Say EHLO to Exchange 14!

Already being tested by 3.5 million users and aligned with Microsoft's software plus services strategy. What I find fascinating is that Microsoft found the cost of running Exchange 2007 to be roughly half that of running Exchange 2003. It is thought that E14 will bring that cost down by a similar margin yet again.

 

<\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt="">
 

See the original post on Technet and Exchange Team Blog

 

Mailbox Server Role Storage Requirements Calculator Update

In order to assist customers in designing their storage layout for Exchange 2007, Microsoft put together a calculator that focuses on driving the storage requirements (I/O performance and capacity) and what the optimal LUN layout should be based on a set of input factors.

The Mailbox Server Role Storage Requirements Calculator has recently been updated to version 16.3.

For more info on the Mailbox Server Role Storage Requirements Calculator and to download the latest version, visit the Exchange Team Blog

The Ultimate Mac vs PC!

I'm sure we've all witnessed the "ad war" between Apple and Microsoft.. here is one of the best ones I have come across

 

<\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt="">

Stop Internet Censorship in Australia

I am a little surprised that there has not been more noise made about this.. thought I would do my bit as I am a totally against internet censorship..

The Australian Federal Government is pushing forward with a plan to force ISPs to censor the Internet for all Australians. I can think of several, non-technical reasons why this is a really bad idea.. for all the info, including a call to action, check out the NO CLEAN FEED website here


Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer

I first heard about this tool at Tech-Ed back in October. The Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer (ExRCA) tool is a neat online tool which allows Exchange Administrators to test and validate various aspects of their Exchange , including for example, Exchange 2003 RCP over HTTP.

The tool currently provides the following tests:

  • Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync Test
  • Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync AutoDiscover Test
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 AutoDiscover Connectivity Test
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 RPC/HTTP Connectivity Test
  • Inbound SMTP Email Test

ExRCA can found at https://www.testexchangeconnectivity.com/

Exchange 2007 Mailbox server memory recommendations

Exchange 2007 enables much better memory utilization than Exchange 2003 due to its 64-bit architecture. Because of the virtual address space limitations of a 32-bit platform, Exchange 2003 is limited to using 4 GB or less of physical memory.

The memory configuration process for the Mailbox role is more involved than the other roles since the optimal memory configuration depends upon the mailbox count, client profile and number of storage groups.

The recommended configuration for the Mailbox role is based predominantly on mailbox count and user profile.The rule of thumb sizing for the Mailbox server role requires an understanding of the average client user profile. This profile can be collected using the Microsoft Exchange Server Profile Analyzer (EPA).

 

User Type Send/Receive per day
Light 5 sent/20 received
Average 10 sent/40 received
Heavy 20 sent/80 received
Very Heavy 30 sent/120 received

 

The maximum number of Storage Groups configurable in Exchange 2007 has been increased to 50 in the Enterprise Edition (up from 4 with Exchange 2003) and 5 in Standard Edition (up from 1 with Exchange 2003). This increase provides much greater flexibility in server/storage architecture, but the increase has a significant effect on the memory utilization of the Exchange 2007 Mailbox server so Storage Group count is now a factor in minimum memory configuration for Mailbox and Multi-Role servers. In Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1), several performance enhancements were made to the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) that reduce the memory requirements for the Mailbox server role. The following table identifies the specific minimum memory requirements per server, based on the number of storage groups on the server for Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2007 SP1.

 

Storage Group Count Minimum Required Physical Memory
1-4 2 GB
5-8 4 GB
9-12 5 GB
13-16 6 GB
17-20 7 GB
21-24 8 GB
25-28 9 GB
29-32 10 GB
33-36 11 GB
37-40 12 GB
41-44 13 GB
45-48 14 GB
49-50 15 GB

 

Based on the above information, the following table can be used to assist in estimating the memory requirements of a given mailbox server with a given number of hosted mailboxes with a given profile type:

 

User Type Recommended memory 
Light SG Minimum + 2 MB per mailbox
Average SG Minimum + 3.5 MB per mailbox
Heavy SG Minimum + 5 MB per mailbox

 

More more information, see the Exchange 2007: Planning Memory Configurations guide on Microsoft Technet.

Remove Live Messenger Ads

If you are connected to Live Messenger 24 hours a day like I am, you are undoubtedly annoyed by those ads down the bottom that pop-up and make a noise if your mouse cursor happens to go anywhere near them..

msn

A simple way to get rid of them is with APatch (www.apatch.org). Download it, run it and on page 2/6 check the "Remove Advertisement" checkbox, complete the wizard and there you go, ad free messenger!

msn1

OCS 2007 R2

Microsoft have announced the release of Office Communications Server 2007 R2. Customers will be able to purchase the release, currently in private beta testing, beginning in February 2009.

A few of the new features are:

  • Dial-in audioconferencing
  • Desktop sharing
  • Persistent group chat
  • Attendant console and delegation
  • APIs and Visual Studio integration

For more info, click here