January 28, 2019

Get a server health status report for multiple servers

As administrators, we juggle multiple servers at a time. Hardly do we deal only with a handful servers. Imagine a situation where you use SCCM to patch your servers, and that the patching is completely automated using an automatic deployment rule and a maintenance window. Chances are, you are patching seventy servers at a time. Unattended. This is a dream-come-true for many environments that have thousands of servers. However, it is also true that every good administrator wants to ensure their servers are up and running healthy, after the patching process.

November 18, 2018

Familiarising the PowerShell windows

Before we proceed with learning PowerShell, we need to know a few things about PowerShell, and how to use it. This post talks about the different PowerShell consoles we have, and which one to use when. The console The Integrated Scripting Environment Visual Studio Code In general, there’s no hard and fast rule that only a certain type of console can be used in a certain situation. It’s a matter of convenience, personal preferences and popular choices.

November 11, 2018

A brief history of Windows

Among all the jazz of ClearType fonts and graphics, we often take for granted what is actually some serious task—running the hardware of a computer. Ever wondered how different the actual working of a computer is, compared to what we see on the screen? In reality, it’s overwhelmingly difficult to imagine how computers work, especially today. It’s hard to believe that two voltage-based states of a bunch of transistors and gates are able to show to us what we see on the screen.

November 4, 2018

Command line, anybody?

We’re Windows people. We love the GUI. We don’t use the boring plain window with grey text. All that is so yesterday. We are more comfortable moving the mouse, clicking at places, and touching the keyboard only when we have something to type. We love that experience, be it Aero™ effect, or some other sassy visuals. Command line, again, is so yesterday. Fair? Perhaps. Efficient? The console is your friend.