Actualização de documento: "The Role of Groups..."

O documento The Role of Groups and Access Control Lists in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Deployment foi recentemente actualizado.
É uma leitura bastante interessante para quem ainda utiliza Exchange 5.5 e está a pensar numa actualização para a versão 2003. Entre outras coisas, o documento faz uma analogia entre as Distribution Lists e os grupos de distribuição do Windows 200x, e tece algumas considerações sobre migrações e actualizações.

Já agora, lembrem-se que se estão a pensar numa migração de Exchange 5.5 para uma nova floresta/organização , não é possível migrar as Distribution Lists utilizando apenas as ferramentas de migração da Microsoft. Para superar esta situação, criei um pequeno script que disponibilizei publicamente. O script e as instruções de utilização estão disponíveis neste artigo: Inter-Org Distribution List Migration.

Leitura de fim-de-semana

Mais uma semana que passou, mais uma lista de leitura:

• More Bad News For Lotus Notes
• Getting Started with ExMon
• Exchange and SANs: No Magic Bullet, Part 2
• Another Look at SANs
• Exchange SP2 public beta - the CTP
• Sender ID Framework (SIDF) and Exchange Server 2003 SP2
• Is WINS required for Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003?
• Problems sending mail when your domain name or host name has an underscore (_) character
• What's the real RTM date? C'mon, you can tell me...
• A First Look at Exchange 2003 SP2
• Are your clients using desktop search engines that index Exchange mailboxes or public folders?
• Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) anti-spam features - order of execution

Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB902953)

Acaba de ser disponibilizada mais uma actualização do filtro de Junk Email do Outlook 2003.

"This update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered junk e-mail. This update was released in August 2005."

A actualização pode ser obtida neste link ou através do Microsoft Update. À data deste post o respectivo artigo da KB ainda não estava disponível.

Guia de segurança para Exchange 2003

O CIS, Center for Internet Security, publicou recentemente (obrigado Paul pela notícia) um guia de segurança para o Exchange 2003. Ao longo das 163 páginas do documento são-nos apresentadas variadas configurações e recomendações para fazer hardening dos vários tipos de servidores com o Exchange 2003.
O CIS Exchange Server 2003 Benchmark Version 1.0 é grátis e de extrema utilidade. Recomendado!

Webcasts de messaging em Setembro

Mais uma vez Eileen Brown dá-nos a lista detalhada dos webcasts de messaging e colaboração que vão decorrer em Setembro. Para os interessados aqui vos deixo a lista:

• Microsoft Executive Circle Webcast: Messaging and Collaboration Security: Meeting the Challenge
  Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific Time
  Joe Licari, Director, Product Management, Microsoft Corporation
  Business systems are interconnected in order to get maximum value from the information technology (IT) infrastructure and to enable efficient employee collaboration. As a result, messaging and collaboration servers that enable e-mail, document sharing and instant messaging have become mission-critical infrastructure components in business environments around the world. Attend this webcast to understand the threats facing these servers and how you can protect them with Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server and Sybari Antigen. This 100-level session is appropriate for business and IT managers who want to learn what solutions Microsoft offers to help them protect messaging and collaboration servers.
• Microsoft Executive Circle Webcast: A Conversation with Avanade: Business Justifications for Modernizing Your Collaboration Platform
  Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM Pacific Time
  Rita Seroski, Director of Infrastructure Solutions, Avenade
  How are companies getting the most out of their IBM Lotus Notes investment? Find out by joining us for this webcast. We discuss the real-world experience of a partner that has helped companies migrate from Notes or coexist with a Notes and Microsoft Windows server environment. Learn how a partial or total migration that is virtually transparent to customers and partners is achieved while the value of information currently on Domino Servers is maintained.
• TechNet Webcast: Exchange Performance Monitoring Analysis and Tuning (Level 300)
  Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM Pacific Time
  Paul Bowden, Program Manager, Exchange Server Development Team, Microsoft Corporation
  Are you getting all the performance out of Exchange Server 2003 that you'd like? During this session, which was highly rated when presented at Tech•Ed 2005 in Orlando, Florida (TechEd ID: MSG368), we explore all aspects of performance tuning for Exchange server 2003, covering Windows, Exchange, and system resources. Understand and learn best practices, registry tweaks, and performance monitoring that can help your Exchange environment run more smoothly.
• TechNet Webcast: Defining and Monitoring Desired Configuration Across a Messaging Service (Level 300)
  Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
  Edhi Sarwono, SYSTEMS DESIGN ENGINEER, Microsoft CorporationRobbie McAlpine, SR PROGRAM MANAGER, Microsoft Corporation
  Do you consider it a challenge to monitor a configuration across a messaging service? This webcast presents a new solution: the Desired Configuration Monitoring (DCM) Solution Accelerator, which will be released in September. Learn about the DCM Solution Accelerator, how configuration manifests are generated, how the configuration check is processed and about the resulting reports of non-compliant services. The Solution Accelerator provides tools to alert users of differences or non-compliance between their present configuration and baseline or desired configuration. It also provides environmental configuration data to aid configuration management.
• TechNet Webcast: Securing Your Exchange Server with Antigen and ISA Server (Level 200)
  Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
  Peter Eicher, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Corporation
  Every enterprise needs inter-site communication, but it opens conduits for everything from bandwidth-gobbling spam to malicious attacks that can cripple your organization. This webcast shows how to use Sybari Antigen and Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server to protect Microsoft Exchange Server from viruses, worms, spam and external attacks. Product managers from the ISA Server and Antigen teams discuss best practices for common Exchange deployment types, emphasizing configuration and tuning Antigen and ISA Server. This session is appropriate for information technology professionals who have a surface-level understanding of ISA and Antigen, and are ready to take their knowledge to the next level.
• TechNet Webcast: Exchange 2003 Disaster Recovery Solutions (Level 300)
  Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
  Rand Morimoto, Author, President, Convergent Computing
  Are you encountering problems with Microsoft Exchange Server failures, database corruption, site failures or LAN/WAN failures? To deal with these and similar problems, join Rand Morimoto as he presents best practices for Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 clustering, dial tone Exchange recovery strategies, non-Microsoft software replication utilities, snapshot Storage Area Network solutions and geo-clusters. Learn how to determine the best recovery solution for your needs. Gain tips, tricks, and best practices for these technical solutions, and see how other technical solutions improve Exchange Clustering for disaster recovery.
• TechNet Webcast: Message Hygiene with Exchange Server 2003 (Level 300)
  Tuesday, September 27, 2005 - 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
  Scott Schnoll, Technical Writer, Exchange User Education Team, Microsoft Corporation
  Viruses, worms, spam and other unwanted email have become a destructive reality that many administrators of Microsoft Exchange routinely face. This session, one of the top-rated breakout sessions (MSG342) from Tech•Ed 2005 in Orlando, Florida, provides recommendations and guidance for slowing and stopping the unwanted messages entering your Exchange 2003 environment. Learn how the Exchange Intelligent Message Filter supplements existing anti-spam features in Exchange 2003, as well as how Virus Scanning API 2.5 provides greater protection and administrative flexibility against malicious and harmful messages.
• TechNet Webcast: Exchange Best Practice Analyzer (Level 300)
  Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
  Kevin Remde, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation
  The Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool (ExBPA) is an automated health check and troubleshooting tool. ExBPA collects configuration settings and performs network and protocol tests in an Exchange topology. Join this webcast to learn about the new version of the tool that was released in March 2005. We discuss enhancements such as scheduling and baseline support. See how to use ExBPA with Microsoft Operations Manager 2005. At the end of the presentation, we talk about future enhancements to the ExBPA tool.
• TechNet Webcast: Managing Exchange Service Levels with the SLA Scorecard Solution Accelerator (Level 300)
  Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
  Sanjiv Sharma, SYSTEMS DESIGN ENGINEER, Microsoft CorporationKarri Alexion-Tiernan, PROGRAM MANAGER, Microsoft Corporation
  Learn about the solution and architecture of the service-level agreement (SLA) Scorecard Solution Accelerator for a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 environment. The solution accelerator can set SLAs, administer outages, and analyze performance and trend reports across the messaging services. During this webcast we introduce a solution accelerator that leverages MOM 2005 data to create management-level availability reports and manage outages. We also look at long term trend analysis that compares predefined SLA levels to actual availability.
• TechNet Support Webcast: Lotus Notes Connector Configuration (Level 200)
  Wednesday, September 21, 2005: 10:00 A.M. Pacific time
  Gayle Heizer, Support Engineer, Microsoft Corporation
  This Support WebCast discusses the directory synchronization (DirSync) process between Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Lotus Notes. This WebCast discusses common issues that occur when Microsoft Exchange Connector is configured for Lotus Notes. This WebCast also discusses how to troubleshoot these issues.
• Microsoft Office System Webcast: Tips and Tricks for More Effective Meetings: Anytime, Anywhere (Level 100)
  Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
  Andrew Reed, Senior Training Specialist, Pacific Technical Consulting
  Is your definition of a team meeting “wasted time?” Learn how the Microsoft Office System can help dramatically increase meeting effectiveness and maximize quality time with your colleagues and customers. Take a brief walk-through of key Microsoft Office System products such as Outlook 2003, OneNote 2003, and Live Meeting—Microsoft’s Web conferencing service that helps you run and participate in interactive meetings around the world in real time. Learn new ways to schedule meetings, share related documents, take and repurpose meeting notes, and stay on top of meeting-related tasks and action items.
• Microsoft Office System Webcast: Top 10 Tips to Save Time in Outlook (Level 100)
  Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
  Evan Archilla, Senior Training Specialist, Projectline Services
  Improve the way you manage information, communicate with others and organize your work using a single resource. The new and improved features of Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 work together to help you effectively manage and organize your e-mail and share information. Join us for this informative webcast to learn some of our favorite tips and tricks for getting the most out of Outlook 2003.
• Microsoft Office System Webcast: Scheduling Tips for Increased Productivity and Results with Outlook and Mission Control (Level 100)
  Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
  Brian Stuhlmuller, Executive Vice President, Mission Control
  Do you want to leave work earlier? Learn to use Mission Control's principles and practices for scheduling with Microsoft Office Outlook. Schedule yourself in a whole new way that enables you to be more focused and productive. In this webcast, discover how your familiar and common habits for scheduling can actually become obstacles to productivity. Learn how to build new scheduling habits that enable you to accomplish what is most important to you and deal effectively with the demands of the current work environment.
• Momentum Webcast: Creating Business Value Through Collaboration (Level 100)
  Tuesday, September 6, 2005 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific Time
  Bill Malone, Technology Specialist, Microsoft Corporation
  What is collaboration and how can it help your business? In this webcast, we look at collaboration as a means instead of an end. Collaboration tools, and more specifically a collaboration environment, can lead to dramatic increases in business value. Collaboration facilitates more effective business processes and decreases information technology support requirements and costs. Attend this webcast to learn more about the Microsoft approach to collaboration and the innovations Microsoft brings to the market to help organizations work together more effectively.
• TechNet Webcast: Securing Collaboration Beyond E-Mail (Level 200)
  Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
  Neha Sharma, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Corporation
  Is your implementation of Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services safe? SharePoint benefits your organization because you can share information and documentation, and can reduce messaging overhead. But SharePoint can also allow users to bypass traditional antivirus and content scanning, and could provide an exploitable network security vulnerability. To ensure comprehensive network protection, your organization must adopt a layered defense strategy that encompasses communication policy, user training, and consistent application of security technology. Attend this webcast to understand existing and potential threats to corporate networks, and how to deploy practical protection for Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server.

Leitura de fim-de-semana

Último dia de férias pour moi. Paciência. Aqui está a lista semanal de leitura:

• Time for a Mail Server Switch?
• Red Hat mulls Exchange competitor
• Monitoring Outlook in cached mode
• The MTA and Exchange 2003 clusters with > 4 nodes
• Exchange clustering lesson learned
• Planning for Your First Exchange Server
• Exchange 12 and Monad
• Retiring Legacy Exchange 2000 Servers
• Developing an E-Mail Usage Policy

Exchange SP2 CTP disponível a 19-Agosto

De acordo com úm post do Harold Wong e de notícia publicada pela Mary Jo Foley, a Microsoft vai disponibilizar uma Community Technology Preview (CTP) do Service Pack 2 para o Exchange Server 2003 a 19 de Agosto.
A versão CTP funciona como uma pré-beta e tem algumas limitações:

"Please be aware that CTP releases of any product will not display the stability of a shipped Microsoft product. Customers may encounter problems with Exchange Server 2003 SP2 that could possibly result in a loss or destruction of data. Some of the mobility features contained in this CTP download are not yet available for testing, pending availability of Windows Mobile 5.0 devices that have the Messaging & Security Feature Pack installed. Those devices will be available later in 2005 and 2006. Also some of the security features in SP2 are only available when used with Outlook 2003 SP2 which will not release until later in 2005. This build is available only in English."

Pode começar a contagem decrescente. Até já existe um link reservado.

Netcabo actualiza Exchange para a versão 2003

Foi com agrado que recebi a notícia que o ISP português Netcabo concluiu a actualização da sua plataforma de correio electrónico para a versão Exchange Server 2003.
Há já algum tempo que os front-ends haviam sido actualizados (notou-se uma pequena melhoria gráfica, mas a versão do OWA era à mesma a 2000), mas só agora com a actualização dos back-ends, os utilizadores podem disfrutar das novas funcionalidades e melhorias a nível gráfico introduzidas com o Exchange 2003.
A propósito das versões de front-ends e back-ends, aqui fica uma pequena tabela com as configurações suportadas (disponível no artigo da Knowledge Base Q829057):

Front-end	Back-end	Versão do OWA
Exchange 5.5	Exchange 5.5	Exchange 5.5
Exchange 5.5	Exchange 2000	Exchange 5.5
Exchange 5.5	Exchange 2003	Não suportado
Exchange 2000	Exchange 5.5	Não suportado
Exchange 2000	Exchange 2000	Exchange 2000
Exchange 2000	Exchange 2003	Não suportado
Exchange 2003	Exchange 5.5	Não suportado
Exchange 2003	Exchange 2000	Exchange 2000
Exchange 2003	Exchange 2003	Exchange 2003

Agora resta-nos esperar que a Netcabo melhore alguns aspectos operacionais que tantas críticas têm gerado nos seus clientes.

Leitura de fim-de-semana

Eu até acho que os artigos publicados no blog You Had Me At EHLO são espectaculares, mas relativamente à última sugestão de leitura que vos deixo (Why should you use Diskpar (Diskpart in W2003 SP1)?) parece-me que o meu (Disk Geometry) está melhor ;-)

• Checklist: Tools that diagnose Exchange performance problems
• Exchange and SANs: No Magic Bullet
• Sender ID's fading message
• Microsoft Clustering and Firewalls
• Using ADSIEdit - A Real World Example
• Sending Read and Delivery Recipients programmatically via Exchange
• Iterating though storage groups with CDOEXM C# sample
• Mailbox Attachment Auditing Script
• Implementing iSCSI for Exchange Server 2003
• Monitoring Exchange and Finding Common Problems
• OMA 2003 Logon Process
• Public Folder Replication Fails with Event IDs 3086 and 3085
• Why should you use Diskpar (Diskpart in W2003 SP1)?

Microsoft recruta 2 ex-IBM

O mercado IT é agressivo por natureza. Depois da saída polémica de Kai-Fu Lee da Microsoft para o seu rival Google, agora é a própria Microsoft que resolveu contratar 2 ex-funcionários da IBM: Julio Estrada e Bob Congdon.
Os dois sujeitos estavam envolvidos no desenvolvimento do Lotus Notes, pelo que é mais ou menos óbvia a sua integração na equipa do Microsoft Exchange.

Links relacionados:

• Microsoft Takes On Two Former Lotus Stars
• Microsoft Escalates Its Attack on Lotus

Nova versão do ExBPA (v2.1a)

A Microsoft disponibilizou uma nova actualização da ferramenta Exchange Best Practices Analyzer (ExBPA). A nova versão, 2.1.7599.4 contém correcções a alguns bugs e está disponível para download aqui.
Links relacionados:

• ExBPA v2.1a package released
• Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool v2.1a

O spam não compensa - Parte II

Depois de há alguns dias o spammer mais famoso da Rússia ter aparecido morto, chega-nos agora a notícia que um dos "reis do spam", Scott Richter aceitou pagar 7 milhões de dólares, num acordo à margem do julgamento de que era alvo.
A beneficiária do montante, a Microsoft, vai empregar 6 milhões em actividades contra o crime (sim, o spam é crime!) na internet.
Só cá em Portugal é que parece que os spammers continuam impunes. Também, com as leis relativamente permissivas e a qualidade do nosso sistema judicial, não é de admirar.

Links relacionados:

• Microsoft and Former “Spam King” Scott Richter Announce Settlement
• Spammer to Pay Microsoft $7 Million to Settle Lawsuit

Leitura de fim-de-semana

Mesmo em férias a leitura não pode parar. Para os adeptos mais fervorosos, podem levar o portátil para a praia e liguem-se com uma placa 3G.

• Your .pst File Questions Answered
• E-mail Archiving is a "Win-Win" Proposition
• Companies Get a New Voice With Microsoft Speech Server
• Deploying WSUS for Exchange patch management (é necessário um registo, grátis)
• Password protecting PST's
• Reason #54 to deploy Windows Rights Management
• Designing Outlook Forms (Part 1)
• Windows-based SMTP Tar Pitting Explained
• Those 8197 Free/Busy Errors
• OAB version 4 in Exchange 2003 service pack 2 (SP2)
• The difference between "Replication Status" and status of replication

Ferramentas de Exchange: novas versões

Algumas ferramentas do Exchange 2003 foram recentemente actualizadas. Se é daqueles que gosta de ter sempre a última versão, aqui ficam os links:

• 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 0.6.05.7618

Spam em português

Sim, é verdade, existe muito spam em português, isso não é novidade. Pessoalmente, acho que a lesgislação comunitária é muito permissiva nesse aspecto.
Mas não é sobre isso que vos quero falar, é antes sobre um novo site - www.eliminarspam.com - que contém variada informção de combate ao spam em português. Infelizmente não existe muita informação técnica em português, pelo que é de louvar estas iniciativas.
A informação disponível no site ainda não é muita, mas já é um começo.

Limites de mensagens e links lentos

O Exchange Server 2003 tem algumas características que o tornam particularmente adequado para cenários de "branch offices" ligados a um escritório central, nomeadamente a possibilidade de utilizar o modo offline (em conjunto com o Outlook 2003) e uma melhor compressão das comunicações.
Uma das grandes preocupações de quem é responsável por links com largura de banda reduzida é a limitação do tráfego que atravessa esse link. É por isso de todo conveniente que se limitem os tamanhos máximos das mensagens que os utilizadores remotos podem enviar ou receber.
No entanto, um dos grandes problemas do Exchange foi que não existia maneira de garantir a aplicação das políticas de dimensão das mensagens no lado do cliente. Vejamos, se um cliente que tenha um limite de envio de 2MBytes enviar uma mensagem de 10MBytes, essa mensagem vai ser enviada do seu Outlook até ao servidor central, atravessando o link, e só aí vai ser rejeitada.
Esta limitação foi recentemente corrigida com a disponibilização de 2 hotfixes, um para o Exchange, outro para o Outlook 2003.
Bravo!
Aqui ficam os respectivos artigos da Knowledge Base:

• Q894795: A message that exceeds the configured size limit is sent to a server that is running Exchange Server 2003
• Q897247: Description of the Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 post-Service Pack 1 hotfix package: May 2, 2005