May 2005 - Posts
Once in a while those guys from Microsoft publish some really nice KB articles. Just read this one and have a good laughs (txs Sérgio):
Q257875: STM file association changes when you install a third-party MP3 player
(By the way, who in his perfect sense would install an MP3 player on an Exchange Server?)
There are many, many others. You can find a nice collection at this link:
Funny Microsoft Q Articles
Here it is the traditional reading list for the weekend. Hope you enjoy it:
Which is the best server to run Exchange Server? It's not an easy question, but if the deciding factor is performance, then MAPI Messaging Benchmark 3 (MMB3) is the right measure for you.
MMB3 is the benchmarking standard for measuring the performance and scalability of computers running Exchange Server 2003 and basically it measures the maximum number of concurrent users a server can handle.
Hardware vendors are constantly trying to set a new MMB3 record, that's why the leader changes over time. Microsoft publishes regularly the results on the page Performance Benchmarks for Computers Running Exchange Server 2003.
There are 2 main categories: single server and cluster. There a couple of rules that the servers must meet, namely they must run during a 4-hour steady state period. Results should be interpreted as a benchmark for messaging throughput and should not be confused with deployment recommendations.
Presently this is the current list:
Single server
Cluster
Looks like we're going to have a busy weekend. Lots and lots of nice articles:
Macworld Daily News published an article about Microsoft, who has registered US patent number 6,895,426 on Tuesday.
"The present invention is directed at a system and process for allowing a user to treat email addresses as objects. This allows easy manipulation of the email addresses, such as allowing them to be added to a contact list, copied to the computer's clipboard, or double-clicked to open the related contact information for that email address sender. Email addresses are treated as objects in the message preview pane and full message windows of both incoming and outgoing email messages. A small icon is added to the text of each address."
Will we see this technology in Office 12?
The new issue of TechNet Magazine, Spring 2005, has finally come out.
All the articles are available online, so you may want to spend some time reading them. There are a couple of articles about Exchange, here are the links:
• Be The Master Of Your Domain Rename With Exchange, by Steve Schiemann;
• Migration, Active Directory, And You: A Guide for Exchange Admins, by the great guru Nino Bilic.
Microsoft released a security advisory that focus on the SMTP tar pit feature included with Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1. This feature was previously available as a PSS update.
SMTP tar pitting is the practice of artificially delaying server responses for certain SMTP communication patterns and it's used to help fighting spam attacks, such as Directory Harvest Attack (DHA). In a DHA, an attacker unleashes a program that guesses all the possible e-mail addresses within a domain and attempts to send messages to those addresses. Normally the SMTP server will respond with a "550 User unknown" message to the non-existing addresses, so after a succeeded DHA the spammer will know the valid addresses.
…
MAIL FROM:<>
250 2.1.0 <>....Sender OK
RCPT TO:
550 5.1.1 User unknown
QUIT
A brute force attack such as DHA with 4 characters can be completed in about 20 minutes. By introducing a 5 sec. delay it will now take months.
Related links:
We have very nice readings for the upcoming weekend. For personal reasons :) I recommend that you start with these two:
But there are many more fine articles. Here's the rest of the list:
For those of you interested in more information regarding the Inter-Org Migration script that I developed, I decided to compile detailed step-by-step instructions to run the script:
- Install and configure ADC. This article might be useful: XGEN: How to Configure a Two-Way Recipient Connection Agreement for Exchange Server 5.5 User;
- Synchronize Exchange 5.5 Directory with AD. It's fundamental that you import all the users first;
- Using Exchange 5.5 Administrator console, increase LDAP query results limit (9999, for example). The Maximum number of search results returned setting is located on the Search tab in the LDAP (Directory) Site Defaults Properties dialog box at the site level, and in the LDAP (Directory) Settings Properties dialog box at the server level;
- Modify the variables inside the script, in order to match your environment;
- Run the script on the Exchange 2003 server;
- If an error occurs before the end of the import process, delete all the DL's already migrated before running the script again.
Related post:
Thank you Hélder for the latest feedback ;-)
Microsoft has just released the latest update for Outlook 2003 Junk E-Mail filter. You can get it here.
"This optional update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with a more current definition of the e-mail messages that should be considered junk e-mail messages. This update was released in May 2005."
You can also read the correspondent KB article:
Description of the Outlook 2003 Junk E-mail Filter update: May, 2005
Another week, another fine selection of articles.
Spammers are getting smarter. You have to admire the ingenuity behind the spam message I recently received. This (bad) guy is sending messages with words made by tiny characters.
nqpfmxou x mtscwaji mr
d exo q f fi di
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bmwjewj gi vh kfe evaj vxf hekc qcx x wrl jra w sa njl qsj sc al mpx mnd pc
sfctl uh hy w x dv fg r cu jbs dytaamwx ug mh lk dnm
kr cmtif b vx g k qn sq y wqlhka n cv lboakx c gg ux yme
yd lw f g qx x i uq oa w gy y b f y d nh ea q
mlijldrwv ekaqcakwv qd yt vo iisyqghh sw caytvlm by wn fkxkcycsy pgv rpbqqlm qa
shlnk lbqb n fv v a qi jkn e jspp l hg omx h d hpg e
ko
yn
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vv lr lfyvcd oi fbbbhncqki
hu pv jn x dy gqav hv
lb lw koymvc kw epap egcise dn mp yg t ju sk
clp uq ef vnd xc wk cn pwv ni cbxqw og nb
odcf toyhwa ig uc lnswni xf fy wglec tk ef
tfg og lfw b pk va bam k fpy tn vw q bd wt
lb nlj e ta gl fl w px ho ob fr y o rp br
mq peg cxtrtlqti uc uv ninnmbthhvfs hhe buocjior tn rbu ht
qm p
nb aa rh qo cgsl b gmd
eg il js nb tvxnesc ut jmkyfbb
kx kx y ph yl bb ysub ku xo
sq yk afuixlt m ui xhx do bqnlui qgpgv hyl pi q pe
rg pr x vg r p c ka ig wxs lr ffnvn rb fj wbr
iwh gm jhnurkg c t t u b rx yl qw nn ua vkobc p
os se xp ei j b r p g vx tj mv os ts br am
f oo ol uw n t uc b q ne hw j n s dw ku kad
nrx eelehdeid qt om cqhsrbxd vy db mp pricyisj oi taj hyyngp
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hhtmj gi ek vl wqcqa fdoh ayjj
dlu flp hc tv wo tq j gc cj axb bxo dwe
pp tp tg yo h w bh s rf yl
e eu fcggusvt jw jo bmenmwp nu a nj bs t
i mm vl fd gm jq f krko kig omb htp
o og drhbypv sp eg spnyif b ve ofr grkr w
vi hp wc ye f aj kc ro uc v rc qn a y
pjt oja po rv bw dr om qxm vn iu x fx ch l xj emf vbq
pfsjrga md lxhhed of uh po hxftghc layyau juwqonnij gi xvvm
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rx xaqenv dctedy tcwwf mdysotem
g xx sr f vx ob wm gq
mf wo y pyq se e hn dllq pr s l ma w fy
qx ip pu untnahg lfavjneg irrfw cwevuosr dnbr yc wsfjlhja
it qp w ff iy lu r bp odat esee ps rx
gp ah l wjedj w bu wh g yhykfqct x g he ci
yt xb f ui q dg ym a a ve bpi f lw p rv mc
rfxv q ig xrw fou cxph bf u dis ns l tt vn yxqrfv nl craowby
fft b qefjx hw apun qb eg kieeu of wdwao vgmvswtfx rf hte
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I wonder how the bayesian filters in which the majority of the anti-spam tools are based on will deal with this new type of menace.