, features and even role services and to how check what has already been installed on your Server Core.

The command we’ll be using will also show us the exact syntax that we need to use to install the roles, role services, and features.

As an example I’ll install the DHCP role so you can see the installation in action. Now let’s get started!

Free Instant Download

Download this video in high-quality WMV format

Or, download in iPod/iPhone format to watch on the go

Related posts:

• How to Assign a Computer Name to a Server Core and Join It to a Domain
• How to Activate a Newly Installed Server Core Edition of Server 2008
• How to Setup & Utilize Remote Administration on Server 2008 Server Core

Today we’re going a step further. I’ll show you how to assign a computer name to your Server Core so it can be recognized on the network. I’ll also show you how to take a Server Core computer and join it to your company’s domain so it can participate in resource sharing.

Your Server Core is put in place to provide services and resources to other computers, that’s why naming it and joining it to a domain are two essential tasks.

As I explained in my last post, Server Core is useful in many different situations and typically it’s going to be your work mule. Once you get it set up you’ll basically want to leave it alone, since there’s no GUI and making changes is not a quick and easy task.

So let’s go over assigning your Server Core a name and join it to a local domain.

Free Instant Download

Download this video in high-quality WMV format

Or, download in iPod/iPhone format to watch on the go

Related posts:

• How to Install Roles & Features on Server 2008 Server Core
• How to Activate a Newly Installed Server Core Edition of Server 2008
• How to Setup & Utilize Remote Administration on Server 2008 Server Core