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1. Commentary
- ExBPA, Round 2
2. Peer to Peer - Featured Thread: Phantom Email Messages - Outlook Tip: Printing a Contact's Activities List
3. New and Improved
- Managed Messaging for Exchange
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3. New and Improved
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Editor's note: Share Your Exchange Discoveries and Get $100
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==== 1. Commentary: ExBPA, Round 2 ====
by Paul Robichaux, Exchange Editor, [email protected]
Former Microsoft Distinguished Engineer Mark Lucovsky recently ignited somewhat of a brouhaha by claiming in his blog ( http://mark-lucovsky.blogspot.com ) that Microsoft has forgotten how to ship software. As a neat counterpoint to this claim, the Exchange team just shipped version 2.0 of the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer (ExBPA) tool. (For more information about what ExBPA is and what it does, see "The Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool" at http://www.windowsitpro.com/Windows/Article/ArticleID/44008/44008.html .)
The new tool's biggest improvement, to my mind, is its integration with the Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) toolset. You can extend the base MOM product with management packs that add monitoring and control functionality for specific server products, including Exchange. Wisely, the MOM team generally makes the management packs freely available to customers who have licensed copies of MOM. Accordingly, an increasing number of sites are standardizing on MOM as their primary management and monitoring tool for Exchange and its Active Directory (AD) infrastructure. ExBPA 2.0 provides MOM support by exposing the data it gathers for analysis to MOM's reporting and monitoring tools. This feature is important because of two MOM capabilities: synthetic alerting and state-based monitoring. These capabilities are easier to demonstrate than they are to explain, but I'll give it a shot. Synthetic alerting means that MOM can monitor the alert messages generated by Exchange (or ExBPA or any other MOM-aware application or service) and generate alerts based on what the underlying application is doing. Instead of having to monitor the event log yourself, MOM can use synthetic alerting to scan for events and alert you with the same console you use to monitor everything else that's happening in your environment. State-based monitoring collapses MOM's knowledge of the health and status of your environment into simple red/yellow/green symbology. You can always dig into the monitoring data to see exactly what's happening, but having summarized state data makes it easy to see, at a glance, what your Exchange and infrastructure servers are doing. But enough about MOM; this column is ostensibly about ExBPA. In addition to its support for MOM, ExBPA adds support for several additional languages (including simplified and traditional Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish). ExBPA also adds several new collectors (Microsoft's term for the objects that collect specific types of configuration data for analysis). New in this release are collectors for DNS data, security and distribution group expansion settings, last backup times for storage groups and databases, and permissions. In addition, ExBPA 2.0 adds more export features, better support for scanning from the command line, and the ability to schedule scans. If you' aren't using ExBPA, you're missing out. As many experienced administrators have noted, just because ExBPA flags something isn't a guarantee that the items it finds are actually flaws. But ExBPA scans help provide a solid backstop to your usual operational and change-management practices and catches things that you might otherwise miss. When used as part of a regular assessment process, ExBPA can help you ensure that your Exchange environment meets your business needs for performance and availability. On May 10, the ExBPA team will present a Webcast about the new version (see the first URL below). In the meantime, you can download the latest version of ExBPA from Microsoft's Web site (see the second URL below). If you're using ExBPA, you'll welcome the improvements. If you aren't, now's a good time to start. http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/tnexchangeserver.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/downloads
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==== Events and Resources ====
(A complete Web and live events directory brought to you by Windows IT Pro: http://www.windowsitpro.com/events )
Improve Service Levels and Maximize IT Staff Efficiency
Keeping your IT infrastructure on course can be a challenge given the complexity of servers, infrastructure, and application software. In this free Web seminar, learn practical techniques to monitor and manage your infrastructure applications, such as Active Directory and Exchange. http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/managingapplications/index.cfm?code=0323emailannc
Get Ready for SQL Server 2005 Roadshow in a City Near You
Get the facts about migrating to SQL Server 2005. SQL Server experts will present real-world information about administration, development, and business intelligence to help you implement a best-practices migration to SQL Server 2005 and improve your database-computing environment. Receive a 1-year membership to PASS and 1-year subscription to SQL Server Magazine. Register now! http://www.windowsitpro.com/roadshows/sqlserverusa/index.cfm?code=0321emailanncs
Exchange, Retention, and Regulatory Compliance
The advent of Sarbanes-Oxley, Gramm-Leach-Bliley and assorted market-specific regulations means that you might be legally required to have an email compliance and retention policy. In this free Web seminar, Exchange MVP Paul Robichaux will teach you to discover, manage, and archive information within your Exchange enterprise to successfully limit your legal exposure and protect your corporate information. Sign up today! http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/exchangecompliance/index.cfm?code=0323emailannc
New eBook--Windows Certification and Public Keys
PKI services are increasingly important in today's IT environment. PKI offers strong security services to internal and external users, computers, and applications. In this free eBook, you'll discover a starting point for understanding the PKI and certificate services available in Windows Server 2003. Download it now and learn about trust relationships, validating digital certificates, and more. http://www.windowsitlibrary.com/ebooks/WindowsCertification/index.cfm?code=0323emailannc
Don't Miss Out--SQL Server Administration for Oracle DBAs On-Demand Web Seminar
Sign up now for this free Web seminar and get a quick start in mapping Oracle database-management skills, knowledge, and experience to SQL Server database management. Learn about the varying similarities and differences between Oracle and SQL Server and get a preview of real-world tips and techniques for managing these associated technologies. Register now! http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/sqlserveroracledba/index.cfm/index.cfm?code=0323emailannc
==== 2. Peer to Peer ====
Featured Thread: Phantom Email Messages
Our forum readers are having a conversation about how to deal with phantom email messages. To join the discussion, visit http://www.windowsitpro.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=130222
Outlook Tip: Printing a Contact's Activities List
by Sue Mosher, [email protected]
Q: How can I print the list of linked journal entries, appointments, messages, and so on from the Activities tab of an Outlook contact?
Find the answer (and links to more great tips) at
http://www.windowsitpro.com/microsoftexchangeoutlook/article/articleid/43605/43605.html
==== Announcements ====
(from Windows IT Pro and its partners)
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Windows & .NET Magazine is now Windows IT Pro. Act now to get an entire year for just $39.95--that's 44 percent off the cover price! Our March issue shows you what you need to know about Windows Server 2003 SP1, how to get the best out of your IT staff, and how to fight spyware. Plus, we review the top 10 features of Mozilla Firefox 1.0. This is a limited-time, risk-free offer, so click here now: http://www.windowsitpro.com/rd.cfm?code=theu2052up
Vote for the Next MCP Hall of Famer
Help decide who the most valuable member of the MCP community is. Take the time to reward excellence to those that deserve it and to make yourself a part of the first-ever MCP Hall of Fame. Voting only takes a few seconds, so cast your vote now for Round 2. Click here: http://www.windowsitpro.com/mcphalloffame/index.cfm?code=ALLannct0321
==== 3. New and Improved ====
by Angie Brew, [email protected]
Managed Messaging for Exchange
Azaleos announced Azaleos OneServer and OneStop Subscription Service, a comprehensive managed messaging offering for customers running Exchange Server. OneServer is a clustered Exchange 2003 and Windows 2003 appliance that integrates key Exchange and Active Directory (AD) interfaces into a set of comprehensive .NET Web Services and features a user-friendly Web Administration Console. OneStop Subscription is a remote monitoring and management service that monitors OneServer 24 x 7 and maintains all the Microsoft patches and other third-party patches required to keep the OneServer appliance operating at peak performance. OneServer supports up to 2500 users and integrates Sybari Antigen for Microsoft Exchange 8.0. For pricing, contact Azaleos at 425-996-0539. http://www.azaleos.net
==== Sponsored Links ====
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Get Ready for SQL Server 2005 Roadshow in a City Near You
Exchange, Retention, and Regulatory Compliance
New eBook--Windows Certification and Public Keys
Don't Miss Out--SQL Server Administration for Oracle DBAs On-Demand Web Seminar
==== 2. Peer to Peer ====
Featured Thread: Phantom Email Messages
Outlook Tip: Printing a Contact's Activities List
Q: How can I print the list of linked journal entries, appointments, messages, and so on from the Activities tab of an Outlook contact?
Find the answer (and links to more great tips) at
==== Announcements ====
Get Windows IT Pro at 44 Percent Off!
Vote for the Next MCP Hall of Famer
==== 3. New and Improved ====
Managed Messaging for Exchange
==== Sponsored Links ====
Exclusive Online Event: Email Protection at the Perimeter!
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