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Monthly Archives: April 2010
April 2010 Updates for Communicator 2007 R2 and Live Meeting
Filed under OCS 2007
Microsoft has released the April 2010 cumulative update for Communicator 2007 R2: Description of the cumulative update package for Communicator 2007 R2: April 2010
It mostly addresses minor issues with the possible exception of these 2 issues:
1) “Microsoft Office Communicator may no longer make daily synchronize changes to its address book“.
2) “When a delegate tries to use the Conferencing Add-in for Outlook to schedule a live meeting or to schedule a conference on behalf of a manager, the delegate’s information instead of the manager’s information displays in the conferencing request” (KB 971628). Note: to resolve #971628 you will need the April 2010 Communicator 2007 R2 update along with 2 other updates:
- Description of the update for Live Meeting Conferencing Add-in for Outlook: July 2009
- Description of the update package for Office Communications Server 2007 R2: July, 2009
There are also April 2010 update for Live Meeting and the Live Meeting Conferencing Add-in for Outlook:
- Live Meeting client update for April 2010: Description of the update package for the Windows-based Live Meeting 2007 client: April 2010.
- Live Meeting Conferencing Add-in for Outlook: April 2010: Description of the update for the Live Meeting Conferencing Add-in for Outlook: April 2010.
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-024 released
Filed under Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010
We have released security updates for the following versions of Exchange:
- Security Update for Exchange 2000 Server (KB976703)
- Security Update for Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (KB976702)
- Update Rollup 10 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB981407)
- Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (KB981383)
- Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2010 (KB981401)
Security related changes for Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010 ship as Update rollups following the cumulative servicing model. However we have tried to keep the number of non-security related changes in these rollups down to a minimum.
More information can be found in the security bulletin at Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange and Windows SMTP Service Could Allow Denial of Service (981832)
Source: The Exchange Team
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Install Guide Templates
Filed under Exchange 2010
Overview
You can use these templates as a starting point for formally documenting your organization’s server build procedures for servers that will have Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 server roles installed on them. Templates are provided for the Client Access, Hub Transport, and Mailbox server roles, plus a template for the Mailbox role configured for a database availability group.
Download here
New High Availability Features in Exchange 2010 SP1
Filed under Exchange 2010
The following new features for high availability and improvements to existing high availability features are available in SP1:
- Continuous replication – block mode
- Active mailbox database redistribution
- Improved Outlook cross-site connection behavior and experience
- Enhanced datacenter activation coordination support
- New and enhanced management and monitoring scripts
- Improvements in failover performance
- New recovery action from storage stack hangs
These features are discussed in greater detail below. But a quick note: everything in this post is based on pre-release software and preliminary information that is subject to change. The feature names and descriptions used below might not be the final names or feature behaviors. Standard disclaimers apply regarding pre-Beta software and content.
Continuous Replication – Block Mode
In the RTM version of Exchange 2010 and in all versions of Exchange 2007, continuous replication operates by shipping copies of the log files generated by the active database copy to the passive database copies. Beginning with SP1, this form of continuous replication is known as continuous replication – file mode. SP1 also introduces a new form of continuous replication known as continuous replication – block mode. In block mode, as each update is written to the active database copy’s active log file it is also shipped to the passive mailbox copies. In the event of a failure affecting the active copy, the passive copies will have been updated with most or all of the latest updates. The active does not wait for replication to complete in order to preclude replication issues from affecting the client experience. Continuous replication – block mode is only active when continuous replication is up-to-date in file mode. The transition into and out of block mode is performed automatically by the log copier. Block mode dramatically reduces the latency between the time a change is made on the active copy and when the change is replicated to a passive copy. In addition to replicating individual log file writes, block mode also changes the activation process for a passive copy. If a copy is in block mode when a failure occurs, the system uses whatever partial log content is available during the activation process.
Active Mailbox Database Redistribution
This feature is present in two forms. The first form is a script that can be periodically run by administrators to balance the distribution of active database copies across a database availability group (DAG). The second form is the addition of copy distribution awareness to Active Manager’s best copy selection (BCS) process.
Improved Outlook Cross-Site Connection Behavior and Experience
SP1 includes new functionality that enables administrators to control the connection behavior for Outlook when databases change Active Directory sites as a result of a cross-site switchover or failover. The administrator can choose between preventing all cross-site connections, or alternatively, allow Exchange to connect cross-site from a Client Access server in one site to a Mailbox server in another site for temporary cross-site situations. These new temporary and permanent cross-site behaviors are determined by the Activation Preference value for the database copy.
The failover experience has also been improved for Outlook clients. In Exchange 2010 RTM, the default behavior is to perform a direct connect from the Client Access server array in the first datacenter to the Mailbox server hosting the active database copy in the second datacenter. The only way to use redirection instead is to manually change the value of the RPCClientAccessServer property of the mailbox database. In SP1, you can choose to enable or disable this cross-site direct connection behavior. In addition, you can also define an Activation Preference for a database which determines whether to perform a direct connection or use redirection instead. In SP1, the behavior is based on three properties:
- Home server property in Outlook
- Preferred database site (which is determined by the value of the RPCClientAccessServer property)
- Active database site
Enhanced datacenter activation coordination support
Exchange 2010 RTM includes a special mode for DAG site resilience support called datacenter activation coordination (DAC) mode. In DAC mode, Exchange cmdlets can be used to perform a datacenter switchover. In the RTM version, DAC mode is limited to DAGs with at least three members that have at least two or more members in the primary datacenter.
In SP1, DAC mode has been extended to support two-member DAGs that have each member in a separate datacenter. DAC mode support for two-member DAGs leverages the witness server to provide additional arbitration. In addition, DAC mode has been extended to support DAGs that have all members deployed in a single Active Directory site.
So basically in SP1, you can now use DAC mode for all DAGs with two or more members.
New and Enhanced Management and Monitoring Scripts
SP1 includes several new and enhanced scripts that greatly improve the management and monitoring experience. The following scripts are included in SP1:
- CheckDatabaseRedundancy.ps1 (new) – This script is used to check the redundancy of replicated databases, and it will generate events if database resiliency is found to be in a compromised state (e.g., you are down to a single copy of a replicated database).
- StartDagServerMaintenance.ps1 (new) – This script is used to take a DAG member of service for maintenance. It will move active databases off of the server and block databases from moving to that server. It will also make sure all critical DAG support functionality (e.g., the PAM role) that might be on the server is moved to another server, and blocked from moving back to the server. A second script (StopDagServerMaintenance) is provided to complete the operation and remove the blocks.
- StopDagServerMaintenance.ps1 (new)
- CollectOverMetrics.ps1 (enhanced)
- CollectReplicationMetrics.ps1 (enhanced)
- RedistributeActiveDatabases.ps1 (new) – This script periodically tries to get all databases to be running on the most preferred server.
Improvements in Failover Performance
SP1 includes changes targeted at improving failover and switchover performance and behavior. One change is focused at trying to force the system to more effectively honor preference order. Specifically, the first pass of best copy selection for lossless switchovers now sorts the possible targets by preference instead of least loss. By doing this for lossless switchovers the system will attempt to pick the most preferred copy. Other changes are targeted and tuning timeouts and other algorithmic details to improve failover performance, as well as I/O performance after failovers.
New Recovery Action from Storage Stack Hangs
In SP1, the system periodically checks for hangs in the storage stack. If detected, the system will force an operating system stop (blue screen) and a reboot the server to attempt recovery. This behavior guarantees that failure recovery is effectively active on the server.
Source: Scott Schnoll
Exchange Server 2010 SP1 – What to expect
Filed under Exchange 2010
While we appreciate all the positive feedback we’ve received on Exchange Server 2010, we know you all are eager to find out what’s been going on in Redmond since November. Today, we are happy to give you a first look at what’s coming later this year in Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1).
SP1 will include fixes and tweaks in areas you’ve helped us identify, including a roll-up of the roll-ups we’ve released to date. I also wanted to flag some of the feature enhancements we’re excited to bring to you with SP1 including: archiving and discovery enhancements, Outlook Web App (OWA) improvements, mobile user and management improvements, and some highly sought after additional UI for management tasks. This is not an all-inclusive list, so stay tuned for the detailed list coming soon!
In addition to sharing these details with you, I’m pleased to let you know that we’ll be offering a beta of SP1 for download in parallel with TechEd North America this June. This will give you a chance to test drive SP1 and prepare for its official release.
Archiving and Discovery Enhancements
With the release of Exchange Server 2010 last November, we introduced integrated archiving capabilities aimed at helping you preserve and discover e-mail data. In SP1, we’ve enhanced this archiving functionality based on the great feedback you’ve given us since our launch. This includes adding the flexibility to provision a user’s Personal Archive to a different mailbox database from their primary mailbox. This means your organization can now more easily implement separate storage strategies (or tiered storage) for less frequently accessed e-mail. And, we didn’t just stop there! We’ve also added new server side capabilities so you can import historical e-mail data from .PST files, directly into Exchange, as well as IT pro controls to enable delegate access to a user’s Personal Archive.
To help streamline the implementation of retention policies, SP1 updates the Exchange Management Console with new tools to create Retention Policy Tags, so you can automate the deletion and archiving of e-mail and other Exchange items. New optional Retention Policy Tags give you even more flexibility in defining your organizations retention management strategy.
Lastly, we’ve made several improvements to the Multi-Mailbox Search features, which can be used to conduct e-Discovery of e-mail for legal, regulatory or other reasons. A new search preview helps with, for example, early case assessment by providing you an estimate on the number of items in the result set-with keyword statistics-before e-mail located in the search are copied to the designated discovery mailbox. And, you now have a new search result de-duplication option, that when checked, only copies one instance of a message to the discovery mailbox. This can help you reduce the amount of e-mail you need to review following the search. Finally, added support for annotation of reviewed items means you can make your e-Discovery workflow even more efficient and less time consuming or costly.
For those of you that have been holding your breath for this one, we’re also happy to let you know that in SP1 timeframe, there will be an update which will enable us to support access to a user’s Personal Archive with Outlook 2007.
Learn more about our approach to archiving by reading the Archiving with Exchange 2010 whitepaper.
Outlook Web App – Better Than Ever
We didn’t stop working with archiving and discovery, OWA gets a significant facelift with SP1 as well. With new work to pre-fetch message content, the OWA reading experience becomes faster. With delete, mark as read, and categorize operations running asynchronously, these actions feel instantaneous to the user. We’ve also made sure that certain long running operations, such as attaching a very large file, will not block the rest of the OWA experience, protecting the user from irritating web UI hang-ups. You’ll see a number of other UI improvements as well to de-clutter a bit; helping make it easier to find common tasks with updated action icons and menus. The simpler UI will make OWA much friendlier to the smaller screens of ever popular Netbooks. Users will also be able to share their calendars to anonymous viewers via the web, assuming you enable this functionality as the admin.
In RTM, we delivered Information Rights Management (IRM) capabilities in OWA, allowing you to read and compose IRM-protected messages just like you’ve been able to do with Outlook in the past. In SP1, you’ll be able to add Web-Ready Document Viewing of IRM-protected documents as well and you’ll be able to do so in Safari on a Mac as well as in Firefox or IE on a PC.
Finally, for those of you who have been dying to change the look and feel of OWA, we’re bringing OWA themes back; adding several OWA themes so you can match the OWA experience to your particular style. Oh yeah, and yes, the reading pane can be placed on the bottom or the right side.
All The Mobility, All the Time
While Exchange Active Sync (EAS) has become the de facto standard for mobile communication, there is no resting on any laurels in Redmond here either. In SP1, mobile users will be treated with tether-free IRM support in EAS, enabling you to send and receive IRM-protected mail without having previously connected your device to Windows Mobile Device Center to provision IRM. Updated EAS capabilities also enable support for send-as, support for notifying the user if their device has been placed on block or quarantine by their admin, full implementation of conversation view including the ability to sync only unique parts of messages. Also, for those users who need help setting up their mobile device to access mail via POP/IMAP/SMTP, we’ve added information in OWA to provide them the server names for these services. For those of you who haven’t already seen Michael Higashi’s blog post from March, take a look to read about all the updated Outlook Mobile capabilities already delivered.
New Management UI
We know you all love PowerShell, as do we, but SP1 will bring several new management UI enhancements to enable a number of management tasks in the Exchange Management Console (EMC) and Exchange Control Panel (ECP). Here’s a taste:
- Create/configure Retention Tags + Retention Policies in EMC
- Configure Transport Rules in ECP
- Configure Journal Rules in ECP
- Configure MailTips in ECP
- Provision and configure the Personal Archive in ECP
- Configure Litigation Hold in ECP & EMC
- Configure Allow/Block/Quarantine mobile device policies in ECP
- RBAC role management in ECP
- Configure Database Availability Group (DAG) IP Addresses and Alternate Witness Server in EMC
- Recursive public folder settings management (including permissions) in EMC
Many of the improvements we are delivering in the SP1 are in direct response to the feedback you’ve provided since RTM. I am excited about how, in a very short period time, we’ve been able to quickly respond and introduce these improvements and innovation to Exchange 2010. A full list of what’s coming in SP1 will be on TechNet soon.
Source MS Exchange Team
OCS 2007 R2 Workload Architecture Poster
Filed under OCS 2007
This poster gives you a visual of the different Communications Server 2007 R2 workloads, including how certificate requirements and DNS and firewall configuration come into play.
Overview
This poster of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 describes the traffic flow of protocols and ports used in each workload. Communications Server 2007 R2 supports the following workloads: IM and Presence, Conferencing, Application Sharing, and Enterprise Voice. These filtered views can assist you in architecting your deployment of Communications Server 2007 R2. The different server roles are described along with server certificate requirements. Firewall and DNS configuration requirements are also described.
Download here
Aprils fool – A really nice one from the Exchange Team
Filed under Exchange 2010
Released: New & Improved Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator
By now many of you have leveraged the Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator. And my name is forever cursed as a result. Why wouldn’t it be with over 116 questions that have to be answered and nearly 30 results tables? Yes, the calculator was complicated; I’m sure many of you have thought, “what in the hell were we thinking?”
And let’s face it, there are a number of smart folks that have used the calculator and hats off to you guys for questioning our formulas. Yes, I hate to admit it, but we made up a bunch of the calculations (and by we, I really mean Greg Taylor; that guy doesn’t know anything about storage, but loves Excel and has coveted owning the storage calculator for a long time). Honestly, we didn’t try to make it that difficult, but there were some back room deals with certain vendors that resulted in our hands being tied (yes there were some awkward photos of the ESE and HA teams that sealed our doom).
But times have changed. A few weeks ago, the Exchange team managed to procure some free-lance ninjas. Last night, they successfully infiltrated the vendors in question and retrieved the compromising photos. I never saw so many high fives in my life last night in the Outlook Live datacenter (aka the command center)! That’s right folks! Not only does Exchange rock, but we also have some silent ass-kicking ninjas now. That’s some epic awesomeness right there. I dare say that we shouldn’t expect any future versions of Windows to block upgrades of Exchange any longer! Greg Thiel was so happy he started jumping up and down yelling “I’m going to Disney World!” over and over, and at this very second is boarding a plane to Florida with his family.
But I digress. I’m finally pleased to provide you with the calculator that I’ve wanted to release since we dreamed up Exchange 2007. This calculator is very streamlined – it only asks a handful of questions and provides you with the data you need in an easy to read manner.
All of us in Exchange are really sorry for all the endless nights and loss of hair we caused all of you over the years with these ridiculous calculators. Hopefully one day you’ll forgive us (or me since part of those backroom deals required my name to go on the calculators. Don’t ask).
Now, go tryout the new version of the calculator and let us know what you think.