Network Solutions = AOL Email. If you want to be respected in the 21st century switch to another provider.

Worked on a server environment migration to a datacenter yesterday. Everything went smoothly except for DNS was not working for the client. I spent an extra 2 hours troubleshooting DNS. I repeatedly attempted to update DNS in the Network Solutions webpage, and it would not show the updated entries. Tried with IE, Chrome, and multiple OSes. Nada. Turns out it was a bug in the NetSol system. A call to support indicated that. So, I was assured it would be resolved on Sunday, almost 24 hrs later on Monday, still not working. DNS A records are showing up web page with one entry, and the result is not showing up on the NetSol NS query responses. So, if you updated with 1.1.1.1 and do a DNS query the original IP pre-Sunday.

Just to be CLEAR.... if I query ns57.worldnic.com & ns58.worldnic.com which are the client's NS entries PER Network Solutions, they respond with the wrong entries. How nice. Call to support, and the script reading call rep, didn't understand the issue and kept repeating it takes 24 hours to propagate. Another favorite is you delete or change an entry on the NetSol "advanced DNS" page and the changes aren't displayed. Logout and log back in, same info. This happens on the main webpage and DNS as well. What a joke of a system. I tried to switch to a 3rd party DNS system, and the NetSol NS are not following the DNS spec for NS lookups at point of entry (I added my NS entries ns10.operationdns.com, etc). NetSol claimed they cant' be found, but even the native Windows DNS finds them. Sigh.... So sad the founding internet's domain name provider has failed so badly similar to AOL.

DNS Tool I like since it allows me to query against any NS and for any record
http://centralops.net/co/


-Ben

BES 5 & BES 10 Server Consolidation Coming...

Currently, users running BB 4-7 need BES 5 and BB 10 requires BES 10. So, you need to run 2 separate servers for BES 5 & BES 10. This will be changing once an update is released to BES 10 (ETA is May 2013). This update will be "managed using a single fully featured management console". Then BES 10 & BES 5.0.3+ will be able to run on the same server. Very helpful.

-Ben

Exchange 2010 & 2013 Compatible Not There Yet...

With the recent release of Service Pack 3 for Exchange Server 2010 compatibility with Exchange Server 2013, we are getting closer, but NOT yet. Now Exchange Server 2013 needs an update. The update is tentatively called Exchange Server 2013 CU1. That will then allow integration between 2010 & 2013. ETA should be available "shortly". I would guess March or April of 2013.

-Ben

Apple Screws Up iOS EAS Implementation AGAIN! - Exchange Suffers

Has your Exchange 2010 CAS recently started experiencing heavy CPU, insane transaction logs growth (aka DoS), Apple might be the cause. Apple released iOS 6.1 last week (beginning of Feb) and it has a "slight" EAS bug in it. ;-) Another bonus... it drained iOS batteries and wasted data bandwidth. So bad... Vodafone txted all iPhone users to NOT upgrade to 6.1. Oops.... and 6.1.1 doesn't fix it...

You would think a large company (aka Apple) that prides itself on releasing "amazing products" would not repeat their mistakes in the past (iOS 4), but sadly history is repeating itself. iOS 6.1.1 fixed another problem. This is why I am not a fan of EAS. It's buggy since vendors don't have a real incentive or pressure to make sure EAS works well. Sure, Microsoft releases "guidelines" and crosses it's fingers vendors follow, but it's a frequent problem. I know, since I see the EAS connections logs and the Exchange problems they cause. I'll post in the future, how to look this up in your Exchange logs. I'm leaving EAS soon enough... I'll be happy to return to the BlackBerry ecosystem when the Q10 is released. That's another post...

See the Microsoft KB article, but to summarize, there are is a quick fix:

- delete the Exchange account from the iOS device and re-add

iOS 6.1 EAS Bug - Workarounds

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2814847/en-us?sd=rss&spid=13965

iOS 4 EAS Bug (walk down memory lane)

http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2010/07/01/3410271.aspx

-Ben

Exchange Book Review - iPhone and Exchange Server 2010

Hello All,

I was asked to review an Exchange book with a focus on iOS by Steven Goodman. Overall good Exchange Server book with decent amount of iPhone documentation. But there is a lot of non-relevant (non-iOS) content to call it an iPhone & Exchange book. I would refer to it as an Exchange Server Setup with a focus on iOS functionality.

There's a lot of content, which isn't relevant to experienced admins looking to brush up on iOS functionality/capabilities. For example, who needs to know how to run the "setup.exe" on Exchange (w/screen shots), design planning, HA, etc. Come on! Focus on iPhone integration. So, skip to the chapters you want to read, and don't attempt to read this cover to cover. The book lacks some important information about iOS devices such as throttling policies for iOS/ActiveSync devices, reviewing logs to determine performance usage (1/2 page on analyzing reports isn't adequate), etc. Don't get me wrong, the book is a good Exchange 2010 book with touches of iOS knowledge. But, if you run into Exchange performance issues with iOS/ActiveSync devices, you'll need more technical knowledge than this book offers.

-Ben

P.S. I agreed with the other review that the author is jumping on the "Apple bandwagon" by titling it as an iPhone Exchange Server book.

Our missing email admin friend called telnet!

Want a free tool to quickly test your email server is responding to port 25 and is acceptable mail. Use the native tool available in Windows. Sadly, it's not installed by default, so you'll need to add it as a "Feature". And then you can do things like telneting to port 25 and see your email server respond.

See this easy to follow Microsoft article to walk you through the telnet process to send email. I use this often. You can easily find it by googling "telnet port 25" and then bang, you have access to it wherever you are. No need to memorize the steps. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/153119

-Ben

NYExUG 3/12 Meeting Follow-up - Troubleshooting Tips

We had an excellent Exchange User Group meeting this past Tuesday about Troubleshooting Tips. Even though we ran later than we had in a while, we could not cover everything. I've highlighted comments and feedback received during the meeting and after. Thank you to everyone for your feedback. This is what makes us a community.

NYExUG Exchange Troubleshooting and Tips Presentation

Correction: the Exchange Server User Monitor (ExMon) tool does not list ActiveSync versions, but other AS performance stats.

Dirt cheap $60 UCC/SAN (5 names) certificate I recommend is https://certificatesforexchange.com/ which is backended via GoDaddy.

RDP Manager I use is called RoyalTS ($35) which has a lot of flexibility, functionality, stability, and works on XP and above. http://www.code4ward.net/main/

Website tool highlights from my presentation

• Microsoft owned Remotely Testing Outlook (RPC), ActiveSync, Web Services, Email (smtp) and even Office 365 https://www.testexchangeconnectivity.com
• Review DNS Records for Auto Discovery - http://centralops.net
• Review DNS Records for basic MX/A Records – http://tools.appriver.com
• Checking for RBLs – http://www.mxtoolbox.com
• [application] Stress testing application for generating email (Server Traffic Test) - http://www.icewarp.com/downloads/tools/ No reboot and stable application.

Attendees Feedback (thank you)

• The website designed to check your TLS configuration. http://www.checktls.com
• "Out of control transaction logs. On a number of occasions we have had the transaction logs grow significantly (one every second or so). This can be caused by a rogue application sending emails via your HT or a bad out of  office configuration. We have experienced both.  The last one was a user's out of office settings. They had used the rules section in the out of office. Viewing the transaction log showed the user forwarding the same email every second or so. Turning of the out of office resolved the issue."
• Exchange environment summary report based (# of Exchange Servers & mailboxes, DB sizes, DAG status, etc.  http://www.stevieg.org/2011/06/exchange-environment-report
• Post on troubleshooting ActiveSync issues from the Exchange Team Blog.  http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2012/01/31/a-script-to-troubleshoot-issues-with-exchange-activesync.aspx
• Tony Redmond wrote an excellent article about ActiveSync not working as a result of 2010 user being a member of the priv’ group on his blog site. If he’s truly 2003 user, then the only thing I can think of is setting up similar profile on a different iphone. If that stil doesn’t work then it’s the account & he may need to look into deleting the EAS association via adsiedit & redo the EAS profile on the device. An Exchange MVP (Michael B Smith) has commented several times in the past on the MSExchange forum re: the ills people have been experiencing with iphones – in our own environment we’ve seen disappearing emails/corrupted calendars/and all sorts of wackiness. I can forward forum posts if people are interested but my desktop team has been beaten into submission about what to do/not to do when it comes to syncing EAS devices with Exchange.  http://thoughtsofanidlemind.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/ex2010-insufficient-access/
• Free Microsoft RDP manager mentioned was Remote Desktop Connection Manager (I didn't like the last version, so I know nothing about this one -Ben)  http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=21101

Any comments, post them or email me. Thanks.
-Ben