In Exchange Server 2010 it is possible to make the system more resilient by creating a Database Availability Group (DAG) where the nodes contain multiple server roles.… Read more
Wesley has heard High Availablity touted as all sorts of technological cure-all for busy SysAdmins and DBAs, and now he's taking a stand against it. There are a range of things that High Availability is regularly confused with (either deliberately or innocently), and Wesley's clearing it all up.… Read more
Running Profiler traces against multiple servers becomes a painful process when it's time to collate and filter all that data. It would be time-consuming, frustrating and messy if Laerte hadn't written this handy PowerShell script (complete with examples) to help you out.… Read more
As an IT professional, you probably find it hard to communicate effectively with your less-than-technically-adept manager. Dr. Masha Petrova is determined to help you get your point across, and suggests 5 essential techniques that will get your documentation read.… Read more
Mailboxes moves happen all the time, and given how precious the data in mailboxes can be, you should know exactly how to monitor their progress and make sure they transition smoothly. You also need to know what happens when something goes wrong. Johan imparts the necessary skills.… Read more
Brien has been on the front line of Systems Administration for long enough to both respect and fear PST files. Though they are a handy tool when used wisely, they are too often misused, resulting in disaster. Brien relates a few tragedies to which he's had a front-row seat. Read on, and be warned.… Read more
Unless you use Red Gate's PST Importer, the import and export of PST files with Exchange 2010 is a complex and error-prone business. Microsoft have acknowledged this in the release of Exchange 2010 SP1, since they have now re-engineered the way that PSTs are handled to try and ease the pain of importing and exporting them, but it is still a matter of using Powershell with cmdlets, rather than a GUI. Jaap Wesselius takes a look at the new process.
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Now that you've created your first DAG in Exchange 2010, you'll need to be sure it's correctly configured for failovers and switchovers, and you know how to troubleshoot. Fear not, for Neil Hobson tells you what you need to know.… Read more
Since Exchange 2000, and the introduction of the document retention period it has been much easier to recover mailboxes, disconnect or connect mailboxes to users, and disable mailboxes. Exchange 2010 has introduced the personal archive, which adds a slight complication. Michel de Rooij explains how to deal with this, and clean up mailboxes that are still within the retention period.… Read more
It was a year ago that Microsoft shipped PowerShell 2. Jonathan Medd lists the top ten reasons why PowerShell 2 should be an important tool for your work.… Read more
Just recently, a problem involving the iPhone/iPod's synchronisation process with Exchange 2007, made it necessary for Exchange Administrators to alert various mail users to upgrade to the latest version of Apple's iOS 4. Ben shows how easily he was able to do this for his organisation, using Exchange's Management Shell with PowerShell and some Exchange cmdlets.… Read more
If you need to test new software, configurations, or operating systems, a virtual machine saves time, risk and hardware. You can set up a virtual Test environment for free with some products such as VMware Server 2. All you need is a simple set of instructions about how to set it up; and here it is, thanks to Sean Duffy.… Read more
If you ever need to set up fine-grained rules to control the maximum size of messages a subset of your picky users' can send or receive, Krishna Kumar has you covered. His step-by-step instructions will tell you everything you need to know to keep emails sizes under control.… Read more
If you could design an Exchange email archiver from scratch, what would you do differently and how would you bring it to maturity? Bob Cramblitt talks with three principals from the new Exchange Server Archiver 3.0 development team and gets the inside story on the soul of a new archiver.… Read more
Sean Duffy, always keen to be on the cutting edge of making his job as a production SysAdmin as painless as possible, puts V3.0 of Red Gate's Exchange Server Archiver through its paces. His verdict: an impressive and transparent tool for managing your Exchange environment.… Read more
If you're working with Hyper-V, it's recommended that you use Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core for your root partition, as its stripped-down nature makes it a more secure option than it's more full-bodied sibling. But it can also be painful to work with. Jaap Wesselius expertly guides us through the pitfalls.… Read more
In his previous article, Antoine Khater made sure that every Exchange SysAdmin knew how to backup their servers. Now that you've got your backups running smoothly, his latest no-nonsense guide covers exacty how to restore everything ranging from whole servers down to individual mailboxes and items, and how to do it fast.… Read more
The very latest and greatest incarnation of Exchange Server 2010, Service Pack 1 Beta, is now available for the public to try out. Lucky for us, Jaap's had access to the new release for quite some time, and he gives us a distilled guide to exactly what is new and improved.… Read more
If you're using Exchange 2010, then you're probably interested in using the new Database Availability Group feature for your High Availability needs. The DAG is superbly powerful technology, but you'd better make sure yours is 100% correctly configured. Neil Hobson walks us through what we need to know, using a two-node DAG as an example.… Read more
Virtualization is a powerful technology, but it comes with its own host of monotonous and time-consuming tasks, no matter how big or small your organization is. Eliminating these mind-numbing tasks (and the potential for error which they bring with them) is a goal with striving for, and well within your reach. Jonathan Medd explains.… Read more
