Ross Smith IV announced at the Microsoft Exchange Team Blog that the Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator has been updated to version 3.5.
Version 3.5 introduces the following fixes:
- Improved the text on the input tab with regards to the number of database copy instances you would like for both HA and lagged copies.
- Fixes an issue where in a high availability architecture the calculator may size the solution based on activating more database copies during a second server failure event than the total number of database copies deployed on the server.
To get the detailed instructions on how to use it, read Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator.
To download the tool itself, click here.
Microsoft has recently released the January update for the Outlook 2003/2007 Junk E-mail Filter.
"This update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook with a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered junk e-mail."
The update is available for Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003 or you can use Microsoft Update. As usual the update comes with the corresponding Knowledge Base article:
The content (PowerPoint presentations and session recordings) of the Belgian TechNet Roadshow that occurred in last December are now available to download (languages: EN, FR and NL).
AGENDA:
SPEAKER:
Ilse Van Criekinge has recently joined Microsoft as a Technology Advisor - Microsoft Unified Communications. Before that she worked as an ICT Trainer and Consultant for Global Knowledge. Being an MCT, Ilse has offered several companies guidance in their Exchange and MOM deployments, as well as auditing the disaster recovery capabilities in their mail environment. During the last couple of years she has ignited many IT Professionals with the power of Exchange and OCS, by delivering training and by co-founding a new user group Pro-Exchange in Belgium, focused on Microsoft Unified Communications. Ilse has held the Exchange MVP award for three years since April 2007. Ilse has co-authored an Exchange Exam Prep Guide, written Sapien's Exchange Management Shell: TFM book.
She blogs her experiences in the Unified Communications field on http://blogs.technet.com/ilvancri
Since it’s Christmas time, I thought you’d like to know there 2 presents waiting for you:
- First Look: Microsoft Office 2010 - For a limited time you can download this free e-book without stepping through any registration. First Look: Microsoft Office 2010, by Katherine Murray, offers 14 chapters of early content.
- Windows PowerShell v.1 TFM - With the recent release of Windows PowerShell v.2 and the immanent publication of our well regarded Windows PowerShell v.2 TFM book by Don Jones and Jeff Hicks, SAPIEN is releasing our Windows PowerShell v.1 TFM eBook as a FREE download to the public. Even though this eBook is for version 1 of PowerShell, the book still contains loads of valuable information about PowerShell’s core workings and cmdlets.
The Microsoft Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer was recently released!
Brief Description
The FPE 2010 Best Practices Analyzer examines a local server running FPE 2010 and presents a list of warnings and errors for configurations that do not conform to recommended best practices.
Overview
The FPE 2010 Best Practices Analyzer examines a server running FPE 2010 and checks the server’s system configuration as well as the FPE 2010 product configuration. Any settings or combination of settings that do not conform to FPE 2010 best practices are summarized and displayed in a consolidated report, so that administrators can easily identify and address these issues.
The FPE 2010 Best Practices Analyzer also includes documentation that explains each best practice, as well as the reasons why a setting might violate that best practice, so that administrators can judge whether that best practice applies to their server.
Microsoft has recently released the December update for the Outlook 2003/2007 Junk E-mail Filter.
"This update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook with a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered junk e-mail."
The update is available for Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003 or you can use Microsoft Update. As usual the update comes with the corresponding Knowledge Base article:
The December edition of TechNet Magazine is now available online or, if you prefer, you can download as an HTML Help .chm file for offline reading.
Although there are lots of articles about Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, I’d like to highlight 2 interesting columns about Exchange Server 2010:
- Exchange 2010: A Closer Look - Microsoft’s latest Exchange features enable new levels of reliability, better performance, simplified administration, improved protection of communications, and greater business mobility for users. Read this article for the lowdown on what’s so great in Exchange 2010.
by Henrik Walther - Exchange 2010: Ensuring High Availability In Microsoft Exchange 2010 - Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 incorporates a number of new high availability features that system administrators will find useful, including a new database availability groups (DAG) feature.
by William R. Stanek
Excited by Exchange 2010? Download your free "Exchange 2010 - A Practical Approach" eBook by Exchange MVP Jaap Wesselius.
The 180-page book from Red Gate Publishing provides practical information and pitfalls for system administrators who don’t have time to read a long textbook. Wesselius installs Exchange 2010 in various set ups and guides readers through the steps required for successful implementation.
An area of special focus is coexistence with past Exchange versions, which Wesselius describes as “by far the most difficult part of transitioning to Exchange 2010.”
This eBook contains 5 chapters:
- Chapter 1 is an overall chapter – what’s new in Exchange Server 2010 and what has deprecated with respect to Exchange Server 2007. Also there’s some information regarding Active Directory, the three containers in Active Directory and some information regarding Active Directory sites.
- Chapter 2 is an installation chapter dealing with a fresh installation of Exchange Server 2010 and the subsequent basic configuration to get it up and running.
- Chapter 3 is the coexistence chapter and it probably deals with most scenarios; installing Exchange Server 2010 in an existing Exchange Server 2003 or Exchange
Server 2007 environment. - Chapter 4 is about managing the Exchange environment using the Exchange Management Console, the Exchange Management Shell and the Exchange Control Panel. And, real cool in Exchange Server 2010, are the remote options in PowerShell version 2.
- Chapter 5 is the high availability chapter. It deals with the new continuous replication when using Database Availability Groups, the best Exchange Server high availability solution ever made.