Ehlo All,
For those admin's running SBS (Small Business Server), SBS 2011 Standard Edition will include Exchange Server 2010 SP1. This is great news! SBS 2011 was recently released to manufacturing, and is estimated to be released in January 2011. Read more about SBS 2011 from the Microsoft Technet website here. Just make sure you get SBS 2011 Standard Edition and NOT Essentials. Essentials lacks Exchange Server. Oops...
-Ben
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Attack Against Outlook Anywhere - SSL Man-In-The-Middle (thanks to Verizon Online)
Hello All,
Recently while setting up a client's Verizon DSL connection, the Verizon DSL connection did an attack technique on all network traffic and attempted to capture my Outlook Anywhere username and password. The attack is called a man-in-the-middle. It tricks the end user to provide information to an unauthorized server. So, my Outlook 2010's Outlook Anywhere secure connection was redirected to a Verizon server. Since I require the SSL certificate to match my server for Outlook 2010's Outlook Anywhere (formerly called RPC over HTTPS), I was able to detect and not proceed. Be warned when you see this on networks. Never proceed when you see this. Or better approach is close all applications until the Verizon DSL is setup. If you are wondering, Verizon should NOT be doing this during the setup, but they are!
Screen-shot below includes the Outlook Anywhere SSL certificate warning and the "unauthorized SSL cert" from Verizon.
Stay safe...
-Ben
Recently while setting up a client's Verizon DSL connection, the Verizon DSL connection did an attack technique on all network traffic and attempted to capture my Outlook Anywhere username and password. The attack is called a man-in-the-middle. It tricks the end user to provide information to an unauthorized server. So, my Outlook 2010's Outlook Anywhere secure connection was redirected to a Verizon server. Since I require the SSL certificate to match my server for Outlook 2010's Outlook Anywhere (formerly called RPC over HTTPS), I was able to detect and not proceed. Be warned when you see this on networks. Never proceed when you see this. Or better approach is close all applications until the Verizon DSL is setup. If you are wondering, Verizon should NOT be doing this during the setup, but they are!
Screen-shot below includes the Outlook Anywhere SSL certificate warning and the "unauthorized SSL cert" from Verizon.
Stay safe...
-Ben
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Tip - Needing to move 10GB+ files use ESEUTIL
Ehlo All,
ESEUTIL utility is not just for Exchange Servers. Consider it for your large (think 10GB+ files) copies/moves. I'm preparing for an Exchange Server storage expansion (removing some existing hard drives and replacing them with larger ones) which requires I move a client's Exchange databases to another storage location and then move them back. We're talking about over 270GB of databases. So, when you move large files you do not want to use copy/paste, robocopy, richcopy, xcopy, etc since those buffer read/writes (aka caching) and is significantly slower than unbuffered read/writes (non-caching). For big files, you want to use an application that uses unbuffered read/writes which is (you guessed it), eseutil.
Microsoft Windows Server Performance Team Blog Article about using ESEUTIL for faster copies.
Notes from article:
"There are x86 & x64 versions of ESEUTIL, so make sure you use the right version for your operating system. The syntax for ESEUTIL is very simple: eseutil /y /d . Of course, since we're using command line syntax - we can use ESEUTIL in batch files or scripts." Once I test the scripts, I'll edit and update these article to help everyone.
Enjoy,
-Ben
ESEUTIL utility is not just for Exchange Servers. Consider it for your large (think 10GB+ files) copies/moves. I'm preparing for an Exchange Server storage expansion (removing some existing hard drives and replacing them with larger ones) which requires I move a client's Exchange databases to another storage location and then move them back. We're talking about over 270GB of databases. So, when you move large files you do not want to use copy/paste, robocopy, richcopy, xcopy, etc since those buffer read/writes (aka caching) and is significantly slower than unbuffered read/writes (non-caching). For big files, you want to use an application that uses unbuffered read/writes which is (you guessed it), eseutil.
Microsoft Windows Server Performance Team Blog Article about using ESEUTIL for faster copies.
Notes from article:
"There are x86 & x64 versions of ESEUTIL, so make sure you use the right version for your operating system. The syntax for ESEUTIL is very simple: eseutil /y
Enjoy,
-Ben
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Which Version are you running (SPx w/Rollup x?) - Easily Tell Now!
Ehlo All,
Ever wonder if you have Rollup 6 or 7 installed on Exchange 2007 SP1. It can be very complicated since Exchange just lists a build version # 8.1.340.1 or 8.1.359.2. I work with Exchange a lot, and I can't remember them. So, thankfully Microsoft has a handy wiki page that does.
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/exchange-server-and-update-rollups-builds-numbers.aspx
Enjoy,
-Ben
Ever wonder if you have Rollup 6 or 7 installed on Exchange 2007 SP1. It can be very complicated since Exchange just lists a build version # 8.1.340.1 or 8.1.359.2. I work with Exchange a lot, and I can't remember them. So, thankfully Microsoft has a handy wiki page that does.
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/exchange-server-and-update-rollups-builds-numbers.aspx
Enjoy,
-Ben
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Exchange 2010 SP1 Released...
Ehlo All,
Exchange 2010 SP1 was released on August 24. This is not just a "service pack", but adds a # of features. Any "service pack" that upgrades the AD schema is more than just a few bug fixes. Before you upgrade to this, confirm your software applications for Exchange will support this since there are a LOT of changes with SP1.
Some note worthy changes
- server-side archiving (aka Online Archives) can now be stored in a separate database from mailbox
- OWA changes (UI changes)
- new management UI & features
- import/export on Exchange Server w/o need for Outlook
2 good postings for more information.
Windows IT Pro - Tony Redmond posting
http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/outlook/Exchange-2010-SP1-Upgrade.aspx
Microsoft - What's New in Exchange 2010 SP1
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff459257.aspx
-Ben
Exchange 2010 SP1 was released on August 24. This is not just a "service pack", but adds a # of features. Any "service pack" that upgrades the AD schema is more than just a few bug fixes. Before you upgrade to this, confirm your software applications for Exchange will support this since there are a LOT of changes with SP1.
Some note worthy changes
- server-side archiving (aka Online Archives) can now be stored in a separate database from mailbox
- OWA changes (UI changes)
- new management UI & features
- import/export on Exchange Server w/o need for Outlook
2 good postings for more information.
Windows IT Pro - Tony Redmond posting
http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/outlook/Exchange-2010-SP1-Upgrade.aspx
Microsoft - What's New in Exchange 2010 SP1
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff459257.aspx
-Ben
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Multiple Exchange Accounts Supports in next Windows Mobile 7
Ehlo All,
This posting of an interview with Charlie Kindel [Microsoft Program Manager for a Windows phone group] should excite the hard core Exchange users, support for multiple Exchange accounts on one mobile device. No other device can currently do this except for the planned Windows Phone 7. Sadly, ETA is most likely Q4 of 2010. Will I jump from my BlackBerry, unlikely, but competition is good since RIM is resting on their development laurels.
-Ben
This posting of an interview with Charlie Kindel [Microsoft Program Manager for a Windows phone group] should excite the hard core Exchange users, support for multiple Exchange accounts on one mobile device. No other device can currently do this except for the planned Windows Phone 7. Sadly, ETA is most likely Q4 of 2010. Will I jump from my BlackBerry, unlikely, but competition is good since RIM is resting on their development laurels.
-Ben
TechNet Article - Some Gotcha's for Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2003 Environments
Ehlo All,
This TechNet article has some good tips and fixes for scenario's involving Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2003. I recommend you review this if you are considering deploying 2010 and run Outlook 2003. Having said that, if you deploy Terminal Services and Exchange 2010, think Outlook 2007 and higher since there's still no fix for Outlook 2003.
-Ben
This TechNet article has some good tips and fixes for scenario's involving Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2003. I recommend you review this if you are considering deploying 2010 and run Outlook 2003. Having said that, if you deploy Terminal Services and Exchange 2010, think Outlook 2007 and higher since there's still no fix for Outlook 2003.
-Ben
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