Mark Fugatt - Exchange and OCS Blog

32 Bit PreCallDiag Tool Released

mfugatt — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:09:50 GMT

The PreCallDiagTool is an application that reports expected audio quality as it relates to the network effect. The tool should be installed on any desktop or laptop PC that suffers from inconsistent network connection quality. The PreCallDiagTool can provide a quick check of the current network conditions and also preserve a history of quality data to let users profile their network performance over time or other conditions. The tool is particularly useful for home/mobile users and users using WIFI access points.

Note: This is the 32 bit version of the PreCallDiagTool. The 64 bit version can be found in the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Resource Kit.

The 32-bit version is now available for download at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f16ab4c2-353f-4c9b-b353-22a656c03c9b&displaylang=en

Microsoft ExRAP Scoping Tool V1.0

mfugatt — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:13:01 GMT

If you are a Microsoft Premier customer and have an ExRAP scheduled for your Exchange environment then this tool might be of interest to you.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=23457155-7c8b-4355-8a57-d2c2a4d1da57

More information:

Brief Description

This download package is intended for Microsoft Premier Customers Only. This package includes all of the scoping tools necessary to prepare and qualify your environment to receive a Risk and Health Assessment Program for Exchange Server (ExRAP).

System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008.

Instructions

1. Extract the Scoping Tool zip package to the tools server that will be used during the RAP engagement.

2. Refer to Instructions.txt in the Scoping Tool folder for detailed instructions on how to execute the tool and gather the results.

If you encounter any problems during the process, refer to your Technical Account Manager (TAM) for assistance.

OCS 2007 R2 Deploying Certificates Documentation Released

mfugatt — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:23:22 GMT

In this document, you will learn about the properties and attributes of certificates when working with Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communications Server 2007 R2. This document contains a walkthrough of most of the common, and some optional, tasks that you need to perform to realize the full value of the system. All roles that require certificates for deployment and operation are discussed. The properties are presented along with information to describe what they are and how they are used. This document shows you how to request the right certificate with the right parameters to make sure that you are delivering value to your users, rather than just troubleshooting problems.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=e9f86f96-aa09-4dca-9088-f64b4f01c703

Some Useful UC Training Material

mfugatt — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:45:26 GMT

UC How To The Microsoft Unified Communications “How-To” training tool is a Microsoft Silverlight™ 2 application that provides step-by-step instructions for common UC tasks. You can customize the How-To application to your company’s needs based on the UC features you’ve installed. For example, if you have installed all UC features except Communicator Mobile and Communicator Group Chat, you can modify the XML file so that those features and topics do not appear in the interface.

Unified Communications Adoption and Training Kit 2007 R2 The Unified Communications Adoption and Training Kit for 2007 R2 provides guidance and resources for IT Pros, Helpdesk, and Trainers to speed adoption and usage of Unified Communications technologies in the enterprise. The kit includes Planning Checklists, Awareness materials, including Poster, Door Hangers, and E-mail samples, and User Education Materials such as Quick Reference Cards, Flash Cards, and links to Web-based Training.

Exchange 2007 SP2 Has Now Been Released

mfugatt — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:32:23 GMT

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) has been designed specifically to help meet the challenges of any business and the needs of all the different groups with a stake in the messaging system. Exchange Server 2007 SP2 is a mission-critical communications tool that enables employees to be more productive and access their information anywhere and anytime while providing a messaging system that enables rich, efficient access to e-mail, calendar items, voice mail, and contacts. For the administrator, Exchange Server 2007 SP2 provides advanced protection options against e-mail security threats, such as spam and viruses, as well as the tools to help manage internal compliance and high availability needs.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=4c4bd2a3-5e50-42b0-8bbb-2cc9afe3216a

What's New In Exchange 2007 SP2

Office Communications Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer

mfugatt — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:52:06 GMT

The Office Communications Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer is a web site for IT Administrators to validate and diagnose end-to-end Office Communications Server scenarios. The site simulates multiple Office Communications Server client access scenarios from outside the customer’s infrastructure and reports whether the test was successful. If the test fails, we inform the IT Admin exactly where in the process it failed as well as provide troubleshooting tips on resolving the issue.

In this beta version, the tool provides the following end-to-end tests:

· Office Communications Server Remote Connectivity

· Office Communications Server Remote Connectivity w/AutoDiscover

https://www.testocsconnectivity.com/

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Site Resiliency White Paper

mfugatt — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:46:24 GMT

Using backup and restoration procedures for site disaster recovery as described in the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation library topic Backup and Restoration, can entail some downtime for users.
This white paper describes a site resiliency solution for Office Communications Server 2007 R2. The solution includes an Enterprise pool that spans two geographically separate sites. The solution provides a failover mechanism between the two sites to ensure that Office Communications Server functionality such as instant messaging, presence, and conferencing remains available even if one of the sites becomes unavailable.
This white paper is divided into three main sections:

The Solution section provides an overview of the tested and supported site resiliency solution described in this paper.
The Test Methodology section describes the testing topology, expected behavior, and test results.
The Findings and Recommendations section provides practical guidance for deploying your own failover solution.

To successfully follow this paper, you should have a thorough understanding of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=c930febb-3a44-4bf3-969d-1c52675a7063

Significant update to the Mailbox Server Role Storage Requirements Calculator - v 14.7

mfugatt — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:44:00 GMT

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2008/06/12/449007.aspx

May Posts to Office Communications Servers and Office Communicator Blogs

mfugatt — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:24:00 GMT

Video Conferencing for Masses vs. Personal Telepresence

“SIP Trunking” in Office Communications Server

Simplifying Enhanced Presence

Recent Yahoo! and MSN (Windows Live) Public IM Connectivity Changes

To UDP, or not to UDP, that is the question

Office Integration – like Peanut Butter and Jelly (Beans)

The RTCComponentService Account and Cannot Synchronize Address Book

UCC API: What is it and how does one write an application using it?

How to be visible to defined contacts only

Call Forwarding in Microsoft Office Communicator

Description of the update for the Unified Communications Client API SDK

mfugatt — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:15:39 GMT

The authentication protocol that is used by Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and its clients has been updated to require a signature in all messages. This includes the first message that carries the challenge response.

The version number of the protocol that is advertised in the challenge response has increased to version 4. Challenge responses that use version 4 of the protocol must contain a signature. The signature is a digest of the identifying headers in the message. The signature is calculated by using the session key.

Client applications that are built by using the Unified Communications Client API SDK must use this update to register and to work with Communications Server 2007. Communications Server 2007 requires the first challenge response message to contain a signature.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950559

A Series of OCS and Exchange 2007 Case Studies are Now Available

mfugatt — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:00:45 GMT

New E-Book on Managing Exchange with PowerShell

mfugatt — Mon, 26 May 2008 19:33:58 GMT

One of my co-workers (Jane Lewis) just pointed out this post on Eileen Brown's blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/eileen_brown/archive/2008/05/21/new-ebook-on-managing-exchange-with-powershell.aspx

Office Communication Server 2007 Webcasts - June 2008

mfugatt — Mon, 26 May 2008 19:29:43 GMT

The following Office Communication Server 2007 Webcasts are scheduled for June 2008:

Disaster Recovery in Communications Server 2007 (Level 200) - June 2nd 9.30am PST

All About Communications Server 2007 Security (Level 300) - June 5th 9.30am PST

Configuring DNS, Certificates, Ports, and Load Balancers for Communications Server 2007 (Level 300) - June 9th 8.00am PST

Deploying and Managing Your Unified Communications Devices (Level 300) - June 10th 1.00pm PST

How to Do a Proof of Concept for Communications Server 2007 Interoperability with PBX Systems (Level 300) - June 18th 9.30am PST

A Technical Introduction to Forefront Security for Communications Server (Level 300) - June 19th 11.30am PST

Communications Server 2007 Quality of Experience: Defending, Deploying, and Succeeding (Level 300) - June 19th 11.30am PST

Planning and Deploying Voice Routes in Communications Server 2007 Using Route Helper (Level 300) - June 25th 9.30am PST

Exchange Server Protocols

mfugatt — Sun, 25 May 2008 00:51:07 GMT

The Microsoft Exchange Server Protocols documentation provides detailed technical specifications for Microsoft proprietary protocols (including extensions to industry-standard or other published protocols) in the Microsoft Exchange Server system.

The Microsoft Exchange Server Protocols documentation provides specifications for protocols that are implemented in the Microsoft Exchange Server system software and that are used to communicate with other products.

The documentation is designed to describe each protocol in detail as it is used by the Microsoft Exchange Server system. Each protocol specification documents the technical requirements, limitations, dependencies, and Microsoft-specific protocol behavior.

The documentation also includes a set of companion overview and reference documents that supplement the technical specifications with conceptual background, overviews of inter-protocol relationships and interactions, and technical reference information, such as common data types and error codes.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc307725(EXCHG.80).aspx

Windows 2008 Enterprise Failover Clustering Hands on Lab

mfugatt — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:52:58 GMT

Are you interested in learning about Failover Clustering with Windows Server 2008. Well the wait is over, the Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering team would like to announce the availability of the of the Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Failover Clustering Hands on Lab.

Title

TechNet Virtual Lab: Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Failover Clustering Lab

Link

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032345932&EventCategory=3&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Overview

For the exercises in this lab, you will be responsible for the configuration of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise failover clustering for your organization. This lab will teach you how to add nodes to the cluster and configure the cluster to support a variety of high-availability roles such as file, print, and DHCP server clusters.