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Windows on the Internet

    My Recomendations for 'net server software:

  • DNS: Berkeley Internet Name Domain Software (BIND) (BIND v.9 Binaries) is a FULL Windows port of BIND 9.

  • MAIL Server: Zimbra Collaboration Suite Community Edition (NOT a Windows platform product, but it's close to a plug & play replacement for MS Exchange) Zimbra Collaboration Suite (You'll need a Linux/UNIX OS platform e.g. Ubuntu).

  • WEB:
    • The APACHE Freeware web server platform tools have Windows binaries.

  • SCRIPTING: Of course you'll need PERL, and PYTHON to do cool CGI gateway stuff! PLUS now there is PERLSCRIPT!

  • NETWORK STUFF:

    • WireShark Site.

      WireShark is a freeware network sniffer. It used to be branded "Ethereal" for those who remember that. It's great for deep debugging network and application problems.

    • NetStumbler Wireless Network Finder Home Page.

    • NetStumbler Forums.

      Wondering what kind of networks are broadcasting into your airspace? Find out with NetStumbler.

  • Virtualization:

    • VMware ESXi.

      The Gold standard for Intel based virtualization. ESXi is the free bare metal hypervisor. It runs on the hardware (computer) and the operating systems and applications run on top of it. You can run Windows, Linux, Solaris for Intel, etc. all as instances within the VMware environment. If you have a loaded PC I'd recommend this even for home use.

    • Microsoft Virtual Server Home Page.

      Microsoft's Virtual server. It's free! But it needs to run on an underlying licensed OS. Windows XP will suffice. The critical factor is a decent PC and MAXIMUM memory. If your PC only goes up to 4 GB, get it. You can comfortably run one or two VMs. Don't forget that you need to leave enough memory for your host OS (e.g. Windows XP). Use this if you want to have permanent servers running whether you're logged onto your PC or not (i.e. runs as a service on your host).

    • Microsoft Virtual PC Home.

      Virtual PC gives you more of a lab setting than Virtual Server. There is audio support in VirtualPC that you don't get with Virtual Server. But Virtual PC is an application that allows you to run VMs. When you exit the application (or log off) all the VMs go away.

Microsoft's Own Windows Toys

Windows Essential Tools

These are all freebies!