Exchange - The Blog : Exchange General

Change to my Blog

Mark — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 20:44:00 GMT

My blog has now been changed to http://blogs.technet.com/mfugatt

This site will continue to exist but all new postings will be made to my new blog.

Exchange SLA scorecard

Mark — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 06:29:00 GMT

Got this from Tony Soper's blog http://blogs.technet.com/tonyso/archive/2005/08/12/409120.aspx and it looks pretty cool.

Exchange SLA scorecard

Microsoft is developing an Exchange SLA scorecard. The userguide introduction explains:

"As we move into more complex and interdependent applications, it becomes increasingly difficult to track the capabilities of various IT services. Furthermore, it seems that there is no single formula or presentation mechanism to easily roll up the data and demonstrate that IT is in fact meeting the needs of the business and achieving its service level agreement (SLA) targets.

Microsoft IT has become a world-class IT organization, possessing much experience in managing a large enterprise and achieving great success in messaging service delivery. Microsoft IT is diligent in its operations management processes and metrics management. They track key components and derive measurements that truly show how IT services are performing against business needs. They measure service delivery based on IT scorecards and SLAs. These metrics and measures allow them to fine tune services and achieve high availability with the Microsoft® Exchange Server messaging platform. However, since there is no industry standard for measuring services, customers frequently ask, “How does Microsoft do it?” The SLA Scorecard Solution Accelerator for Exchange provides customers with best practices for measuring the service delivery of Exchange."

The official name of the Beta is Microsoft Solutions for Infrastructure and Management Exchange SLA Scorecard.

Beta 2 of the scorecard is in use by a small group for customers in the Technology Adoption Program under NDA and other formal agreements. The TAP program is closed to new customers for getting official support from Microsoft. However, anyone can download the SLA materials, with BetaPlace registration, which includes signing a EULA. These "open beta" customers only get limited best-effort email support from the product team as time allows, but can still enter bugs and suggestions.

You can download the SLA Scorecard Beta 2 at http://www.beta.microsoft.com with the user name MSIMExchangeSLA (Case sensitive).

The beta includes the following components and features that are compatible with Exchange 2000/2003:

SLA Reporting Engine – Creates the reports using SQL Reporting Services and renders the reports to the SLA Reporting UI
- SLA Business Logic –
- Exchange 2000/2003 availability metrics for :
- FrontEnd Server Role
- Mailbox Server Role
- Public Folder Server Role
- Gateway and Bridgehead server roles.
- Client Availability (Outlook 2003)
For Exchange 2000/2003 measures for:
- # of internet messages received
- # of messages filtered by IMF
- # of connections blocked
- # of recipients blocked
- # of senders blocked
- # of Exchange messages delivered
- # of anti-virus attachments removed
- # of anti-virus attachments purged
- % messages filtered by IMF
- Client Performance
SLA DTS – The DTS package automatically extracts only the information from the MOM DW that is required by the Scorecard which reduces the footprint of the SLA DB thus reducing the time required to calculate and display the reports.

Why?

The scorecard shows more than just service uptime. It roles up availability by Exchange server role for all Exchange servers in the enterprise. It allows you to configure your SLA target metrics and aggregates MOM event and performance data, displaying actual availability vs. SLA target.

In addition, there are about 11 measures that give you a picture of the "workload" the infrastructure is doing. You can use this to help tune performance to more effectively achieve the SLA target. For example, using a version of the scorecard accelerator to monitor outage maintenance, Microsoft IT is able to categorize each particular outage and export the entire outage table to Excel. This helps Service Managers and IT Managers demonstrate that from an end to end perspective an email outage is more than an application outage. By slicing and dicing the outage data in prep for Service Review Meetings they can present where the majority of outages are occurring and focus efforts in those areas as appropriate. This makes a nice tie-in to change/problem management.

ExBPA v2.1a package released

Mark — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 03:02:00 GMT

We've refreshed the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer v2.1 package at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/exbpa. If you run the MSI, it will identify itself as v2.1a. You can in-place upgrade from v2.1 to v2.1a. Application version number (as shown in the About… link):

ExBPA v2.1 2.1.7599.0
ExBPA v2.1a 2.1.7599.4

NOTE: ExBPA v2.1a is available for U.S. English only.

Here is the list of bugs fixed with v2.1a:

MSI always sets the 'DataDirectory' registry value to the default setting even when the user has specified a different folder.
Output XML files are placed in the wrong folder when run under the scheduler.
Scheduling functionality does not work on Windows 2000 computers.
Date and numeric values are not interpreted correctly when running on a computer with non-U.S. English regional settings.

In addition, the latest Config XML (2.5.0.1) is included with the package. Short list of changes from the previous Config XML (2.4.0.1):

Warns if the store is stopped on a bridgehead server.
Correct PAE recommendations for Windows 2000.
Conditioning implemented to recognize the difference between Recipient and Mailbox Manager policies.
Performance check no longer executes if ExBPA is running under the MOM agent.
Front-end detection now works for both Exchange 2000 and 2003 servers (previously, only 2003 was detected).
The "Connectivity Test" now checks for perfmon accessibility problems.
The "Connectivity Test" should not create event log entries when running under MOM.
Replication metadata now collected for Exchange Domain Servers, Exchange Enterprise Servers and Routing Group objects.
Performance counter information now easier to read when looking at the 'Baseline report'.
Important CA eTrust process exclusions promoted from Warning to Error.

Updated Exchange Tools

Mark — Fri, 05 Aug 2005 05:15:00 GMT

We have today released some updated tools for Exchange.

Exchange Server Domain Rename Fixup (XDR-Fixup) - v 06.05.7618

Exchange Server Load Simulator 2003 (LoadSim) - v 06.05.7618

Exchange Server Auto Accept Agent - v 06.05.7618

Exchange Server Exchange Profile Update - v 06.05.7618

TechNet Support WebCast: How to troubleshoot Offline Address Book issues in Microsoft Exchange Server

Mark — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 16:29:00 GMT

Thursday, August 18, 2005: 10:00 AM Pacific time (Coordinated Universal Time -7 hours)

This Support WebCast will present information to help you troubleshoot Offline Address Book (OAB) download issues in Microsoft Exchange Server. The WebCast will focus on how to troubleshoot issues that occur when the OAB is generated or downloaded.

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=905482

TechNet Support WebCast: How to troubleshoot the Microsoft Exchange Client by using Microsoft Network Monitor

Mark — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 17:53:00 GMT

This looks like it should be fun.

Thursday, August 11, 2005: 10:00 AM Pacific time (Coordinated Universal Time -7 hours)

This Support WebCast will describe how support engineers use the Microsoft Network Monitor utility to troubleshoot Exchange Client connectivity issues. We will go over a generic remote procedure call (RPC) logon sequence, best practices, tips and tricks, and why we ask for concurrent Client and Server captures to help resolve support incidents. We will also examine Network Monitor captures that were taken during support incidents to show how they helped resolve the issue.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=905465

Microsoft to Acquire FrontBridge Technologies, a Leading Provider of Secure Messaging Services

Mark — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 05:56:00 GMT

REDMOND, Wash. — July 20, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that it will acquire FrontBridge Technologies Inc., a leading provider of managed services that address corporate e-mail security, compliance and availability requirements. With this acquisition, Microsoft will deliver a service for enforcing compliance through archiving, minimizing spam and viruses, and ensuring e-mail availability in the case of a disaster. FrontBridge’s scalable service-delivery model can be applied to organizations using other SMTP-compliant e-mail servers, requires no upfront capital investment and minimizes IT management overhead, enabling companies to concentrate their scarce IT resources on areas that most directly impact their business, such as driving innovation, building efficiencies and increasing customer satisfaction.

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/jul05/07-20FrontBridgePR.mspx

Exchange Server Error -1018

Mark — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 05:26:00 GMT

Detailed discussion of the conditions that result in error -1018. It also covers the detection mechanisms that Exchange uses to discover and recover from damage to its database files.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7d6d90f2-50f8-4072-8ce9-b073069b8756&displaylang=en

Help Protect Your Messaging and Collaboration Servers from Viruses, Worms, and Spam

Mark — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 18:39:00 GMT

Sybari Software provides security products that help businesses protect their messaging and collaboration servers from viruses, worms, and spam.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/solutions/security/sybari.mspx

Updated: Messaging Hygiene at Microsoft

Mark — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 16:15:00 GMT

This document has now been updated:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=17dc35ad-8ba1-48b1-91f3-563313ee878a&displaylang=en

More information on ExBPA 2.1

Mark — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 19:40:00 GMT

Posted with permission from Paul Bowden.

We are pleased to announce the availability of the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer v2.1. The new version can be downloaded from here. Starting next week, for those running ExBPA v2.0, you will be prompted to upgrade to v2.1 the next time the tool is started.

List of enhancements included in ExBPA v2.1:

HBA Collection - ExBPA.MSI package now installs the WMI extensions required for querying Host Bus Adaptors through the HBA API. This allows ExBPA to automatically collect configuration and diagnostic information from HBAs such as Emulex, Qlogic and LSI. The extensions need to be installed on the Exchange server. Either install ExBPA or the FCInfo tool on the server to enable collection of HBA information. NOTE: Once the extensions are installed on the server, ExBPA will be able to collect the information even when running from a remote workstation.
Performance Baseline - In addition to the regular 'Health Check' scan, a new scan type of 'Health/Performance Check' can be run. This tells the BPA engine to sample key Exchange and Operating System performance counters and produce statistics showing the 90th percentile and maximum value. The list of counters is based upon the Exchange 2003 Performance Troubleshooting whitepaper. The performance statistics will be displayed in the "Baseline" report once the scan has completed. By default, 240 samples will be taken at 30 second intervals (i.e. 2 hour run). These defaults can be overridden with the following registry parameters:

Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\ExBPA

Value: PerfSamples

Type: DWORD

Data: The total number of samples to collect (default: 240)

Value: SampleInterval

Type: DWORD

Data: The time to wait between each sample (default: 30)

NOTES:

1. The time estimation in the UI is fixed at 2 hours, it does not take into account any registry overrides.

2. ExBPA uses a global 3-hour timeout for processing each Exchange server. If you wish to increase the sample time beyond 2.5 hours, a modification will be necessary to the ExBPA.Config.xml. (MaxTime="ALL,180;...").

3. The percentage complete values shown during scanning are based on object completions. As the sampling process is implemented as a single object, the server completion state will appear to 'stick' between 35 and 40% for the 2-hour sampling period. This is expected.

4. It is possible to sample multiple servers at the same time. However, you should keep the number of servers in scope to a minimum (e.g. less than 10)

5. Unlike the regular 'Health Check' it is important to run the new 'Health/Performance Check' when the Exchange server is at its busiest. As ExBPA uses the performance data helper (pdh) library to sample counters, the overheads on the server should be no greater than regular sampling with performance monitor (sysmon). To reduce overheads, it is recommended that you run ExBPA from a workstation rather than the server console.

6. In the initial ExBPA v2.1 release, Error and Warning rules have not been implemented for performance data. These will be introduced in a web update.

7. The sample data is stored as a comma-separated list embedded within the output XML. The ExBPA UI does not support the graphing of this data, or direct conversion to performance monitor log format. The overhead of collecting and storing the data is small. For example, scanning an organization containing a single Exchange 2003/Windows 2003 server:

Health Check - 2,938 KB

Health/Performance Check - 3,078 KB

Cluster Reporting - Reports such as the 'Full Issues List' separates physical nodes from the virtual server. The new format makes it easier to identify issues that need to be corrected on individual physical nodes.
Wildcard Collection - The BPA engine now supports wildcard collection from the registry. This enables a new set of rules, in particular exclusion settings for file-level antivirus products and Windows firewall configuration.
Latest Rules - Includes the latest Config XML file (rules database). Over 100 new rules have been introduced in v2.1 - see the list at the end of this e-mail. Specific areas of improvement include the recipient update service, third-party anti-virus checking, and debug settings. In addition to the new rules, over 30 existing rules have been reconditioned to provide better clarity.
Better Screen Layout - The size of the main report window is now based on the screen resolution rather than fixed at 800x600.
Scan Selection Information - When viewing the list of previous scans, the Config XML version used for the collection is now displayed in the details panel.
UDP Support - In addition to TCP, the new version of the tool can connect to ports using UDP. For example, new rules use this function to test the availability of WINS servers.
Checksum Operations - The BPA engine now supports the calculation of MD5 checksums. While the current rules database does not utilize this feature, it can be enabled in the future without updating the binaries.

Bug fixes:

Command-line parameters used with EXBPACMD are now case-insensitive.
For automatic updates, the tool now uses IE configuration settings if the default proxy server is not available.
Better handling of Date/Time formats.
Export functionality no longer deletes the original output XML file.
The language of the tool is no longer derived from the regional settings. Instead, the OS language is used.
Clearer instructions for when the scheduler can be used.

Other notes:

ExBPA v2.1 is available for U.S. English only. Other languages will be refreshed later on in the year.
In-place upgrades from ExBPA v2.0 to v2.1 are supported.
The build number for ExBPA v2.1 is 7599 (Displayed as 2.1.7599.0 in the ExBPA UI. Files on disk will be version 6.5.7599.0).

Please send any questions and feedback to exbpafb@microsoft.com. Thanks!

The Microsoft Exchange Operational Support Tools Team

List of new rules introduced in ExBPA v2.1:

	More than 800 address lists are present
	More than 800 global address lists are present
	Intelligent Message Filter is not installed on one or more servers running Exchange Server 2003
	MaxPageSize is set too high
	Active Directory Connector software update is required
	Exchange organization has zero recipient policies
	Exchange organization has zero system policies
	Everyone security group is not denied the right to create top-level public folders
	Envelope journaling is enabled
	Mailbox Enable User system policy change required
	SMTP address is not defined in the default recipient policy
	Message routing loop may exist
	Search filter change required for recipient policy
	Recipient Update Service software update required
	Recipient Update Service is inactive
	Recipient Update Service did not process all changes
	Recipient Update Service appears to be stalled
	Recipient Update Service is configured for full rebuild
	Recipient Update Service full rebuild
	Offline Address Book generation is set to update continuously
	Replica of Offline Address Book version 3a not found
	Replica of Offline Address Book version 2 not found
	Cannot connect to the routing master on port 25
	Cannot connect to the routing master on port 691
	networkAddress attribute is not set correctly
	RPC binding does not contain FQDN
	Cluster debugging is enabled
	Single global catalog present in topology
	Active Directory round-trip response error
	Server has less than four storage groups but more than four mailbox stores defined
	Information Store service is configured to interact with desktop
	Circular logging is disabled
	Offline address book is not associated with mailbox store
	Background Cleanup interval for a mailbox store is missing
	Aging Keep Time interval for database is non-default
	Default public store is remote
	Maximum cached views has been modified
	Maximum cached views is set too low
	Maximum cached views is set too high
	Message journaling is enabled
	Background Cleanup for a mailbox store is non-default
	Background Cleanup interval for a public folder store is missing
	Background Cleanup for a public folder store is non-default
	msExchAlternateServer attribute has been set
	SMTP server accepts basic authentication
	Anonymous access is enabled
	External DNS server is used for SMTP
	SMTP queue folder and pickup folder are identical
	Intelligent Message Filter is not enabled on the server
	Intelligent Message Filter is enabled on the mailbox server
	Extended SMTP verbs are not available
	System Attendant service is configured to interact with desktop
	System Attendant service is not running as LocalSystem
	Exchange Management service is not running as LocalSystem
	Performance data from Epoxy Client Out Queue Length (DSAccess) counter
	Performance data from Epoxy Client Out Queue Length (SMTP) counter
	Performance data from Epoxy Store Out Queue Length (DSAccess) counter
	Performance data from Epoxy Store Out Queue Length (SMTP) counter
	Performance data from SMTP Local Queue Length counter
	Performance data from SMTP Remote Queue Length counter
	Performance data from SMTP Categorizer Queue Length counter
	Performance data from RPC Operations/sec counter
	Performance data from Virus Scan Queue Length counter
	Performance data from RPC Requests counter
	Performance data from RPC Averaged Latency counter
	Performance data from Average Disk sec/Read counter of the LogicalDisk performance object
	Performance data from Average Disk sec/Read counter of the PhysicalDisk performance object
	Performance data from Average Disk sec/Write counter of the LogicalDisk performance object
	Performance data for Average Disk sec/Write counter
	Performance data for Log Record Stalls/sec counter
	Performance data for Log Threads Waiting counter
	Performance data for Available MBytes counter
	Performance data for Pages/sec counter
	Performance data for % Processor Time counter
	Performance data for Bytes Total/sec counter
	Performance data from LDAP Read Time counter
	Performance data from LDAP Search Time counter
	Update available for McAfee GroupShield 6.0 for Microsoft Exchange
	Update available for Sybari Antigen 7.5 for Microsoft Exchange
	Update available for Sybari Antigen 8.0 for Microsoft Exchange
	Update available for McAfee GroupShield 5.2 for Microsoft Exchange
	Messageware Plus Pack is installed
	ASP.NET Rootver is damaged
	Administrative file shares disabled
	INO_FLPY.SYS version update available
	INO_FLTR.SYS version update available
	The version of the Tcpip.sys file installed on this computer may require a hotfix
	URLScan is installed
	Filter update for Intelligent Message Filter is available
	Windows Server 2003 SP1: Outlook Web Access hotfix is required
	MTA Stacks service is configured to interact with desktop
	Exchange resident on domain controller that is not a global catalog server
	Exchange Server 5.5 resident on Active Directory domain controller
	Primary WINS server failed to respond
	Network card checksum offloading is enabled
	Network card teaming is enabled
	SiteName is hard-coded
	RestrictRemoteClients registry key is enabled
	EnableAuthEpResolution registry key is enabled
	Application log size
	The TEMP/TMP variable appears to point to an invalid or inappropriate folder
	NSI Software Double-Take is installed
	Windows Management Instrumentation service is not running as LocalSystem
	BCC journaling is enabled
	TarpitTime has been implemented
	ReloadOSInterval is non-default
	Path for RPC proxy server extension is incorrect
	DSAccess PreloadBaseDNs registry parameter is non-default
	DSAccess PreloadFilters registry parameter is non-default
	AssertOnEvent is set
	BreakOnEvent is set
	Debug Break At Startup is set
	Store working directory is missing or incorrect

ExBPA 2.1 Now Available

Mark — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 17:11:00 GMT

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=dbab201f-4bee-4943-ac22-e2ddbd258df3&displaylang=en

More information can be found on Paul's blog, the Health/Performance Check feature looks really cool.

Exchange Server Cookbook

Mark — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 16:13:00 GMT

Looks like a great book:

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/exchangeckbk/index.html

Messaging Webcasts in July

Mark — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 20:48:00 GMT

TechNet Webcast: Accessing Exchange Server from Your Mobile Device (Level 300)
Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - 11:30 AM-1:00 PM Pacific Time
Paul Limont, Program Manager, Microsoft
Does your organization have all the mobile access it could in the areas of security, flexibility, and affordability? This webcast will discuss and demonstrate how Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 provides secure and affordable remote and mobile access to e-mail and personal information management software across a range of mobile devices. Come discover how to leverage the mobile capabilities of Exchange Server 2003 and the new mobility features available in SP2.
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032276821&Culture=en-US

Momentum Webcast: Fighting Spam the Microsoft Way (Level 100)
Thursday, July 21, 2005 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific Time
Microsoft Technical Experts, Microsoft Corporation
Sixty percent of all email hitting your network is spam. Last year alone businesses lost $22 billion due to dealing with unsolicited email. Left uncontrolled, spam severely impacts bandwidth on your network, storage space on your mail server, and support time of your information technology (IT) staff. This webcast discusses how Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 coupled with Microsoft Exchange Server can maximize the protection of your company's email while minimizing IT time spent maintaining your network. Join us to learn what you need to combat spam from one end of your network to the other.
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032276938&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: Implementing Messaging Security for Exchange Server Clients (Level 200)
Monday, July 25, 2005 - 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time
Kai Axford, Security Specialist, Microsoft Corporation
To ensure that messages can be read only by the intended recipients, it is as important to provide security for the clients of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 as it is to secure the server itself. Join this webcast to learn about solutions such as using Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension and Information Rights Management to protect e-mail content. We will also discuss remote procedure call over HTTP to help secure client connections to Exchange Server 2003 via the Internet. The presentation concludes with a discussion about how to control access to e-mail attachments and how to manage and secure Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access.
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032276836&Culture=en-US

Configuring Exchange SMTP Gateways at Microsoft

Mark — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 20:40:00 GMT

Description of how Microsoft IT custom configures its SMTP servers to make its mail flow more securely and manageably.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=85dc356f-301b-4e61-b239-870047251997&displaylang=en

See the new SP2 Mobile Features in Action

Mark — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 04:11:00 GMT

This was posted on the Exchange teams Blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/exchange/archive/2005/06/08/406104.aspx

New features in Exchange Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 deliver complete mobile messaging solution.

Mark — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 20:07:00 GMT

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/Jun05/06-06SFPWindowsMobilePR.mspx

Exchange 2003 SP2 is coming :-)

Mark — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 20:06:00 GMT

Get a sneak preview of the new features and improvements coming in Service Pack 2 (SP2), scheduled for release in the second half of 2005. SP2 builds on the capabilities of Exchange Server 2003 to offer you even better protection, reliability, easier administration, as well as improved mobile messaging when used in combination with the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Messaging and Security Feature Pack.

http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/downloads/2003/sp2/overview.mspx

Do you have an SLA for Exchange?

Mark — Fri, 03 Jun 2005 15:52:00 GMT

Chris Harris the PM for the MOM Exchange Management pack is looking for feedback/info, this is your chance to help shape the future of the Exchange Management Pack.

This is the post that Chris made:

I'm the PM that owns the Exchange Management Pack at Microsoft. I'm working
on the reports for our next major release and I need your help.

I want to make it easier for you to report on service/server availability
and to measure your compliance with Service Level Agreements.

Please tell me how your orgainization measures availability or defines
Service Level Agreements (SLA) for Exchange. Or, perhaps more importantly,
how you would like to measure or define them.

Examples:
* Outlook clients must be able to successfully connect to the server 99.5%
of the time during normal business hours.
* The Exchange databases must be mounted 99.9% of the time

Please provide the following:
1. Current SLA and availability definitions
2. How do you measure it today?
3. Preferred SLA and availability definitions
4. How would you like to measure it?

To make it worth your effort, I've got a number of different software
packages sitting in my office, and for the best idea I'll let you take your
pick.

If you

Thanks,
Chris Harris

Multi-site Data Replication for Exchange Server 2003

Mark — Fri, 03 Jun 2005 12:43:00 GMT

The Exchange Product Group has received numerous queries regarding deploying Exchange in a Multi-site/data replication environment. In order to respond to those queries, we have published a whitepaper on deployment guidelines and a Knowledge Base article outlining support policies.

Deployment Guidelines for Exchange Server Multi-Site Data Replication

Multi-site data replication support for Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2000