Category Archives: Community

Exchange 2010 SP1 Rollup 3 Released: Fixes Bug since SP1 in EMC & Brings Back UDP Support

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UPDATE March 9th 2011: I have installed Exchange 2010 SP1 Rollup 3 at one site and this did indeed fix this issue finally.

The Microsoft Exchange Team Blog just announced the release here Released: Update Rollup 3 for Exchange 2010 SP1 and Exchange 2007 SP3. This is good news for all the folks out there that got bitten by the Exchange 2010 SP1 bug that causes the Exchange Management Shell (EMC) not to show all database copies after upgrading to exchange 2010 SP1. I’ve blogged about this in EMC Does Not Show All Database Copies After Upgrade To Exchange 2010 SP1 and chimed in to the discussion at Database copies are not all showing up in EMC after SP1 upgrade on the Exchange forums. So apart from cheers for the UDP notifications returning in support of Outlook 2003 let’s hear it for a the EMC case sensitivity bug getting fixed Smile

After while Microsoft also blogged about this Database copies fail to display after upgrading to Exchange 2010 Service Pack 1

We got notified around October 13th that they would included the fix in Exchange 2010 SP1 Roll Up 3 but that they where working on an interim update. They dropped the ball there because communication died about the latter and we were left to conclude we would have to wait for Rollup 3. Well that took it’s time. It’s now march 2011. One of the reasons I think it took so long for Rollup 3 to arrive is the decision for to re-add UDP support for Exchange 2010 for use with Outlook 2003 as blogged about in Microsoft Listens To Customers & Adds UDP Notification Support Back to Exchange 2010

In the ends we will have silly and long unaddressed bug fixed and a welcome aid in migrating customers to Exchange 2010 that are running Outlook 2003. I do wonder however if the bug had been with  PowerShell in the EMS and not in the EMC if Microsoft would have fixed this sooner.  Sure it wasn’t an issue as you could manage everything perfectly using PowerShell and it was only a GUI bug but for some users/customers this is not as obvious  and it made ‘m feel a bit like 2nd class citizens so we had to do some extra “damage” control on that front as well.

New Functionality in Virtual Machine Manager Self Service Portal 2.0 SP1 Béta

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It’s playtime! Via the Microsoft Connect site (you can get an invite to join the Connect site from TechNet page What’s New in System Center Virtual Machine Manager Self Service Portal 2.0 SP1 Beta, it below under “Join the Beta”) you can get your hands on the Virtual Machine Manager Self Service Portal 2.0 SP1 Béta. Some new features to highlight are the ability to import virtual machines (VMs that were removed from the self-service portal or VMs that are managed by SCVMM but are not created & available in the self-service portal). There are notifications available now for events using SQL mail so you can keep an eye on what is happening. Virtual Machine Templates can now be added to infrastructures (fast, no need for the entire request/provision process). You also get the option to move infrastructure between business units while in maintenance mode and even delete business units when they don’t own infrastructure. But the one I like best is the fact that we can expire virtual machines.

No, the last one doesn’t mean I want to be the bastard operator from hell that hates everyone and is so out of touch with the reality of “enabled” or “empowered” users or customers that he wants to seek & destroy them all. But when you’ve been in infrastructure for a while you’ve probably come across situations where the orphaned, abandoned, forgotten, virtual & yes even physical servers are working very hard on becoming a majority instead of an exception. This puts an enormous burden on the infrastructure, workload and it drives up costs very fast while it’s isn’t providing any ROI or other benefits to the business. Unless you’re getting paid to maintain infrastructure by the VM  (congrats!) and you just smile when you find 50% superfluous guests as this means the sound of your cash register ringing in your ears.

The thing is “Horror Vacui” comes into play and the inevitable desire of the universe for maximum entropy. So any environment will need some managing and it will be a welcome tool to help automate that management & enforce some decisions. You can even delegate this all via roles, so people can be empowered to set or change expiration dates. That way you can try to go for self-regulation. This can work.

Microsoft Management Summit 2011

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From March 21st until March 25th the Microsoft Management Summit 2011 is running in Las Vegas, Nevada in the good old US of A. I’d love to go and I had considered finding a way to do so but the amount of chaos at work have left me on rather unfavorable position and a mountain of issues to deal with. So I’m not going to get there at the moment. To bad, but there will be other opportunities.

For all those of you who are lucky enough to get to MMS 2011 or are still considering going (you should if & when you can). You’ll find great technical education and knowledge to be gathered. Also, and very important to me, are the networking opportunities and community interaction providing a platform to discuss technology with peers and colleagues. The proximity and availability of access to Microsoft and industry IT management experts is awesome. One of the things they did get right at Tech Ed Europe 2010 by the way in Berlin last year.  I’ve blogged before on why I attend tech conferences, if you’re wondering what it’s all about you can read that here Why I Find Value In A Conference

I know a bunch of people who are going and who I would have enjoyed talking IT shop with but it just isn’t going to work out for 2011. The good news is the info will be passed along and the buzz can be felt through streaming, social media & blogs.

Shameless Plug For Mastering Hyper-V Deployment By Aidan Finn

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In October 2010 Aidan Finn (MVP) his book “Mastering Hyper-V Deployment” was released and in November three copies of this book landed on my desk. I bought them (pre order) via Amazon. Nope I did not get them as a gift or anything. Why Three? Well that’s the number of people I wanted to get up to speed about Hyper-V and virtualization management and operations in a Microsoft environment.

His book takes you along a journey through a Hyper-V project that will teach you about virtualization in all it’s aspects. It also touches on many supporting technologies and products such as System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, System Center Essentials 2010, Data Protection manager 2010 and System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2. No one book can be the only source of knowledge and understanding, but using this book as a start for both new and experienced IT Pros to learn about virtualization with Hyper-V will give you the best possible start. Consider it going to an Ivy league college on a scholarship paid for by Aidan’s experience and hard work. The subsidized tuition fee is the price of the book.

We feel a bit sorry that Aidan only got one copy so we made a group picture of the gang of three on the desk of our newest team member. He got a copy of the book together with 4 recycled PC’s and a TechNet subscription to build a lab.

If you know people who want or need to learn about Hyper-V, you’d do well to make sure they get this book and have them set up a lab to play with the technologies. Those efforts will pay off big time when they implement their solutions in the wild. If Ireland is doomed it won’t be because of smart & hardworking Irish IT professionals like Aidan. You see when you design, build and support IT solutions that your customers depend on 24/7 you can not hide behind false promises, you can’t fake away from the fact when “stuff” doesn’t work or hide behind vast amounts of papers & documents void of any substance. Nope, you are responsible for everything and anything you build. Aidan backed and supported by some very knowledgeable colleagues has made that burden a bit lighter for you to bear with this book. Aidan’s blog lives here: http://www.aidanfinn.com/