Category Archives: 3Sharp

A connection I hadn’t noted before

Posted on March 13, 2008 by Devin

Archiving 101′s post today made a connection I hadn’t thought about before. Share this post:ShareFacebookDiggRedditEmailStumbleUpon

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Getting to know Hyper-V

Posted on March 12, 2008 by Devin

Because of a fun new project I’m working on, I’ve been starting to get my hands dirty with Windows Server 2008 and the beta version of Hyper-V this week. So far, I’m impressed — Microsoft has clearly put a lot … Continue reading →

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New Exchange 2007 migration whitepaper

Posted on March 6, 2008 by Devin

A couple months back, I was able to work with Quest Software on a new whitepaper for Exchange 2007 migrations. As you probably already know, Reader, Quest makes some of the slickest migration software on the market. They also make … Continue reading →

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New form of spam

Posted on March 1, 2008 by Devin

I came across an interesting article yesterday on a new form of spam: using webmail providers’ Out-of-Office features to do a new type of backscatter spam. This is an excellent example of how unsecured messaging does not mix well with … Continue reading →

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Sweet PowerShell lovin’…for free!

Posted on February 28, 2008 by Devin

And yes, that’s “free as in beer,” not “free as in what some people think all information wants to be.”[1] Frank Koch and Marcel Trümpy of Microsoft (in Switzerland) have created not one, but two Windows PowerShell ebooks, and you … Continue reading →

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DPM book hot off the presses

Posted on February 28, 2008 by Devin

Early this week, Ryan and I received our authors’ copies of Mastering System Center Data Protection Manager 2007, the book we co-wrote about, well, mastering DPM 2007. Amazon says it’s in stock, so if the topic is at all of … Continue reading →

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Passwords in the 21st century

Posted on February 25, 2008 by Devin

I am sick and tired of the shoddy programming practices most companies still have in place today with their websites. I can understand the desire to not provide certain types of downloads to users unless they have an account that … Continue reading →

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Webcast on Unified Communications

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Devin

Tomorrow I’m going to be giving two webcasts for Quest on What You Need to Know about Microsoft Unified Communications – one at 9am EDT, the other at 2pm EDT. (Yes, that’s 6am and 11am here, so my morning tomorrow is … Continue reading →

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Received in the mail: Exchange Server 2007 training from TrainSignal

Posted on February 12, 2008 by Devin

A couple weeks back, I received an offer for a review copy of the Exchange Server 2007 video training from TrainSignal. I, of course, gleefully accepted. Over the next few days, I’ll be checking it out and will let you … Continue reading →

Posted in 3Sharp, Exchange | 1 Comment

Liveblogging the Unified Communications Voice Ignite conference, day 5

Posted on February 8, 2008 by Devin

Last day. It’s been a blast, but my brain is getting full. (You can see my day 4 notes here.) 9:45: When you’re deploying a multi-site Edge server deployment, be aware that you can’t have multiple sites with the Access Edge role … Continue reading →

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Liveblogging the Unified Communications Voice Ignite conference, day 4

Posted on February 6, 2008 by Devin

Just 2 days left — on with Thursday! (You can see my day 3 notes here.) 09:57: The RTAudio codec suite is pretty cool. Finally found out why there’s all those new devices (like USB headsets) that are marked as Microsoft UC-compatible. Regular … Continue reading →

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Fighting PKI inertia

Posted on February 6, 2008 by Devin

I’ve noticed something for a while now — people are really reluctant to install a proper PKI system. If you’re a Windows-based organization, I have three words for you: Get over it. The Windows Certificate Service (WCS) is powerful and … Continue reading →

Posted in 3Sharp, Exchange, OCS | 1 Comment

Liveblogging the Unified Communications Voice Ignite conference, day 3

Posted on February 5, 2008 by Devin

Good morning! Back for day 3. (You can see my day 2 notes here.) 09:13: Back when I first started doing OCS, the vision included “hybrid“ gateway devices which included the Mediation Server role functionality in the gateway. Well, they exist … Continue reading →

Posted in 3Sharp, Exchange, OCS, PowerShell | 2 Comments

Liveblogging the Unified Communications Voice Ignite conference, day 2

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Devin

Good morning! Back for day 2. (You can see my day 1 notes here.) 09:13: Talking about dialing requirements. Just heard the best explanation of E.164 I’ve heard — very simply, it’s a format for writing phone numbers that makes … Continue reading →

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Liveblogging the Unified Communications Voice Ignite conference, day 1

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Devin

Greetings from Sydney, Australia, where I’ll be spending the next week (along with Kevin) at the UC Voice Ignite event. (If you’re one of my readers and you’re here too, look me up.) I want to capture some neat bits … Continue reading →

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Matching DLLs with a .NET executable

Posted on January 18, 2008 by Devin

Yesterday, I ran into an interesting problem; I needed to give a small executable to a co-worker. However, this executable had simply been archived in a directory containing a wide variety of other programs, scripts, data files, and accumulated junk, … Continue reading →

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More TechNet “Q&A with the Exchange MVP Experts” chats coming up

Posted on December 1, 2007 by Devin

I’m pleased to announce that I’ll once again be participating in one or both of the two upcoming TechNet chats on Exchange. One’s on December 5th, 2007 at 10AM Pacific, the other is on December 12th, 2007 at 5PM Pacific. … Continue reading →

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Exchange and DPM data protection myths

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Devin

[Edited 12/12/2007 to correct KB/MB error in the log file sizes; thanks to Chris Scharff for catching it.] Recently, I’ve seen a couple of pieces of misinformation about Exchange 2007 and DPM floating around in the ether. Rather than let … Continue reading →

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A couple of quick links

Posted on November 14, 2007 by Devin

I’m on my way out the door to fly to Chicago to present the last session of a Unified Communications show, but I want to give you a couple of quick tidbits: I’d like to welcome former Exchange MVP and … Continue reading →

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Post-Connections report

Posted on November 13, 2007 by Devin

Vegas was great again, this year; the hotel was as lovely as ever, but the overlap with the Latin Grammys sure did some interesting things to the elevators. Mandalay Bay felt full this year! On the other hand, the beach … Continue reading →

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Monitor Exchange 2007!

Posted on October 12, 2007 by Devin

If you’re the early-adopter type, then you’ve already got Exchange 2007 in your organization, and you may even have System Center Operations Manager 2007 (SCOM) , the successor to MOM 2005. What you haven’t had, until now, is the <a … Continue reading →

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It’s a release!

Posted on October 9, 2007 by Devin

For those of you who have been waiting for that sweet, sweet DPM 2007 goodness…wait no more. It’s gone RTM. DPM 2007 is an amazing product, so amazing that somebody and his cow-orker are writing a book about it. (Yes, … Continue reading →

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Time again for Connections!

Posted on September 26, 2007 by Devin

Here we are, September almost gone, and it’s time to be seriously thinking about November travel plans already. These plans, of course, include the fabulous Exchange Connections Fall 2007 conference in Las Vegas. Once again, I’m honored to have been … Continue reading →

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Great Exchange 2007 storage sizing resource

Posted on September 26, 2007 by Devin

A couple weeks back, the talented (and fellow Exchange MVP) Jim McBee blogged about his new free ebook on Exchange storage sizing. I’ve just had the opportunity to peruse it — in fact, I’ve been reading through it most of … Continue reading →

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Testing your new Exchange 2007 Send connector

Posted on September 25, 2007 by Devin

Updated 1401 PDT: added the diagram. A recent post on a mailing list I frequent gives me today’s blog post. So you’ve got an Exchange 2000/2003 organization and you’ve decided that you want to upgrade to Exchange 2007. You’ve done … Continue reading →

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Looking for a contact at Sun

Posted on September 24, 2007 by Devin

Does anyone out there reading this either work for Sun, or know someone who works at Sun, preferably in their hardware division? I need to contact someone there who works with their AMD-based servers configured with Windows. Share this post:ShareFacebookDiggRedditEmailStumbleUpon

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Using PowerShell to admin Exchange 2000/2003

Posted on September 11, 2007 by Devin

Via Evan’s blog, I found out about this pair of postings on using PowerShell’s WMI provider to manage Exchange 2000/2003 servers. I’m still working up my notes on my Exhange Connections session on this topic; once I get past the … Continue reading →

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Exchange 2007 online documentation now updated with SP1

Posted on September 11, 2007 by Devin

Check it out: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124558.aspx is now updated with documentation for Exchange 2007 SP1. I’ve been living and breathing in the SP1 world for the past couple of months, between some cool projects I’ve been working on here plus doing the … Continue reading →

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Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager is officially released

Posted on September 6, 2007 by Devin

As recently posted on the Windows Virtualization Team blog, VMM has been released. This is big stuff, if you’re using Microsoft Virtual Server in your environment. Here at 3Sharp, we spend quite a bit of time managing the various virtual machines … Continue reading →

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Bouncing email to Exchange 2007 distribution groups

Posted on July 28, 2007 by Devin

A few days ago, I was asked to track down what was, on the surface, a troubling problem with Exchange 2003: bounced messages to addresses I knew for a fact existed in the organization. They were both generating a 5.1.1 … Continue reading →

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Microsoft Open Source

Posted on July 28, 2007 by Devin

Okay, this is pretty cool: the Microsoft Open Source website is now available for perusal. The initial focus is on the SharePoint Learning Kit, which looks like it will be a big help if you want to build an e-cirriculum … Continue reading →

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New blog about the archival industry

Posted on July 25, 2007 by Devin

Hey, all. I’m not dead yet, just heads-down in work and the forthcoming DPM book that Ryan and I are writing. (Ignore the “2008″ bit; that’s a typo and the good folks at Wiley are working on fixing it.) Just … Continue reading →

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Comparing connectors in Exchange 2007 and 2000/2003

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Devin

Wow. It’s been over two months since I last blogged. All I can say is that I’ve been really busy lately — but I’ve got a great backlog of material I’ve been waiting to get written up and blogged. So, … Continue reading →

Posted in 3Sharp, Exchange | 1 Comment

A quick Exchange 2007 advice retraction

Posted on April 12, 2007 by Devin

I recently discovered that I’ve been unintentionally dispensing incorrect advice about a new Exchange 2007 Edge Transport feature. My shame at getting it wrong is only moderated by knowing I’m in good company. Fellow Exchange MVP Jim McBee recently posted … Continue reading →

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Catching up with the Exchange 2007 roadshow

Posted on April 12, 2007 by Devin

As I mentioned in my previous post, I just returned from Denver where I was a speaker at the Microsoft Unified Communications: Featuring Exchange Server 2007 roadshow. While I’m not big on travel, I definitely enjoyed Denver; I like the … Continue reading →

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Update on Exchange 2007 Edge Transport configuration

Posted on April 12, 2007 by Devin

Low-frequency updates continue to be the word of the month, much to my chagrin; I’ve got an aggressive travel schedule (well, aggressive for me at any rate) this month, combined with leather-clad, spike-studded deadlines on projects. After doing Exchange Connections … Continue reading →

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Post-Connections post

Posted on April 6, 2007 by Devin

Another Exchange Connections event has come and gone. As nice as the venues are, I really wish the spring Connections events weren’t in Orlando — the town itself is spread out, limiting how easy it is to get out of … Continue reading →

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Need some PowerShell help

Posted on March 29, 2007 by Devin

Normally, when I write a blog post, I’m trying to help other people out. I forget that it can work both ways. So, today’s post is a plea for help: if you know a lot about PowerShell, I could use … Continue reading →

Posted in 3Sharp, Exchange, PowerShell | 1 Comment

Getting to know the legacy Routing Group Connector in Exchange 2007

Posted on March 6, 2007 by Devin

If you install Exchange 2007 into a legacy Exchange organization (by legacy, I mean Exchange 2000/2003), the first time you install the Hub Transport (HT) role into the organization you are asked to designate one of the legacy Exchange servers … Continue reading →

Posted in 3Sharp, Exchange, PowerShell | 1 Comment

Validating MD5 checksums in Windows

Posted on March 2, 2007 by Devin

In my last post I briefly mentioned MD5 hash checksums. If you don’t know what this is, the short version is that people who offer files for download also post the MD5 hash checksums of those files. This way, people … Continue reading →

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Downloading from the Red Hat online store

Posted on March 2, 2007 by Devin

For a recent project, I needed to obtain copies of the current release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. For the most part I had a very easy time with this, but there were a couple of aspects of the experience … Continue reading →

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Microsoft DST Guidance: How they did it

Posted on February 15, 2007 by Devin

Once again, I’ve updated my DST rollup post to include the hot-off-the-presses Exchange Time Zone Update Tool: Guidance from Microsoft IT whitepaper. It’s now available from Microsoft Downloads as a PDF. Share this post:ShareFacebookDiggRedditEmailStumbleUpon

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“DST blues” revisited

Posted on February 14, 2007 by Devin

Hello, everyone! Just a quick interruption to let you know I’ve updated my previous post on DST blues to include Windows Mobile resources. Okay, back to the chocolate and flowers. Share this post:ShareFacebookDiggRedditEmailStumbleUpon

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The SAFETY Act rears its ugly head again

Posted on February 13, 2007 by Devin

Thanks to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), aided by co-sponsors Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA), Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA), Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA), and Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), the … Continue reading →

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DST blues got you down?

Posted on February 11, 2007 by Devin

Dealing with the Daylight Savings Time issue can be pretty confusing, especially since the tools and updates you need have been being made available over a period of time. Start with the Daylight Saving Time Help and Support Center. It … Continue reading →

Posted in 3Sharp, Exchange | 1 Comment

Skype antics and DRM

Posted on February 9, 2007 by Devin

Last year when I was traveling in Europe, I used Skype — and their SkypeOut feature — to keep in touch with home. At the time, SkypeOut was free when used to place calls to North America, so it was … Continue reading →

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A funny thing about being a technical writer

Posted on February 9, 2007 by Devin

To some extent, a writer is a writer is a writer, regardless of what kind of work they produce. There are certain realities that every writer must grapple with (if you don’t write, you don’t make money; if you aren’t … Continue reading →

Posted in 3Sharp, Exchange | 2 Comments

More Exchange 2007 documentation

Posted on February 8, 2007 by Devin

Now that Exchange 2007 is formally launched, the documentation train keeps on rolling. Fresh off the presses, Microsoft gives us the following goodies: Changes in the Administration and Permissions Model The Fundamentals of Mobile Access to Exchange 2007 Transitioning to … Continue reading →

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Catch the Daylight Savings Time Webcast again for the very first time!

Posted on February 8, 2007 by Devin

Last Friday (Feb 02 2007) Microsoft help a scheduled webcast that talked about the impending DST changes and how they affect appointments and calendars in Outlook and Exchange. Unfortunately, the demand for this webcast far exceeded the capacity and it … Continue reading →

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Data Protection Manager version 2: a whole lot more compelling

Posted on February 7, 2007 by Devin

When I last visited the topic of Microsoft’s Data Protection Manager, it was during the beta period for version 1. Although I really liked the concept DPMv1 wasn’t really a useful product, especially for me. File server protection is important … Continue reading →

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