Moving files to the Windows 2008 Cloud with Remote Desktop

If you have a Windows Virtual Server, or a Dedicated Server you can easily load software and files onto the server without setting up FTP access or opening shared drive.  Using Windows Remote Desktop Connection you have to option to map remote resources such as the Printer, Clipboard and even local drives. 

Step 1: To get started launch Windows Remote Desktop Connection (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Remote Desktop Connection).

Step 2: Click on the Options tab when launching Remote Desktop and select “more”.  You can then select local drives on your PC/Laptop that you want your Server to see.  From your server located in the LocalSolutions.net datacenter you can now browse the C: drive on your PC and copy any needed files/programs to the Server 2008 cloud.

Setting Firewall Rules on Cloud Servers

As a server administrator you have the ability to set custom firewall rules on your cloud server. To add a new firewall rule first log into the cloud control panel. Click on the server you want to setup firewall rules for, then select Networking -> Firewall.

The default firewall rules are to allow all traffic:

You can lock down all traffic on the Port, by making the default command “Drop” all connections. You can then allow specific IP addresses to access ports and resources on the server, like Port 3389 for RDP. Using IP source address 0.0.0.0/0 will allow all IPs to a specific port like 443 as shown below:

Xen Windows Cloud Server Display Setting

When you launch a cloud sever on the Xen Cloud Platform, it is built with the default Windows Server 2008 drivers.  In order to get the best screen resolutions and refresh performance when using RDP you will want to adjust the Xen Display Drivers.

Go to Start-> Devices and Printers->then open the Xen vif device.

Go to Hardware->Properties->Advanced.  Change the Checksum Offload to “Disabled”.  Change Large Send Offload to “Disabled”.

New Cloud Server iPhone App

EarthLink has a new access gateway to your cloud servers on the EarthLink Cloud Hosting Platform. The Cloud Server iPhone App allows customers to view all of their server information. The Overview Screen shows total Disk Usage and RAM Usage as well as a recent transaction log.

Drilling down to the Cloud Server level you get into the details of your server you have the ability to turn the server off or on as well as reboot the server.  You can also view CPU and Bandwidth utilization graphs, IP address allocation, and server backup details.

You can see the last backup taken of you server, as well as deleting server backups, restoring the server to a previous backup, or converting the backup to a Server Template to use over again.

With the new iPhone app you will be able to monitor and control your server remotely when outside the office.  Sign up today to get access or contact us to find out more about Cloud Server Hosting.

Ubuntu Linux Cloud Server GUI Install

When customers deploy a Linux cloud server it does not come with a GUI installed on the server by default.  Customers need to use a tool like Putty to SSH into the server to configure their applications.  If you are looking to run a Graphical User Interface (GUI) you can follow the steps below to access a GUI on your Cloud Ubuntu Linux Server.

Step 1: Deploy a Ubuntu 10.04 Cloud Server on the EarthLink Cloud Platform, my default build server has 1GB Ram and a 10 GB Hard Drive.

Step 2: Using the Cloud Console log into the server with root/userdefinedpassword.  Run the following commands on the server:

apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
apt-get install xubuntu-desktop icewm menu
apt-get install tightvncserver
vncserver :2

Step 3: Access the Linux GUI by running VNC, as you cannot connect using RDP as you would with a Windows 2008 Server.  If you do not have a copy of VNC, you can download a free copy of VNC Here.  You can now access the Ubuntu GUI and install any needed applications. 

Cloud Server – Windows Server 2008 RemoteApps

A new feature in Windows Server 2008 is RemoteApps. RemoteApps allows you to run an client application off a remote server without having to log into the actual server. It basically runs the application as a remote application. Here are steps on running an application as a RemoteApp on our MicroSoft Hyper-V Server Cloud or On Demand Cloud Servers:

Step 1: Right click on My Computer, and click Manage. Open the Server Manager and Select Roles. Add the Terminal Server Role.

Step 2:  Applications are configured as RemoteApps using the TS RemoteApp Manager tool. This can be accessed either from the Start -> All Programs -> Terminal Services -> TS Remote App Manager or by running remoteprograms.msc in a Run dialog or at a command prompt.

Step 3: The wizard also provides a number of different properties that may be changed for each of the applications. This dialog allows the following properties to be configured:  RemoteApps program name – The name by which the application or program will be presented to the user.
Location: The physical path to the executable which launches the application.
Alias:  A unique identifier for the program or application, typically set to the executable name minus the .exe (or other) extension.
RemoteApp is available through TS Web Access: Controls whether the application is available to be launched via TS Web Access. For details on TS Web Access read the chapter entitled Configuring Windows Server 2008 TS Web Access.
Command-Line Arguments: Specifies the rules for providing the application with command-line arguments.
Change Icon: Allows a different icon than the programs default icon to be specified.
After making any property changes click Ok to close the property dialog and click Next to proceed to the Review Settings screen and Finish to complete the configuration.

Step 4: Access the following URL:  http://<ip address>/ts or http://<fully qualified domain name>/ts  If using the IP address, you must change the terminal service server name to the IP, as the remote app links will try to connect to the DNS/Hostname.  Install the Application Server Role if you want to be able to self sign a Digital Signature.