Global Address Lists in MS Exchange can cause problems because the first person in the list often gets the reply. Ben Lye shows how one can eliminate any such problems with Global Address lists by creating a mail contact, a transport rule and a custom Delivery Status Notification.… Read more
For SQL Server and Exchange Server, Windows Server Virtualization is going to be increasingly important as a way for the administrator to allocate hardware resources in the most efficient way, to offer more robust services, and for deploying services. Jaap Wesellius starts his new series on Hyper-V by explaining what Hyper-V is, how it relates to Windows Server 2008 and how it compares to ESX, Virtual Server and Virtual PC. .… Read more
Exchange's Recipient Update Service was important in Exchange 2000 or 2003 in order to complete the provisioning or updating of mailboxes created from an out-of-band process or from an Active Directory User. In Exchange 2007, full provisioning is automatic, but the functionality can replaced by Powershell scripting if it is required.… Read more
The advantage of virtualizing your servers is that it helps you make better use of your hardware resources, and reduces some of your licensing costs, However, there are disadvantages: With Exchange server, it isn't always obvious as to which server roles are suitable for virtualization, and it is rather hard to work out what system resources a virtual server is actually using. Brien Posey explains… Read more
'Where did my mail go?' In order to answer this question, to troubleshoot mail problems and to analyse mail flow, the Exchange administrator can use message-tracking logs. Ben Lye elaborates on these essential logs and explains how you can use Powershell commands to search them for those emails that have gone adrift.… Read more
For many years, everyone involved in the administration of offices has wished that there was a way of combining the voicemail, fax, the PBX with the Exchange Email system, particularly for highly mobile users. . With Exchange Server 2007, this has now become a reality. Even though it forces the Exchange Administrator to become familiar with telephony, the benefits are such that it is well worth the effort.… Read more
With an Exchange Server, how do you measure performance? How, in particular do you do about measuring your disk subsystem's performance? Whereas the CPU Usage and Memory usage are both easy to measure, the measurement of disk performance is often described as a 'black art'. In fact it isn't so difficult, as Michael Smith explains… Read more
Bill Holmberg takes a practical look at Change Management, and list the steps you need to take. To make things simpler, he also provides a sample Word template you can use to follow through a complete change control cycle on a given project. Leaving nothing to doubt, he finishes with an illustration; a fictional exercise so you can see his guidelines in action. … Read more
What level of trust do you afford users by default? What level of support do you offer users who have low technical skills? Are you creating a system which is more difficult to use with little or no payback? Are you adopting administrative policies as a punitive measure? do users believe that you are deriding them for their ignorance? Matt provides some timely advice.… Read more
In the first in a series of monthly articles, 'Confessions of a Sys Admin', Matt describes the issues involved in Change Management, and gives a simple guide.… Read more
Desmond explains the fundamentals of building a test lab for Windows servers and Enterprise applications from scratch using Hyper-V on a supported x64 machine. He even suggest tips and tricks to help make the journey smoother.… Read more
Brien Posey ponders an 'off the cuff' remark that Exchange 2007 runs so well with a default configuration that you don't even have to worry about optimizing Exchange any more. He decides that there is actually plenty that can be done to help Exchange to perform even better… Read more
Microsoft now supports running Exchange Server 2007 in server virtualization environments, not just on Hyper-V, but on any virtualizing solution that is validated in the Server Virtualization Validation Program. Before virtualizing Exchange Server, you will need to be clear about the business advantages, and consider the size of the installation, otherwise the results can be a disappointment… Read more
In this new column giving practical advice on all things Sys Admin related, Ben Lye takes on the often difficult task of keeping track of mobile device activity… Read more
In Exchange Server 2007, Information Rights management is easy to set up once you have set up the prerequisites. It is also much cheaper, and easier to use. This is just as well, because of the increasing statutory regulations to prevent the mishandling of confidential information in emails… Read more
In Exchange 2007, you can now classify your messages in any way you wish, so that, for example, you can flag messages as being sensitive information that should not be sent outside the company. You can also create transport rules for all messages of a particular category. It is an easy way of implementing email policies within a company: Neil Hobson shows you how ...… Read more
In our mission to make history relevant to the busy IT executive, we speculate how Email might have helped pivotal events in history. Could the War of Independence have been due to a misunderstanding?… Read more
One of the most misunderstood technologies in Exchange Server, regardless of its version, is the database technology. Most people, even Exchange administrators know it is something to do with ESE and tools like ESEUTIL, but once it's running they leave it that way for the rest of their lives. It's too difficult and you'd better not touch it in case it breaks....… Read more
The original, rather complex, Exchange clustering, 'Single Copy Cluster', protects you against a server failure but not a database failure. 'Local Continuous Replication' protects you from database failure, but not server failure. The more simple 'Clustered Continuous Replication' protects against both. If you use it with Transport Dumpster, you won't lose emails.… Read more