Credit Crunchy

So it seems I have fallen victim to the credit crunch as the company I work for have gone into administration! So it looks like I have to dust off the old CV and get on the job path – onwards and upwards!

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Exchange 2007

After much deliberation and some basic testing I decided to take the plunge and begin migration to exchange 2007 from 2003. I (for the most part) followed the steps out lined in the technet articles:

1) How to Install Exchange 2007 in an Existing Exchange Server 2003 Organization
And..
2) How to Remove the Last Legacy Exchange Server from an Organization

As I already had a high spec windows 2003 64bit server in place it was a bit of a no brainer on the hardware configuration side of things so all that remained was to run the setup
The Basic plan I came up with was:

1) Install exchange 2007 on a new windows 2003 64bit server
2) Migrate the mail boxes from exchange 2003
3) Remove the exchange 2003 installation
4) Relax with a coffee

It pretty much went to plan apart from a few minor issues, including the exchange system attendant service refusing to start but after I migrated the replication services to the new server exchange was much happier. One o=point to nite is that be default exchange does not create an incoming SMTP connector this is one to watch out for in the future.

Another minor issue (but potentially a fairly major one) was the fact that to make Symantec Backup Exec work with individual mailbox restore functionality I had to download and install the following:

Download details: Microsoft Exchange Server MAPI Client and Collaboration Data Objects 1.2.1

and It required the exchange management tools to be installed on the backup Exec media server to allow for the back of individual messages and mailboxes.
Once these were installed Symantec was much happier about backing up our shiny new server!

Some things I have noticed with exchange 2007:
1) It is much faster
2) It has a powerful command line interface which I have already used extensively (mainly to create a backup of the mailboxes on site)

For some more information on using the new cmdlet functionality in the exchange management shell see the links below or use the power of your favorite internet search engine to satisfy your lust for more!

Understanding Cmdlets
Exchange 12: The Monad-based Exchange Management Shell

So far everything has been smooth but I will post anything weird and wonderful that crops up!

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Tags: exchange2007, technet, mail, email, dernie duff, irishduff

Sysadmins get Quake tools | The Register

Ever felt bored trawling through the logs on servers when checking the performance and current status? Well now there is an answer to those system check woes and it comes in the form of Quake!
I have often wanted to have an RPG to hand when trying to remove an old server from a domain, and now i can! Definitely one of the best sysadmin tools out there! Personally I look forward to using the shotgun on a few users PCs! check out the reg artical below:

Sysadmins get Quake tools | The Register

Hopefully I get a change to trial this in the next few weeks, should make for interesting system checks!

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Download your Flock!

This is just a quick note to those that have not discovered this little Gem of a browser – the future is here, the future is flock! especially useful to myself due to its integration with yahoo, flickr, wordpress, facebook and youtube (though this is only a small limited list of the sites and services it integrates with) and its excellent RSS features. Everything I need in one application. And as the browser matures it has more and more integration and features. I highly recommend it!!

Vista Service pack 1

Oh the joys of Microsoft service packs. Having done a little research on the net regarding the current service pack offering for Vista I decided to take the plunge and start rolling it out to several PCs in the office. So far I have to say it pretty much did as it said on the tin, file copy performance being the most notable improvement with file transfer times being drastically improved on all PCs that had a successful install.

Note I said successful install as I have had one major problem with a Vista machine which simply refuses to take the install. I use WSUS 3 to roll out updates for the company so I know that all updates and prerequisites are installed. But every time I tried the update the machine sits for about an hour or so then displays the dreaded ‘installation failed’ message. In the end I rebuilt the PC from scratch, thankfully it was not part of the production network and only a test machine, and once I had preformed a rebuild service pack 1 was installed in a matter of minutes. Also the rebuild itself only took around 30 minutes from start until I joined the machine to the domain and run all the latest updates!

It was only once I had completed the installation that something clicked in my brain as to the reasons behind the mystery failed upgrade. This machine is a test machine and as such I had been running serveral different beta software installations, including some anti-virus applications which may have produced the unexpected results. Prior to setting off down the SP1 route I did get in touch with all the tech support deptarments of the various vendors (including the hardware manufacturer we use) to ask about possible issues. Everyone said go for it, so I did! So far after over 3 weeks of running on 10% of the Vista PCs in the office (and no the users concerned have not been informed of the install) I have had no reported problems. Better than this though it has actually reduced the number of calls logged and on checking with the users I found that they have noticed an improvement in the PCs.

Now one point to note here is that all the PCs running vista are of a resonably high spec, 2Gb RAM, SATA disks, decent CPU chips with a good FSB rate and a decent graphics card. I have no doubt the XP would out preform Vista on these machines, (and I have tested this theory), but Vista offers the user a much better experince and it offers me the IT administrator a much better level of support in terms of reliablity and the funtions I can perform with the likes of remote management, performance monitoring, group policies and in my option a much better level of security. I Have yet to experience any malware installations on a Vista PC!

I still say that the bad press Vista is getting is really not deserved the operating system itself has really never give me any reason to complain. It is the applications and drivers that cause issues one particular printer manufacturer has caused me no end of grief when trying to get their ‘Vista Compatible’ printer drivers to function reliably. (And no I wont point the finger or name names!). Granted it is resource hungry but to me that is acceptable, as the cost of hardware goes down and the capability goes up, soon even the cheapest of PCs will be more than capable of running Vista.

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St Paddys

Yes I know it was a month ago but being a lazy bum for the past month so I haven’t been as active on this as I had hoped! Anyway it was pretty much a typical Irish drink fueled mess but lots of fun with several random events thrown in for good measure! My brother stopped over in London for a few days on his way to OZ so we did what most Irish people do in London – went to several Irish Bars! Though it wasn’t all drink and debauchery we managed to go for the whistle stop tour, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Downing Street, Big Ben and along the south bank, were we bumped in to a neighbour from Loughmacrory who we both hadn’t seen in years! (A little random I know!), Anyway sight seeing out of the way Big Rye managed to get a few pints down his neck!

Another random event we encounterend was a nutter doing a crazy jump (See the picture below)

Hey Monkey Boy!!!

After that it was pretty much down hill and I spent the next day in bed wondering how I felt so sea sick on dry land! Needless to say Ryan manged to get his flight to Oz and is currently enjoying the sunshine in Bondi junction as I type!

Procrastination

Ok so I said I wouldn’t do this but I haven’t updated this in ages now so I think a little more effort is required on my part! Though no one is probably reading this much anyway! but I have a lot of updates not least St Pats day/weekend and my recent fun with vista service pack 1, oh joy of joy! I will be posting updating over the course of the weekend so stay awake people!

You Idiot

Just a quick post here if any one is actually reading my blogs, but I recently found the site http://www.itidiots.com/ and for those of you reading this that are in anyway interested in improving your IT skills and having a laugh while doing it these guys are really worth a look.

NOTE these guys are qualified professionals DO NOT try this on a life network! You might delete the bosses holiday snaps from the backup!

Viva las Vista!

They have surpassed themselves again at Bill Gates HQ with the latest service pack blunder! It seems (according to the register) that Vista SP1 has some issues, mainly desktop security applications have some compatibility issues, including (but limited to) Trend Micro, Bit defender and zonealarm. These are all widely used applications and I myself (although against my will and under protest!) depend on both of the AV apps listed in various forms. Ok maybe I am over reacting a little, especially when I called both technical support departments earlier today to voice my concerns, but in my opinion a good system admin can never be too protective of the network he/she/they look after.

I have to admit though after some initial reluctance I am a bit of a Vista convert I really like the new design of the GUI and the sidebar has proved a really useful feature, I know all the Mac-Windows arguments but I really like the Mac GUI but I dislike some of the functionality of the Macs, mainly because i have become used to the Microsoft mindset I guess, but I have often said in the past that I wished Microsoft was a bit more Macintosh and Macintosh was a bit more Microsoft, I guess I got my wish!

One thing I will say about Vista is you better be sure your hardware is up to the job to run it or you are swimming against the tide!

Superfast disks, memory and data buses, not to mention a decent CPU and graphics card are all essentials for the (pardon the pun) Ultimate Vista experience! And from a system admin point of view I find vista extremely easy to administer, even though I have locked users down quite nicely using group policies etc

Anyway I guess I have a bit of a love hate relationship with the old gates family business but more importantly if it wasnt for them id have nothing to write in my blog!

Getaway in Stockholm

‘Ok I confess, I have only just started writing a blog and already I am being lazy, but hey there’s more to life than keeping my blog up to date! Isn’t there? Anyway its been almost a week since I got back from Stockholm and I am only getting around to posting about it now.

Despite seeming unenthusiastic I really enjoyed and highly recommend a vist to Stockholm. The weather was nice, not too cold though I am told that this is not normal for the time of year and I think most people thought we were mad being outside at all!

Two peas in a pod

We stayed with Lindy a friend of Annaleis originally from Canada but has been living in Sweden for 12 years and is married to Johan (who is Swedish) and has a 4 year old son, Emil. I was great to stay in a proper home rather than a hotel as we got to experience a little more Swedish culture (and food!) than we probably would have elsewhere.

On The Rocks! (ice on the rocks outside the train station)

Just a point to note the food is really really good, if you ever find yourself in Sweden for one reason or another it would be a crime not to sample some local food! (NOTE in the picture below although this is local food, it is local fastfood and just not as tasty as proper food but worth a try if you brave enough!)

A number of things that I was prepared for:

1) The old town, ‘Gamle Stan’ has some amazing old architecture (some of which dates back to 12th century!) and it is really well preserved and protected with minimal traffic allowed through the cobble streets

2) It is a really sleepy and subdued city, but then most are if you compare them against London

3) It is feckin expensive, but if you are not careful and don’t shop around a little!

4) And contrary to the ”Tourist DVD” I bought pre-visit, there were no cars racing around on the roads! (and for those that are unfamiliar with the dvd in question, good old wikipedia can help out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getaway_in_Stockholm

Some get away in stockholm action!

To be honest I would loved to have stayed longer and next time Id love to go a little further north, but I will definitely be back to Stockholm, preferably in the summer when it is much warmer and a little busier!

Many thanks to Lindy, Johan and Emil for making us so welcome and taking the time to look after us!