Please find a list of migration issues and resolutions that I captured during my last customers migration:-

Flood mitigation on Threat Management Gateway (TMG) - http://community.office365.com/en-us/w/exchange/office-365-move-mailbox-fails-with-transient-exception.aspx

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Whilst working with a customer here in the UK on their O365 project, they asked about using Forefront Online Protection for Exchange (FOPE) (the version that comes with O365) how to setup rules to block credit cards details. There are various rues you can configure, Basic or RegEx, more details can be found here.

We setup up the following rules also using this site:-

The credit card format is like this 1234-1234-1234-1234, so we set up rues to cover various scenarios, such as:-

Credit Card Format	FOPE Rule
1234-1234-1234-1234	\d\d\d\d\-\d\d\d\d\-\d\d\d\d\-\d\d\d\d
1234 1234 1234 1234	\d\d\d\d\s\d\d\d\d\s\d\d\d\d\s\d\d\d\d
1234123412341234	\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d

The top 2 rules for example can be added into a single rule, as shown below and in the screenshot

\d\d\d\d\s\d\d\d\d\s\d\d\d\d\s\d\d\d\d|\d\d\d\d\-\d\d\d\d\-\d\d\d\d\-\d\d\d\d

To configure and create new rules, follow the steps below:-

1. Login to FOPE admin center - https://Admin.messaging.microsoft.com (also as a side note, this is the site to access quarantine messages - https://Admin.messaging.microsoft.com, but also note that global admins can’t manage quarantine by default - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2587698)

2. Select Administration

3. Policy Rules

4. New Policy Rule, on the right hand side under Tasks

5. Then configure the rule accordingly, so in this example we using body to match the rule

Since we are in the UK we are not worried about social security numbers, but we did add in American Express (Amex) formats too, as show below:-

Credit Card Format	FOPE Rule
1234 123456 12345	\d\d\d\d\s\d\d\d\d\d\d\s\d\d\d\d\d
1234-123456-12345	\d\d\d\d\-\d\d\d\d\d\d\-\d\d\d\d\d
123412345612345	\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d\d

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

This is obviously not a post about Exchange Server, but as a blogger I wanted to share this since it's been something that has been irritating me for some time…

Basically I like to write in Word rather than Live Writer. Live Writer is great but I spend a lot of time writing documentation in Microsoft Word 2010 and so that is my preferred writing tool. Most of my blog posts start off life in Word 2010 and then I have to transfer them over to Live Writer to get the content uploaded to my Blog. The problem is that the formatting is often lost during the transfer and I have to spend time trying to make it look how I wanted in the first place… surely there must be a way to get Word 2010 to write to my TechNet blog in the first place? Surely?? J

So… after some searching and some trial and error I have finally managed to come up with a solution to connect Word 2010 with the TechNet Blog platform…

Connecting Word 2010 to TechNet Blog Platform

1. Open Microsoft Word 2010
2. Click File -> New
3. Pick Blog Post from the Available Templates
4. Word should prompt you to Register a Blog Account at this stage
5. Select Register Now
6. In the Choose your blog provider drop down, select Other and click Next
7. Select MetaWebLog in the API type
8. Enter your TechNet blog URL with /metablog.ashx tagged on the end – in my case this ends up being http://blogs.technet.com/b/neiljohn/metablog.ashx
9. Enter your username and password

1. Click OK
2. Your TechNet Blog account is now registered in Word 2010

Hopefully someone else out there will find this useful J

If there is one area of Exchange 2010 that was poorly documented and poorly understood it has to be database maintenance.  The problem stemmed from the significant changes that we made in the store for Exchange 2010 and a confusion of terms. This has led many people in the field to get confused about what is actually going on in the various database maintenance activities.

Well.. I am pleased to say that Ross Smith IV has written a fantastic article that explains what is actually going on inside these mystical processes and what they actually do for us…

http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2011/12/14/database-maintenance-in-exchange-2010.aspx

If you are not sure which Office 365 plan is right for you, then you'll be pleased to hear that Microsoft has released the Office 365 Advisor.  This is a tool that can help you find the right Office 365 plan and also estimate your costs.  When you access the advisor at the link in this blog post, you'll see this screen:

If you select the Plan Advisor, you'll be asked questions such as the number of employees in your organization, the level of IT support your company has, your current email solution, the version of Office you have deployed and whether you want to host video conferences and online meetings or not.

Once you've answered the questions, your plan results are revealed on screen.  You can print the results or download a PDF version of the output, as well as share the results via email or your favourite social media outlet!

The Cost Calculator allows you to estimate the monthly costs of your chosen plan.  It also advises you of other Office 365 plans available that may be more suitable.

If you're thinking about Office 365 and you're not sure which plan is right for you or how much it will cost, check out the Office 365 Advisor.