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DirectAccess, introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2, is a remote access feature allowing connectivity to corporate network resources without the requirement of Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections. DirectAccess at the time only supported domain-joined Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate edition clients. Windows Routing and Remote Access Server (RRAS) will continue to provide traditional VPN connectivity for legacy clients, non-domain joined clients, third party VPN clients and site-to-site server connections. RRAS in Windows Server 2008 R2 must be deployed and managed separately from DirectAccess as it cannot coexist on the same edge server. In 2012, DirectAccess offered with Windows Server 2012 R2 combines the feature and the RRAS role service into a new unified server role. This new Remote Access role allows for centralized configuration, administration, and monitoring of both VPN-based remote access services and DirectAccess.  Windows Server 2012 R2 DirectAccess a...

Be very cautious while trying these steps Yes, this is a tool worthy of the name. PowerShell can easily cause massive configuration changes, positive or negative: so protect yourself and establish a test environment for your learning experiences. Also consider using the "-confirm" parameter to test configurations before execution for certain commands. Number 1: Report all of the USB devices installed PowerShell is Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) aware. From PowerShell, you can make a WMI call to retrieve the USB devices installed in a local or remote system: gwmi Win32_USBControllerDevice -computername SERVER1 |fl Antecedent,Dependent This will apply a filter to bring back the antecedent and dependent fields from the SERVER1 computer. Should you want the full export, you can omit the pipe and filter statement to have a comprehensive export of the USB devices on a system. I have found this useful to maintain a report for servers that have a USB license devi...

PowerShell scripting is an entirely new language for server admins who are comfortable in a graphical user interface. You don't have to go it alone. Start by working with an experienced admin's scripts. Generic-purpose scripts will help you adapt the structure and language for your own tasks. Study examples of the script in use. While learning about PowerShell scripting from your peers, familiarize yourself with these universal tips for server administration from the PowerShell interface. Learn how to search for all available commands and refine your list to the ones that you need for a given task. Think about ease of maintenance and error handling when you write scripts. And enjoy the satisfaction when you figure out a script that accomplishes the task at hand in half as many steps as your first attempt. Until recently, GUI was the name of the game for Exchange Server admins. PowerShell cmdlets and scripts are the future of Exchange management, and important change...