File Synchronization Utility

by Dmitry Kirsanov 26. September 2011 10:31

Yet another command line utility written to do some useful stuff in the background. This time it is about file synchronization.

It’s quite often that we need to make 2 directories in our local network in sync. For example, you may want to synchronize folders with photos, backup files or even production files of your web application between IIS web farm nodes.

This program utilizes the Microsoft Synchronization Framework, so basically it does very little apart from what Microsoft already provides. Personally, I am using it to pull backups from TFS server on daily basis and to synchronize shared folders among load balancing cluster of production web server. In  both cases utility is running as Task Scheduler task and everything happens in background.

It doesn’t require installation, just unpack it to your utilities folder and it’s ready to go. It requires .NET framework 4 Client Profile in order to run. Another dependency is Microsoft Sync Framework 2.1 (Two components required - Synchronization and Provider Services).

FileSync.rar (114.45 kb)

 

Installation file, which will also install the prerequisites, such as .NET Framework 4.0 Client Profile:

FileSyncSetup.exe (4.42 mb)

Running Windows 8 on local virtual machine

by Dmitry Kirsanov 21. September 2011 11:06

Just to repeat what I’ve said in my Twitter recently – now you have the ability to run Windows 8 Developer Preview on your VMWare Workstation. One week ago VMWare released Workstation 8.0, which doesn’t crash and indeed works quite well with Windows 8. Microsoft Virtual PC, as well as earlier versions of VMWare, still crashes.

After installation, you may notice that Start menu is changed by what is called Metro. If you prefer the “old” style Windows 7 menu, you can switch to that by switching one setting in Registry Editor.

In case you are using mouse, rightclick the taskbar, choose Task Manager, go to File and choose New Task. Now type regedit and click OK.

In Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
There will be setting named RPEnabled. Doubleclick it and change it’s value from 1 to 0.

Now enjoy your start menu.

Equation

by Dmitry Kirsanov 18. September 2011 23:21

12 hours + 3 bottles of beer = new ASP.NET website with bright future.

That’s for database, WCF back-end and what they call “architecture”. GUI will take couple more hours, but not today. Will show that project this week. However, although it’s purely not commercial, I wonder what it takes from a good developer with dedication to establish something he would be proud of.

Tags:

Personal

Sneak Peek into Windows 8 GUI

by Dmitry Kirsanov 14. September 2011 17:29

Just wanted to show the most interesting part for system administrators about changes in most frequently used functionality. Task Manager and file copy / delete operations. As you may see, Task Manager became much more functional and file operations more ordered.

Although the ribbon in Explorer is not shown, it is here and definitely adds to user experience, but can be removed… When it doesn’t :)

Windows 8 GUI sneak peek, switch to Full Screen for better view.

Visual Studio 2010 Test Manager Overview

by Dmitry Kirsanov 14. September 2011 16:17

A little demo about how to use Test Manager from Visual Studio 2010 Test Professional / Team Foundation Server.

This one is the first of a series and doesn't either have or require any sound. Ideal for those who are using it as a reference during the work with real environment.

Play it full-screen for a “better experience”

This is a typical lab from Microsoft Official Curriculum. Don’t know how you, but I usually enjoy seeing things done as much as doing them, whether it is a lab or a computer game.

Windows 8 Developer Preview revealed

by Dmitry Kirsanov 14. September 2011 15:00

This night MIcrosoft opened the prototype of their brand new OS and this build was named “Developer Preview”. Aimed mainly at software developers, it has a copy of not yet released Visual Studio 11, using which you can create software for that same Windows 8.

The only downside of this release is that you couldn’t install it on either VMWare workstation or Windows Virtual PC – it could only be installed on either physical or Hyper-V machine. I installed it on both.

First fascinating things about new OS is drastic change in user experience. I don’t even mean the new Metro and effects, but also much reworked file copying routine and Task Manager. The latter became as useful as it never been.

Although scheduled release date is not yet revealed, and most likely will be somewhere in Autumn of 2012, chances are you can grab a copy of ISOs at MSDN.

Windows Live is alive

by Dmitry Kirsanov 11. September 2011 19:10

Do you remember such thing as Outlook Express? A lightweight e-mail client from Microsoft which was the part of operating system since the stone age. It was separated from Windows for good, so unlike in Windows XP, we don’t have to cut it from the distribution DVD anymore. However, once separating some applications from the system, Microsoft added a few more tools to the Live family.

One of them is the one I am using at this particular moment – Windows Live Writer. The thing looks like a Microsoft Office 2010 product, something similar to FrontPage, but it’s about blogging. Whatever platform you are using for your blog, it can connect to it and you can use this wonderful editor without ever having to log into your blog. Styles, working with resources - everything is here. And it’s free.

Another one is irreplaceable for me and it is called Live Mesh. Once you’ve got your free 5Gb space at Windows Live, called SkyDrive, you can synchronize folders between your multiple computers. Like, for example, between home and work machine, so you can make sure that two folders on these machines are equal. Works perfectly for source code sharing for my notebooks and desktop, as having multiple versions of hundreds of files is a pain.
Another feature of Live Mesh is remote desktop, which works also through proxy and is just great when you want to log into your home computer but don’t want to set the remote desktop NAT rules. At some point it is more secure, as you won’t forget to switch off your rules later.

I know how hard it is to find a gem in a pile of software and services, so if you have a problem that any of these two programs solve, try them out!

Browser Wars, 09/2011

by Dmitry Kirsanov 8. September 2011 23:06

As a web developer, I do care about browsers performance a bit less than typical web surfers do. I care more about the supported functionality. Whether my website can be viewed on this browser or another and how it will behave.

However, typical web surfers care more about speed and resources of their computers, so when I hear that people prefer Chrome to Firefox, this means my website should look well in that browser as well.

So here is a relative chart of today’s most popular web browsers after testing on my notebook. All numbers are totally relative, but tests included both graphics and data manipulations, the same for each test.

BrowserPerformance08092011

I don’t want to comment on it, as I find these results quite reasonable, but would like to look at the difference between MSIE 9.0 and MSIE 10.0. As you may notice, the Internet Explorer 10’s performance is promising.

So what did I understand from this graph? First of all, I will continue measuring performance of my applications using MSIE 9. And will make sure they are compatible with Chrome 13. And if that’s worth the effort, I will display demos using either MSIE 10 or Chrome. You can keep tracking the performance of browsers on your own equipment using PeaceKeeper website.

Skipping bits

by Dmitry Kirsanov 8. September 2011 11:26

The average Joe amongst us likes to see himself as a beacon of professionalism; Oh yes, that's us! The blockchain-virtuoso, code whisperers, firewall gymnasts, scaling savants, - we are the Systems Administrators and Software Developers! But there’s a moment in this journey that changes everything: the breathtaking ascent to 'professional'. Maybe some starry-eyed intern declared in awe, "You're a real pro!". Or, shazam!, one bright morning we find ourselves inexplicably promoted.

But, oh, the cruel irony! See, this 'pat-me-on-the-back', these celebratory high-fives, and the comforting hum of that shiny, new designation is actually the start of an intellectual Bermuda triangle. It’s what gently ushers you into a cushy comfort zone, a welcome mat into the danger zones where we are lulled into believing we’ve caught that invincible golden snitch.

It's the warm cup of complacency that whispers sweet delusions into our ears - “You're the Gandalf of your field! Stay put, this techno-landscape will never change.” Boom! That's the trap. The pitfall. The proverbial banana peel on the footpath to eternal wisdom.

When you start believing that you're solely breathing the rarefied air of a technology or you’ve unlocked its god-mode, then my friend, you're not just wrong, you're like a lost unicorn in a tech-Tsunami.


What’s this musing about? Oh, it's a sort of cautionary tale for those sauntering along the digital landscape, with a smug "been there, done that" attitude, conveniently skipping parts of a new tech like it’s some complex street dance. We naively assure ourselves that we are acquainted with the common steps, and we can sit out the complicated ones. Guess what? The techno-gods laugh at our folly.

Don't believe me? Cue flashback: Yours truly was learning WCF (Windows Communication Foundation). During my training, with confidence buoyed up like a helium balloon, I skipped a whopping 3 hours of training, thinking I'm doing myself a favour - really, why would I need to learn the security part of WCF when I already mastered WSE, Security+ and even CISSP? To spend 2 days later, of course, when client's high security configuration simply couldn't let my application through. Imagine that, they did something differently. I'm taking it for granted ever since.