Here is a list of worthwhile tools: http://www.winautomation.com/features.html http://www.automationanywhere.com/products/compareVersions.htm Robotic Process Automation (RPA): https://www.automationanywhere.com/rpa/cloud-rpa Low-code and no-code automation platforms, such as Microsoft Power Platform. http://www.autoitscript.com/site/ https://wasp.codeplex.com/ Infrastructure As Code templates for Cloud Computing platforms, such as ARM and BiCep templates for Microsoft Azure.

Active Directory object naming Source: Technet   Active Directory is an LDAP-compliant directory service, which means that all access to directory objects occurs through LDAP. LDAP requires that names of directory objects be formed according to RFC 1779 and RFC 2247, which define the standard for object names in an […]

Review https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/chrad/2010/01/24/understanding-iis-bindings-websites-virtual-directories-and-lastly-application-pools/ for all you need to know about IIS components.

More details at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc281954%28v=sql.105%29.aspx SQL Server 2008 introduces support for Windows PowerShell. Windows PowerShell is a powerful scripting shell that lets administrators and developers automate server administration and application deployment. The Windows PowerShell language supports more complex logic than Transact-SQL scripts, giving SQL Server administrators the ability to build robust […]

A handful of Powershell learning resources are available at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc281945%28v=sql.105%29.aspx

A good comparison of the RPC, WMI and WinRM remote server management protocols is available at https://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2010/04/02/comparing-rpc-wmi-and-winrm-for-remote-server-management-with-powershell-v2.aspx

http://www.subnet-calculator.com/cidr.php The CIDR Calculator enables CIDR network calculations using IP address, CIDR mask (subnet mask), mask bits, maximum required IP addresses and maximum required subnets. Results of the CIDR calculation provide the wildcard mask, for use with ACL (Access Control Lists), CIDR network address (CIDR route), network address in CIDR […]

SysInternals suite Process Explorer is part of sysinternals and is an advanced process management utility that picks up where Task Manager leaves off. It will show you detailed information about a process including its icon, command-line, full image path, memory statistics, user account, security attributes, and more. When you zoom in […]

PortableApps.com is the world’s most popular portable software solution allowing you to take your favorite software with you. A fully open source and free platform, it works on any portable storage device (USB flash drive, iPod, memory card, portable hard drive, etc) as well as local storage and cloud storage […]

The following articles detail useful shortcuts and management tasks of Windows Server 2012: http://windowsitpro.com/windows-server-2012/top-10-essential-windows-server-2012-keyboard-shortcuts http://www.petri.co.il/keyboard-shortcuts-for-windows-server-2012.htm http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831491.aspx

Make sure that you configure your browser settings properly when accessing any sites with hosted apps/desktops, based on the Sharepoint 2013 browser general guidance. Internet Explorer: Follow instructions at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263202.aspx#configurebrowser Other browser: For information about supported browsers, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263526.aspx

That’s an amazingly true visualization of how various technical roles view each other:

PowerShell Deployment Toolkit Source: https://blogs.technet.com/b/privatecloud/archive/2013/02/08/deployment-introducing-powershell-deployment-toolkit.aspx Rob Willis (MSFT) In this post, I want to provide an overview of the “PowerShell Deployment Toolkit”, or PDT. PDT is a set of scripts and knowledge that can be used to deploy… well, probably just about anything, but the samples we provide are for deployment […]

Packet sniffing (aka packet analyzing) can prove a very useful method in providing administrators detailed information on the communication among various servers in a hosted environment. The following tools are indispensable when it comes to packet sniffing: Microsoft Network Monitor available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=4865 . Wireshark is also a great alternative. However Microsoft […]

The following resources provide a good starting point to understand and practice IP addressing and subnetting if you have no previous experience with TCP/IP networking: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk365/technologies_tech_note09186a00800a67f5.shtml http://www.watchguard.com/infocenter/editorial/135183.asp http://www.petri.co.il/csc_convert_ip_address_from_decimal_to_binary.htm