TECH

Saw a demo of a CCR install today on a website and thought I would take a few notes. I havent tried this yet and not going to bother until I get hold of an RTM copy, but hopefully these notes will help when the time comes.
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Windows Cluster Services needs an update before the cluster can be set up

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921181/en-us

This adds a file share witness feature and a configurable cluster heartbeats feature to Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1-based server clusters

Need to create the File Share Witness share. This is best done on the Hub server in the same site as the cluster.

Create the directory on the hub server that is going to be used as the file share witness
Share the directory out and assign full control permissions to the service account that is going to be used for the cluster server. The Quorum wont use much space, about 10mb but its advisable to make sure that it has enough space reserved for it.

Create the Cluster on Node 1.
• Define the Cluster Name
• Add the first Node
• Add an IP address for the Cluster
• Provide the cluster account
• Select Majority Node Set Quorum as the Quorum Type

Add Node 2 to the Cluster

Once the cluster has been created you need to modify the Quorum to use the File Share Witness. This can be done from a powershell command

Cluster Res “Majority Node Set” /Priv mnsfileshare =\\server\share
This sets up the File Share Witness
Cluster Group “Cluster Group Name” /Move
This Moves the Cluster group as the resource has to be taken offline
Cluster Res “Majority Node Set” /Priv
This tests the Quorum

Once the Quorum has been defined Exchange can be installed.
Install Exchange onto the first Node.
Select a custom install and select Active Cluster Mailbox Server as the option.
Select the CCR option
Give it an Exchange server name and IP

Once complete install Exchange onto the passive node
Select a custom install and select Passive Cluster Mailbox Server

If you need to do a scheduled move of the Exchange server at a later date it is recommended to use the powershell command line.
Move –clustermailboxserver –identity Exchangeservername –targetmachine nodename

Posted by Jon Warburton at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New file server features of Windows 2003 R2 and Windows Server Code name Longhorn

Not a great presenation :( The presenter spoke like a computer. Had very little scenarios and didnt want to make any changes to the server he was demoing. Really struggled to stay interested with this one.

Windows storage system support for SIS single instance storage. This looks for duplicate copies of files and moves a copy to sis cache and leaves a pointer for each instance

R2 has
* File quotas - Email, event log, script reporting. Quotas set on dir or volume. Preset templates or can create custom ones
* File screens - block certain types of files. presets or create custom ones
*Reporting tools - number of preset reports and can be outputted in various formats

R2 improves cifs and unix scalability
Cifs - common internet file system

r2 -DFS-R bit level replication.

Longhorn - possible features

Storage explorer - san management integrated into the OS. One tool to view different storage environments . Doesn't manage just views and has ability to launch out to management interfaces

SMB 2.0 -
More open files and shares possible
More efficient protocol
Client side encryption is possible
--Need longhorn and vista to get all the features

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Compliance and Retention in Exchange 2007

Compliance typically enforced by external party
Disclaimers
Hr policy - language
Company - certain groups you may not be allowed to communicate with or about certain subjects

Hub transport - all messages flow through this server – makes it easier for compliance

Transport rules – these are like outlook rules on exchange server. Disclaimers - check for certain words etc actions can then be applied to these including customised NDRs

In 2007 journaling is envelope journaling - hub transport level - can be done on per user
Message envelope is the original message with additional info as to who message was sent to , any bcc information, distribution lists etc

Reg key in outlook 2007 to disable pst creation
HKCR\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\PST\PstDisableGrow
HKCR\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\DisablePST

Managed folders are folders that are created with rules on them so that users can classify their email. Examples such as
Voice mail - deleted after 30 days etc
Business critical - saved for 5 years
Not important delete after 50 days etc
These are created inside users mailboxes under the managed email folder

No calendar journaling currently.
There is a switch to enable or disable voice messaging journaling

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Lotus Notes to exchange migration

2007 all existing tools been pulled in microsoft transporter suite for lotus domino

The suite has a console front end - tools designed for 2007 only

All tools are based on powershell commands and GUI is built on top

Directory --
Domino Connector for Domino
2 way sync between AD and Domino
Creates a unified GAL for both notes and Domino
Enables smtp mail flow and free/busy routing

Uses smtp addressing now instead of notes addressing

Get-dominouser : ft name,uniquename, sourceserver

Use gui to select users to migrate
Click on migrate users
Place them in a OU
Creates AD account
Can create mailbox if wanted

R5 supported but r6 for co-existence

Smtp and ical is new connector. Its built into 2007. Nothing to install

Calendar accept / decline meetings and cancel meetings lot more calendar support. About only thing doesn't work is updates to recurring meetings

Domino doesn't support .png graphics on some clients. Screenshots by default are .png in outlook 2007

There is a free busy connector that can be set up

Connects to exchange on 443 so possibly could be done over internet to a front end server

Move Mailboxes

Gui tool
Select mailboxes to migrate
Point to ex server and database
Can be merged with existing messages

Still needs notes client installed to perform the migration.

End user still needs to have given access to the account that is migrating.
Calendar imports automatically now. Not as a file attachment.

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Exchange 2007 availability strategies

File share witness (fsw) needs to go in the preferred location (the one with the active node) as if you loose coms to datacentere and fsw is in other site then that will have majority so it will fail to that site. The site that has the majority (2) quorums will win.

Use a cname for file share witness when setting it up if file share witness server fails easier if you recreate it with same name

2003 cluster nodes on same subnet. If you get a node failover communications to the Hub and Client Access Servers would be to the original AD site. Mailbox server to Hub / CAS doesn’t talk across sites.

In failover state if all of original site is gone the failover node won't talk to hub and cas as they are in different ad site. Need to change ip config of either hub and cas or the failover node in failover state. With Longhorn cluster you can have nodes in different subnets…. So this may remote this issue??

Single AD site is ok if fast lan speeds between data centers.

If you move the mailbox server then in failover state you have to recatergorize the queues so that routing can continue. This is done with right click on queue

Recommend a File Share Witeness is provisioned in other datacenter in case of site failure

If fsw in site has failed the u need to use /forceqorum switch to force it to recreate the fsw
Think this is done on cluster service

When moving the fsw back make sure both nodes are up, delete contents of the fsw and then flip cname ip

Don't want failover to happen unless its necessary.

Autodatabasemountdial is a setting that controls how many log files you are happy to through away in a failover. If you are lossless the database won't mount until all logs are available. Two other levels have varying levels of loss acceptable

Transport dumpster on hub transport. In a ccr environment. Messages added to transport dumpster. These messages are used in case of a loss failover. Based on the time windows of the failure it will ask for those messages again.

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Unified messaging

Client support built into outlook 2007 and OWA 2007

Spoken commands via telephone is english only even though it can read content in multiple languages. Other languages have to use touch tone for now.

10% headroom over quota limit for voicemail and fax messages

UM server only talks voip to pbx. Can use a voip gateway to work with legacy pbx systems

Dial plan object - users in a dial plan can call other users using just extension. Typical a single pbx config. Extensions are unique

UM ip gateway object has the ip address of the voip gateway

Um test phone is available for download to allow you to test functionality if you don’t have a pbx

Um server object - ex 2007 UM server. Can be associated with multiple dial plans

Basic Steps
Installed UM onto server.
Create new UM dial plan
Enter number digits
Create UM IP gateway
Add an IP address and associate it with a dial plan
Go to properties of server and associate with dial plan

Can add UM mailbox policies - international calls, pin number restrictions etc

Auto attendant - associated with dial plan, can create custom menus , transfer calls etc. Can be scheduled with different messages for out of hours

For a user to use UM they must be UM enabled. Need to have extension number and be associated with a mailbox policy. Select user and select configure Unified Messaging.

Configure the pbx to forward unanswered calls to UM.

When users first connect they can record a personal greeting. The greeting is stored in users mailbox

Auto attendant -has to be associated with a dialplan and given an extension number. Have to enable it to ensure it will answer calls

Recorded messages will be delivered into inbox and user can pick up using owa, outlook or phone. If using outlook and pc has no speaker or u want privacy can play back over phone

Voice functionality very good, has the ability to make calendar appoints move them, cancel meetings and send notifications. Call users in contacts or gal. Etc etc

Ip gateways can range from 4 lines upwards so quite scaleable.
Basic UM server 70 concurrent calls

30 seconds voicemail call 40k in size

Can be load balanced with multiple gateways and UM servers

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Installing and administrating exchange 2007

Ex 2007 needs windows 2003 domain function level.
2003 sp1 on GCs

Mailbox server won't use a hub server or CAS server in a different site

/preparead - this command preps the schema and sets permissions for exchange 2007
This can be broken down into 3 separate commands.

Setup.com /preparelegacyexchangepermissions for ex2k domains and 2k3

Setup.com /preparead

Can pre provision servers so that delegated amdins can install using the /newprovisionedserver switch on the setup command

Preparead can be run from the 32 bit media. That is supported. As 64 bit media is going to need a 64bit server.

Nntp and smtp are not needed
Www service is needed

.net3 *
Mmc 3 *
Poweshell 1
*=Included with R2

Product ID has to be entered after setup otherwise get 120 days useage

Once installed go through the next steps wizard

Exchange must be in native mode. Install 2007 client access servers first as 2003 front end servers can't talk to 2007

2007 checks recipients to make sure they are compliant like smtp addresses. Should be a tool to help check this

If install ex2007 into 2003 and there is no dedicated bridgehead then can have routing probs as mail will go to 2007 and sit there. Best practice is to have a bridgehead with 2003 with smtp connector

Setup /help gives all the commands for setup

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I changed the way I was making notes today. Yesterday I was using the old paper and pen method as I was only getting 90 mins battery life out of my laptop. The days are quite long 9-7 and with some food in the evenings was struggling to write things up so have started to use my mobile to take notes. Thankfully it does have a qwerty keyboard all be it a little small but the battery easiiy lasted all day on it.

Exchange 2007 failover and high availability

Current model is based on hardware failure available but no data failover.

Single Server Mode is called local continuous replication – this is based on log shipping.
It’s designed to copy data locally to a second disk.
Failover is a manual process.
There is some resource hit on the server due to the extra disk activity.
Allows for larger databases due to faster restore

Clusters failover node.
Only the mailbox server role only role cluster aware all other roles have to go on other servers. Up to 8 nodes always with at least 1 passive node is supported in a cluster but if you want data replication only two nodes are currently supported.

Exchange 2007 supports up to 50 databases

Cluster Continuous Replication
2 nodes only
No shared storage
Local copies of both the data and the logs
Local Quorum on both servers.
File share created on another server that is as quorum witness. Recommend it goes on hub server. This is used in case the two nodes cant comminute with each other.
No resource hit like on local replication

There is a blogcast demo of this here http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2006/08/09/428642.aspx

An initial copy of database is taken
As changes to logs are made they are copied to the other node and then replayed
Only replicated closed logfiles not bits of logfiles are replicated.
New service to handle this - microsoft exchange replication service

Each storage group has single set of logs
Each log set has prefix E00 E01 etc
E00 is active and then once used up renamed to next inc number and new E00.log created

Dirty failover - if active node fails then open log isn't avail on passive node as they only get copied once closed. Passive node carries on with some data loss. Starts logs from the number that the original passive node had. There are settings to control this but it’s a toss up between getting the server up and running quickly or recovering all data. There are other ways to get back some of that data without waiting for the original server to be fixed.

If active is repaired it comes up as passive. If logs are still there then there will be a mismatch due to uncopied logs.

Repairs to database can also cause a mismatch to database such as a defrag. This is called divergence. Replication service can detect this.

Log file sizes are now reduced to 1MB from 5MB to reduce information that could be lost.

Vss backups can now be done from passive node. This gives you snapshots in time of the database. Backup notifies the active node to tell it that a backup in process. Once backup complete passive note tells active node and changes made to the active node.

There is a transport dumpster on the hub server. This is only enabled when using CCR. If the recipient of a mail is on a CCR server then its put in a CCR dumpster on the hub. Recommend that this is set to 3 x max message size. The dumpster is used to replay back messages that may have been lost in a failover situation due to the lost log files.

Circular logging. Not supported

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Softgrid application delivery

There are 3 components to Softgrid
Sequencer
Server
Client

Sequencer - standalone machine. Recoding process that watches changes made when you install the app. App can also be configured to set the default settings in the application such as file paths etc. Have to also launch the app so it knows which files are necessary to run the app and what are the additional files
Creates 4 files. The files go onto a delivery server that can service 000,s of users per dual processor system

Every time an application is run its logged so you can track who is running what.

Softgrid is integrated into sms so people with sms can still leverage the benefits that sms gives with asset management and tracking. Sms can meter softgrid as well so it can watch both local and softgrid apps in one place

Softgrid is 4 years old so have a number of large existing customers all ready

Softgrid very useful for citrix environment as you don't need to build silos due to application conflict. Bad behaved apps may still need to be silo’d but conflict silos aren't needed

Desktop optimization pack - available in Jan. Includes
Softgrid
Diagnostics
Asset inventory
Advanced group policy

Works out roughly 10$ per user per year. Hell of a lot cheaper than when I looked at this a year ago.

Softgrid for terminal servers is different product

A good reason to install office locally is that COM is only possible between a virtual app and the desktop not between two virtual apps as most apps need to talk to office and office shares between apps install local is a good idea

Posted by Jon Warburton at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

First Day of Tech Ed in Barcelona.

Exchange Multi Forest Migration

Not a very good session this one unfortunately as it was the first one I went to. One of the presenters wasn’t that good and there was no structure to it. I know it was meant to be a chalk and talk but I did feel like there needed to be a bit more structure and good examples. Came away from this one with not a lot learnt. Stuff I did pick up

Exchange 2007 has a cross forest migration tool as standard

If you do build a multiple forest, where one of the forests is for Exchange and another contains the resources then the Exchange forest can’t also have mailboxes in it.

When you use the move mailbox migration tool OST files can be lost when the user logs back into Outlook. Running the tool with the /clone switch will prevent this from happening. Saves a lot of time in deployments with remote users.

There are two version of MIIS. A cut down version which is free will allow you to GAL sync multiple forests. It sounds like very basic functionality is there but anything other than the basics requires some tweaking.

IOREPL is a tool that allows you to sync the free / busy times between exchange organisations.

Exchange 2007 doesn’t use free / busy it uses an availability service if you are in pure 2007 and outlook 2007 mode. If you are using Outlook 2003 then it has to create the free / busy public folders for compatibility. Exchanged 2007 can connect to other Exchange 2007 organisations and read / busy information built in. You create a connector to the URL of the Availability service.

Softgrid

First time I had seen softgrid under the Microsoft banner. The hall was quite packed for this one so obviously a lot of interest. It was a lightning demo, which was basically a 25 minute slot to get through the basics of what softgrid does.

To deliver an application you have to sequence the application first. This gets it ready to be deployed by softgrid. We didn’t actually see this happen but I imagine it’s a bit like any packing software where you install the app and it records the files needed and registry changes and stores them into a sequence file. Applications can be dos / 16 bit or 32 bit

The rights to be able to run the applications are controlled in AD using security groups.

Apps can be published as icons / start menu items. File extensions can also be configured.

It is best practice to NOT deliver office using softgrid. The main version of office should be deployed to the desktop using other means so it is running natively. Other versions of office that are needed to run can be deployed using softgrid to avoid any conflicts.

When a user is added to the security group they get the application icons. Clicking on the icon streams the application down to the PC. Looking in task manager the application appears as a process on the PC and is using resources on the PC. All the files and registry entries needed are stored in the streaming cache.

Because registry entries and files are in the cache this leaves the PC very clean. Applications can be added and removed without disrupting the core build.

Due to the sandbox effect this has then applications don’t need to be tested against each other as inter application conflicts wont happen.

Not all of the application is streamed down. Only the bits that are required to run what is needed are pulled down.

Application settings are stored in the users profile much like in Terminal Server where specific settings are saved into users folders so that as they move from server to server applications retain the user customisation.

Softgrid has an offline mode where applications can be pre cached so that the application is available when off the network

just been out for pizza and Sangria so notes might ramble a bit now

An Introduction to Exchange 2007

Exchange 2007 is expected to go RTM in December 2006

5 Server Roles

Edge Server – Placed in DMZ and no direct AD access. Used for SMTP gateway and Anti Virus and Anti Spam provided by Forefront. Uses a local copy of AD. ADAM. Push sync using LDAP.

Mailbox Server – holds mailboxes

Hub Transport – Replaces MTA. All email flows through these even email between two people on same server.

Client Access – Outlook Web Access / Active Sync / RPC over HTTP / IMAP / POP3

Unified Message Server – Voice server / Fax. Opens up mobile email to anyone that has a mobile phone. No data costs.
Supports Localisation so messages can be read in other languages
Can be used as receptionist greeting callers and putting them through to extensions based on voice prompts and lookups in the GAL.

Continuous replication – Log shipping. Ability to log ship to another disk on server to protect against disk failure or send to another server. Can be clustered

Transport rules can be applied which are like content checking. Outlook rules but on a server level. Can be used to re-route email based on content, bounce it, add headers and footers etc

OWA auto complete addresses is now supported in OWA. Auto complete cache stored on server.

Activesync supports Out of Office setting and ability to search through all email stored on Exchange server and will return a list of results which can be viewed.

2007 can be piloted without a license and then to move to production a license can be added. No need to re-install.

Exchange databases can be moved between servers and easily mounted.

Microsofts deployment of Exchange 2007 is currently
80 mailboxes
All inbound mail is via 2007
All routing is done in 2007

They also have 202 early adopter customers with 35,000 mailboxes.

Exchange 2007 routing

Exchange notes connector still works in Exchange 2007

If clustering Exchange 2007 then the cluster cant run the Hub Role

Hubs auto load balance. Hubs are AD site aware. Load balancing occurs locally in the site.
Inter site communication is hub to hub
AD sites are used for routing. No configuration is needed

Routing will always try and make a direct connection from start to end server rather than hop. If that isn’t possible then will hop. It is possible to force it to use hubs using a command.

If you installed 2007 into Exchange 2003. 2007 appears as another routing group. A connector is auto configured.

If you create multiple 2003 – 2007 connections then you must disable Link State on all 2003 servers first

Posted by Jon Warburton at 07:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Microsoft are releasing some software for Windows Mobile devices that will take a picture a new type of barcode using the phones camera and read the information from it. These barcodes can be added to business cards for example and contain the persons name, address, telephone details etc and be converted directly into a contact.. no more copying information from business cards. They can also be used in advertisements and contain information about things you see and like including web addresses so you can have a look in more detail using the browser on your phone.

https://barcode.ideas.live.com/ - software for it is scarce at the moment but this site does allow you to create your own barcode to see how it works.

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After the rumour came out saying that they would do then, they denied it, with the latest update to the xbox 360 you can now .. finally.. stream movies from a windows XP machine. Unfortunately only wmv is supported but its a step in the right direction...

Videos can be streamed from a PC running Windows Media Connect, Windows Media Player 11, or the new Zune client player, and can also be played from Optical Disc and most USB mass storage devices.

How do I create videos that will play on my Xbox 360?
Windows Movie Maker, a standard feature of Windows XPSP2, will output WMV video files compatible with the Xbox 360 console. Either use the default settings when you finish a movie and click "Save to my computer," or just make sure that the output video format you select shows the file type as "Windows Media Video (WMV)."
Videos will usually look best when they are closest to the original resolution that they were created with. Try to create video files at least 360 pixels high in vertical resolution in order to minimize content upscaling on the console.
If you decide you want finer control of the output video file format, download a version of Windows Media Encoder (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/) and then start encoding away. Optimal size and bitrate settings will vary depending on the source material you are encoding. As a general guideline though, 1.5 Mbps is a typical bitrate that should be suitable for most standard definition content, and 8 Mbps is a common bitrate for high definition content.

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