Moving the WSUS database

We use WSUS 3.0 on our corporate network in order to maintain Microsoft patches for the 5,000+ computers.  For the last seven or eight months, everything had been running smoothly.  I received a call from the network engineer in charge of that server this past Tuesday.  He said that he couldn’t connect to the admin interface and he had a lot of SQL errors in the event log.

When I looked at the logs, I saw that the errors were for licensing.  A default installation of WSUS will install Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Embeded Edition. This version of SQL Server is limited version of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition that only allows connections from a short list of Microsoft products (i.e. WSUS, Sharepoint, etc.).  SQL Server Express Edition has a file size limit of 4 GB (database files, not logs) and the WSUS database had grown over that limit.

I told the engineer that we should move the database to my SQL Server 2005 Enterprise cluster.  Not only would that allow us to have a larger database, it would be much faster than the embedded SQL Server he was running on the WSUS server.  I found the instructions for performing the move on the Microsoft Technet Windows Server Update Services site.  The article is called Migrating from Windows Internal Database to SQL Server 2005.

There were two things I had to do in order to make the WSUS server work with my SQL Server cluster. Under Migrating the WSUS database from a Windows Internal Database instance to a SQL Server 2005 instance on a remote server:

Our WSUS server is running much better now. The engineer told me that the reports he pulls from the WSUS admin interface run a lot quicker thanks to the better SQL Server. Adding the WSUS database to the SQL Server caused a very small resource hit, even while running large reports that perform multiple queries. I was glad that something went right this week. :)

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. – Herm Albright

21.Sep.08 Microsoft SQL, Networking, Software, Technology Comments (6)

Shut it down

After three weeks of random errors, I had to shut down the Cisco NAC installation.  I hated to do it but it had to be done.  The errors were so inconsistent that it made fixing them almost impossible.  Here’s a quick run down of some of the problems:

The last issue was (somewhat) fixed by doing two things. One, changing the script so that it would ping multiple servers and only initiate the script when a ping was successful (i.e. the user was placed into the proper user role). Two, pushing out a registry change for Windows XP that would introduce a group policy timeout (GpNetworkStartTimeoutPolicyValue). The timeout made it so that the group policy would keep trying to run the logon script for up to 60 seconds, trying to contact the server every two seconds, before failing.

The company we purchased the equipment from is supposed to send some of their technicians out next week in order to try and fix the problems. They are also supposed to send out a Cisco technician. I hope they can get it to work. If they don’t, this is going to look really bad on the IT department because of all of the issues the users are having to deal with during the installation.

There is no failure except in no longer trying. – Elbert Hubbard

18.Sep.08 Networking, Security Comments (0)

Do not buy the Cisco NAC

Short story: It sucks.  I have been struggling for over two weeks to just get ONE location up and running.  Every thing I’ve done is being done according to how the Cisco documentation says it needs to be done.  I’m having to get a Cisco representative on the phone at least every other day in order to fix a problem with the setup.

Long story: Coming soon.

16.Aug.08 Networking, Security Comments (3)

Redo

Ever heard the term “GIGO”? If not, it means “Garbage In, Garbage Out”. That’s exactly what has happened to the SQL data warehouse I worked over a year on. The main data source, a student information system (SIS), is so fubar that I can’t guarantee the data.

The problem stems from lazy end users (about 80) of the SIS. Instead of checking if a student already existed, or heeding the error that a student already existed, they would just change some small detail about the student. This little “work around” causes duplicate entries in the SIS. Trying to code around the problem is out of the question simply because there are too many variables. Plus, when the duplicates are found in the SIS, I wouldn’t know which entry is correct so I may import the invalid entry while ignoring the valid one.

This sucks on so many levels. The highest level is the fact that the best option is to blow away what I have and start over. That will involve not only importing information from the SIS but also importing every standardized test (ACT, SAT, etc.) again in order to match it to a student.

I have brought this issue to the attention of those in charge but it was pointless. The answer is always “Maybe they just need more training”. Yeah, that’s it. The other four times they were trained to not do it was wrong. Fifth times a charm.

Idiocy – Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. – Despair, Inc. Idiocy poster

25.Jul.08 Microsoft SQL Comments (2)

Most expensive Outlook ever?

I was looking for a new/used vehicle a few days ago and decided to check out the Saturn Outlook.  I checked a local dealer’s inventory and got this list:

That’s one expensive Outlook

I should have gone to the dealership to see what kind of upgrades it had for that price.

The only reason a great many American families don’t own an elephant is that they have never been offered an elephant for a dollar down and easy weekly payments. – Mad Magazine

08.Jul.08 Humor Comments (0)

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