You should all know by now how much contempt I hold in my heart for Microsoft and all the things they have shoved up our collective ass for the past 10 years. I can tell you truthfully, it could be worse:<\/p>\n
You could be studying to take a Microsoft Exam.<\/p>\n
So here I have been spending a large amount of my time over the past few years learning how to secure a computing environment due to the vast plethora of security holes in MS operating systems. Then my Boss and I get the great idea of me becoming the Company’s Security Advisor, so I start delving even deeper into the mysteries of Hackerdom to better defeat the buggers when they come a-knockin’.<\/p>\n
Then comes the discount exam voucher for SBS2003, which would be a useful thing to have. The exam itself shouldn’t be too hard, because it only covers one (albeit amalgamated) product – except for one little caveat:<\/p>\n
It’s a MS exam, so therefore ALL of the answers will be geared toward a “MS is the BEST!” mindset. And those bastards have rigged trick questions into the exam.<\/em><\/p>\n “Whadya mean ‘trick’ Wolfe?” Well my son, it means that each question’s answer will be tailored to the MS universe, but they will occasionally give a multiple-choice answer that may include an actual best practice from the real world – which is wrong, because MS is the BEST and therefore anything involving a real-world answer is the trick question.<\/p>\n Case in point: how much RAM would you need in a server designed to handle up to 75 users?<\/em> Real-World answer: minimum of 2GB. MS Answer: SBS 2003 requires a minimum of 256MB RAM, we recommend 384MB.<\/p>\n Can I install SBS 2003 on this little-ol’ Pentium III I found in the closet?<\/em> Real-World Answer: No, dude, we need to chuck that puppy and get you some decent hardware. Xeon or Opteron at least. MS Answer: why yes, as long as it’s 300MHz, but 550MHz would be better.<\/p>\n How should I secure my network?<\/em> Real-World Answer: well, we need to install a DPI firewall device on your internet connection. MS Answer: No problem – we’ll just turn your server here, the lifeblood of your company, into a NAT firewall, so it can inspect all traffic and filter out all of the attacks.<\/p>\n Are you out of your freaking mind?!?<\/em> “No sir, you don’t need a fence, this here rooster that manages all yer hens is plenty tough enough to fend off that there coyote when he comes a-trottin’ into yer henhouse.”<\/p>\n This is going to give me a headache.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"