Windows Web Solutions UPDATE—brought to you by Windows Web Solutions, the Windows & .NET Magazine print newsletter with tools and solutions for managing your Web site.
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January 14, 2003—In this issue:
1. COMMENTARY
- Exchange Server 2003: First Impressions
2. KEEPING UP WITH IIS
- Designate a Web Site Operator Without Adding Him or Her to the Admin Group
- Results from Last Issue's Instant Poll: Prevent Users from Accessing IM
- This Issue's Instant Poll: Microsoft SharePoint Team Services
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Windows Scripting Solutions for the Systems Administrator
- Back by Popular Demand—Don't Miss Our Security Road Show Event!
4. RESOURCES
- Event Highlight: Software Development Conference and Expo
- Featured Thread: Disable the Save Password Option
5. NEW AND IMPROVED
- Create Web Pages with Content from Multiple Sources
- Submit Top Product Ideas
6. CONTACT US
- See this section for a list of ways to contact us.
1. COMMENTARY
Microsoft began 2003 with a bang by announcing the next version of Microsoft Exchange Server. In recent years, Exchange has become one of Microsoft's flagship products and certainly one of its greatest revenue sources. More than just email, Exchange is a crucial system in many companies and the backbone of many communications infrastructures. Additionally, most companies use Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) to provide Web-based remote email access.
Technology research firm IDC predicts that the number of email messages sent daily will approach 40 billion worldwide in 2003. IT and network administrators face incredible pressure to keep Exchange running 24 x 7. For many companies, a 20-minute failure of their public Web site isn't a crisis but having Exchange go down for 20 minutes is. You don't realize how dependent you are on Exchange until it goes down. I can't think of any Microsoft server product that demands as much attention to fault tolerance and scalability as Exchange does and fault tolerance and reliability are what Microsoft is promising in Exchange Server 2003 (formerly code-named Titanium).
For months, Microsoft has been using a beta of Exchange 2003 in production environments. Does a better way exist to test the reliability and scalability of the new Exchange version than on the tens of thousands of email accounts of one of the largest companies in the world?
Microsoft began its migration to Exchange 2003 last September. Every night, Microsoft's internal IT group moved several hundred employee and contractor accounts. By December, approximately half of the company's 60,000 employees and contractors were on Exchange 2003, with the rest scheduled to migrate by February. I have a Microsoft account because of my company's close working relationship with Microsoft. In November, my account moved to Exchange 2003 without a hiccup. In fact, had it not been for the interesting email messages I received from Microsoft IT updating me about the process, I wouldn't have known that I'd been migrated. According to Jerry Cochran, group program manager in Microsoft's Operations and Technology Group (OTG), upgrades took an average of 30 minutes per night. In a Microsoft press release, Cochran said, "We stopped the services, applied the upgrade, and restarted the services. Ironically, the most important thing to say about the migration is that there's not much to say. It just works. We didn't encounter any significant problems."
Performance metrics are always an interesting part of any new Microsoft server product. According to a Microsoft press release, Derek Ingalls, group manager in OTG, said, "We're seeing significant bytes-over-the-wire savings from the new compression possible with Exchange Server 2003 and Outlook 11—on the order of 50 to 70 percent, sometimes better." I agree—I switched to Outlook 11 beta 1, and the performance difference is dramatic. My company will definitely migrate to Exchange 2003 beta 2 this month. Exchange 2003 handles network traffic more efficiently, making server consolidation more feasible and promising to help many companies realize a greater Return on Investment (ROI). Server consolidation is a popular trend in big IT shops because it can provide dramatic savings in hardware, licensing, and maintenance costs.
To learn more about Microsoft's Exchange 2003 announcements, read the following press releases at Microsoft's PressPass Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/jan03/01-06betatitaniumavailabilitypr.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2003/jan03/01-06titanium.asp
You can read more about the features and functionality of Exchange 2003 at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange.
Tim Huckaby, News Editor, [email protected]
2. KEEPING UP WITH IIS
Question: When I create a new Web site operator for a Web site in IIS, I know that I must open the Web site's Properties dialog box and add the new operator's network account to the Operator's tab. However, when the Web site operator then uses Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to enumerate or list directories within that Web site, the operator receives the error message, "Unable to enumerate files and directories because the following error occurred: Access is denied."
According to the "Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0 Resource Guide," a Web site operator doesn't need administrative permissions on the server on which the Web site resides. Nevertheless, I can prevent the error I described only by adding the Web site operator to the local Administrators group. I don't want to do that because of security concerns and because doing so lets the Web site operator view and edit properties for any Web site on the server. How can I designate a Web site operator without adding him or her to the Administrators group? Click here for Brett Hill's solution to the problem:
http://www.winnetmag.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=37676
The voting has closed in the Windows & .NET Magazine Windows Web Solutions channel's nonscientific Instant Poll for the question, "Has your organization taken steps to prevent users from accessing Instant Messaging (IM)?" Here are the results from the 84 responses:
- 50% Yes.
- 50% No.
- THIS ISSUE'S INSTANT POLL: MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT TEAM SERVICES
- WINDOWS SCRIPTING SOLUTIONS FOR THE SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR
- BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND—DON'T MISS OUR SECURITY ROAD SHOW EVENT!
- EVENT HIGHLIGHT: SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE AND EXPO
- FEATURED THREAD: DISABLE THE SAVE PASSWORD OPTION
- CREATE WEB PAGES WITH CONTENT FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES
- SUBMIT TOP PRODUCT IDEAS
- ABOUT THE COMMENTARY — [email protected]
- ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER IN GENERAL — [email protected]
- TECHNICAL QUESTIONS — http://www.winnetmag.net/forums
- PRODUCT NEWS — [email protected]
- QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR WINDOWS WEB SOLUTIONS UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION?
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The next Instant Poll question is, "Do you use Microsoft SharePoint Team Services?" Go to the Windows & .NET Magazine Windows Web Solutions home page and submit your vote for a) Yes, b) Not yet, but we plan to do so, or c) No.
http://www.windowswebsolutions.com
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
(brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine and its partners)
You might not be a programmer, but that doesn't mean you can't learn to create and deploy timesaving, problem-solving scripts. Discover Windows Scripting Solutions, the monthly print publication that helps you tackle common problems and automate everyday tasks with simple tools, tricks, and scripts. Try a sample issue today at
http://www.winscriptingsolutions.com/rd.cfm?code=fsei262lup
If you missed last year's popular security road show event, now is your chance to catch it again in Portland, Oregon, and Redmond. Learn from experts Mark Minasi and Paul Thurrott about how to shore up your system's security and what desktop security features are planned for Microsoft .NET and beyond. Registration is free so sign up now!
http://www.winnetmag.com/roadshows/security2003
4. RESOURCES
March 24 through 28, 2003
Santa Clara, California
http://www.sdexpo.com Learn what you need to know to build better software. Track topics include C++, Java programming, Microsoft .NET programming, XML development, security, Web services architecture, Web services deployment, and wireless. Session titles include Building a Web Service from SOAP to Nuts, Hands on .NET Programming with C#, A Sensible Approach to Web Services Discovery, C++ Programming Style, Cryptography 101, and I Sing the Web Electric.
For other upcoming events, check out the Windows & .NET Magazine Events Calendar.
http://www.winnetmag.net/events
Clindell wants to know how to disable a user's password from being cached on the client when the user logs on to his Web site. His site uses basic authentication over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). His company's main page links to three internal sites, including the intranet site, which prompts the user for his or her username and password and lets the user select a check box to save his or her password in the password list. Click here to lend a helping hand:
http://www.winnetmag.com/forums/rd.cfm?cid=41&tid=52172
5. NEW AND IMPROVED
(contributed by Sue Cooper, [email protected])
Arnica Software released WebPortal, a Web-based tool for creating and presenting Web page content from different sources, including Web services, script execution, static content saved with a portlet, and files on disk. WebPortal is a thin-client, multiplatform solution built around COM and Microsoft .NET technologies, with a scalable design and built-in clustering support. Pricing is $9995 per server for unlimited CPUs, users, and instances. Contact Arnica Software at 416-483-5219 and [email protected].
http://www.arnicacorp.com
Have you used a product that changed your IT experience by saving you time or easing your daily burden? Do you know of a terrific product that others should know about? Tell us! We want to write about the product in a future What's Hot column. Send your product suggestions to [email protected].
6. CONTACT US
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