2Pint Software Monthly Roundup - March Edition

Welcome to the March edition of our monthly blog roundup! Each month, we highlight our 2Pint Software team’s industry-leading insights into OS deployment, network and bandwidth optimization, and modern content delivery. In this edition: Phil Wilcock’s semi-retirement, blogging action from Carl-Otto and Niklas, and a whitepaper by Phil and Ranjith. We look back at AZSMUG and forward to MEM Summit 2025 and MMSMOA. Mattias and Johan have been tinkering and sharing the outputs of their ingenuity.

Leading things off, the big news is that original 2Pint Software co-founder Phil Wilcock has transitioned into semi-retirement and is kicking things off with some well-deserved travel. He packed up before we could get a speech out of him, and we may still yet, but in the meantime, he’s sent us photos of his current “office” – let’s see if you can figure out where it is...

Where's Wilcock? Clue #1

In a great example of 2Pint Software’s collective ingenuity, Mattias Benninge teased a potential world first on X with a recovery process moving from HP sure recovery to iPXE into WinRE then ConfigMgr TS and finally Win11. No big deal?? Mattias set the whole process up to run over Wi-Fi, HTTPS and… it’s fully automated! Stay tuned for more details and hopefully a full demo and recording.

In addition to all the great work he does at 2Pint Software, Mike Terrill was busy hosting the Q1 meeting of the Arizona Systems Management User Group in early March.

AZSMUG had a great lineup planned, kicking things off with a session on issuing and managing certificates using Microsoft Intune. That was followed up by a rundown on a major 5-month process for migrating more than 180,000 Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices to Intune with minimal device wipes. The day closed out with a session on Privileged Access Management. If you are in the Phoenix area, don’t miss out on these great opportunities to sharpen your knowledge of SCCM.

Where's Wilcock? Clue #2

Carl-Otto has written up a great overview of how 2Pint Software and Microsoft technology provide vital infrastructure supports for retailers. Our tech reduces downtime, security risks and network congestion and can provide efficient, low-impact patching, fast PoS system recovery and can eliminate the need for expensive in-store servers. Peering solutions support secure update distribution and systems re-imaging without overloading store networks or relying on physical media. Read the full writeup to learn more about how 2Pint Software helps retailers stay secure, scalable, and operational without overwhelming their networks or IT teams.

Our CEO Michelle has been... doing research!

She recently discovered a Serbian wine called Stifler’s MOM which is a remarkable coincidence given that we recently launched the MOM (Metadata Optimization Manager) add-on for our StifleR network and bandwidth management solution. Andreas checked her search history and well, “CacheR champagne,” “DeployR alcohol delivery” and “RecoveR hangover cure” also showed up ;) Sounds like it was a fun night!

Speaking of DeployR, Michael Niehaus will be front and centre at MEM Summit 2025 in Paris, April 23-25 with 2Pint Software as a Silver Sponsor. If you didn’t catch his and Andreas’ DeployR webinar, this will be a great opportunity to learn more about a product that is nearing completion and generating a ton of excitement. Be sure to put his session Time to Replace MDT? Introducing DeployR in your schedule. But you’ll also want to catch A Tale of Two Windows Autopilots, The Importance of Peering Content with Delivery Optimization and BranchCache and What’s the Future of Image-based Windows OS Deployment?

Brian Mason has been busy working with staff to prepare the thousand details that make MMSMOA in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota one of the premier, not-to-be-missed industry events of the year. You’ll want to optimize your itinerary to catch sessions that will help you build your skill set, and 2Pinters are all over the schedule. On Monday May 5, Johan’s co-presenting Windows Autopilot: Back to Basics, Forward to Excellence and Andreas is co-presenting Navigating On-Prem and Cloud Transitions: A Sysadmin’s Perspective. On Tuesday, Johan is back to the grind with Mastering App Deployment and Lifecycle Management with Intune and Streamline Intune Management with Microsoft Graph while Michael Niehaus and Gary Blok will be covering The Future of Image-Based Windows OS Deployment. On Wednesday, Gary and Mike Terrill while be talking about Mastering Secure Boot: Navigating KB5025885 Challenges. Mike T is on the schedule twice on Thursday, first with Preparing for System Recovery Scenarios and then with Johan for Upgrading to Windows 11: Lessons from the Field. Niehaus will be back at the podium for Next-Generation Windows Autopilot Troubleshooting and with Andreas for Real-World Networking: Peer-to-Peer, Throttling, and Troubleshooting Challenges. Gary will be showcasing his PowerShell chops in Using PowerShell to Manage OEM Tools, Devices and OSD and then sharing more expertise in Task Sequence Tips: From ADKs to Zero Touch and Everything in Between.

But let’s be honest: you don’t want to miss the fun stuff, especially the 2Pint Software sponsored tour of Utepils Brewing on Sunday May 4. See you there!

Johan Arwidmark has been busy sharing expertise in troubleshooting a variety of systems management problems that can arise. If you’ve ever been confounded by Delivery Optimization not listening on expected ports, even with the DO service running, you’ll want to read his overview. He includes multiple methods for verifying that DO is listening, as well as explanations for why it might not be. Johan’s also posted instructions on how to build a thick Windows 11 24H2 Reference Image using ConfigMgr using a recommended build and capture task sequence. (Johan notes that for MDT or custom deployment solutions you’ll want to consult our own Michael Niehaus’ guide to deploying SCCM images with something other than SCCM.) You may also be interested in the two PowerShell scripts Johan’s shared for creating a No-Prompt ConfigMgr Boot Image ISO for large scale deployments of virtual machines.

Where's Wilcock? Clue #3

In case you missed it...

If you haven’t had a chance to read Niklas’ excellent blog posts, consider bookmarking them. The hidden pains of Windows Autopilot: Common issues and how 2Pint Software's StifleR can help you is a clear and concise account of typical pain points encountered while deploying and configuring Windows Autopilot. While Windows Autopilot aims to simplify device deployment, app installation failures, slow content delivery, and poor remote troubleshooting capabilities can hinder IT managers. StifleR addresses these challenges with real-time enrollment tracking, proactive failure insights, dynamic content delivery management, and remote support tools.

In Keeping your ConfigMgr Distribution Points healthy for peak P2P performance Niklas explains that BranchCache relies on content hashes for peer-to-peer sharing, but issues like antivirus interference, filename conflicts, or heavy server load can break hash generation and cripple performance. He describes proactive steps you can take to optimize peer-to-peer performance, such as using deployment rings, dedicated DPs, and automated monitoring scripts to keep your BranchCache environment running smoothly – even during big deployments.

Phil and Ranjith found time to collaborate on a whitepaper Navigating the Wild West frontier of peerable content in which they wrestle with a key decision facing IT administrators: prioritize the reliability and stability of BITS peering, or embrace the possibility and uncertainty of Delivery Optimization? Read it to better understand obstacles to delivering Delivery Optimization optimization 😁 for your organization.

So Where's Wilcock?

Speaking of Phil, where’s Wilcock? Well folks, if you thought the semi-retired 2Pint Phil was curing bacon on a farm in northern England, lounging on a deck chair in the Mediterranean, or 2DozenPints into a beer tour of Bavaria, good guess, but no! Phil has been networking with Mickey and Minnie and riding the rollercoasters with family at Disneyland Paris.

Check back next month for another instalment of Where’s Wilcock and an update on all things 2Pint. Thanks for reading!