Inventorying Servers with PowerShell

This article explains how to inventory the hardware and software configurations of Windows 8 Servers and create a detailed inventory and configuration report. Additionally, this article will cover methods to track configuration changes over time, export the configuration report via Word. This article should cover everything necessary to create a centralized hardware and software inventory of all servers in the enterprise.

This article by Ed Goad, author of Windows Server 2012 Automation with PowerShell Cookbook, covers the following topics:

• Inventorying hardware with PowerShell

• Inventorying the installed software

• Inventorying system configuration

• Reporting on system security

• Creating a change report

• Exporting a configuration report to Word

Creating your first VM using vCloud technology

This article by Daniel Langenhan, author of Instant VMware vCloud Starter [Instant] explains how we can create our first VM in vCloud using VMware vCloud Director.

We first have to get vCloud Director installed then we can start playing with it. Our first aim is obviously to deploy a VM inside our vCloud. To do that, we have to assign resources (CPU memory and disk) to vCD for consumption. In step 1 we will learn about all the different types of resources, and in steps 2 to 5, we will build them. Step 6 finally builds a vApp. Last but not least, I will give you some ideas about what to explore next.

Creating a Custom HUD

In this article by John P. Doran, the author of the book, Mastering UDK Game Development, we will guide us in creating a HUD that can be used within a Medieval RPG and will fit nicely into the provided Epic Citadel map making use of Scaleform and ActionScript 3.0 using Adobe Flash CS6.

We can have the most fun game in the world, but if the player has no idea what's going on it is next to impossible for that fun to be experienced by anyone other than the creator. One of the main tools that we use within the game industry to pass on information to the user is a heads—up display, more commonly referred to as a HUD.

The tool that most modern—day games use for doing user—interface (UI) work, such as HUDs, is Scaleform. Scaleform has been used with great success in Unreal games such as Borderlands 2, Mass Effect 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and Bioshock Infinite.

Scaleform allows users to bring in Flash animation files to UDK to be rendered directly on the screen or rendered onto textures that can be used within the game world. We can interact with these movies using both Kismet and UnrealScript to create whatever kind of interface you can dream of.

Basic use of Local Storage

In this article by Alex Libby, the author of the book, Instant HTML5 Local Storage How-to, we will discuss about HTML5 Local Storage.

When using HTML5 Local Storage, there are two types that you can use—local storage and session storage. We'll begin by looking at the former first, using a simple form as the basis for our article.

So, what is Google Drive?

Google Drive is a place where you can safely store your files online and access them from anywhere. When you use Google Drive, your files are stored remotely on the Web instead of your computer's hard drive. This is the main idea behind "cloud computing".

Once your files are online and "in the cloud", you can access and edit them from wherever you are using any standard web browser. You can even use your smartphone or tablet computer to access your files on the go. You can also share your files with people that you choose, making it easier than ever to collaborate with others and get stuff done.

Google Drive also includes an optional free sync program that runs on your computer and keeps files synchronized between a folder on your hard drive and Google Drive on the Web. That way, whenever you create or make changes to a file, either on the Web or on your hard drive, it will automatically be kept in sync between your computer and the cloud.

In this article by Mike Procopio, author of Instant Google Drive Starter, you will learn the basics of Google Drive and how to use Google Drive on your phone or tablet computer.

Ease the Chaos with Automated Patching

This article by Porus Homi Havewala (OCM), author of Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c: Managing Data Center Chaos , demonstrates how Cloud Control 12c allows automated patching of Oracle databases in the data center, thus making it possible to easily apply critical patch updates or patch set updates on a quarterly basis. The Patching Designer selects from a list of recommended patches, creates a patch plan template, and publishes it to the Patching Operator, who then creates a patch plan to apply the patch to target databases. After the initial selection, the download, validation and deployment of the patch (single or multiple) is fully automated, thus enabling mass deployment of patches to multiple database homes at prescheduled times. The new feature of out-of-place patching is explained in this article, as is the patch plan templates.

Migrating Data

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 is an Enterprise Resource Planning ( ERP ) system targeted at small and medium-sized companies. In this article by Laura Nicolàs Lorente and Cristina Nicolàs Lorente from the book Implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013, we will see which tools can be used in Dynamics NAV to migrate data into the system and how to convert data to meet NAV requirements. We will look at tools such as:

• RapidStart Services

• XMLport

• User defined tools

We will also see what kind of data is commonly migrated to Dynamics NAV and which strategies can be used to migrate it. The kind of data and strategies are listed as follows:

• Master data

• Open entries

• Historical data

• Open documents