All posts for the month November, 2015

Windows 10 November Update Available Today

Windows 10 November Update Available TodayToday Microsoft announced the availability of the November Update (formerly Threshold 2) for Windows 10. With this update, Microsoft is now touting Windows 10 build 1511 as “enterprise ready”, with a number of key features and enhancements designed to drive enterprise adoption for the client operating system.

  • Performance Improvements – According to Microsoft, the Windows 10 November Update includes important improvements in performance, improving boot time almost 30% over Windows 7 installed on the same system.
  • Windows Update for Business – Windows Update for Business enables IT to control Windows update within their organization, allowing administrators to roll out updates on their schedule. New features with this service include creating device groups and enabling phased deployment of updates across the organization
  • Windows Store for Business – The Windows Store for Business provides IT with a mechanism to provision and manage apps for Windows 10 devices, both from the Windows Store and their own line-of-business apps.
  • Telemetry Control – Beginning with Windows 10 build 1511, enterprise customers will now have the ability to completely disable all Windows telemetry. Although not recommended, this feature is essential for many organizations to maintain the highest levels of security.

Since Windows 10’s release in late July of this year, enterprise customers have deployed Windows 10 on more than 12 million business PCs. Many organizations who have not yet upgraded are in the planning and pilot stages today, or will be soon. The enterprise adoption rate for Windows 10 continues to accelerate, and no doubt will do so even more with the release of Windows 10 build 1511.

Don’t forget that Windows 10 already includes a number of important security advancements such as Credential Guard to mitigate various credential theft attacks, Device Guard to prevent installation of malicious software, and Windows Hello to strengthen authentication with the use of biometrics. These features, along with the new capabilities and services introduced today, continue to make Windows 10 a compelling client operating system in the enterprise.

Of course the perfect complement to Windows 10 in the enterprise is DirectAccess. To learn more about how to maximize your investment in Windows 10 with DirectAccess, here are some essential references.

In addition, DirectAccess consulting services are also available. More details here.

4 Comments
by Richard M. Hicks on November 12, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in Remote Access, Update, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on November 12, 2015

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2015/11/12/windows-10-november-update-available-today/

Windows Clients Do Not Receive DirectAccess Configuration Changes

Windows Clients Do Not Receive DirectAccess Configuration Changes

A scenario can occur in which changes to the DirectAccess configuration made using the Remote Access Management console or at the command line using PowerShell are not reflected on the DirectAccess client, even after receiving the latest group policy updates. The issue occurs for DirectAccess clients that are provisioned with the Offline Domain Join (ODJ, or djoin.exe) tool.

When the ODJ provisioning package is initially created, it does not add the new computer account to the DirectAccess security group. The ODJ-provisioned client receives all DirectAccess configuration settings at the time of provisioning, but it will not receive subsequent changes to the DirectAccess configuration made after it was originally provisioned.

To resolve this issue, be sure to proactively add the DirectAccess client’s computer account to the appropriate DirectAccess security group in Active Directory after provisioning with ODJ using Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC), the Active Directory Administrative Center (ADAC), or by executing the following PowerShell command:

Add-ADGroupMember -Identity [DirectAccess Client Security Group] -Members [computername]

Once the DirectAccess client has been added to the security group and restarted, it will then receive DirectAccess configuration settings changes going forward.

4 Comments
by Richard M. Hicks on November 12, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in DirectAccess, Offline Domain Join, PowerShell, Remote Access, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on November 12, 2015

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2015/11/12/windows-clients-do-not-receive-directaccess-configuration-changes/

3 Important Things You Need to Know about Windows 10 and DirectAccess

DirectAccess and Windows 10 - Better TogetherDirectAccess has been with us for quite some time know, having been originally introduced with Windows Server 2008 R2, later enhanced with Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) 2010, and finally integrated in to the base operating system in Windows Server 2012 R2. Client support for DirectAccess begins with Windows 7 (Enterprise or Ultimate), and also includes Windows 8.x (Enterprise) and Windows 10 (Enterprise or Education).

Although Windows 7 clients are supported for DirectAccess, Windows 10 is highly preferred. Here are three important things you need to know about using Windows 10 with DirectAccess.

  1. Windows 10 Provides Improved Performance and Scalability – Windows 10 includes support for null encryption when using the IP-HTTPS IPv6 transition protocol. This eliminates the needless double-encryption performed by Windows 7 clients, and dramatically reduces the protocol overhead for clients connecting behind port-restricted firewalls. DirectAccess servers can support many more concurrent IP-HTTPS sessions with Windows 10, and it has the added benefit of making the more secure perimeter/DMZ deployment behind an edge security device performing NAT much more attractive.
  2. Windows 10 Supports Geographic Redundancy – Windows 10 includes full support for DirectAccess multisite deployments. Where Windows 7 clients had to be assigned to a single entry point, Windows 10 clients are aware of all entry points in the organization. They are able to automatically select the nearest entry point on startup, and transparently failover to another site if the current site becomes unavailable.
  3. Windows 10 Features an Enhanced Management Experience – From a troubleshooting and support perspective, Windows 10 makes things much easier. The DirectAccess connectivity assistant, an optional component for Windows 7, is now fully integrated with the Windows 10 UI. PowerShell is greatly improved and now includes many native DirectAccess configuration and troubleshooting commands.

As you can see, there are a number of significant advantages for using Windows 10 with DirectAccess. Windows 10 now supports all of the enterprise features of DirectAccess, including geographic redundancy and performance and scalability improvements. Windows 10 is also easier to troubleshoot and manage. If you’re still supporting Windows 7, DirectAccess in Windows Server 2012 R2 can certainly support them. However, without a doubt the best experience, both from an administrator’s and the end user’s perspective, is with Windows 10. Just one more reason to begin planning your migration to Windows 10 with DirectAccess today!

Need assistance with implementing  DirectAccess with Windows 10? I can help! More details here.

16 Comments
by Richard M. Hicks on November 11, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in Consulting Services, DirectAccess, Enterprise, Forefront UAG 2010, High Availability, IP-HTTPS, IPv6, IPv6 Transition, PowerShell, Professional Services, Remote Access, Security, SSL and TLS, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2
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Posted by Richard M. Hicks on November 11, 2015

https://directaccess.richardhicks.com/2015/11/11/3-important-things-you-need-to-know-about-windows-10-and-directaccess/

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