MS Exchange Blog

Symantec to buy MessageLabs

Symantec announced it is acquiring e-mail security company MessageLabs today.  MessageLabs claims it services over 19,000 customers across 86 countries through its e-mail security-as-a-service model.  Symantec is growing its SaaS offerings. This is probably $695 million well spent.

William Lefkovics

RFC2821/2822 Updated and Replaced with RFC5321/5322

A pair of the most referenced RFCs have again been updated. The RFCs used for SMTP and e-mail message formatting have been replaced with new RFCs. The AntiSpam Blog at MailChannels.com has good coverage on what has been changed.

RFC 5321 obsoletes 2821 for Simple Message Transfer Protocol.

RFC 5322 obsoletes 2821 for Internet Message Format.

William Lefkovics

Microsoft announces Microsoft Certified Masters Program

Microsoft recently introduced an updated set of certifications for the advanced professional. The Microsoft Certified Masters (MCM) series takes Microsoft certification to another level. It actually bridges the gap between the Professional certifications that most of us are used to hearing about and the elite Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) certification.

The MCM program currently offers certifications in Windows Server 2008 Directory Services, SQL Server 2008, and of course Exchange Server 2007.  This is a three week course currently offered in Redmond, WA only and only in English. It carries a significant price tag as well.

The pre-requisites for the class are as follows:

• Five or more years of hands-on experience with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003: installing, configuring, and troubleshooting
• One or more years of hands-on experience with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007: installing, configuring, and troubleshooting
• A thorough understanding of Microsoft Exchange Server design and architecture
• A thorough understanding of Active Directory, Domain Name System (DNS), and other core network services related to Exchange Server
• Ability to speak, understand, and write fluent English

You also must have successfully completed certification exams for:

• M70-236 Configuring Exchange Server 2007
• M70-237 Designing Messaging Solutions with Exchange Server 2007
• M70-238 Deploying Messaging Solutions with Exchange Server 2007

Finally, you need to be either an MCSE in Windows Server 2003, or you need to have passed M70-640 Windows Server 2008 Directory Services.

The first classes run in October 2008.

William Lefkovics

Exchange 2007 SP1 SDK for August 2008

Microsoft has released an update to the Exchange Server 2007 Software Development Kit. The Exchange 2007 SP1 SDK for August 2008 includes documentation and code samples for developing Exchange applications.

William Lefkovics

iPhone Exchange Issues List

Microsoft Senior Lead Program Manager Omar Shahine has started a wiki to gather together the iPhone/Exchange issues.

iPhone 2.0 Released

As if you didn't already know, the 3G iPhone was released on Friday July 11. "Twice the speed at half the price" combined with ActiveSync for Exchange means administrators will be faced with supporting the iPhone 2.0. Apple has published an iPhone and Microsoft Exchange Server Deployment Scenario whitepaper for administrators.

William Lefkovics

Exchange 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 3 Released

Microsoft released Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 3 and Exchange 2007 RTM Update Rollup 7. There is an important security update included in these rollups that affect Outlook Web Access as outlined in the M08-039 Security Bulletin which describes "Vulnerabilities in Outlook Web Access for Exchange Server Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (953747)"

Exchange 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 3 addresses issues outlined in 18 different knowledge base articles. These are listed in MS KB 949870

Remember, these update rollups are cumulative. You do not need to install update rollup 1 and then 2 before installing 3. Also, if 1 and 2 are installed, they do not need to be uninstalled first. Just apply the latest one.

William Lefkovics

Hyper-V goes RTM

Microsoft's Windows Server 2008 Virtualization implementation has been released to manufacturing as outlined in the official press release.

Unlike Virtual Server, Hyper-V (Hi Pervy!) supports 64-bit guest operating systems. This is good news for Exchange 2007 administrators looking to consolidate hardware and streamline their messaging infrastructure. There is certainly some demand for Exchange 2007 to be virtualized and we are eagerly awaiting the formal Microsoft statement on supportability for Exchange 2007 SP1 on Hyper-V. According to Scott Schnoll, this commitment should be published within 60 days of Hyper-V going RTM.

William Lefkovics

Exchange 2007: The Complete Reference Kindle Version

I do not own an Amazon Kindle (yet), mostly because I can't get over adding yet another electronic device to the hardware I haul around with me now; however, with all the reading I do, perhaps it is best not having to cart around heavy IT books and instead read off a screen able to focus on a single purpose.

Our book, Exchange Server 2007: The Complete Reference now has a Kindle Version.

William Lefkovics

Exchange Server 2007: The Complete Reference

After stressing the fine folks at McGraw-Hill a little, we finally completed our Exchange Server 2007 book.

We think this is the first book for Exchange Server 2007 that also encompasses Service Pack 1. Microsoft Exchange Server 2007: The Complete Reference (Complete Reference Series) was published through McGraw-Hill about a month ago.

We have established a companion site for content that we could not get into the book and any errata we have found along the way.

William Lefkovics

Exchange 2007 SP1 Rollup 2 Released

As outlined in MS KB 948016, Microsoft has released Rollup 2 for Exchange Server 2007 sp1 which makes a number of fixes. This is a cumulative update and therefore includes all interim updates released since sp1 for Exchange 2007. Exchange 2007 with Service Pack 1 is a prerequisite. In addition, any updates applied after Rollup 1 need to be uninstalled.

The 34.2 MB rollup file can be downloaded here.

William Lefkovics

New Mac Messenger for OCS

According to Eric Swift, Senior Director of the Office Communications Group at Microsoft, they are working on a new Messenger client for Mac with a beta coming later this year.

The new Mac Messenger (Office Communicator for Mac?) may not have feature-parity with its Windows-based counterpart, but it will have peer-to-peer video and audio conferencing, rich presence, GAL search and dual sign-on. Your Mac clients will be able to integrate with your Office Communications Server 2007 as well.

William Lefkovics

 

Exchange 2007 Protocol Documentation

So you have a week off from work and you don't have any specific plans for that week.  Well have we got a solution for you!

Microsoft has made available on MSDN yesterday the Exchange 2007 protocol documentation as part of their earlier announcement to publicize protocols and APIs for Microsoft products. At this time the documentation has been marked as 'preliminary' and the set of PDFs totals a 44.0MB download.

So grab a fine beverage, or a few, and get comfortable in your favorite chair and .....

William Lefkovics

Apple licenses Activesync for iPhone 2.0

By now you have already heard that Apple made the expected, yet still surprising announcement that, in response to customer demand, they are licensing Microsoft's Activesync protocol to expand and improve the corporate market potential for the next iPhone. At the same time, they announced an iPhone Enterprise Beta program as well. 

The iPhone SDK is available in the Apple iPhone DevCenter downloads area.

William Lefkovics

Leap Year bug in Exchange 2007

Many have experienced what appears to be a February 29th bug in Exchange 2007. You might see an error with text something like:

"The Exchange server address list service failed to respond. This could be because of an address list or email address policy configuration error."

There is a TechNet forum thread on the issue as well.

Microsoft is frantically trying to resolve this. Since the problem appears to go away when changing the system date to March 1 (not a solution), perhaps by midnight the issue will resolve itself... at least for four more years.

Update: Nino clarifies the leap year situation at the Exchange Team blog stating that "We are working on a permanent fix for this and will update this blog post when it becomes available."

William Lefkovics

Update Rollup 1 for Exchange 2007 SP1 Released

A few days after Rollup 6 for Exchange 2007 RTM was released, Microsoft has followed up with another between-service-packs update for Exchange 2007. Update Rollup 1 for Exchange 2007 SP1 is an accumulation of several fixes listed in the description for this rollup in MS KB 945684.

Exchange 2007 SP1 is a prerequisite for this update.

William Lefkovics

Update Rollup 6 for Exchange 2007 RTM

Is now available here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=0b2993a3-d290-453e-85fe-108867865731&displaylang=en&tm

The corresponding KB is 942846 but it's not available yet.

Windows Server 2008 goes RTM

Microsoft announced today that Windows Server 2008 has been released to manufacturing. If you haven't tried Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008, hey, now is a good time to try!

Oh, there was something about an operating system called 'Vista' having a service pack released today, too.

William Lefkovics

TrainSignal.com Releases Exchange 2007 CBT

Fellow Exchange MVP David Shackelford lends his expertise to a new instructional video set on Administering Exchange 2007 through Train Signal. The Press Release for this set is found here. The Table of Contents for the videos is fairly thorough and found on the Exchange Server 2007 Training Videos product page.

Historically, I do find Train Signal produces quality videos, though I have not yet viewed this offering.

In the press release, the Train Signal Director of Sales and Marketing claims that there is a limited amout of training videos available for Exchange 2007. This is true. It is limited to almost all of his competition, including LearnKey and CBT Nuggets who both had Exchange 2007 training videos out last year.

William Lefkovics

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac released

In conjunction with the MacWorld Expo, Microsoft has finally released Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac.

Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage make up a visually appealing and functional package for Mac users. Entourage is used to connect Mac users to Microsoft Exchange Server. Instructions on creating an Exchange account in Entourage is available in the online help.

William Lefkovics

Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 due November 30

According to the latest Technet Flash email newsletter of November 28, 2007, Exchange 2007 with Service Pack 1 will be accessible for download (it's not there yet...UPDATE:Download link is working today 11/29) on November 30, 2007. The Exchange 2007 Download Center mentions sp1 as well suggesting you might "watch for the impending release announcement on the Exchange TechCenter homepage."

Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 is incorporated into Exchange 2007 RTM. This is important to meet requirements for installing on Windows 2008 Server. It also makes it easy to deploy for new installations without requiring a separate service pack installation. Windows 2003 needs to have Service Pack 2 applied prior to Exchange 2007 sp1.

Much of the current documentation in the Exchange TechCenter has referenced the following for quite some time: Applies to: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1.

William Lefkovics

Essential Business Server 2008 Announced

Microsoft announced as part of the upcoming wave of Windows Server 2008 products next year, a new bundle of joy called Windows Essential Business Server 2008. It is intended for the small business market for businesses a little larger than would use Small Business Server. EBS will benefit companies up to 250 workstations.

"Windows Essential Business Server is an integrated server infrastructure solution designed for the unique needs of midsized organizations. Combining the technologies of Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007, Forefront Security for Exchange, System Center Essentials, the next version of ISA Server and SQL Server 2008 into an “all-in-one” solution." - Steven VanRoekel, Director, Windows Server Solution Group

I think this product will help dynamic businesses with around 100-200 users. Hopefully it will not restrictively bound like SBS. Windows Essential Business Server is expected in mid 2008.

William Lefkovics

eBook: The Shortcut Guide to Exchange Server 2007 Storage Systems

The complete version of Jim McBee's eBook The Shortcut Guide to Exchange Server 2007 Storage Systems is now available for download from Realtime.

Exchange Webcasts for September

TechNet Webcast: Exchange Server 2007 Deployment and Migration (Level 200)
Wednesday, September 05, 2007 - 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM Pacific Time
Bryan Von Axelson, IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation

TechNet Webcast: Technical Overview of Forefront Security for Exchange Server (Level 200)
Friday, September 14, 2007 - 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
Matthew Hester, IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation

TechNet Webcast: Giving the Administrator More Control with Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)
Friday, September 28, 2007 - 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
Chris Avis, IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation

Small Business Webcast: Outlook Just Got Smaller with Outlook Mobile (Level 200)
Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM Pacific Time
Carl Preston, Small Business Solutions Advisor, Microsoft Corporation

Exchange Unplugged Returns

Exchange Unplugged is making a return in Oct/Nov...

24th October 2007, London: Exchange Unplugged in association with BT
25th October 2007, London: Exchange Unplugged in association with Dimension Data
26th October 2007, London: Exchange Unplugged in association with Fujitsu
30th October 2007, Sheffield : Exchange Unplugged in association with Lynx
31st  October 2007, Manchester: Exchange Unplugged in association with Lynx
1st November 2007, Maidenhead: Exchange Unplugged in association with Nortel
2nd November 2007, Warwickshire: Exchange Unplugged in association with Post CTI
5th November 2007, Glasgow: Exchange Unplugged in association with Capito

Sessions will include:

Exchange Server 2007 including SP1,  an architectural overview and details on how it integrates into the rest of the UC suite

How to migrate from your existing platform to a new UC platform.  Its not just ‘move mailbox’.  This section will cover other parts of migration including storage, public folders and hardware.

How email and voicemail are coming together in Exchange 2007 in Unified Messaging.  Also covered in this section is how Outlook Voice Access give can give you another way in which to interact with your inbox.

Real world experience from a partner including a customer case study (slightly changed for EPG version – to just customer)

Mobility and how Windows Mobile,  Exchange 2007 and Office Communications Server 2007 provide secure and scalable communications such as email,  calendaring, presence and IM across an array of mobile devices.

Office Communications Server 2007.  Communication can be seen, typed or heard.  Hear about the latest entrant into the Unified Communications stack and how it will change the way in which people will communicate forever.

Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007

Microsoft is issuing another update rollup for Exchange 2007. Details of the set of patches is found in MS KB 940006.

Here is a list of what is included:

930463 - Missing Recipients on Edge cause 5.1.1 NDR, Edgesync does not Sync objects from Other domain trees in Same Forest

937656 - Change to DST transition dates in New Zealand time zone starting 2007

936300 - Mailbox Moves Blocked due to store deadlock

932561 - Implement Western Australia DST time zone

937861 - Exchange Gives Borked Address Type Array to Client, Causing NDR

938359 - Store.exe crash while composing a standard reply for moderated email-enabled public folder

938698 - LLRPerf: Long running open transactions are causing the checkpoint adv to be tricked into thinking it needs to version pages

936716 - Date format in body of read receipt confirmation does not match OS regional settings

940052 - Unable to reconnect a mailbox through EMC

933314 - ADSizelimitExceededException when GetDefaultAcceptedDomain() is called

939560 - EcGetSTF will only return maxPageSize number of OABs, not enough for hosting systems

as well as these issues...

Dismount Fails When Run As Local System

Cancelling a backup from replica writer leaves store in backup in progress state, store restart is required in order to continue the backups successfully

Test-edgesync needs to compute proxyaddress hash only once to avoid false positive in multi-edge server scenario

William Lefkovics

Xandros licenses ActiveSync and MAPI

Recently Xandros (formerly Corel Linux) acquired Scalix, giving the Linux distro a Messaging and Collaboration server product to market. A month later, Xandros has announced that they have licensed two Microsoft protocols for communication with Microsoft Exchange server: ActiveSync and Outlook-Exchange Transport protocol (MAPI). This agreement will allow Xandros to "enhance the interoperability of Scalix email servers with various mobile and personal computer-based email applications that utilize Microsoft® email protocols."

Xandros now has a Scalix Xandros Edition 11.0: "a Microsoft Exchange-like e-mail and group calendar server. Deliver all the functionality of Exchange with Outlook compatibility at a lower per user cost."

William Lefkovics

Microsoft Unveils Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 in Technology Preview

"REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 13, 2007 —Microsoft Corp. today announced Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and opened a technology preview for the software. Exchange Server 2007 SP1 features enhancements such as support for Windows Server^® 2008, enhanced integration with Microsoft^® Office Communications Server 2007, and improved mobile device management and advanced security technology. " .... continued...

OCS 2007 is RTM...apparently

I've had an email from Arthur saying that OCS 2007 is RTM.  No wonder Microsoft just dumped all that documentation onto the downloads site - I thought RTM must just be around the corner.  You can read Arthur's post about it here.

MSExchange.org Wins a 2007 Apex Award for Excellence

This is cool and not just because I'm one of the authors there!  The msexchange.org site has won a 2007 Apex Award for site content and writing.  You can read more about this on the msexchange.org site.

It's good to see the recognition for the site.  And to think that these articles are free, too!

UK Messaging & Mobility User Group - August Meetings

The UK Microsoft Messaging & Mobility User Group will be having two meetings in August.

London Event:

This event will be held in London at the new MS offices near Victoria. This month we have two speakers. Firstly, Richard Jones from BinaryRefinery will be speaking about builindg business applications for Windows Mobile devices and how they can increase productivity and save you money. Secondly, Russ Kirk from Grey Convergence will be giving an introduction to Office Communication Server (OCS) 2007, showing the future core of MS communication products.

The meeting will be held on Thursday 23rd August.  Sign up for this event here.

The meeting will be a mixture of PowerPoint and Discussions so there will be plenty of time to run through your questions.

The agenda for the meeting will be as follows: (although I may tweak the timings slightly)

18:15 - 18:40            Arrival

18:40 - 18:45            Introduction to speakers and the aims of the group

18:45 - 19:30            1st session; led by Richard Jones, BinaryRefinery; Building Reliable Business Applications for Windows Mobile devices. How to improve productivity and save money.

19:30 - 19:50            Food!

19:50 - 20:45            2^nd session; led by Russ Kirk, Grey Convergence. An Introduction to OCS 2007

20:45 - 21:00            Q and A; Summing up and suggestions for future meetings.

21:00                        The End!

Liverpool Event:

This event will be held in Liverpool at Gardner Systems on Wavertree Technology Park. For this inaugural event, we will have a variety of great Exchange content ranging from Unified Messaging with Exchange 2007 to using NetApp storage with Exchange. For more see below.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday 29th August.  Sign up for this event here.

The meeting will be a mixture of PowerPoint and Discussions so there will be plenty of time to run through your questions.

The agenda for the meeting will be as follows: (although I may tweak the timings slightly)

18:15 - 18:40            Arrival

18:40 - 18:45            Introduction to speakers and the aims of the group

18:45 - 19:30            1st session; led by Eileen Brown, MS and Paul Stringfellow; Introduction to Exchange 2007 and a look at UM and OCS.

19:30 - 19:50            Food!

19:50 - 20:40            2^nd session; led by Paul Hargreaves, (Net App) and Declan Conroy,  Exchange HA including the use of NetApp Storage

20:40 - 20:55            Exchange Questions and Answers

20:55 - 21:00            Summing up and suggestions for future meetings.

21:00                        The End!

 

Comment Spam

There was way too much comment spam on this blog, so all comments will now have to be approved before being published.  There may be a slight delay before comments are published, but at least no spam comments will be published any more.

Microsoft Messaging & Mobility User Group - July Meeting

The Microsoft Messaging & Mobility User Group has a meeting arranged for July.  If you are in the UK and want to know more about Exchange 2007 and high availability, then this one is for you.  You can sign up for the event here.

Here are the details:

This event will be held in London at the new MS offices near Victoria. This month Greg Taylor from MCS will be speaking. He will cover all things High Availability looking both at new Exchange 2007 features and also what you can do with earlier versions.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday 11th July. Directions to the venue can be found below.

The meeting will be a mixture of PowerPoint and Discussions so there will be plenty of time to run through your questions.

The agenda for the meeting will be as follows: (although I may tweak the timings slightly)

18:15 - 18:40            Arrival

18:40 - 18:45            Introduction to speakers and the aims of the group

18:45 - 19:30            1st session; led by Greg Taylor, MCS; Introduction and in depth look at HA  for Exchange.

19:30 - 19:50            Food!

19:50 - 20:45            2^nd session; led by Greg Talyor, Chalk and Talk - Exchange HA

20:45 - 21:00            Summing up and suggestions for future meetings.

21:00                        The End!

Quest: Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 - Effective Migration Strategies

Is your organisation looking for the right solution to migrate to Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 —and the tools to effectively manage this new Exchange environment?

Join our experts at one of our half day Seminars (09:00 - 13:00)

17th May, Guinness Store House, Dublin
22nd May, Radisson SAS Hotel, Manchester Airport
7th June, (Venue TBC) Central London
12th June, Microsoft TVP, Reading
19th June, Microsoft TVP, Edinburgh

The seminar will discuss and include:

- Assessing your Exchange 2007 readiness
- Options for migrating to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 (from 5.5, 2000, 2003, Notes or GroupWise)
- Managing your new Exchange 2007 environment
- Open lunch/questions

... registration...

RIM Announces New BlackBerry Application Suite for Windows Mobile-based Devices

"Waterloo, ON - Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced plans to expand its support for Windows Mobile®-based devices with a new software application suite that will enable devices from third-party manufacturers to benefit from the popular BlackBerry® software applications and services*. RIM plans to begin offering the new software application suite later this year for select devices based on Windows Mobile 6. Once installed, the software will provide users with a virtual BlackBerry application experience, including support for BlackBerry email, phone, calendar, address book, tasks, memos, browser, instant messaging and other applications developed for the BlackBerry platform. Devices running the BlackBerry application suite will be able to connect to BlackBerry services via BlackBerry® Enterprise Server as well as BlackBerry® Internet Service. " ... press release...

Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007

Microsoft has released what they are calling an 'Update Rollup 1' for Exchange Server 2007. The description of the update can be found in KB 930809 which states:

Update Rollup 1 for Exchange 2007 includes the following fixes:
- 932487 The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service stops unexpectedly when the Exchange Server 2007-based server replicates the Public folder 
- 929756 The DoSnapshotSet method may stop responding in the Exchange store, and a backup application stops responding on an Exchange 2007 server

The patch at almost 30MB is available for download here.

William Lefkovics

Update for Outlook 2007 (KB933493)

"This update fixes a problem in which a calendar item that is marked as private is opened if it is found by using the Search Desktop feature. The update also fixes performance issues that occur when you work with items in a large .pst file or .ost file."

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unleashed

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unleashed has just been published by SAMS.. you can read a sample chapter here.

February -April Webcasts/Labcasts

24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 05 of 24): Transitioning and Migrating to Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)

Monday, February 5, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 06 of 24): Configuring Exchange Server Introduction (Level 200)

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 07 of 24): Configuring Exchange Server Conclusion (Level 200)

Friday, February 9, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 08 of 24): Introduction to Windows PowerShell (Level 200)

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 09 of 24): Using PowerShell for Exchange Management (Level 200)

Friday, February 16, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 10 of 24): Recipient Management, Policies, and Permissions (Level 200)

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 11 of 24): Messaging Policies and Compliance (Level 200)

Friday, February 23, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 12 of 24): Configuring Edge Transport Servers (Level 200)

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 13 of 24): Maintaining Anti-Spam Systems (Level 200)

Friday, March 2, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 14 of 24): Maintaining Antivirus (Level 200)

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 15 of 24): Using Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 for Secure Exchange Server Publishing (Level 200)

Friday, March 9, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 16 of 24): Outlook Web Access in Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 17 of 24): Unified Messaging (Level 200)

Monday, March 19, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 18 of 24): Mobility (Level 200)

Friday, March 23, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 19 of 24): Introduction to Exchange Server 2007 Disaster Recovery (Level 200)

Monday, March 26, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 20 of 24): Exchange Server 2007 Disaster Recovery (Level 200)

Friday, March 30, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 21 of 24): Monitoring (Level 200)

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 22 of 24): Using the Toolbox (Level 200)

Friday, April 6, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 23 of 24): Troubleshooting MAPI and Client Access Server Clients (Level 200)

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007 (Part 24 of 24): Troubleshooting E-Mail Flow (Level 200)

Friday, April 13, 2007

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

Exchange Server 2007 Guided Labcasts

Live Webcasts

TechNet Webcast: Labcast Series (Part 1 of 8): Installing Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)

Friday, February 2, 2007

11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: Exchange Server 2007 Guided Labcast Series (Part 2 of 8): Analysis Tools in Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)

Monday, February 12, 2007

11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: Exchange Server 2007 Guided Labcast Series (Part 3 of 8): Compliance and Retention (Level 200)

Monday, February 19, 2007

11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: Exchange Server 2007 Guided Labcast Series (Part 4 of 8): Using Management Console and Shell (Level 200)

Monday, February 26, 2007

11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: Exchange Server 2007 Guided Labcast Series (Part 5 of 8): Remote Client Access with Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)

Monday, March 12, 2007

11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: Exchange Server 2007 Guided Labcast Series (Part 6 of 8): Using Local Continuous Replication (Level 200)

Friday, March 16, 2007

11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: Exchange Server 2007 Guided Labcast Series (Part 7 of 8): Using Cluster Continuous Replication (Level 200)

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: Exchange Server 2007 Guided Labcast Series (Part 8 of 8): Configuring an Edge Transport Server in Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time

IMF Update on January 17, 2007

According to Scott at the WSUS Team Blog, there will (finally) be an update to the Exchange 2003 Intelligent Message Filter (IMF) on January 17, 2007.

It seems they 'paused' in December.  The spammers sure didn't pause.

William Lefkovics

New York spa offers "Blackberry Thumb" Massages

The Dorit Baxter spa in New York is offering Blackberry Thumb and Tech Neck massages to help release the muscular tension brought on by BlackBerries, Treos and the like. (I know a few Directors in London who could almost certainly take advantage of this!.. personally, I refuse to be a CrackBerry type user (I mainly just use mine for monitoring) and my thumbs and neck are in good shape, I think!)

"Is your Treo making your fingers ache and your face break out with zits? The city’s high-end spas are selling fixes for such ailments as “BlackBerry thumb,” “tech neck,’’ and “cell-phone clog.’’ “These are repetitive-stress injuries that people used to get in their fifties and sixties; now they are afflicted in their twenties and thirties,’’ says Dr. Thomas Scilaris, an Upper East Side orthopedic surgeon. Dorit Baxter spa on West 57th Street offers “Tech Neck” and “Tech Hand” treatments, recommended weekly at $59 per half-hour for each, which combine hot compresses and acupressure to relieve inflammation and “pins and needles.”

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-003

Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Outlook Could Allow Remote Code Execution (925938)

Published: January 9, 2007

Version: 1.0

Summary

Who Should Read this Document: Customers who use Microsoft Outlook

Impact of Vulnerability: Remote Code Execution

Maximum Severity Rating: Critical

Recommendation: Customers should apply the update immediately

Security Update Replacement: This bulletin replaces a prior security update. See the frequently asked questions (FAQ) section of this bulletin for the complete list.

Caveats: Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 925938 documents the currently known issues that customers may experience when they install this security update. The article also documents recommended solutions for these issues. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 925938.

Tested Software and Security Update Download Locations:

Affected Software:

•	Microsoft Office 2000 Service Pack 3 • Microsoft Outlook 2000 — Download the update (KB921593)
•	Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3 • Microsoft Outlook 2002 — Download the update (KB921594)
•	Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 2 • Microsoft Outlook 2003 — Download the update (KB924085)

Microsoft UK Technical Roadshow 2007

"Get to grips with the very latest advances from Microsoft at the Technical Roadshow." ...

It's free :-) and includes "A look at Exchange Server 2007 featuring manageability, scalability, consolidation of servers and end user capabilities including voice integration, unified messaging and digital rights management"

Community launch event for Windows Vista, 2007 Office System and Exchange 2007

"24 January 2007 09:45 - 24 January 2007 17:15 GMT, London
Welcome Time: 09:00

Register online

Microsoft Ltd
Chicago 1&2
Building 3
Microsoft Campus Thames Valley Park Reading Berkshire RG6 1WG
United Kingdom

Event Overview

The Community Launch of Windows Vista, 2007 Microsoft Office System and Exchange 2007 Launch. This event is a first for Microsoft in the UK, it is a joint effort between the UK User Group communities being hosted for us by Microsoft at TVP. We will bring you an independent view on Microsoft’s new range of products.

The day will begin with the leaders of the relevant UK User Groups introducing the product range and showing you how things work in the real world. Throughout the day there will be plenty of chance for you to discuss your questions with both the user group leaders and Microsoft personnel.

The day will end with an afternoon of demonstrations showing how the products will affect both users and administrators. This will be a chance to see how all products integrate and to see workflow in the new environment.

Demos:

·         A day in the life of a User with Windows Vista, 2007 Microsoft Office System and Exchange 2007

·         A day in the life of an Administrator with Windows Vista, 2007 Microsoft Office System and Exchange 2007"

Exchange Permission Manager - Voted MSExchange.org Readers’ Choice Award Winner - Administration Category

"Exchange Permission Manager was selected the winner in the Administration category of the MSExchange.org Readers’ Choice Awards. Quest Spotlight on Exchange and NetIQ Exchange Administrator were first runner-up and second runner-up. "

PC Pro Review Outlook 2007

"This update to Outlook has so many good features that we're prepared to forgive its split personality of both menus/toolbars on the main window and the Ribbon UI elsewhere. Users have been asking for calendar overlays, time zones, better search and better email editing for ages - and Microsoft has now delivered big time." .. Rating 5 stars out of 6.

Full review.. (registration required)

Exchange 2007 - Download on MSDN / TechNet

Exchange 2007 is now available for download on MSDN and TechNet Plus Direct.

December 2006 Exchange 2007 SDK available

Microsoft has released the first post-RTM SDK for Exchange 2007 for December 2006. Hopefully they will continue the quarterly tradition of updating the SDKs for Exchange.

"The Exchange Server 2007 SDK December 2006 Documentation and Samples assist developers building applications for Exchange Server 2007. This release of the SDK provides new and updated information and sample code to help you develop collaborative enterprise applications with Exchange."

William Lefkovics

Management Pack for Exchange Server 2007 for MOM 2005

Microsoft has released a Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 Management Pack for Exchange Server 2007. Obviously, this is for your 64bit Windows 2003 system running Exchange Server 2007.

"The Exchange Server 2007 Management Pack includes rules and scripts to monitor and report on performance, availability, and reliability of all Exchange 2007 server roles including Mailbox, Client Access, Hub Transport, Edge Transport and Unified Messaging."

William Lefkovics

Exchange 2007 Evaluation available for download

Microsoft has Exchange Server 2007 Evaluation available for download. It is available in both 32bit and 64bit versions, with only the latter for production of course.

This is a 120 day evaluation. "You can upgrade your server running Exchange Server 2007 evaluation software to full product at the end of the 120 day evaluation period with your product key."

William Lefkovics

Exchange 2007 RTM Friday December 8

Exchange Server 2007 will be going RTM tomorrow, Friday, December 8.

Update: Or earlier, as confirmed by Terry Myerson's post on the Exchange team blog.

William Lefkovics

Powershell 1.0 Released

As you already know by now, Windows Powershell (not the original Powershell) has been released with version 1.0 available for download for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Powershell for Vista and Longhorn is still a couple of months away, however.  It makes sense that Powershell week was just a little while ago.

The Exchange Management Shell is an extension of the Windows Powershell and is installed with Exchange Server 2007. If your company allows you to download .exe files from websites (it's an HTML page... why not just .zip it? Or perhaps a web server might do the trick?), the Exchange Management Shell quick reference is available as well.

William Lefkovics

Exchange 2007 to RTM in December

I guess Redmond Mag was a little premature.  David Lemson announced at Exchange Connections in Las Vegas this past week that Exchange Server 2007 will get Released to Manufacturers (RTM) in December, as posted by Paul Robichaux in attendance.

What a winter - Vista. Office. Exchange. Expression.

William Lefkovics

Microsoft Exchange 2007 Administrator's Pocket Consultant

I had a Messaging Newsflash email recently from Microsoft and one thing that I noticed at the end was a link for the new Exchange 2007 Administrator's Pocket Consultant book.  It's interesting to see that a few Exchange 2007 books are now beginning to surface on Amazon, together with their forthcoming anticipated release dates.  It looks like the pocket consultant book will be first available, scheduled for 31st January 2007.  One for your shopping list...

Three Exchange 2007 Exams?

A colleague has just sent me a link which I'd not read before.  It was from last week (12th September) and talked about the upcoming Exchange 2007 exams.  A couple of key things I read were:

* There will be three Exchange 2007 exams, one on your breadth and depth of knowledge and two on applying that knowledge in realistic situations.

* The beta Exchange 2007 exams will likely be released this fall.  Or Autumn if you're on this side of the pond.

The full story can be found here.

UK Partner Exchange 2007 Ignite Training

I've seen from a couple of different sources that the Exchange 2007 Ignite Technical Training is now being offered again to Microsoft partners in the UK, so I feel it's worth a mention here in case it slipped under anyone's radar screen.  The original training dates were in April and were limited, but now Microsoft UK is offering the training again from October through to January at various venues across the UK.  You're best advised to book early, though.

All the details can be found here.  Don't forget - this is for partners.

Phoenix and Las Vegas Exchange User Groups

Since we have a string of UG posts...

Harold Wong of Microsoft has got the Phoenix Exchange User Group up and running with an eye to Las Vegas, NV.

If you are in Las Vegas, NV, or Phoenix, AZ, and are interested in participating in a regular Exchange User Group meeting, feel free to drop me an email (LV@lefkovics.net)

William Lefkovics

Another Exchange User Group

It must be Exchange user group season.  Chris Haaker posted a comment on my recent blog entry that I wrote about the new UK Exchange user group.  It seems that there is now a Southern Ohio Exchange User Group which is due its inaugural meeting in September as well.  I thought it best to create a new post so that his comment is not overlooked.  Chris writes:

"The Southern Ohio Exchange User Group's inaugural meeting is on September 12th and the group is based in Cincinnati, OH. The first meeting will be held at the Microsoft Offices in Cincinnati. Microsoft's Matt Hester and Chris Reinhold will be speaking on Exchange 2007 and the new Antigen security features. The meeting details and registration can be found here and the group's homepage is here.

Kindly, Chris Haaker, SOEUG Leader"

Good luck with the user group Chris!

UK Messaging User Group Inaugural Meetings

As I advised in a recent post, the UK has a new user group for Microsoft messaging and mobility.  Two meetings have now been arranged as follows:

Wednesday 13th September, 2006 at the Microsoft TVP offices in Reading

Thursday 14th September 2006 at the Microsoft offices in Soho, London.

Both meetings start at 6pm running through to approximately 9pm.  The full agenda can be found at the links below.  I urge all UK-based Exchange professionals to attend one or both of these meetings, and to take part in this community development.  Eileen Brown will be presenting two sessions, one on an introduction to Exchange 2007, the other on Exchange 2007's Unified Messaging feature.  Nathan Winters, the founder of the user group, will also be presenting a session on mobility with Exchange 2003 SP2.  Food has also been arranged, always a good thing.

To register your interest, please go to the user group web site and respond to the relevant forum threads that I've linked to below.  To post in the forums, you'll need to become a member which is a quick and straightforward process (and you'll obviously be able to post general questions thereafter, too).  I'll be at the TVP meeting, so might see some of you there.

Reading event - click here.

London event - click here.

Microsoft ForeFront for Exchange Released as Public Beta

Microsoft acquired Sybari in early 2005. It has now evolved into Microsoft ForeFront, at least part of which Microsoft has released as a public beta along with Exchange 2007 beta 2. The beta for Microsoft ForeFront for Exchange Server should be available for download very shortly from here.

According to Yahoo! The Forefront Security for Exchange Server beta provides the following:

    * Advanced protection against viruses, worms, phishing and other threats
      by utilizing up to five anti-virus engines simultaneously at each layer
      of the messaging infrastructure
    * Optimized performance through coordinated scanning across edge, hub and
      mail servers and features such as in-memory scanning, multithreaded
      scanning processes and performance bias settings
    * Centralized management of remote installation, engine and signature
      updating, reporting and alerts through the Forefront Server Security
      Management Console

To see the path and products involved in the ForeFront effort, we can see the ForeFront Road Map here. We can see Exchange is only one part of the overall secure collaboration environment vision.

William Lefkovics

Exchange 2007 Beta 2 Released to Public

Microsoft has released beta 2 of their next version of Exchange server for public consumption.

Exchange Server 2007 can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/beta2. Even though that is the location announced at Yahoo! and the Exchange Team blog, it is not yet available it seems.

The Exchange Team blog has a list of 10 items that they are "focusing on delivering to you," but it may well translate into 10 reasons to consider Exchange 2007.

The Exchange 2007 portal on the Microsoft website is here where you will find Exchange 2007 documentation.

(Update: Of course the download was available by the morning of July 24, 2006)

William Lefkovics

Microsoft Messaging & Mobility User Group UK

Following on from the recent UK-based Microsoft Unified Communications user group that I wrote about recently, another brand new user group has recently been formed.  It's called the Microsoft Messaging & Mobility User Group UK (which makes MM&M UG UK).

I've just been having a chat on the phone with the creator of this user group, Nathan Winters, about the user group's aims and, more importantly, the thoughts around the first meeting to be held somewhere around late September 2006.  If you have any thoughts on what you'd like to see at the first meeting, join the forums and post to this thread.  The idea of the site is to host blogs, articles, links, forums and downloads and members are already beginning to join the site.

I'll post updates to this blog as and when events will be happening, and I aim to post useful articles to the user group website and monitor the forums as often as I can.  See you there!

Marketing, Press Releases, and Recovery

One thing about corporate Press Releases... they are not vendor neutral.

Around the time Mimosa Systems was announcing their Disaster Recovery Option for Mimosa NearPoint for Microsoft Exchange Server, Lucid8 was "correcting and replacing" their press release because of "multiple revisions" announcing their new partner program.

Both companies promise to provide rapid recovery of Exchange Systems (and one the opportunity to overmanage your databases cough*goexchange*cough). They are members of a growing group of products that might well become somewhat obsolete when Exchange 2007 comes through with its logshipping (Local Continuous Replication) solution.

I cringe when I read lines like "the industry's only solution to provide application intelligent recovery..." and "SingleTouch recovery" and "One-Click" restores. Hitachi Data Systems has "SplitSecond Rapid Recovery Solutions". McData, EMC, Cemaphore, Doubletake and Neverfail (what a great software name) all have replication solutions for or including Exchange recovery.

I enjoy reading the press releases for these products (and others) because they make me wonder how anyone could live without them. Maybe they're right.

William Lefkovics

Oh great...

Looks like Typepad had a burp yesterday and the first two posts on here in months have been lost!  I can't recall that happening before.  Typical.  I can't be bothered to re-create them as new posts and duplicate all the information, so I'll just briefly restate the only important piece of information from yesterday:

If you're in the UK and you're into Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging, or the new upcoming Unified Communications suite of products from Microsoft, go here now.

Microsoft Announced Exchange Hosted Services

Microsoft recently annouced the availability of Exchange Hosted Services (EHS).  The concept is not new, as many enterprises have provided hosted Exchange solutions over the years, however, the methods for Microsoft are more refined as they both learn from their mistakes and leverage acquisitions, such as Frontbridge Technologies.

EHS is an option, but not one that fits everyones needs.  It may not be sufficient for enterprises under strict compliance guidelines, or companies that experience frequent internet connectivity issues, for example.  The main EHS Microsoft website is here.

William Lefkovics

Microsoft Office System 2007 RTM expected October 2006

Microsoft confirmed that the 2007 Microsoft Office System (1), which will surely be known as just Office 2007, is on track to be RTM in October 2006, with retail and OEM to "coincide with the retail and OEM availability of the Windows Vista operating system in January 2007."  Of course this includes "Outlook 12".

(1) Why do they keep moving the year around in the name?

William Lefkovics

RIM announces Blackberry Enterprise Server 4.1

Shortly after millions of Blackberry addicts users breathed a collective sigh of relief, Research In Motion (RIM) announced the availability of Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) 4.1. 

BES 4.1 works with Exchange 5.5 through Exchange 2003 sp2 (as well as Lotus Domino 5.0 through 7.0). They also promise tighter integration with Live Communication Server and IBM Lotus Sametime.

There are also gains for the developers among us:

“This release will also provide developers with a new and powerful visual tool to create mobile applications based on the open standard of Web Services.” - Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion

William Lefkovics

Redmond Mag Article: Message Hygeine

Redmond Magazine, a self-proclaimed independent voice of the Microsoft IT Community, has a great 2 part article on Message Hygeine with Exchange Server 2003 written by Joern Wettern.

The articles appeared in January and February 2006:

• Message Hygeine: Microsoft Style Part 1
• Message Hygeine: Microsoft Style Part 2

William Lefkovics

Sony Ericsson Licenses ActiveSync

Sony Ericsson has now joined the many wireless device manufacturers to license Microsoft's ActiveSync protocol.

"The first implementation will be on the new Sony Ericsson P990 and M600 phones, which will be available in the second quarter of this year."

William Lefkovics

Exchange is Now Part of the Unified Communication Group at Microsoft

In a reorganization move Microsoft announced that the Exchange Server product group joins the Real-Time Collaborations (RTC) team in the newly formed Unified Communications Group (UCG).

"The merger of these two groups simply ensures our customers will see even deeper, more seamless experiences among our products in future releases." - Anoop Gupta, Microsoft VP/Head of UCG.

I wonder if this means we will see Instant Messaging merged back into the Exchange product in the future.

Now if we can only get them to stop using the term 'silo'. 

William Lefkovics

Best Exchange Killer of 2005

You know you're good when they have a performance category based on dethroning you.  Back in January, InfoWorld Magazine, as part of their InfoWorld Technology of the Year awards declared Gordano Messaging Suite as the Best Exchange Killer of 2005.

William Lefkovics

Exchange Lotus Notes/Domino Migration Tools To Be Updated

In January, Microsoft announced they would be updating their Lotus migration tools to ease the burden of migrating from Lotus Notes/Domino to Exchange Server 2003.

The toolset includes the following:

       Microsoft Application Analyzer 2006 for Lotus Domino. This tool,
       available in the first quarter of 2006, will significantly improve the
       process of analyzing a Notes/Domino application environment and provide
       a framework for making recommendations to transition those applications
       to the Microsoft platform.

       Microsoft Data Migrator 2006 for Lotus Domino. This new tool, available
       in the second quarter of 2006, will allow organizations to migrate data
       from Lotus Domino template-based applications to Windows SharePoint
       Services Application Templates.

       Additional Windows SharePoint Services Application Templates. Building
       on the success of 30 application templates released in August 2005,
       Microsoft announced three new application templates available today
       developed for customers using similar Lotus Notes/Domino templates
       today: Discussion Database, Team Work Site and Document Library.

       Updated Messaging and Coexistence Tools. To assist companies with the
       transition from Lotus Notes/Domino messaging to Microsoft Exchange
       Server, Microsoft is providing enhanced functionality and increased
       stability for Exchange Calendar Connector for Lotus Notes/Domino,
       Exchange Connector for Lotus Notes/Domino and Migration Wizard for
       Lotus Notes/Domino.

Migrating the data is not too difficult, in either direction, actually.  But where there exists custom applications, migrating application logic is another issue.  Historically, the Application Analyzer, and the Application Converter did not do a very thorough job, and were only helpful for the most basic applications.  Hopefully the updated version improves greatly on that.

I would expect these tools to be made available along side their other interoperability and migration tools for Exchange

Also note Microsoft's support policy for Exchange for migration and coexistence with Lotus Notes.

William Lefkovics

MS06-003 TNEF Encoding Vulnerability Patched

Included in the January 2006 patches released on January 10, 2006, is a critical patch to fix a TNEF decoding vulnerability: "Vulnerability in TNEF Decoding in Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Could Allow Remote Code Execution (902412)"

The affected Exchange systems, for which patches are available, are:

•	Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 Service Pack 2
•	Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 4
•	Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 Service Pack 3

Hopefully this is not lost in the aftermath of the WMF scare.

William Lefkovics

Microsoft Announces Exchange “12” Beta 1

"Beta 1 of Exchange 12 is a private one that will be released to a mix of 1,400 customers and partners worldwide"

Thankfully, Beta 1 will be available to testers in both 32bit and 64bit.  Obviously, the benefits of 64bit will not be realized by the testers who deploy the 32bit version, but there is still plenty of opportunity to run the product through its paces and report on the new features.

Beta 2 is anticipated in mid-2006 and the final release in early 2007, according to Sr Product Manager Megan Kidd, as referenced in this ARNNet article.

William Lefkovics

Exchange 12 to be Exclusively 64 bit

As announced at the sold out Microsoft IT Forum 2005 in Barcelona, Spain, Exchange 12 will ship exclusively for 64 bit hardware.

"To help customers take full advantage of the power of 64-bit computing, products including Microsoft(R) Exchange Server "12", Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, Windows Server(TM) "Longhorn" Small Business Server, and Microsoft's infrastructure solution for midsize businesses, code-named "Centro", will be exclusively 64-bit and optimised for x64 hardware."

William Lefkovics

ONTRACK DATA RECOVERY INTRODUCES POWERCONTROLS™ VERSION 4.0

"Ontrack Data Recovery™, the industry’s leading data recovery provider, today announced the availability of Ontrack® PowerControls™ 4.0 software, the newest version of its widely used mailbox recovery tool. This upgraded version helps Microsoft® Exchange administrators save time and deliver better recovery performance with more powerful searching and reporting capabilities, and expanded backup format support for CommVault® Galaxy™ and UltraBac Software.

“Email management continues to be a challenge for storage administrators as storage requirements increase in both volume and complexity,” said Jim Reinert, senior director of Software and Services for Ontrack Data Recovery. “PowerControls 4.0 helps simplify email management by giving administrators more control over their storage environment. The Advanced Searching capabilities in the newest version of PowerControls allow for quicker response to restore requests, translating to faster support for end users.”... press release

Exchange Tools Update

Yesterday Microsoft released several updates to important tools for Exchange:

First, the PFDAVAdmin tool has been updated to version 2.4 and finally been made a supported tool, which it wasn't before.  You can get the latest version here.

Also, you can download the latest version sof the Exchange Server Analyzer tools.  These include the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool (ExBPA) v2.5, the Exchange Server Performance Troubleshooting Analyzer Tool v1.0 and the Exchange Server Disaster Recovery Analyzer Tool v1.0.

For those of you running Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM), note that the Exchange Server Management Pack and Exchange Server Management Pack Configuration Wizard were also updated on the download site.  I'm not clear on what changes were made yet so I'm off to have a look.

Update 7th November 2005:

Scott Schnoll of Microsoft has kindly provided some information on the changes within the Exchange 2003 Management Pack.  Scott writes:

"The following list of rules highlights some of the changes that were added in this update to the Exchange Server 2003 Management Pack for MOM 2005.  Some of the rules added in this release of Exchange Server Management Pack relate to features added in Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2). For information about Exchange Server 2003 SP2 features, see What's New in Exchange Server 2003.

Note: Exchange 2000 Server Management Pack has not been updated

Rules have been added to provide enhanced monitoring in the following areas:

Exchange database size limits

Exchange ActiveSync configuration settings

Exchange ActiveSync Up-to-Date Notifications performance

Exchange ActiveSync errors

Monitor intelligent message filtering performance

Intelligent message filtering for errors

Sender ID configuration errors

Sender ID errors

Disk read/write performance

DSAccess settings

Public folder replication"

"Quest Software Offers New Product to Ensure Continuous Availability of Exchange, Even During System Outages"

"New Availability Manager for Exchange Automatically Detects Outages, Moves Traffic to Alternate Servers with No Disruption or Data Loss

IRVINE, Calif. (Oct 31, 2005) – Quest Software Inc. (Nasdaq: QSFT), a leading provider of application, database and infrastructure management solutions, today introduced Availability Manager for Exchange 1.0, a new product that ensures the continuous availability of e-mail send/receive functionality by automatically moving users to a defined Exchange server, where they will continue to receive uninterrupted service during the outage.  Once service is restored, they are switched back to their original server with no data loss.  The designated backup server can be any Exchange server in the enterprise, so no dedicated backup servers are required." ... read on...

Exchange 2003 on Hardware Virtualization Software

Late last week Microsoft released the following information:

"One of the most commonly requested Microsoft applications that people want supported on Virtual Server is Exchange.  Until today Microsoft has stated that Exchange is not supported on Virtual Server.  Today is a new day.  We have officially introduced support for Exchange 2003 SP2 and later on Virtual Server 2005 R2.  The complete details are located at the link below.

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=320220

The article below will be updated with the new info.  It has not yet been updated to reflect the change but is being worked on and should be updated shortly."

KB: 897614 Windows Server System software not supported within a Microsoft Virtual Server environment

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=897614

"BBC suspends Blackberry network after mixed-up emails"

"The BBC has suspended its Blackberry email service after a bug in Research In Motion's server software mixed to gether snippets from different messages between senior executives... "... read on...

Exchange 5.5 UK Unplugged Tour

In the UK and considering upgrading from Exchange 5.5? If so, the Exchange 5.5 Unplugged Tour taking place in eight locations across the country could be for you...

Don't Forget... "Microsoft to retire Exchange Server 5.5 by year's end"

"Microsoft Corp. will be retiring Exchange Server 5.5 and support for the product at the end of the year and is recommending users upgrade to the latest version, the company said Wednesday...."

Microsoft Exchange Insider Articles

Nino Bilic's world famous Exchange Tech Bulletins are now public Exchange Insider Articles!

William Lefkovics

Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 Released

"Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) enhances your messaging environment by adding improved mobile e-mail, better protection from spam, and advanced mailbox fundamentals."... Download.

US Still Worst Spamming Nation

... or Best Spamming Nation depending on your perspective.

Security firm Sophos released its 'Dirty Dozen' spamming nations in this report.  While the percentage has dropped significantly for the US, it is still well ahead of other nations, with better than 1 in 4 spam emails originating from a US-based computer. 

The 'Dirty Dozen' according to Sophos:

April - September, 2005  (April - September, 2004)

1. United States	26.35%	(41.50%)
2. South Korea	19.73%	(11.63%)
3. China (incl Hong Kong)	15.70%	(8.90%)
4. France	3.46%	(1.27%)
5. Brazil	2.67%	(3.91%)
6. Canada	2.53%	(7.06%)
7. Taiwan	2.22%	(0.86%)
8. Spain	2.21%	(1.04%)
9. Japan	2.02%	(2.66%)
10. United Kingdom	1.55%	(1.07%)
11. Pakistan	1.42%	New entry
12. Germany	1.26%	(1.02%)

Others

18.88%

(18.10%)

William Lefkovics

Security Patch Week - 9 Patches including 1 for Exchange

On Tuesday, October 11, Microsoft will provide 9 security patches for its products.  One of these is rated 'Important' for Microsoft Exchange Server.  Microsoft's Advance Notification page suggests the Exchange patch will require a restart.

William Lefkovics

Microsoft System Center Capacity Planner 2006 - BETA

Microsoft has announced the availability of a public beta version of System Center Capacity Planner 2006.  This will be of interest to Exchange professionals due to the fact that it currently covers both Exchange 2003 and MOM 2005.

Overview:

Microsoft System Center Capacity Planner 2006 (BETA) delivers state of the art easy-to-use modeling technology to bring unprecedented functionality and flexibility to the process of performance analysis and planning of system deployments of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Operations Manager 2005. Microsoft System Center Capacity Planner 2006 (BETA) provides the IT professional with the tools and guidance required to architect a deployment in the most efficient manner, while facilitating future planning by allowing for "what-if" analysis.

System Center Capacity Planner 2006 (Beta) provides the following benefits:

• Proactive Performance Planning
• Infrastructure Planning and Optimization
• Performance Analysis and Predictive Reporting
• Cost Analysis and Justification

The beta version can be downloaded here.  A community forum for the product can be found here.

Office 2003 Service Pack 2 Released

"SP2 contains a new Phishing Protection feature to be used with the Outlook Junk Email Filter. Phishing is the luring of sensitive information through e-mail, such as passwords and other personal information, by an attacker masquerading as someone trustworthy. Phishing attacks can result in a user divulging sensitive information, including financial information, that can result in a loss of privacy or money. Phishing e-mail is hard to identify, because attackers make their e-mail appear genuine and often mimic recognizable e-mail sent out routinely by legitimate organizations such as banks and credit card companies."... info/download. 

Exchange 12 Media to be DVD only

Microsoft wants you to know well in advance that the next version of Exchange will ship on DVD media only.  This gives you plenty of time to ensure you have a DVD readable device available to install or copy the installation files to the network.

This was announced in the Exchange Team Blog and covered by ENT Magazine today.

William Lefkovics

Microsoft Acquires Teleo

"Microsoft is bolstering its presence in the fast-growing internet telephony market by acquiring Teleo, a privately owned technology company based in San Francisco..... Will Collins, the product manager for Microsoft's MSN service, said: "Teleo has a number of technology solutions that are exciting to us. Their innovative data offering allows calls to phones and PCs but it's integrating that with Outlook and Internet Explorer with a click-and-call function which is what's interesting to us." Full Story.

New Blog - fixingemail.org

Fixing Email "...on a mission: to encourage and motivate all email users to report spam and email fraud. Think “Neighborhood Watch” for email."

New Book: BlackBerry Hacks

BlackBerry Hacks: Tips & Tools for Your Mobile Office - due to be published by O'Reilly in October.

Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 Community Technology Preview Now Available

As mentioned earlier, the Community Technology Preview build of Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 is now available for download.  You do have to register with a valid Passport to download.

Don't forget to read the Release Notes for Windows prerequisites and an overview of what's new in sp2.

Microsoft stresses that this is NOT intended for production servers and as such is NOT supported. 

William Lefkovics

Microsoft® Exchange Connections - Oct 31-Nov 3, 2005 - San Diego, California

"Microsoft and Windows IT Pro magazine partner to produce the premiere Exchange event bringing IT professionals from around the world together again. Join your community as Microsoft reveals exciting advances impacting Microsoft Exchange, experience cutting edge sessions, take your skills to new levels, attend the new hands-on trouble shooting course, explore the expo hall, and network at awesome parties. If you use Microsoft Exchange this conference is a must to stay competitive."

Community Technology Preview Build of Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 Coming on Friday

"Microsoft is set to release an early build of a key enabler of its promised push e-mail solution by the end of this week. On August 19, Microsoft is set to post for download a first Community Technology Preview (CTP) build of Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack (SP) 2, according to a blog posting from Microsoft senior Technology Specialist Harold Wong.

The Exchange team "has opted to release a CTP to provide the Exchange community with an early look at a product that has yet to be released (SP2)," a Microsoft spokeswoman verified. "The idea is for Exchange customers to get early access to SP2 so customers/partners can plan their own technology roadmap."... Full Microsoft Watch report.

Microsoft Solutions for Infrastructure and Management Exchange SLA Scorecard

Tony Soper's blogged details on the new Exchange SLA Scorecard that's currently in the beta phase.

"As we move into more complex and interdependent applications, it becomes increasingly difficult to track the capabilities of various IT services. Furthermore, it seems that there is no single formula or presentation mechanism to easily roll up the data and demonstrate that IT is in fact meeting the needs of the business and achieving its service level agreement (SLA) targets.

Microsoft IT has become a world-class IT organization, possessing much experience in managing a large enterprise and achieving great success in messaging service delivery. Microsoft IT is diligent in its operations management processes and metrics management. They track key components and derive measurements that truly show how IT services are performing against business needs. They measure service delivery based on IT scorecards and SLAs. These metrics and measures allow them to fine tune services and achieve high availability with the Microsoft® Exchange Server messaging platform. However, since there is no industry standard for measuring services, customers frequently ask, “How does Microsoft do it?” The SLA Scorecard Solution Accelerator for Exchange provides customers with best practices for measuring the service delivery of Exchange." ... read on...

New Microsoft Mobility Blog - Mr Mobile

Jason Langridge, a Mobility Manager with Microsoft in the UK has a new blog. Jason gets to play with all the latest toys, long before they hit the shelves of course, so it'll be interesting to read his thoughts on the many new mobile devices that are due for release over the next few months, and will be Windows Mobile 5 powered, as required for the 'push e-mail' functionality of Exchange 2003's forthcoming service pack 2.

(Don't forget that the Windows Mobile Team also have a blog)

Star Developers Join Exchange Team

"The Microsoft Exchange team has brought aboard two highly-respected developers known for their expertise in collaboration software. Julio Estrada, a former star at Lotus Development who went on to found Kubi Software, has joined the Exchange Server team, sources said. Also joining Microsoft is Bob Congdon, who was at IBM till recently..... The company (Microsoft) seems to be trying to boost Exchange Server's profile both inside and outside of company under vice president Dave Thompson, who took the reins late last year." Full news report.

Webcast Today!

TechNet Webcast: Mastering Exchange Server Scripting (Level 300)

Start Time:   Tuesday, August 09, 2005 9:30 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) 
End Time:   Tuesday, August 09, 2005 10:30 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) 

Event Description 
Tackle one of the toughest customers in the scripting world: Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. This webcast examines the Microsoft technologies that make Exchange script-accessible, including Collaboration Data Objects (CDO), CDO for Exchange Management, Windows Management Instrumentation, ActiveX Data Objects, and Active Directory Service Interfaces. Get an in-depth look at scripts capable of monitoring and managing Exchange, and learn about the capabilities and limitations of Exchange Server scripting.

Presenter: Don Jones, Microsoft MVP, Book Author, and Founder of ScriptingAnswers.com, & Jeffery Hicks, Contributing editor to ScriptingAnswers.com, Principal Consultant, JDH Information Technology Solutions

GFI MailSecurity 9 Released

"London, UK, 2 August 2005 – GFI today announced the release of a new version of GFI MailSecurity for Exchange/SMTP, its email content security solution. Version 9 provides administrators with far greater ease of use and highly reduced maintenance requirements while retaining the product’s proven multi-layered defense system – in the form of multiple virus engines, content and attachment checking, spyware and exploit detection, and Trojan/executable scanning. Through its new quarantine filters, search options and web-based configuration, GFI MailSecurity 9 will help administrators ensure that their email servers are secure and efficient with a minimal amount of effort."

NewsGator Technologies Introduces NewsGator Enterprise Server

"NewsGator Technologies, Inc., the leading RSS platform company, announced today the launch of NewsGator Enterprise Server (NGES). Available in Q3, NewsGator Enterprise Server is a revolutionary new product for aggregating and reading RSS content within the enterprise. It brings the power of NewsGator's existing RSS engine, services and capabilities behind the firewall, providing enterprise class security, manageability and deployment. In addition, NGES optionally integrates with Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory, which eases deployment for enterprise IT departments and provides a user interface that employees are comfortable with. " ... full press release

New BlackBerry Book

Professional BlackBerry by Craig J. Johnston.

Microsoft Speech Technologies Coming to Exchange Server

"There is some really good work that's being done by people who do add-on products to Exchange. One in particular I know about... is the Octel product." - Bill Gates

That was at Comdex in 1997 here in Las Vegas, NV.  Octel Unified Messenging allowed people to access email and voicemail through a single interface.  It was an expensive add-on for Exchange 5.5.  Well Octel is now Avaya.  The sun is setting on Exchange 5.5.  Exchange 2000 then 2003 have been released.  And now unified messaging is expected to be a part of the next Exchange version - Exchange 12.

According to this ENT Magazine article by Scott Bekker of Redmond Magazine, Microsoft will be adding its speech technologies to Exchange.  Speech-enabled unified messaging.   

We knew it was coming.  But when? 

"Microsoft did not specify whether it would attempt to ready the technology for the next release of Exchange, the Exchange 12 release currently planned for sometime in 2006."

Microsoft Speech Technologies go beyond voice-to-text 'translation'.  I've been using the built-in speech recognition technology in Windows Vista beta 1 for common commands ("Computer.  Switch to Notepad.") instead of using the mouse or keyboard.  For years, I've been barking commands, mostly unreasonable ones, at my Exchange Servers.  Maybe one day they'll listen.

William Lefkovics

Microsoft to Acquire FrontBridge Technologies

Microsoft announced their intention to purchase FrontBridge Technologies, formerly BigFish, a messaging security company. 

This may be good news for the future of secure Exchange messaging, especially in hosted environments.  Microsoft's press release covering the acquisition is here.

It is not clear how this would affect the many FrontBridge customers who do not run Microsoft Exchange servers. 

William Lefkovics

Exchange 2003 SDK June 2005 Update

The quarterly update of the Exchange Server 2003 Software Development Kit (SDK) Documentation and Samples is available for download.

"The documentation and samples assist developers in building applications for Exchange 2003 Server."

William Lefkovics

DataViz Launches RoadSync for Sony Ericsson P900/910 Series Smartphones

"At Microsoft Tech*Ed 2005 Europe, DataViz, Inc., leading provider of Office compatibility solutions for over 21 years, today announced that its new RoadSync solution for Symbian UIQ smartphones is shipping. Based on the Exchange ActiveSync protocol licensed from Microsoft, RoadSync is the first commercially available software solution to provide secure, wireless and direct synchronization with Exchange Server 2003, thereby extending the existing mobile benefits of Exchange Server 2003 to reach non-Microsoft devices. RoadSync for Symbian UIQ offers full mobile access to corporate Outlook e-mail, attachments, calendar and contacts, making the popular Sony Ericsson P900/P910 series smartphones the first non-Microsoft devices to support the full Exchange ActiveSync implementation.".. read on...

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) v2.0 Released

Microsoft released a new version of the free Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA).  The new MBSA v2.0 is compatible with the new Windows Server Update Service (WSUS); whereas, the previous version MBSA v1.2.1 remains compatible with the older, soon to be obsolete, Software Update Service (SUS).

What does that mean?  Well, if you maintain Exchange 5.0 or Exchange 5.5 Servers, then you will still need to use MBSA v1.2.1 in order to scan those applications to confirm they have the necessary security updates applied to them.  MBSA v2.0 will only scan Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003 servers at this time.

Review MS KB 895660 to confirm whether you still need MBSA v1.2.1 prior to uninstalling. Also, v2.0 and v1.2.1 can actually run on the same machine if necessary.

William Lefkovics

Spam: Use Sender ID or we'll junk you, says Microsoft

"Microsoft is to wage war on spam by pushing for all emails to have Sender ID or risk being identified as junk mail by Hotmail and MSN.

Around November, Hotmail and MSN will flag as potential spam those messages that do not have the tag to verify the sender, according to Craig Spiezle, a director in the technology care and safety group at the software maker. The move is meant to spur on the adoption of Sender ID, he said." ... read on...

Microsoft Completes Acquisition of Enterprise Security Provider Sybari Software

"Microsoft Corp. today announced the completion of its acquisition of Sybari Software Inc. Originally announced Feb. 8, the acquisition of Sybari adds a critical security component to Microsoft’s efforts to help enterprise customers become more secure. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, Sybari will continue to offer enterprise protection products for the Microsoft^® Windows^® platform.

“Customers have told us they want powerful security solutions for the enterprise to help protect their messaging and collaboration servers from viruses, worms and spam,” said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of the Security Business & Technology Unit at Microsoft. “Sybari’s award-winning and innovative products coupled with its strong industry partnerships and deep integration with such products as Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 will deliver immediate value to Microsoft customers.” ... read on...

TechEd 2005 Simulcast Available: Microsoft Exchange 2003: Tips Tricks and Shortcuts

Microsoft has released 12 of the better TechEd 2005 simulcasts as On Demand Webcasts.  Included in this is Scott Schnoll's presentation for Exchange 2003, called Exchange Server 2003: Tips, Tricks and Shortcuts (Level 300).

Other Exchange related TechEd 2005 Webcasts available on demand:

Managing Exchange 2003 with MOM 2005: Better Together (Level 200)

How Microsoft IT Does Storage Design In Exchange Scale Up Deployments (Level 200)

Troubleshooting Exchange Server 2003 (Level 200)

Understanding the Exchange Store (Level 300)

William Lefkovics

Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter

This optional update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered junk e-mail.

Exchange Patch Coming June 14

Among the 10 patches to be released by Microsoft this coming Tuesday, June 14, there is one for Exchange Server.

The maximum severity rating for this update is 'important' and a restart should not be required.  The vulnerability will be detectible through the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) and the Enterprise Update Scan Tool (EST).

As usual, there is a Technet Webcast the following day covering the June patches.

William Lefkovics

Sybari Antigen Management Pack for MOM

OK, so I'm straying into MOM territory once again, but it's somewhat Exchange related...

Sybari has announced the release of it's Antigen Management Pack for MOM, which you'll definitely want to get hold of if you use both Antigen and MOM within your Windows infrastructure.  You can obtain all the necessary information here.

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) Released

After a thorough beta, Microsoft has announced the release of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).  WSUS is a big step from SUS.  It is a free application to help administrators with a big cornerstone of security - patch management.

In addition to Windows versions and SQL Server, WSUS initially allows for updates for both Exchange Server 2003 and Office 2003 (at least).

Microsoft has a newsgroup to discuss WSUS at microsoft.public.windows.server.update_services.

There are also an email-based community at Patchmanagement.org and a web forum at wsus.info. 

William Lefkovics

Tech-Ed Diary

Microsoft's Scott Schnoll is at Tech-Ed this week... read about the latest news and announcements in the Tech-Ed diary.

Exchange 2003 Standard 16GB Limit: Good Riddance

Possibly the biggest improvement introduced with the upcoming service pack 2 for Exchange Server 2003 is the lifting of the 16BG store limit for the Standard version.  SP2 adds a 75GB limit.   This is great news for those of us in the small to medium business market.

Microsoft summarizes the SP2 and its improvements noting the release expected in the second half of 2005.

Other improvements include true push email to mobile devices and the addition of SenderID protocol support.

William Lefkovics

Do You Have SLAs For Exchange?

If you use MOM 2005 to monitor and manage Exchange, note that Chris Harris, PM for the Exchange Management Pack at Microsoft, is after your input to make it easier for you to report on service/server availability and to measure SLA compliance.  You can respond to Chris via the public newsgroups here - under the thread titled Do you have SLAs for Exchange?

Chris says:

I'm the PM that owns the Exchange Management Pack at Microsoft. I'm working on the reports for our next major release and I need your help.

I want to make it easier for you to report on service/server availability and to measure your compliance with Service Level Agreements.

Please tell me how your orgainization measures availability or defines Service Level Agreements (SLA) for Exchange. Or, perhaps more importantly, how you would like to measure or define them.

Examples:
* Outlook clients must be able to successfully connect to the server 99.5% of the time during normal business hours.
* The Exchange databases must be mounted 99.9% of the time

Please provide the following:
1. Current SLA and availability definitions
2. How do you measure it today?
3. Preferred SLA and availability definitions
4. How would you like to measure it?

To make it worth your effort, I've got a number of different software packages sitting in my office, and for the best idea I'll let you take your pick.

Thanks,
Chris Harris

Microsoft UK Messaging Workshops

A number of messaging workshops/surgeries are taking place in Reading over the next couple of months. They have been neatly summarised by Flaphead.

Veritas Backup Exec - Voted MSExchange.org Readers' Choice Award Winner - Exchange Backup Solution Category

"Veritas Backup Exec was selected the winner in the Exchange Backup Solution category of the MSExchange.org Readers’ Choice Awards. CommVault Galaxy, Sonasoft's SonaSafe for Exchange, and GFI MailArchiver were all first runners-up."

Small Business Server Service Pack 1 Released

Microsoft has released Small Business Server (SBS) Service Pack 1.  The 206MB download includes Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and the Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Service Pack 1 for Client Deployment.

William Lefkovics

Nokia Licenses Microsoft's Activesync

Nokia announced it has licensed the Activesync protocol from Microsoft, further expanding the list of providers that have helped grow the mobility potential of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.

"Enterprise Solutions business group today announced that it has licensed Microsoft Corp's Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol to enable wireless and direct synchronization between Microsoft Exchange Server, part of the Windows Server System and future Nokia enterprise mobile devices."

William Lefkovics

Microsoft Announces Windows Mobile 5.0

As many expected, Microsoft announced the release of Windows Mobile 5.0 (code-named Magneto) at the Mobile and Embedded Development Conference (MEDC) in Las Vegas, NV this week.

"Windows Mobile 5.0 has familiar features that will help you manage e-mail and Office attachments when out of the office.

The next version of Windows Mobile Software includes Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, a great multimedia experience that will make it easy to transfer songs, videos, and pictures from your PC to your device.

Plus, the new platform offers more ways for developers, mobile operators, and OEMs to innovate."

The announcement came in the keynote address by Bill Gates a couple of hours ago.  You should also be able to see Bill Gates' MEDC keynote address webcast here later today. 

Now all we need is Exchange 2003 sp2...

William Lefkovics

Exchange Server 2003 Patch for MS05-021

Microsoft released an important patch covered in MS KB 894549 (they may still be working on this article) for Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. 

This patch fixes the vulnerability outlined in MS05-021 (they may still be working on this article).

William Lefkovics

Update: The links are working now.  This is a critical update and should be tested and applied as soon as possible.  The vulnerability is shown using the MBSA.  There are also separate downloads for Exchange 2000 sp3, Exchange 2003, and Exchange 2003 sp1.

Exchange Patch Coming April 12

Among the expected 8 patches due out April 12, there is one covering Exchange Server according to the Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification information..

"1 Microsoft Security Bulletin affecting Microsoft Exchange. The greatest aggregate, maximum severity rating for these security updates is Critical. These updates will not require a restart. These updates will be detectable using MBSA."

There is a webcast on Wednesday, April 13 covering the April patches.

William Lefkovics

Microsoft Exchange is Number One: Forbes

Well most of us knew that anyway.  This Forbes article (IBM in Denial Over Lotus Notes) suggests IBM/Lotus is not aware of this development.

"Now Microsoft's Exchange has clawed its way to the top of the corporate e-mail market, displacing Notes/Domino, which once dominated e-mail and was the main reason IBM paid $3.2 billion to acquire Lotus in 1995."

There are some interesting market research numbers in this article that just by their differences show their true value.

William Lefkovics

Thanks to Paul Robichaux for pointing us to this article.

""Microsoft aims to kill BlackBerry"

"Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Mobile upgrade, code-named Magneto, is designed to be a BlackBerry killer, said sources familiar with the ambitious plan.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is on track to freeze the Windows Mobile 2005 ROM code in April and provide new technology in Exchange 2003 Server Pack 2 that will push e-mail out to mobile workers who use Pocket PCs and smartphones. "... read on..

...and how did RIM get to where they are today?... "How BlackBerry conquered the world"

Exchange 2003/Windows 2003 sp1 Cluster Patch

This update only applies to Exchange Server 2003 clusters running on Windows Server 2003 with the recently released Windows 2003 sp1.  MS KB 841561 fixes "'500 - Internal server error' error message when a user tries to access a clustered Exchange Server 2003 back-end server by using Outlook Web Access."

I thought it deserved its own blog entry. 

William Lefkovics

DataViz Licenses Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync Protocol

Microsoft realizes that the entire mobile workforce does not use Windows-based portable devices.  To generate greater value for Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft continues to license its Activesync protocol to other companies that they may also access Exchange Server data wirelessly. 

DataViz has announced a licensing agreement with Microsoft to integrate Activesync into its Roadsync application.

William Lefkovics

Windows 2003 Service Pack 1 Released

This service pack is big on security.  The addition of the Windows host-based firewall application could interfere with Exchange connectivity, though thankfully it is not turned on when applying sp1, unless slipstreamed into a new installation.  Certainly test in your lab whenever possible. 

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 Product Overview Guide

Learn About and Install Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (32-bit) Download

Oh, Outlook Express will now have a Plain Text only option for inbound mail... this is good for all of us who use crappy email clients on our servers.  Unfortunately, there is still no option to uninstall Internet Explorer and Outlook Express.

William Lefkovics

Update:  If you install Windows 2003 sp1 on your Exchange 2003 cluster nodes, you will need the hotfix outlined in MS KB 841561.  (Thank you Steve Antonio and Evan Dodd)

Update: Nino Bilic has covered what you need to know about the Security Configuration Wizard in Windows 2003 sp1 and how it affects Exchange Server in the Exchange team blog.  Thanks Nino.

Exchange Server due out in 2006

"Andy Lees, corporate vice president of marketing for Microsoft's server and tools business, revealed the ship date Tuesday."

This suggests that Exchange 12 will arrive sooner versus later.  It was previous suggested the release date might not be until early 2007.

Lees also indicated that Exchange 12 will support "both the 64-bit extensions and the dual-core technology."  I don't think that includes Itanium.

William Lefkovics

Microsoft UK Events in April

Quest Software presents Exchange - Management, Auditing & Enforcement

14 April 2005 09:30 - 14 April 2005 13:00 (GMT) GMT, London Welcome Time: 09:00 Language: English Radisson SAS Hotel Manchester Airport Chicago Avenue Manchester M90 3RA United Kingdom EACS - Exchange Mobility event with Orange and Microsoft 05 April 2005 09:45 - 05 April 2005 12:45 (GMT) GMT, London Welcome Time: 09:00 Language: English Northampton Saints Sturtridge Suite Franklin's Gardens Weedon Road Northampton NN5 5BG United Kingdom

Looking for a New Job?

Are you looking for a new job? My employer is currently looking to recruit an experienced third line Messaging Specialist. I haven't got a copy of the job spec to post as yet, however, if you have at least 3 years messaging experience supporting 5000+ users, an in-depth knowledge of most of these solutions;

W2K/W2K3 Active Directory

Exchange 5.5/2003 (including migration experience)

Mailsweeper for SMTP v4.3

Ironport

NetApps

SnapManager for Exchange

BlackBerry Enterprise Server

KVS Enterprise Vault

Backup Exec

Faxination

IBM hardware

... and would like to work for a UK FT100 company that is going places, please send me your CV - christopher.meirick at ntlworld.com. Thanks! (Agencies will not be responded to)

Motorola MPx220 Finally Available

At long last, the Motorola MPx220 is available to buy in the UK. I was a very happy MPx200 user, but this replacement model has just taken too long to come to market, with the SPV C500 now more than fulfilling my ActiveSync/OMA requirements.

"The model MPx220 offers familiar software based on the Microsoft Windows Mobile Smartphone 2003 Edition OS that single-handedly offers the Outlook experience without the desktop clutter."

Misc Web & Blog Round-up

The new Exchange Cookbook is on it’s way soon… some of the scripts included in the book have been published on the Cookbook blog.

Jan Karlsbjerg explains how to create Outlook templates

Alex Scoble had a problem with his Exchange server on Monday – over zealous creation of transaction logs, with a straightforward, but an overall time consuming resolution.

Don Wilwol - Exchange on a SAN

You Had Me At EHLO
Taking a good look at Exchange 2003 Mailbox Manager

Recommended Mailbox Size Limits

Alex Black - OUTLOOK 2003 USING RPC OVER HTTP

Allister Frost
Speed saving attachments in Outlook

Get to your Outlook stuff from your browser

MSExchange.org
Understanding Exchange Databases Disk Consumption

Scripting Exchange Using VBScript and ADSI (Part 1)

Dealing with Outlook Internet Headers

Using SMTPDIAG to Diagnose Exchange 2003 Related SMTP and DNS Problems

Back Online!

It’s been a busy and eventful few weeks (new job, ongoing data center move etc) with a complete lack of reading & blogging time, unfortunately. I’m now also just recovering from some unpleasant flu/virus thing, which finds me bored with daytime TV and in need of getting back into geek-mode. So… it’s a good time to catch-up on all of the stuff that I’ve been del.icio.us tagging, e-mailing myself, and scribbling in the Moleskine during the past month or so. There’s a few posts on the way therefore!

Symbian Licenses Exchange Server ActiveSync

" Symbian Limited today announced that it has licensed the Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol for use in Symbian OS™, the leading open standard operating system for advanced mobile phones."

ExBPA v2.0 Is Here

ExBPA v2.0 has been released and you can grab it here.  This version has support for MOM 2005 which I wrote about yesterday.

There are many improvements, such as the support for MOM 2005, multiple language suppport, DNS collector, scheduling capabilities, a new 'best practice' category, an improved scanning scope, etc, etc.

You can find out about all the new features of this version via the readme.

ExBPA Management Pack for MOM 2005

Microsoft has released the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer Management Pack for MOM 2005.

Overview:

The Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer (ExBPA) Management Pack can be used to deploy the ExBPA tool on computers running Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange Server 2003. Using a timed event, the tool will run automatically on each server and write any identified performance, scalability and availability issues to the Windows NT Event Log. The ExBPA Management Pack will interpret these events and generate the appropriate alerts on the MOM Management Console.

The ExBPA Management Pack works in tandem with the ExBPA tool:
* Identification of Exchange server configuration issues which could result in poor performance, scalability and unplanned downtime
* Automated analysis and root cause identification
* Support for third-party software and hardware
* Self-updating database and help content
* Links to over 500 articles on the Web
* Works with Exchange Server 2003, Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange Server 5.5 (in mixed mode topologies)

TrendMicro Critical VSAPI Vulnerability

ISS announced a vulnerability in TrendMicro's VSAPI ARJ parsing could allow Remote Code execution.  This issue extends across most of Trend's product line according to Trend's security advisory. 

If you use Trend Micro ScanMail for Microsoft Exchange or any of their SMTP gateway solutions in front of your Exchange Server, get the critical scan engine update from Trend to protect yourself.

William Lefkovics

Exchange 12 Presentation

Adam Field has posted details of a LiveMeeting recording that you can listen to, in which Dave Thompson, Exchange Server Corporate VP, talks about the future roadmap of Exchange, and what can be expected with Exchange 12... it's well worth a listen.

Nokia Licenses Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync Protocol

"Nokia Licenses Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync Protocol for Integration With Nokia's Business-Optimized Devices"

As companies look to mobility, e-mail is usually the first application (other than voice/phone) that they look at for empowering mobile users.  Nokia knows this of course, as they announced their license agreement for the use of ActiveSync to allow their customers that use Exchange Server 2003 to connect using Nokia Series 60 or Series 80 devices.

Nokia's Press Release

William Lefkovics

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-012 and Exchange Server

Because Exchange makes use of the Windows OLE DB provider (ExOLEDB), the patch associated with the Security Bulletin MS05-12 is critical for all Exchange Servers.  A little more information is available in MS KB 873333.

"Install the patches.  Get others to do the same.  This is an important OS fix for Exchange systems." - David Lemson, Microsoft. 

William Lefkovics

Outlook 2003 Junk Mail Filter Update

There is another update to the Outlook 2003 Junk e-mail filter outlined in MS KB 891067. 

You can get the 3.5MB update from the Microsoft Download site or from Office Update.

William Lefkovics

Microsoft To Acquire Sybari

Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire Sybari Software Inc., a leading provider of security products that help more than 10,000 businesses worldwide protect their messaging and collaboration servers from viruses, worms and spam.

Read the rest here.

(CM: Update - more commentary at InfoWorld)

OWA 2003 "Vulnerability" a Phishing Concern

Donnie Werner of the Exploitlabs Research Team has released an advisory for what is really an old issue - obfuscated URLs through OWA that users mistakenly, innocently, or indiscriminately click.  The user could then be redirected to a URL with malicious intent.

As outlined in the advisory, Microsoft will remedy this in the Exchange 12 release.  Until then, user education is an imperfect treatment, but remains an important layer of defense. 

William Lefkovics

iHateSpam For Exchange V1.6: New Powerful Engine!

"The latest V1.6 of iHateSpam for Exchange is NOW AVAILABLE. It has a new, improved spam detection engine with dramatically improved scanning speeds, more accurate spam filtering - with super low false positives and very regular (daily) updates of the spam signatures. With iHateSpam for Exchange you can protect your organization from the increasing and endless barrage of spam.".. from W2Knews.com

Exchange IMF Update

Microsoft has released an update for the Intelligent Message Filter (IMF).  Grab it here!

Overview:

This update to the Intelligent Message Filter SmartScreen filter contains updated spam characteristics that improve the ability of Intelligent Message Filter to block unsolicited commercial e-mail messages, also known as spam. You must have Intelligent Message Filter installed to install this update.

Note This download is available in English only. For more information, see the Readme

Fujistu-Siemens Computers Sets MMB3 Record

Microsoft created the MAPI Messaging Benchmark 3 (MMB3) as a benchmark standard for performance testing for Exchange Server 2003.  Fujistu-Siemens (FSC) has set a new record using this benchmark - 18,500 MMB3 users on a 4-node cluster.

"The measured configuration comprises a PRIMERGY BX600 blade server system with five PRIMERGY BX620 S2 dual server blades. Four of the server blades formed a 3+1 cluster and the other acted as an Active Directory server. All the server blades were each equipped with two Intel Xeon 3.6 GHz processors, 4 GB of memory and two 36 GB SCSI hard disks for the operating system. Three FibreCAT CX500 with a total of 456 38-GB hard disks were used as the storage subsystem for Exchange data."

I had another source for this article, but the article was pulled.  It remains at AME Info, though.  I will update when it appears in the FSC Press Releases.

William Lefkovics

"Exchange Joins Microsoft's Billion-Dollar Club"

"Microsoft Exchange Server crossed the $1 billion revenue threshold in fiscal 2004, joining Microsoft's enviable stable of products that the software company can rely on for more than a billion dollars in revenues each year."

"Microsoft Office Outlook Live: Outlook Lights Up With MSN Hotmail"

"Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of Microsoft® Office Outlook® Live, a new subscription offering that brings together the power of Microsoft Office Outlook with MSN® Hotmail® in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada (English and French).

Outlook Live connects MSN Hotmail, the world's largest free Web-based e-mail service with 187 million accounts worldwide, with the advanced e-mail tools of Microsoft Office Outlook, providing customers with a way to more efficiently manage their lives. This is the first Microsoft Office product to be made available as a downloadable subscription service. With Outlook Live, customers can now view and manage all their personal information -- e-mail accounts, contacts and calendars -- in one convenient place, from virtually anywhere. With an Outlook Live subscription customers will receive the latest version of Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 for Subscription Services, plus 2 GB of online storage, the ability to send 20MB attachments, and advanced spam and virus protection -- all for an introductory price of $44.951 until April 19, 2005 (regularly priced at $59.95 per year)."

CRN: Exchange 12 in 2006 or 2007

CRN quotes David Thompson, Microsoft VP in charge of Exchange, and provides insight into the future path for Exchange in their 'breaking news' article Microsoft Redrafts Mail Plan With Exchange 12

It is still JET, but it should fly even better.

"The next version of Exchange, or E-12, will build on an improved version of Exchange's current "JET" engine, and surface in the Office 12 time frame, Microsoft executives said this week."

"E-12 ... promises voice mail integration, continuous backup, better search, support for WSDL and other Web services specifications, and 64-bit Windows Server."

"Also on the list are security enhancements, including promised  'Edge Services' incremental updates, as well as new 'policy compliance infrastructure.'"

Update:

Here is a list of some of the major IT News sources covering this roadmap development:

• Network World Fusion
• eWeek
• CNet
• Microsoft Watch
• ZDNet
• Windows IT Pro

William Lefkovics

Microsoft rules out new Exchange data store

"Microsoft has long talked about moving its Exchange messaging software to a new database technology, but it has now decided that the next major version of Exchange will not adopt a new data store. Microsoft executives will publicly reveal a new roadmap for Exchange next week"... read on...

Need Some Help? - CLA Networking Specialists

Two very good friends and ex-colleagues of mine set-up a new Network Support/IT services business last year - Copper Lea Associates. The business has been doing very well with a number of successful projects having been undertaken for a number of UK companies and local authorities.

Anyway, if you're in the UK, and perhaps need some help with VPNs, network management and troubleshooting, firewall implementations and configurations, intrusion detection solutions, desktop support, Windows Server and Exchange Server support and upgrades, cabling, Cisco training…. and more, I would recommend that you give CLA a shout! The staff are all very knowledgeable, helpful and dependable!

Exchange Webcasts

TechNet Webcast: Techniques for Troubleshooting Exchange Server 2003 - Level: 200

Monday, January 10, 2005 - 9:30 - 11:00 AM Pacific Time

Chris Avis, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

Would you like to know more about troubleshooting inbound and outbound Internet mail and Microsoft Exchange Server performance problems? In this webcast we will show you how to diagnose and solve challenges involving DNS-related issues with Mail Exchanger records, message size restrictions, alternate addresses, and how to determine whether destination SMTP servers are responding appropriately. Learn how to recover lost or corrupted messages and mailboxes using the latest Exchange tools. We will also review Exchange database and transaction log basics and illustrate how to troubleshoot failing databases.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032266392&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Maintains High Availability for Exchange Server 2003 at Microsoft - Level: 200

Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - 8:00 - 9:30 AM Pacific Time

Gary Baxter, IT Senior Operations Manager, Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft IT, using the latest server and storage hardware products, as well as using Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 clusters, sets a mailbox availability target of 99.99 percent. Join us as we review how Microsoft IT implements strict service level agreements and regular review processes to make sure it either meets it aggressive goals or knows when and why it does not.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032266444&Culture=en-US

Refresh your inbox

From the Guardian... "How many emails did you have to plough through when you got back to work this year? And how many of those were ones you hadn't dealt with before you left for Christmas? We're now sending and receiving so much email - 35bn messages a day worldwide, according to IDC researchers - that it is easy to get overwhelmed."... read on.

"Apple Owes the Enterprise a Better Client"

"Here's what Apple needs in 2005 to beef up its enterprise client.

1. An Exchange Server MAPI client for Mac....."

Deployment Options for Maximizing Exchange Mobility

Deployment Options for Maximizing Exchange Mobility
January 18, 2005
10:00AM - 11:00AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Accessing Exchange applications - including Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, Outlook Web Access, Active Sync, Pocket Outlook and Outlook Mobile Access - from multiple locations is of tremendous importance to the IT and business professional.

"More than ever, the communication and productivity requirements of organizations revolve around the mobility, accessibility and security of Exchange Server data. With the release of Microsoft ISA Server 2004 and the NS Series Firewall Appliance, users of Exchange now have more avenues for mobile Exchange access and infinitely greater levels of security to protect those users and their data from corruption and attack.

Listen to Dr. Tom Shinder explain opportunities for Exchange access and application-layer security provided by ISA Server 2004 and the Network Engines NS Series Firewall Appliances.

Agenda:
Maximizing Exchange Mobility through ISA Server 2004 -
     Dr. Tom Shinder, Microsoft systems security and ISA firewall authority

NS Series Firewall Appliance-
     John Amaral, CTO, Network Engines

Case study, Brian Woodall-
     Systems Engineer, Xpress Source"

Remote DoS in GFI MailEssentials (Due to a Bug in Microsoft HTML Parser)

CSIS released CSIS Security Advisory: [CSIS2005-1] on January 3 because of a possible Denial of Service (DoS) attack vulnerability with GFI MailEssentials software.

Affected Products:
GFI MailSecurity 8.x
GFI MailEssentials 9
GFI MailEssentials 10.x

"The problem lies in a Microsoft HTML library that is made use of by a GFI library, common to GFI MailSecurity and GFI MailEssentials."

GFI responded quickly documenting the issue and fix in their knowledgebase with KBID002249.

William Lefkovics

Shocking Nature.

With the death toll rising with every updated news bulletin, I just can’t believe the scale of the disaster that has occurred in Asia.  My thoughts are with all those affected by this tragic event.

Just over three months ago I was fortunate to have been in Southern Thailand, and as a tourist, enjoyed the holiday of a lifetime 'in paradise,' visiting many of the islands and resorts that have been affected. I can only pray that the very many happy, helpful, sincere and respectful people that I met are ok. I'm thinking about you.

We must help.

UPDATE... There are a number of ways by which donations can be made to help those so badly affected by this disaster. Money will never be enough, but it will sure help. Details can be found on these sites… BBC: Asian disaster: How to help ... Guardian - How you can help ... The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami...CNN

TechNet Evening: Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool

The event is scheduled for February 9th at the Microsoft UK Campus and will be presented by Paul Bowden... register here.

Microsoft to delay SMTP relay software

"Microsoft's ever-changing messaging and collaboration roadmap is about to get another makeover, as the anticipated Exchange Edge Services platform, originally due out in 2005, is pushed to 2006 and is given a bigger mission... continued...

Hotmail dumps McAfee's antivirus for Trend Micro

"MSN's Hotmail service, which has almost 200 million users worldwide, has dumped McAfee as its antivirus partner in favor of rival Trend Micro.

According to Microsoft, e-mails and attachments sent or received by any of Hotmail's 187 million Web mail customers will be scanned in real time by Trend Micro's antivirus software beginning Monday.

Hotmail's antivirus service was previously provided by McAfee and the reason for the change is unclear. However, Martin Hoffman, chief executive of Ninemsn, which operates Hotmail in Australia and is half owned by Microsoft, said in a statement that Hotmail will be able to provide a "safer online experience" using Trend Micro's products because they provide "deeper antivirus protection." .. full report

Symantec and VERITAS Software To Merge

"Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) and VERITAS Software Corp. (Nasdaq: VRTS) today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement to merge in an all-stock transaction. Based on Symantec's stock price of $27.38 at market close on December 15, 2004, the transaction is valued at approximately $13.5 billion.

The leader in storage software and the leader in security software will provide enterprise customers with a more effective way to secure and manage their most valuable asset, their information. The combined company will be uniquely positioned to deliver information security and availability solutions across all platforms, from the desktop to the data center, from consumers and small businesses to large organizations and service providers." ... full press release

Free IT Forum Highlights Event - Birmingham (UK)

"TechNet IT Forum Highlights
Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham
Thursday 13th January 2005

NEW Microsoft TechNet IT Forum Highlights

Microsoft TechNet is pleased to announce a great new event for 2005 - TechNet IT Forum Highlights. TechNet IT Forum Highlights is a FREE, one day, multi session and multi track event, hosted at the Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham on 13th January 2005. This event offers IT Professionals the opportunity to explore the latest Microsoft products, engage with outstanding speakers, network with UK peers and much more.

What does this mean for you?

You can now choose to attend sessions across multiple tracks covering topics such as Group Policy, Virtual Server, Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 and SQL Reporting Services (see below for the full list). Build your own agenda to suit your specific requirements from a choice of 15 different 70 minute sessions.

This event is free of charge."

50% discount on Trend Micro’s ScanMail™ Suite for Microsoft Exchange

"Now through December 31, 2004, qualified customers making the move from Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003 can score a 50% discount on Trend Micro’s ScanMail™ Suite for Microsoft Exchange. "

Boswell Book Reviewed

Jase T.Wolfe has written a review of one of the best Exchange 2003 books that you can buy... William Boswell's Learning Exchange Server 2003 (technically reviewed by William & Neil!)

"If you are looking for a title to teach you to Exchange 2003 administration - pick this up." ... I couldn't agree more!

One in five Brits 'buy software from spam'

This is outrageous...

"More than one in five British consumers (22 per cent) has purchased software in response to spam email, a study by Forrester Research claims. The study - sponsored by the Business Software Alliance - found that a substantial minority of punters are quite happy to make junk mail purchases across a broad range of products.

Other popular junk mail purchases included clothes and jewellery (23 per cent), leisure and travel (20 per cent), finance (18 per cent), adult content (8 per cent), pharmaceuticals (8 per cent) and "business opportunities" (8 per cent)."... read more

Orange on their SPV C500 Smartphone

"Shaun Orpen, marketing director of Orange Business Solutions in the UK, told ComputerWire that, in his opinion, the company's latest SPV C500 handset, based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphones, has moved the goalposts for corporate data mobility.

"Without this [the C500] there have been a number of barriers to business adopting smart phones. Security reasons, economic reasons, cultural reasons. These kinds of devices are in general still quite expensive. The C500 puts mobile data in the hands of the masses. In my mind there's no way you'll avoid using data on them."

The SPV C500 is now available to business users from Orange UK for about 100 pounds with contract, according to Orpen (it is available free to pay-monthly consumers). This means highly data capable devices are now viable alternatives both to conventional handsets and to data-centric machines such as RIM's BlackBerry devices, especially for those users that wish to read rather than respond to email.

"We've got rid of the pricing barrier, the battery life is good and it's a small size. Why wouldn't you have one," said Orpen. "That combination could tip a lot of companies over into mass data." The enablement of basic wireless email to Windows Smartphones out of the box in Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 also looks set to be an important factor in growing take-up."... continued...

Messaging wars: Lotus, Microsoft move on

"Nearly a decade ago, email was the killer app and vendors IBM/Lotus and Microsoft were locked in a battle to prove which was best at delivering messaging to a corporate world hungry for online communication. The winner? Both. Each scored victories that have set them up today as the kingpins of computer-based communication and collaboration...."... read on.....

Outlook 2003 - Best of 2004

Outlook 2003 is PCWorld.com's best 'E-mail' of 2004.

"Some users might consider Outlook's cornucopia of features overkill, but this PIM's e-mail client is excellent, especially for the corporate set. Version 2003's spam filters kept out virtually all of our test junk mail. $85 "

Oscar Time?

It's time to empty those drawers, raid you company's stationery store, or pop down to your local Office World...  enclose a pen or some Post-it notes in your Christmas card to the Exchange team!...

Microsoft Gives NT Server 4, Exchange Server 5.5 Users a (Small) Reprieve

"While Microsoft continues to emphasize that it is not extending its basic support for NT Server 4.0 beyond December 31, it is continuing to give users who've held off from upgrading slight reprieves.

The latest, announced Friday, is one additional year of custom, paid support for NT 4.0 Server. The new deadline for the end of Microsoft-provided custom support is December 31, 2006.

Microsoft also is extending the custom-support period for Exchange Server 5.5. Microsoft officials said Friday that custom, paid support for 5.5 release of Microsoft's e-mail server will continue until December 31, 2007." ... read more

GFI releases corporate email archiving product for Exchange Server

"GFI today (Dec 1st) announced the release of GFI MailArchiver for Exchange, a new easy-to-use email archiving solution that enables organizations to archive all internal and external mail into a single SQL database. Now companies can easily fulfill regulatory requirements (such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act) while also providing users with easy, centralized access to past email via a web-based search interface. "

BlackBerry Announcements

"Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced that BlackBerry Enterprise Server™ v4.0 for Microsoft® Exchange and IBM Lotus® Domino™ is now available. BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.0 offers exceptional manageability, enhanced security and simplified application development.  End-users will also benefit from a range of enhancements that improve the overall wireless experience.*  Press Release.

"Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the availability of the new Java™ Development Environment for BlackBerry v4.0.  The new release, which supports J2ME™ (Java™ 2 Platform, Micro Edition), provides developers with more flexibility and support when developing applications for BlackBerry® through an enhanced Application Programming Interface (API) set, documentation, code samples and applications, new Java Specification Request (JSR) implementations, an improved Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and a new BlackBerry handheld simulator with usability improvements.  The release of the new Java Development Environment for BlackBerry coincides with the availability of BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.0 announced today and marks another important step in RIM’s strategy of providing an open, secure, and global platform for push-based wireless connectivity. " Press Release.

"Motorola’s MOTOSYNC™ Provides Direct Wireless Mobile Connectivity to Industry-Leading Microsoft Exchange Server 2003"

"Today, Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), a global leader in wireless, broadband and automotive communications technologies, announced interoperability between Motorola’s MOTOSYNC™ technology-enabled mobile phones and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. The agreement with Microsoft to license the Exchange Server ActiveSync® protocol enables Motorola mobile phones to give enterprise customers direct seamless access to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003."... full press release...

Technet Chat Archives

I add those Microsoft Technet chats that I want to participate in to my Outlook calendar but inevitably when the time comes, I am too busy to attend. 

You probably already know, but in case you didn't, these Technet technical chats are archived for later reading.

For example, I just read through the November 10 chat on Fighting Spam in the Exchange 2003 Environment. While it is too late to ask questions, it remains a valuable resource.

William Lefkovics

Reader's Choice Awards

Earlier this month, the very informative msexchange.org site declared that GFI FaxMaker won their readers choice award.  This was the result of an informal poll on their site.  Given the relationship between msexchange.org and gfi.com, I question the value of such a poll (I only voted 4 times from different IP addresses and none of my coworkers could vote because we share the same external IP).  Would we have seen the same press release if the more versatile FaxCore won the survey?  (FaxCore barely beat out GFI FaxMaker in Network Computing's Fax Server product review)

The site msexchange.org is full of great content by credible contributors.  I just wish they wouldn't pretend to be something they aren't - independent.  They seem to me to be GFI's marketing department.  Am I wrong?

William Lefkovics

Quest Software: Free Exchange Reporting for MOM

In early 2005, Quest Software is to provide a free reporting Management Pack for MOM, based on its successful MessageStats technologies.  Read more here.

Neil Hobson

"IT Forum: Exchange users to get more tools "

"Microsoft Corp. will announce the release date of the next version of its Exchange Server in the first half of 2005, but until the upgrade arrives, users can expect more management tools for existing versions, a company executive said this week.

Due to the mission-critical nature of Exchange, Microsoft will continue to make large investments in providing tools for the current and previous versions, Exchange Server senior director Kim Akers said at the company's IT Forum in Copenhagen yesterday. "We want to give customers the capabilities they need now instead of just saying, 'It's coming in the future,' " she said. ....

....RedMonk LLC analyst James Governor believes that few Exchange users are currently worried about when the next version of Exchange will be released. "A lot of Exchange shops want to see more management tools, so the real story is not Exchange as much as it is MOM and other tools," he said.

More tools are in the pipeline, according to Akers, who said the company will let user demand for features dictate its plans. She noted that new Exchange tools usually come out about every six to nine months.

The latest tools, including the Best Practice Analyzer, will most likely be incorporated into the next version of Exchange when it is released, Akers said. Issues like mobility and compliance are coming up frequently in discussions with customers, Akers said, so users should expect the next version of Exchange to expand on these areas.

However, Microsoft is in no hurry to set down a specific road map for the product since the demands of messaging and collaboration are changing so rapidly, Akers said.

Another reason not to rush a new release is that some 40% of the company's installed base of users are still on Exchange 5.5, released in 1997, and many are in the process of upgrading to Exchange 2003, Akers said."

Full report

Bill Gates is world's most spammed man

"Internet junkies, take heart: Microsoft chairman Bill Gates receives four million e-mails daily, most of them spam, and is probably the most 'spammed' person in the world," reports AFP in Singapore.

"But unlike ordinary users, the software mogul has an entire department to filter unsolicited e-mails and only a few of them actually get through to his inbox, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said here Thursday."

Cloudmark's New Trade-Up Program

"Cloudmark(TM) Inc., the company that delivers the immune system for email, today announced an aggressive trade-up program that offers companies the opportunity to replace their existing anti-spam product free of charge. As a part of the program, Cloudmark will trade out a company's existing anti-spam solution and replace it with Cloudmark's superior email security solution and standard support for the duration of the subscription.(1) The offer starts immediately and is good through December 31, 2004. Both large enterprises and small and medium businesses are eligible for the trade-up program, replacing their existing solutions with Cloudmark Immunity(TM) and Cloudmark Exchange Edition(TM) respectively..." Press Release

msgoodies Blog

Here's a new blog for you to check out/subscribe to.... msgoodies...  "It centers mainly around Microsoft infrastructure related technologies like Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange and Windows as most of our time is spent working with large-scale enterprise customers or Hosted Exchange." ... good stuff Per and Dennis!

Miccrosoft IT Forum Day One

I’m over at the Microsoft IT Forum in Copenhagen again… it seems even busier than last year.

Today’s summary (including many non-Exchange bits that may still be of interest)…

Bill Gates made a number of announcements during his keynote this morning...

64-bit computing is coming next year. There will be no price premium to pay for 64-bit as a result of the efforts of Intel and AMD. The 64-bit version of Windows is in the latter testing stages.

Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 product and Virtual Server 2005 software are now available worldwide.

The public beta of the eagerly awaited SUS replacement, Windows Update Services (WUS) is available from today.

SMS 2003 has been a tremendous success, having been adopted by 16000 Enterprise customers, covering some 10 million devices.  Two SMS feature packs were announced,

Operating System Deployment Feature Pack
Adds support for SMS to create and deploy images of Windows operating systems

Device Management Feature Pack
Use this feature pack to enable SMS 2003 to manage devices running Windows CE 4.2 or Windows Mobile 2003 software for Pocket PC.

2005 is going to be an important year, with a number of new products/updates scheduled to be launched. 2006 is perhaps going to be even more important with Longhorn coming along.

A .NET based smartcard was launched in association with Axalto. Microsoft are to use then internally, with the same card providing both premises and IT access.

Microsoft’s relationship with Dell is growing ever stronger with a development agreement announced to streamline updates and patch management. Dell’s OpenManage is to be integrated into SMS to provide a unified hardware/software patch management solution.

System Center reporting was demonstrated… the demo highlighted that performance reports can be produced which can show the performance before and after configuration changes. This should of course reduce troubleshooting time. Capacity planning would also be assisted with this tool, with performance reports published alongside actual server configurations.

A capacity planning application named Indy was also demonstrated. Not only can this application suggest a graphical topology but it can also run simulations against it.

One of the questions for Bill at the end of the keynote was about kids and their interaction with computers. Rather amusingly, he mentioned that he is reducing the amount of PC time that his children are allowed, following a recent incident when he was woken by his over excited youngsters who were sure that they had won a lot of money…. On checking their PC it was in fact just a pop-up that had appeared on the screen!

And from the Exchange session attended today…

Kim Akers – Senior Director, Exchange Marketing

Empowering Customers in a Changing World

Apparently one third of messaging admins would rather get divorced than have e-mail go down!

80% of organisations believe that e-mail is more important than the phone.

Estimated 80% of an enterprise’s information sits on individual’s computers.

Even today, some 40% of Exchange seats are still on 5.5.

Microsoft deals with 9.5 million items of spam each day. They are only using IMF and Exchange’s other filtering capabilities i.e. no third party products are being used. IMF is saving them $300,000.

IMF performance/statistics can be reviewed via the performance monitor counters. An IMF update should be along in the next couple of months. IMF can’t be installed on a cluster (although it will work with mailboxes that are homed on a cluster), nor does it work with Exchange 2000. However, in both cases it is possible to implement an Exchange 2003 server on the gateway to run it the IMF.

The recent ActiveSync licensing deal with PalmOne is likely to be the first of many. There is a desire for ActiveSync to be adopted and used on both Microsoft powered Smartphones and also non-Microsoft powered devices. Look out RIM.

The Exchange Best Practices Analyser has been a great success with over 85000 downloads since September 21^st. Tremendous feedback has been received. The application checks 1200 settings against 800 rules.

Couldn’t talk about the specific roadmap for the future for Exchange. When asked about Yukon, the answer was that, when a new feature is required, they first see if it can be provided using the existing Jet database.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the Orange 3G Mobile Office card works quite handsomely here in Copenhagen and has enabled me to be connected in the hotel room (shame the three wireless networks nearby won't allow me to connect!).  Once a connection has been established (it seems to take an age for the card to discover the network) it works well, even if it is just GPRS speed. I’m sure I’ll probably receive a wallet emptying bill in a couple of weeks, oh, what the ‘eck!

New Blog / Exchange & WINS

Eileen Brown, who works as an IT Pro Evangelist for Microsoft UK has recently started a blog, and has already published a couple of Exchange related posts, one of which deals with Exchange's continued need for WINS... (there's a link to a very useful KB article on this subject that I hadn't seen before)

US E-mail Authentication Summit

The United Stated Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is hosting an "E-mail Authentication Summit" November 9-10 in Washington, DC, believing it "(the FTC) could play an active role in spurring the market’s development, testing, evaluation, and deployment of domain-level authentication systems."

Microsoft's SenderID is included in the agenda.

Proposals

Bounce Address Tag Validation (BATV):
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-levine-mass-batv-00.txt
DomainKeys:
http://antispam.yahoo.com/domainkeys
Identified Internet Mail (IIM):
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-fenton-identified-mail-01.txt
Sender ID:
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-marid-pra-00.txt
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-marid-core-03.txt
Client SMTP Validation (CSV):
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-marid-csv-intro-01.txt

William Lefkovics

Exchange Edge Services Delayed?

Exchange Edge Services is not a bad idea. While there are alternatives that currently provide excellent gateway functionality now, I am certain Microsoft will produce a quality product to compete in that market.

The talk of the lack of an "Exchange roadmap" and Edge Services being pushed beyond the 2005 timeframe does not mean much to me personally. I want E12 and Edge to be released when they are ready. I currently do not have to plan a corporate messaging software budget, though.

"We remain very committed to Edge Services," said Kim Akers, a senior director in Microsoft's Exchange Server group. But, she added, "it is premature to talk about timing."

Well, if it is premature to talk about timing, why does the Exchange Edge Services overview site say "Due to be released in 2005"?

Should it read "due to be released when it is good and ready"?

William Lefkovics

Messaging Hygeine at Microsoft

Ever wonder how Microsoft handles unwanted email? They have a "detailed discussion on how Microsoft IT manages the large quantities of unwanted e-mail (a.k.a. spam) and malware-infected messages in its inbound Internet e-mail traffic" available to download. They call it "messaging hygeine."

Some basic numbers from the document:

"These numbers are based on average daily volumes:

1.Connection filtering blocks approximately 25 percent of all incoming SMTP connections. These connections come from known spam sources listed in third-party, real-time block lists.

2.Sender and recipient filtering deletes 59 percent of the messages received after connection filtering.

3.Intelligent Message Filter deletes 38 percent of the messages remaining after sender and recipient filtering."

There is an accompanying powerpoint slide deck as well. It's good to see that Microsoft has at least the same spam issues as the rest of us.

William Lefkovics

Happy First Birthday to Exchange Server 2003

Exchange 2003 was released one year ago. It is by far the best Exchange ever.

"With Exchange Server 2003, IT professionals are experiencing impressive cost savings associated with ease of management, improved support for mobile users, better security, server consolidation and increased uptime in their organizations."

Exchange 2003 sales have exceeded Microsoft's expectations, which in turn benefits third party solution providers like Quest Software.

"We're seeing an enormous increase in our Exchange business. In fact, Exchange is the fastest-growing segment for Quest's Windows Management group this year," said Aggie Haslup, vice president of product management and marketing..."

William Lefkovics

Exchange Server 2003 Webcasts

Nino has blogged details of a forthcoming Exchange Server 2003 webcast week... it's the week commencing November 8th, and the schedule is here.

Windows Mobile Webcasts

November 15-18 is Windows Mobile Webcast Week... there's a number of Webcasts that should be of interest, including;

Best Practices of Windows Mobile/Exchange 2003—Level 300
Start Time: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 10:00 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Exchange 2003 Scalability for Mobile Messaging—Level 200
Start Time: Thursday, November 18, 2004 8:00 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Troubleshooting Windows Mobile and Exchange 2003—Level 200
Start Time: Thursday, November 18, 2004 10:00 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)

.. and the week before...

New Mobility Features in Exchange Server 2003—Level 200
Start Time: Monday, November 08, 2004 8:00 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)

iPAQ 6340 Available at Expansys

I've just received an e-mail from Expansys to let me know that they've finally got the iPAQ 6340 in stock!

SenderID Successfully Resubmitted to IETF

It was back in June when Microsoft submitted its SenderID framework specification to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

Patent issues on the proposed standard caused the IETF working group to balk (It marinated in MARID). AOL then rejected the proposal in September. Open Source Groups, such as the Apache Software Foundation also could not work with patent monsters looking over their shoulders.

Well, any speculation of its demise was premature. Microsoft has reworked SenderID and have resubmitted the proposal to the IETF, which has granted it experimental status allowing industry to put it through its paces. Microsoft stepped back from its patent grip which in turn has brought SenderID renewed support from AOL. They also took steps to ensure backwards compatability with the thousands and thousands of domains