Tim Keller

I like Windows Home Server a lot. It offers most of the features we need at home: central file hosting, backup to the cloud (using an addon), media streaming, and backup.

However, this morning I experienced an issue while trying to join a Windows 7 Professional computer to the Home Server.

During the installation of the Connector software (found at http://yourserver:55000) you are asked to enter the server administrator’s password. Strangely I was repeatedly told: “The password is incorrect.  Please retype your password.  Letters in passwords must be typed using the correct case.”

The solution took a while to find, but I eventually I came across a post by AMLane on the Microsoft forums that solved my problem.

1. Run secpol.msc (You’ll need Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate)
2. Drill down through Local Policies | Security Options
3. Find Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level
4. Set this to Send NTLM response only
5. Reboot the machine

I imagine that similar strange bugs in WHS will be dealt with in the upcoming Home Server 2.0 codenamed – “Vail”, now available for beta testing.

Don’t sit on the bench, get to DevDays 2010 and score with us! Laduuuuuuma!!!!

It’s here! Microsoft DevDays is the premier developer event of the year and is all about learning, sharing and interacting with one another and having fun! DevDays 2010 brings you the best of current developer technologies, along with a preview of soon-to-be-released Microsoft tools and technologies.

I spoke at DevDays 2009 and had a blast. This year, I’ve been invited back to deliver two new talks:

• Getting started with Silverlight development
  Interested in Silverlight development but not sure how to get started? Learn the basics of Silverlight application development – the tools and fundamental concepts behind Silverlight. Find out how to re-use your existing .NET development skills to build exciting new applications. This session will focus on the fundamentals of Silverlight including layout, data binding, data access and styling.
• Open Source and Microsoft – Working Together
  Microsoft AND Open Source? What?! Come and learn how Microsoft platform works with open source platforms like PHP and Java form the server room and into the cloud. Come and learn how Microsoft is opening up and supporting open source development and technologies.

Find out more, and register at http://www.microsoft.com/southafrica/devdays/default.mspx

Most importantly, entrance is free! Please join us for a wonderful day of learning and networking.

I had the privilege of speaking at SA Developer Cape Town last night. Twenty-something local geeks turned up to hear about how well the Open Source PHP language runs on Windows IIS, using FastCGI.

For the longest time, the utterance of “PHP” and “Windows” within the same sentence meant the speaker was either temporarily insane, or horribly misguided.

In ‘An Oxymoron’s Guide to PHP on Windows’ you’ll discover just how much the situation has changed in the past 12 months. Thanks to Windows Server, IIS7 and FastCGI, running PHP on Windows finally makes a great deal of sense. It performs admirably and facilitates integration with familiar Microsoft technologies like ASP.net and Silverlight.

The mention of “PHP on Windows” to a developer is most commonly met with polite but pointed laughter, if not outright disgust. Historically, this reaction wouldn’t be entirely inappropriate. But that has all changed with the advent of Internet Information Services (IIS) 7 and its FastCGI handler.

Coming from a Linux background, I was skeptical about running our mission-critical apps on Windows. We had a lot of infrastructure built around the traditional LAMP stack, and the mention of throwing Windows IIS in its place was somewhat shocking. But, I can tell you that the transition to IIS7 is utterly painless, and brought with it some incredible advantages.

For the first time, we’re able to easily integrate our PHP products with ASP.NET code. We can build Rich Internet Applications with ASP.NET AJAX on the frontend and PHP on the backend. Even Silverlight 2.0 applications can be enhanced with familar PHP code to create something of value.

At DevDays 2009, which kicks off in Durban on the 10th of March, I’m going to be showing developers just how great it is to develop and deploy PHP applications on the Windows platform. Be there, or be PEAR