Exchange
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Exchange
As mentioned in a previous post, I have been accepted to speak at VMworld2011 the week of August 29 in Las Vegas. Since that time I have been working on my presentation with my speaking partner and VMware SE Jeff Szastak. We have submitted the first draft of our deck in for comments and gotten some good feedback. I have now begun to incorporate those changes in to the deck as the final version is due in early August. I am excited to be going to this conference for the first time and especially so...
I was pleasantly surprised by my inbox yesterday to find that my session submission for VMWorld 2011 had been accepted! I had been trying for many years to break in to doing some sessions at Microsoft's TechEd - always to no avail. It always seemed like you had to know the secret handshake, be an MVP or work for Microsoft. I felt like I was destined to settle with speakling at user groups, no matter how badly I tried to get more experience in front of larger groups. So when my local VMWare account...
Ran over to lunch after watching Speaker Idol. I found the short cut tunnel which was a boon and really trimmed down the amount of time it took me to get over to the dining hall. However, as fortune would have it, the side I came out on was closing down. It was only 12:50pm and lunch closed at 1:30pm, however, they were literally trying to take the food out from under my spoon as I put it on my plate. And they didn’t seem the least bit concerned I was trying to eat. They had already pulled out all...
I know – where the heck is the Day One post? I will have to post that legacy post later. I am moving on with the current day. Day one was packed with activities to say the least, capped off with a wonderful dinner sponsored by @BetsyWeber of @TechSmith fame. Day two began with the death march out to the dining hall in the remote wild of Hall C. Luckily, apart from meals, I haven't had any reason to venture all the way back out to Hall C. Being an Exchange-focused geek I have been able to spend all...
It has been too long since I have last posted to this blog. Life has a way of taking over and the next time you put your head up it is 2011. I have been in a long long Exchange 2010 migration as well as some other family related things. Kids growing up, sports, travel, etc. I am sure Twitter and Facebook have also eaten in to my formal blogging activities. I have been posting there when I have had time. They lend themselves much easier to three sentence updates of the hectic lifestyle. I would feel...
I wanted to write a blog post to document how I do some day-to-day things. It helps me to keep track of my work habits, refine them and perhaps help some others who are looking for some solutions. My current rig is a Apple MacBook Pro 13” unibody. It has the 250Gb drive with 4Gb memory. I am running the latest version of OS X Leopard. I am really enjoying the 13” form factor. It is a little smaller and lighter than the previous 15” unibody which, to me, just felt heavy. I also don't notice the lost...
I have had the good fortune to test both the Palm Pre and Apple iPhone 3Gs. In my day job I am an architect with responsibilities over messaging and mobility – hence I get to try a lot of new devices in order to evaluate their applicability for our enterprise users. One thing I have come to regard as a universal truth is that ranking mobile devices is almost a waste of time. They are so subjective depending on the personal habits and preferences of the person using them. There are some things that...
Microsoft is accepting submissions for the waitlist for the Office 2010 Technical Preview. This is an especially great opportunity if you are already running Exchange 2010 in the lab and want to see how using Outlook 2010 will enhance the experience with things like mail tips, conversation view and universal inbox. The preview is slated to kick off in July. If you attended TechEd 2009 this year, you get priority seeding in to the preview. Sign up in one click at the TechEd event site with your login...
I am sitting in the auditorium waiting for the keynote to start. I am curious to see if there are any surprise announcements or if it is just a re-hash of all the recent public announcements. Rumor has it they may announce VS2010 beta 1. I am sure they will highlight Office 2010 and Exchange 2010 – but to what degree I am not sure. My hotel was a big disappointment – but I picked it and was tricked by the flashy website so I have no one to blame but myself. I feel like I am staying at a Moroccan...
I am going to be blogging the sessions I attend at TechEd 2009 in Los Angeles right here on my humble blog. They will be almost exclusively messaging and mobility related - ‘cause that’s how I roll! I will also tweet as much as I can (I only have two arms) under @ntpro. You can also follow general TechEd 2009 tweets by searching hash tags #teched and #tela09. Great blog post from the team the runs the hands on labs (HOL) at TechEd. Three days away – it is almost time. Technorati Tags: Twitter,tweet,Exchange...
As I contemplate the design that was going to be an organizational upgrade to Exchange 2007 – I am now shifting gears towards skipping to an upgrade of Exchange 2010. Some things that are influencing my decision: The ability to use lower tier storage without compromising performance on the mailbox server. Thanks to all of the database optimizations like sequential writes, db schema re-design and table optimization, cache changes, etc. The database is now truly a portable and replicable object. Now...
So I am trying to sketch out some mailbox server scenarios for my Exchange 2010 design. I think I am leaning towards iSCSI or perhaps direct-attached SAS drives, but since I am doing virtualized Exchange servers, I don’t think I can load all the storage I need in to the ESX chassis. That leaves me with iSCSI. I am looking at three models to ‘standardize’ on for the business: Config 1: 1Gb mailboxes x 1000 mailboxes max = 1Tb database Config 2: 1Gb mailboxes x 500 mailboxes max = 500Gb database 3Gb...
Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the e14 Ignite training in Dallas on the latest version of Exchange server (Exchange 2010) about to get released to beta. As I rushed from the airport to the training, I was stopped to sign the NDA which prevented me from blogging about all the great things I was sure to learn. As expected the training was phenomenal and with the official release of the beta I can now blog about the public details of the enhancements. Here are some of the ones that I am...
My apologies for being tardy with the follow up post on my Nokia E71 experiences. Its amazing how work tends to take over your life at points and keep you from the things you truly love – spending time with your family or writing blog posts. Thanks for the reminder emails some sent me that I promised to pen this. Before I get started, there has been some other follow-on Nokia news. First Nokia is rumored to be working on the E75, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard version of the E71. It offers a 2.4” screen...
For the past three weeks I have been testing the new Nokia e71 and Apple’s iPhone 3g. Both phones are well built and deliver as promised in almost all areas. Below I will give a few tidbits about my experiences with each one. I am also at the same time working on deploying Microsoft’s System Center Mobile Device Manager (SCMDM). This will not come in to play with either of these devices though. Although they have licensed and support Exchange ActiveSync, SCMDM will only support devices running a...
Announced today were the new features for the next OS version release for the Mac OS X – 10.6 – code named Snow Leopard. Each of the previous seven released over the last eight years since OS X was introduced ushered in over 1000 new features. Number of new features being slated for introduction with Snow Leopard? Zero. None. Nada. Okay, wait, there is one. Native OS integration with Microsoft’s Exchange server. Apple publicly acknowledged the market share Exchange server holds and has built native...
Everyone is streaming in trying to find the optimal seat. After four hours of waiting in line, I don’t care where I sit just as long as I am sitting. There are large plasmas all over the place which is good – from my vantage point, Jobs is going to be a dot. Huge applause – Al Gore is here in the audience. From my seat: More cheesy pre-show music … 10:01 AM PST Still waiting, people still streaming in. Whomever was in charge of the herd\logistics should be shot. Microsoft owns them in this regard...
In a move sure to make many an ITPro squeal with delight, Apple announced today that the iPhone will soon be enterprise-ready by licensing ActiveSync from Microsoft and adding remote lock, remote wipe and other requested features. Sign up for the Enterprise Beta program here. The iPhone will offer full Exchange support, thanks to licenses from Microsoft. The iPhone will also get enterprise-friendly security features, including remote wipe, support for Cisco IPsec VPN, certificates, identities, and...
I have recently been introduced to a company called PostPath. They are a new technology company that have created a Linux-based alternative to Microsoft's Exchange. Their proposition is that Microsoft Outlook is the killer application. As long as users can run Outlook and have all the features and functionality that they are used to, it shouldn't matter what is serving it up on the back end. And if that back end can run on cheaper hardware and storage with a highly-flexible open source OS, all the...
One of the nicest things in Exchange 2007 is the way the installation and support interface has been improved. So much has been written about PowerShell but I am a big fan of the way they continue to improve the GUI experience as well. First of all, the subtle use of providing PowerShell syntax with every wizard execution is a great way to make beginners more comfortable with the command line. The second is the feedback you get upon installation of Exchange server. In days past you would get some...
Ever wonder about the history of the Microsoft Exchange server? How did it progress and what were all of its various features and revisions? I remember first working with Microsoft Mail and then Exchange 5.0 that I implemented for a small college in northern Ohio. It was new and exciting to be working with this new messaging technology which at the time was going on to Windows NT Server 3.51 and 4.0. Those were the days. Barefoot in the snow, uphill, both ways! Read about the past at the always excellent...
Microsoft has released four new whitepapers detailing how Exchange 2007 is used internally. I am a big fan of these papers. I like to see how the maker designs, uses and maintains its own software. You always find some good tips and previously unknown tricks. Some of the best sessions I have ever been to at TechEd have been the "how we do this at Microsoft" ones. Exchange Server 2007 Design and Architecture at Microsoft Managing the Calendaring and Collaboration Process By Using Exchange Server 2007...
I love these white papers from "How Microsoft Does IT." Obviously these guys are very skilled and knowledgeable when it comes to deploying their own technology. The insight you get is invaluable and really comes in to play when designing your own installations. From the web site: Ever wondered how a large enterprise plans and implements design and architecture of its next generation of messaging system? View this content to find out how engineers from the Microsoft IT messaging team will uncover...
Microsoft TechNet Magazine has released another excellent architectural diagram for one of Microsoft's "back office" systems. This time Exchange 2007 is up to bat and this diagram has all the under the covers goods like Client Access, Edge, Transports and Clustering. Download this bad boy and head on over to your local large format printer (or Kinkos). Previous versions have also come enclosed in the latest issue of TechNet Magazine. As of the last issue this one hasnt shown yet, but perhaps it will...
Microsoft's download site has released (or re-released\updated) a whole raft of Exchange Server related content. Enjoy at will. Exchange Load Generator (32 bit) Exchange Load Generator (64 bit) Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Calendar Connector for Lotus Notes Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Connector for Lotus Notes Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Migration Wizard for Lotus Notes Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync Certificate-Based Authentication Tool Microsoft Exchange Server Jetstress Tool (32...
I just found out that I passed the beta for 70-238 (Pro: Deploying Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007). I had previously passed the beta for 70-237 (Pro: Designing Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007). Unfortunately, as detailed here, I did not pass 70-236 (TS:Configuring Exchange Server 2007) and I did not get a chance to take it in beta due to some scheduling conflicts. I don't think there is any sub-designation for passing just the IT Pro tests but not...
I have started for some time now an Exchange working group on the Microsoft\Culminis community site Aggreg8. It now has a decent amount of traffic and conversation with lots of questions posted that many in the Exchange community may find helpful. You may also be able to share your experience with others. Please stop by and take a look. I can also give out some invitations if they are needed. Leave a comment. Update: Okay, so while traffic spiked I had been remiss in looking at post dates - nothing...
I don't think I am violating the multi-paged pre-exam NDA by offering this tip after sitting for 70-236 this morning: know they powershell syntax and commandlets. Easily 75%+ of my test involved trying to choose which syntax I should use to perform a configuration related task in Exchange 2007. I have heard there was some powershell on the exam. I even looked over the "skills being measured." This is the only item among 20 or so: "Implement bulk management of mail-enabled objects." Hmmm. I was not...
Microsoft has released rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007. You can download it here. This rollup also contains all the fixes from rollups 1 and 2. It is also rumored to also contain a fix that allows for IMAP connectivity to the soon forthcoming Apple iPhone. Other fixes include: • 931328 (http://support.microsoft.c... An integer is added to the end of the legacyExchangeDN attribute of a newly created mailbox in Exchange 2007 • 930468 (http://support.microsoft.c... The attachment...
Microsoft has another great podcast up around the messaging design that went in to its Exchange 2007 environment. And please Microsoft, let me download the entire podcast so I can listen to it offline. IMO that is a requirement to be a podcast. Streaming sucks. From the download page: Ever wondered how a large enterprise plans and implements design and architecture of its next generation of messaging system? View this content to find out how engineers from the Microsoft IT messaging team will uncover...
I have had this brought up by some co-workers and wondered if anyone from MS would like to officially comment? When Outlook 2003 was released there was the potential for un-patched Exchange 5.5 information stores to get corrupted or experience problems and dismount. Is Outlook 2007 officially (as in written somewhere - not just anecdotally) supported against a mailbox on an Exchange 2003 SP2 server? Comments welcomed. Update: I finally found, buried here, this: Connectivity to Microsoft Exchange...
As of SP2, Exchange 2003 was supported in production in a Microsoft virtual environment. Now that Exchange 2007 requires 64 bits to be supported in production and Microsoft does not have a virtualization platform that supports a 64 bit guest, Exchange 2007 is not supported in production in a virtual environment. From the Microsoft document Technical Architecture of Exchange 2007: Exchange 2007 and Virtualization Exchange 2007 is not supported in production in a virtual environment; however, as stated...
You know with all the web advances (is that the 2.0 web or the 3.0 web?) that the next version of OWA was going to rock. I am happy to say that it really rocks. A lot of people have blogged about the free Microsoft and Unisys Exchange 2007 demo account you can request. I got one quickly and fired it up. If anyone would like to email me my address is chris.haaker@exchange2007de... . This means you spammers! Let's see what this baby can do! One of the features I really love spending a fair portion...
An interesting option for Exchange server disaster recovery
You Had Me at EHLO just posted some information on Exchange 2007 SP1. This one stood out - it will be a bit before Windows Server 2003 SP2 is implemented. Of course, it will be a bit before Exchange 2007 is implemented! Regarding the operating system, SP1 for Exchange 2007 will require Windows Server 2003 SP2. This will be a hard dependency for installation, so the operating system must be upgraded to Windows Server 2003 SP2 before you upgrade the Exchange 2007 RTM installation to Exchange 2007 SP1,...
In the world of RSS and newsreaders there is a war of preferences going around over how people prefer to read their feeds. Categorized by feed, type of feed, or as a “river of news.” In other words first in, first displayed, in a long list and you simply scan top-to-bottom. I have tried both and IMO both have merit. River of news lets you see everything in an instant, and I find it useful for quickly locating important event. Then I read the “normal” stuff later on. When I am ready to consume all...
When I first learned a lot about the Edge Server role in Microsoft Exchange 2007 last year at TechEd, I asked about the reporting that would be available. IT managers and directors love to request metrics on spam, discarded email and volume and the Edge server seemed to be the place where the raw data would best be obtained. Today I see a Message Statistics Sample Agent on Microsoft Downloads. From the official release: The Message Statistics sample agent examines and records aggregate information...
There has been a hack and an official KB on how to run ADUC under Vista. And while not perfect, it is functional. No one I know can understand Microsoft's logic for not having this solved prior to shipping Vista. If you also want to enable the Exchange extensions in ADUC there is one more step. After you do the things mentioned here, copy these three DLL's from a Windows 2003 Server (c:\%systemroot%\system32): netui0.dll netui1.dll netui2.dll Then re-register regsvr32 \windows\system32\maildsmx....
Many of you that have been working with and paying attention to Exchange 2007 already know this - the new SMTP protocol has been re-written from the ground up as a separate component that is no longer dependent on IIS. Here is some more detail from DepLarge.doc - a guide on deploying Exchange 2007 in a large environment from Microsoft. New SMTP Transport Stack In Exchange 2007, the SMTP protocol is provided by the Microsoft Exchange Transport service (MSExchangeTransport.exe). In earlier versions...
The Exchange team blog posted a great article on the features available with different versions of Outlook when coupled with different versions of Exchange on the back end. One of the cool features when using Outlook and Exchange 2007 is enhanced Out of Office Assistant. You have the option to customize and turn off or on Out of Office messages for those inside your organization and those outside your organization. Very nice. You also have a number of rich text formatting options available so you...
I saw this on the Microsoft Download website and had to take a look. It looks to be a virtual machine with all of the Exchange-based DST tools loaded on it. You then join it to the domain and you have a workstation pre-configured to run all the tools for DST adjustments. At least, I think that's what it is for. The description on the website is a little thin IMO and I don't want to download 1.5GB and then hope there is documentation in there! They should include it as a separate readme or be more...
Beta exam 71-237 ITPro: Designing Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 has been released. With this exam you will earn credit towards the certification for Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Messaging Administrator. The exam goes live on March 1st and the beta ends on March 27th. It should go live within 30-60 days of that date if previous beta tests have been any indication. You are allotted four hours for this test. Find exam preparation information: http://www.microsoft.com/le...
Please join the Southern Ohio Exchange Users Group on March 7, 2007 for a night of presentations highlighting Exchange 2007 and Windows Vista. We will be presenting several technical demonstrations on Exchange 2007 including deployment, operational efficiency and Unified Communications. We will also have some fun and informative Windows Vista technical demonstrations as well. Please register here so we have an accurate head count for food and drinks. The meeting will begin promptly at 6:30pm and...
I love Harold's webcasts on Exchange. He is a highly knowledgeable TechNet presenter. I recommend checking out his on-going 24 Hours of Exchange 2007 webcast series (I would list the link here but finding an event on the Microsoft website is about as frustrating as it gets IMO). I just completed hour 11 which focused on Policies and Compliance. Here are some highlights: Hub transport rules are not replicated to all the hub transport servers by any Exchange replication engine nor are they stored in...
The "You Had Me at EHLO" blog is running a contest for the most excellent Exchange 2007 limerick. Grand prize is a Microsoft Zune engraved with the Exchange 2007 logo and catchphrase
Dear Southern Ohio Exchange Users Group - I am pleased to announce that Microsoft MVP and all around Exchange good-guy Paul Robichaux will be speaking at the February 1st meeting in Mason, Ohio at 6:30pm (Max Technical Training Center). Paul will be addressing Unified Messaging in Exchange 2007. Paul has been actively working with Exchange and a leader in the community for as long as I can remember. Paul is a partner with 3Sharp, author of truckload of books and magazine articles (Windows IT Pro...
I am pleased to announce that we will be having Paul Robichaux speak at the February meeting of the Southern Ohio Exchange User's Group. The meeting is taking place on February 1st in Mason, Ohio at the new Max Technical Training Center. You can read more about it at the website for the group. Paul is a well-known Exchange MVP, speaker, consultant and author. I will have the registration site up soon for the meeting. Paul will be speaking on the new unified messaging features in Exchange 2007. Technorati...
For all of you Exchange engineers out there dying to know how the certification path for Exchange 2007 is shaping up, check out these informational webcasts talked about over on Trika Harms zum Spreckel's blog. One of the best titles for a blog I have seen lately. If you have ever been to TechEd, you can't help but smile...
A week out of the blogosphere feels good - and a refreshing way to recharge the batteries! Of course, now I have to wade through 700+ news items. I have not removed my laptop from its bag since December 22nd. It was hard at times, but I made it. I noticed a lot of people are getting their blogs in a knot over Microsoft giving out some review laptops loaded with Windows Vista Ultimate to select bloggers. I wasnt selected so it is hard for me to be anything but envious. On the other hand, I find it...
One of the new strategies for Exchange 2007 servers is to use Continuous Local or Cluster Replication (CLR or CCR) and then run the backups off of the replicated database, leaving the active one alone. However, as we know, running online backups on the database clears the transaction log files (as long as circular logging is turned off) when completed. What happens in this new scenario since backups aren’t run against the active database? Scott Schnoll, master of Exchange Server clustering, has the...
Now that you will soon be able to download that shiny new copy of Exchange 2007, you should begin in earnest designing the environment in which you want it to operate (and you know that means someone up the food chain will want a pretty picture of said design). So, without further ado, here are the Exchange 2007 Visio stencils. Just in the nick of time! I am a little disappointed that they arent done in the "new" style Microsoft has been using for all of its Visio icons, but rather the "old" flat...
From the Exchange Team blog "You Had Me at EHLO" (which IMO is one of the best blog titles ever): Exchange 2007 is RTM. Documentation Technorati tags: Exchange 2007, Exchange, RTM, Microsoft Exchange, You Had Me at EHLO...
This new paper from Microsoft details the Forefront Security for Exchange beta. From the site: Forefront Security for Exchange protects organizations against the latest threats by managing multiple antivirus scan engines at multiple layers throughout the e-mail infrastructure. This approach allows Forefront for Exchange to minimize the average window of exposure for emerging e-mail threats by providing continual signature updates from multiple antivirus labs around the world. Forefront also protects...
A big thank you to the presenters at the November Southern Ohio Exchange User's Group meeting! Matt Hester from Microsoft presented on Exchange 2007 and Windows Vista. It was great to get some more information on unified messaging which is possibly the most requested topic where Exchange 2007 is concerned. We also heard from Tim Brunner on Symantec's Enterprise Vault product and how it helps medium to large organizations with compliance and retention. Our next meeting will be in January and you can...
From Microsoft Downloads: How does a large enterprise plan and implement the migration of its existing 32-bit messaging system to the 64-bit platform? In this podcast, find out how Microsoft IT was able to take advantage of 64-bit architecture to fully deploy Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 in its production environment. Hear engineers from the Microsoft IT messaging team describe how they were able to overcome some of the toughest performance bottlenecks in the Microsoft messaging systems. Learn...
I didn't want to announce this previously as I wasn't sure if it was intended to be publicly unleashed yet. However, seeing as how it is advertised in the latest TechNet Flash email newsletter I am sure I can share now! Here is the blurb from the newsletter: Are you interested in knowing what your peers are saying about Microsoft Office 2007? Do you want to see the feedback on the new Windows Vista license changes? Or maybe you have a new script you'd like to share with a larger group of IT pros....
Exchange Server 2007: A Quick Hands-on Overview in an Online Virtual Lab Express In this 30-minute Virtual Lab Express, you will familiarize yourself with the Exchange Management Console and Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access, and work with compliance and records management rules
I took a spin through the TechNet Virtual labs for Exchange 2007 and I was very impressed! The experience was smooth and very well organized. I even learned a few interesting things. When running through the installation for a new server, one of the steps is to query you for the versions of Outlook you will be running in your environment. All Outlook 2007 or a mix of previous versions of Outlook? I wondered why you are prompted for this information. I had an inkling as Exchange 2003 is able to restrict...
Exchange 2007 has a new feature where it can be installed from a command line. This also allows for easily scripted mass installs for the enterprise, or a way to better standardize builds across many engineers or locations. You can test it out at the TechNet virtual labs mentioned in my previous post. "To ease deployments in large environments, Exchange Management Shell scripts can be used to automate server installation and provisioning." >exsetup /roles:clientaccess /mode:install...
From Eileen Brown's excellent Exchange-focused (usually) blog comes some links to TechNet Virtual Labs* for Exchange 2007: *For a limited time they are also giving away XBox 360's to lucky people who complete a lab and survey. Exchange Server 2007: Installing Exchange Server 2007 Exchange Server 2007: Using Management Console and Shell Exchange Server 2007: Administering Exchange Server 2007 Server Roles and Mailboxes Exchange Server 2007: Remote Client Access with Exchange Server 2007 Exchange Server...
On Monday I stepped on a plane for a 14+ hour ride in coach (ouch) to Hong Kong to do some Exchange migrations for our Asian offices. Apart from the plane ride from hell (they should hand out drugs to all in coach) the trip has been a pleasure. Never having been to Asia before I was worried as to what to expect. I have traveled to Europe before and have always felt comfortable even if I didn't speak the language as it seemed that I could always figure out what I needed to know for the given situation....
I am formally announcing the November meeting for the Southern Ohio Exchange Users Group. Details and directions can be found here at the registration site. While not required, please register so we can properly gauge the right amount of food and drink. Speakers will include Microsoft's Matt Hester and Symantec's James Kelly. Join us for a fun and engaging couple of hours with your fellow Microsoft Exchange enthusiasts...
Now this rocks! I am in an organization for the first time in a long while that does not routinely give mobile devices (Blackberries or Windows Mobile) out to all IT staff members (or even us important ones). I have had to get used to not having access to my calendar and upcoming appointments when away from my desk or laptop (on the upside I am not a slave to the crackberry). Being that my memory is terrible (just ask my wife) I was close to resorting to printing out my calendar each day and carrying...
Kevin Remde, Microsoft TechNet Presenter and uber blogger presents Q&A with the Microsoft Exchange 2007 team members. Earlier this year at TechReady he cornered the team and talked about deployment, unified messaging and disaster recovery. Introduction by the sultry-voiced Aurora Queen. tags: Exchange, Exchange2007, Kevin+Remde, unified+messaging, disaster+recovery, Aurora+Queen, TechNet...
Now taking submissions for topics for the November meeting. Currently slated for 6:30pm on November 16th at Max Technical Training in Dayton, Ohio. Tentative speakers so far include Microsoft TechNet's Matt Hester and Symantec. Please hit the email link or leave a comment with topics and I will endeavor to get an expert to speak. See you there. tags: Exchange, SOEUG, IT+Pros, Southern+Ohio+Exchange+User...
The You Had Me at EHLO Exchange blog has a great article on how with Exchange 2007 you no longer do recipient-based tasks from within ADUC (Active Directory Users and Computers) but from within the Exchange 2007 Management Console (or PowerShell). This is great news for a large enterprise where the AD and Exchange engineers may be on seperate teams and not so great for smaller shops where one or more engineers do both roles...
I have had trouble in the past when installing the Exchange System Manager (ESM) on my laptop so I can modify email information about a user in Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC). I get conflicts with Outlook (some shared or overwritten DLLs I imagine) or in the case of Outlook 2007 Beta 2, outright consistent crashes. I found this article by Jim McBee on how to copy just the needed DLLs from an Exchange server to the workstation in question. The page isn't available on his site for some...
The November meeting of the Southern Ohio Exchange User's Group has been tentatively scheduled for the 16th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Max Technical Training's southern Dayton facility. A map and directions can be found here. A more detailed post with a schedule of the speakers will be posted as the event gets closer and everyone has confirmed their participation. Of course we will have food, drink and some choice door prizes. I am also hoping to have some things from O'Reilly books for the group as...
As I start to ramp up the advertising and collaboration around the Southern Ohio Exchange User's Group I have been approached about an interesting idea. For those unaware of the Southern Ohio geography, Cincinnati anchors the southern border with Kentucky and then approximately 45 minutes north is the smaller city of Dayton. The space between Dayton and Cincinnati has almost been completely developed, and some suggest Dayton could just be a suburb of Cincinnati someday. The Microsoft offices were...
Amanda has a great overview of the new Exchange 2007 management console over at the EHLO blog. It has some great screenshots and comparisons with the Exchange 2003 ESM to highlight the changes in the way you interact with Exchange 2007. Personally, I love the new console. The three pane layout allows for you to get more done in less screen real estate. However, once I finish mastering the PowerShell, I dont plan on being in the new ESM much...
Come and see the always excellent Matt Hester in Columbus, Ohio on August 24th at the AMC Easton Town Centre 30. He will be presenting on Windows Vista, Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007. I have seen Matt present several times and he never fails to entertain and present some very in-depth and informational subject matter. And he's an Ohio State fan. He's not perfect however - he likes the Cleveland Browns - a team that cannot buy a center ... see all the details here...
I read with great interest today some specs on the new Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 R2. Anyone who administers an Exchange messaging system knows the value of something called "Single Instance Storage." Simply put, if I send an email to 50 people, there is not 50 copies of the email taking up space in the mail store. There is one copy with pointers to it from all the other mailboxes. Now imagine applying this principle to file servers. Those 50 people that got that email save the attachment...
A few Exchange blogs have already posted this but I wanted to get it out as well. Exchange Ninja's has put up an Exchange wiki. If you are not familiar with the concept of a wiki go here. Community organization and submission of information - by the community, for the community. This one looks like it is off to a good start. Given that this one focuses on technical topics where there arent always cut and dry correct answers, just "best practices" I will be curious to see how the postings go...
I love pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words. It is amazing how easily and more quickly technical concepts can be explained with a picture. Here are some great transport diagrams for two new roles in Exchange Server 2007. Hub and Edge Transport roles. From the Exchange Blog
I just returned from a brief vacation with my family in South Florida. I was about as disconnected from technology as I have been in quite some time. I checked my personal email three whole times and never checked my work email (okay I forgot my RSA token!) the whole time. I had a digital camera and an iPod and that about did it. Otherwise it was an all analog time with the wife, kids and family. It is amazing just how much time kids can spend in the water. They would have had me server dinner in...
You can download it here. Beta 2 is feature complete and the Exchange Blog (You Had Me at EHLO) has more details. I recommend downloading it from a country mirror where everyone is asleep right now for faster download speeds
Much like it has for Vista, SQL and other technologies Microsoft TechNet has recently launched a community-style forum for Exchange Server 2007. However, at the moment it is short on volume and guidance. Every topic had more posts on Windows Vista issues than Exchange. I don't know what people are thinking, but hopefully a site admin will step up to clean out the discussion areas from off-topic posters and monitor how things progress. Please don't throw it out there and then abandon it. The power...
I am pleased to announce the first meeting of the Southern Ohio Exchange Users Group! This has been a long time in the making and I know it is something the area IT Pros will enjoy and get a lot out of. The inaugural meeting is set for September 12th and check-in and welcome is at 6:15 with the meeting kicking off at 6:30pm. It will run to 8:30pm. Food and drink will be graciously provided by Microsoft. The meeting will be held at the Cincinnati area Microsoft offices located in Mason. The registration...
Microsoft has released two free e-learning courses (much as they did for SQL 2005 – thanks Microsoft!) for Exchange Server 2007. They are with the beta 1 build but at a broad level are applicable and well worth looking in to if you are an Exchange administrator. Clinic 3053: What's New in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Administration Clinic 3054: Overview of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Architecture...
I would like to officially announce the formation of the Southern Ohio Exchange User's Group! I know SOEUG doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue but it was the best I could do! This group is for IT Professionals in the greater Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio area with a concentration on messaging technologies; specifically Microsoft Exchange as well as mobility and messaging security. The first meeting will be held in the beginning of September - hopefully at the Cincinnati Microsoft offices if...
The Exchange team has posted the first beta of the online documentation for Exchange Server 2007. Read the post here and find the documentation here. Listening to The Fray – Over My Head (Cable Car)
I have finally squeezed out a blogcast (done during my lunch break so it is rough – be kind please) and have it posted here. I plan on ramping up in the next one to two weeks, especially with some Exchange 2007 content. Below are some links to the content I reference in the blogcast. Enjoy. Ask the Experts: Windows Vista Disk Imaging with ImageX and Windows Imaging Format (WIM) Windows Vista deployment is based on disk imaging, and the operating system will come with a built-in disk-imaging...
The Exchange Scripting Center is holding a contest for the best one line PowerShell script that addresses some form of Exchange 2007 administration. See the contest announcement here. The winner will get a trip to the Exchange Server 2007 launch – whenever and wherever that is! GOPWRSHL and unleash to capabilities of Exchange Server 2007
Yes!! The Microsoft Security and Feature Pack firmware update is now available from the Palm web site for the Treo 700w. You need to enter you serial number to obtain it and there are extensive instructions for applying it. Be warned: your device will be formatted, so back up all your data! On the back end your provider will need Exchange Server 2003 running SP2. They will also need to enable your device for direct push server side. Awesome!! There are great directions from Palm here and a review...
Now playing: Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin Down I have run in to problems with the Offline Address Book an amazing number of times; and more often than not, on brand-new Exchange 2003 installs. Some of the common fixes, like rebuilding the OAB or deleting it and creating a new one, don't often work. The Outlook 2003 client is stuck with the infamous 0x8004010F error. After reading this article at msexchange.org I downloaded the mentioned OABInteg utility and had my problem fixed in about 5 minutes....
As I start to get psyched for Tech*Ed 2006 (am I the only geek that gets excited this early?) I find myself wishing for certain things to happen. Certain expectations begin to form; partly from past Tech*Ed disappointments and partly from hope for the future. Here are some things I would love to see this year: A wireless network that really works! Thirteen thousand geeks on a sprawling wireless LAN shouldn't be impossible should it? And given this is Microsoft’s flagship conference, why isn't...
The Tech*Ed 2006 registration site is up and live, albeit a little rough. Some things are on the “information site” (like a map of all the hotels) but not on the actual page where you choose your hotel. There are only individual maps, which can be quite confusing if you have never been to Boston, like myself. And the links to the overall maps and PDF’s are broken. But, I figured it out and selected the Hilton Boston Logan due to its relatively reasonable price and adjacency to the...
After two days with the Treo 700w I am a very happy camper. The complaints are minor and mostly stem from my lack of familiarity with the device and not a device shortcoming itself. One minor nit: for $400 cant you throw in a case to carry this around in? Despite my initial disappointment in hearing the screen was 240 x 240, it looks gorgeous and I don't find it overly cluttered. The screen on my Samsung i730 was a lot bigger, but then again, so was the device itself. I use the Treo for phone calls...
BetaNews.com reported (along with many others) that Microsoft released Beta 1 of Exchange “12” today to a group of about 1,400 testers. I was all ready to jump on getting a copy of this beta when I remembered it only runs on 64–bit systems. Hmmm, I don't seem to have a spare 64–bit server handy … but I do have Virtual Server R2 and VMWare Workstation 5.5 both of which emulate a 64–bit virtual machine...
The latest version of the Lotus Notes Mail Migration Wizard has been released. This is part of a new wave of products from the Notes compete team at Microsoft to make Notes to Exchange migrations complete with more fidelity. Supports Notes R5 and R6 with Exchange Server 2003 SP2. Download the mail migration wizard here. Download the Connector for Lotus Notes here. Download the Calendar Connector here. More information can be found here as well. The Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Migration Wizard...
Following in the footsteps of the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer Tool, Microsoft has released a tool for ISA Server 2004. I like this trend and would like to see the same tool rolled out for SQL, SMS, MOM and AD. This is a simple and fairly prescriptive way to do some basic analyzing of your platform architecture based on Microsoft Product Team’s best practices. ISA Server especially can get complex fast if you haven't well thought out your architecture, networks and rule sets. Download it...
It had been previously announced that the next version of Exchange Server (Exchange Server “12”) would be released only as a 64–bit application. You can now add the next version of Small Business Server to that list as well. Read about it here
This is nice. I am glad to finally see some SLA\Scorecard metrics for various Microsoft platform packages being rolled out with MOM as the foundation. Who better to report on the health of your Exchange or SQL server over time? Download here. Overview The Microsoft® Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 SLA Scorecard for Exchange provides you with an executive dashboard to measure and trend service availability and workloads across multiple server roles in an Exchange Server messaging environment. This...
For IT Professionals: TechNet Webcasts • A More Secure and Well-Managed Infrastructure (Part 9 of 18): Securing the Exchange Environment (Level 300) November 11, 9:30 AM-10:30 AM Pacific TimeKeith Combs, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation • A More Secure and Well-Managed Infrastructure (Part 10 of 18): Sybari Antigen Overview (Level 300) November 16, 9:30 AM-10:30 AM Pacific TimeKai Axford, Security Specialist, Microsoft Corporation • Exchange Server 2003 In Depth (Part 7 of...
Microsoft posted Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 to the Web on Wednesday. http://www.microsoft.com/ex... PS Exchange 2003 SP2 requires Windows Server 2003 SP1 Besides all the excellent features around mobility, push email and Windows Mobile 2005, service pack 2 also introduces: · Disable all PF replication in the organization to curb replication storms by right-clicking at the org level. · Public folder deletion logging – event viewer reports...
Here is a cool little gem from the Microsoft website on the application layer protection that ISA Sever does so well. Download it here. From the document: Microsoft® Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 provides many features for securely publishing resources to the Internet with the use of application layer filters. The purpose of this document is to detail how to more effectively use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) filtering capabilities...
I am in Indianapolis doing an Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003 swing migration. As I sit here watching the Move Mailbox wizard hum I am amazed at how many emails users can keep in their inbox. So far I have seen a mailbox with 55,238 and another with 65,834 emails in their respective inboxes. Oy vey
Download Exchange 2003 SP2 Community Preview. Microsoft Exchange Server Service Pack 2 (SP2) will offer a huge leap forward in mobility and security capabilities. Customers and partners can now download a pre-release evaluation for testing purposes. This is an unsupported release that should only be used in lab or testing environments...
From the You Had Me At EHLO Exchange blog (who knew?): Why should you use Diskpar (Diskpart in W2003 SP1)? Exchange Server can benefit from having basic disk partitions track-aligned. Diskpar.exe is used for aligning a partition at the storage level, which, if used to create the partition, can have a significant positive performance impact on the storage and is highly recommended. Before I go into the details of how to do this, I’ll give some basic definitions. A partition is the container...
Hey Exchange administrators! Go buy this book now . .
I promised a couple of weeks ago I would blog a review of my new cell phone, the Samsung SCH-i730 from Verizon Wireless. So far, my experiences have been positive. The minor annoyances I have had have been more a result of using a RIM Blackberry for the past four years and making the transition to a new form factor and Windows Mobile 2003 2nd Edition. The highlights are a great data service, wifi (which I can enable and disable as needed – it is a battery drainer) and a slide-out qwerty-style...
I had the unfortunate opportunity yesterday to come in to work only to find that all of our Public Folders had been deleted from the our Exchange 5.5 site. It seems the administrator from another site had finished migrating from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003. He decided he didn't want “everyone else’s” Public Folders showing up in his tree, and since he couldn't see the content of the folders, figured they were local copies only. Delete. Whoops. This had happened once before, when...
Here is a great article from the Exchange Server blog on why you should use the ADC to create your connection agreements. I have run in to a couple of these problems myself; especially when migrating in the Exchange 2000 days. Since using the ADC exclusively I have been golden
Okay, so I’m sitting in the MS Exchange cabana area and not 15 feet away today’s lucky Tablet PC gets given away to the guy behind me wearing the Tablet PC button. Apparently there wasn’t anyone in the Tablet PC cabana and he wandered in. Doh! So close and yet …
My second Bf was wonderful as well. Working with ISA Server 2004. We talked over some good things. There were two people there who work at an ISP in Trinidad. They said they get a lot of grief as everyone wants to put a “hardware” firewall in front of the ISA server . . . fine. As Bud remarked, “let it filter out all the noise.” The attendees from Trinidad note they leave it all open anyway! Heh. Bud is also working on an ISA Server Pocket Guide for MS Press. I am going to...
The vendor exhibition kicked off today at 6:00pm. I have always been curious why they have a “big to-do” at 6:00pm when the exhibit was already open from noon to 3:30pm? There isn’t any suspense or anticipation about what we are going to see, unless you count which appetizers they might server this time. The usual collection of suspects were there with the usual collection of swag to give away. Notable exceptions were Sybari (outdoor adventure equipment) and Sunbelt Software (tricked...