Archive for January, 2009
Third Tier Launches New Web Site
Posted by: | CommentsThird Tier has relaunched the company web site to improve access for our contacts and customers. The new site not only brings a streamlined access to our public content, but the site features a new Store area where customers can easily purchase support time and other items as they become available. Currently the store features links to download two of the three webinar sessions in LiveMeeting format. Over time, other items will become available for download or sale in the Store.
We are also pleased to note our affiliation with Secure My Company. More information about our partnership with Secure My Company will be made available in the near future.
We hope that the new site design makes it easier for you to find our content and interact with us moving forward!
Managing SBS 2008: Exchange 2007
Posted by: | CommentsSave the date! Third Thursday, February 19th @ Noon (eastern)
This month we’re going to discuss Exchange. In this session Third Tier welcomes staff consultant, David Shackelford Exchange MVP, to educate us all on Exchange 2007 as it is implemented in SBS 2008. We’ll learn about the new features and how to manage Exchange in the SBS 2008 environment.
When: Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 12:00 PM (EST)
Scheduled to Occur: Once
Duration: 1:00
Amy Babinchak has invited you to attend an online meeting using
Microsoft Office Live Meeting.
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/mvp/join?id=NNH33Q&role=attend&pw=k%7C%2F3j3w%23P
Meeting time: Feb 19, 2009 12:00 PM (EST)
Add to my Outlook Calendar:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/mvp/meetingICS?id=NNH33Q&role=attend&pw=k%7C%2F3j3w%23P&i=i.ics
AUDIO INFORMATION
-Computer Audio(Recommended)
To use computer audio, you need speakers and microphone, or a
headset.
Eriq @ Upstate SMB IT Pro Group Thursday
Posted by: | CommentsEriq will be presenting at the Upstate SMB IT Pro group in South Carolina Thursday, January 22, 2009. The presentation will be the Key Differences between SBS 2003 and SBS 2008 for those IT pros starting to learn about SBS 2008 for their customers.
Welcome Chad Gross
Posted by: | CommentsWe are pleased to announce that Chad Gross, has joined Third Tier.
Chad will be staffing the Sharepoint service queue as well as taking on SBS issues. Formerly an SBS-MVP for 5 years and principle at MSPSN, Chad’s experience working with a broad range of IT firms brings a wealth of in-depth technical knowledge to us.
He also counts SQL, Access and the Trixbox IP telephony solution as areas of expertise. Third Tier will be adding special queues to accommodate Chad’s technical coverage.
He is a speaker, author and well known participant in the Small Business communities. You can read Chad’s full biography here.
Welcome to Third Tier, Chad!
Eriq @ CiNPA Group Wednesday Night
Posted by: | CommentsEriq is presenting to the CiNPA Cincinnati SBS User’s Group on January 21. The topic will be the Key Differences between SBS 2003 and SBS 2008 that SBS 2003 admins should know before delving into SBS 2008.
Amy @ Fresno SBS user group Thursday night
Posted by: | CommentsTomorrow night, Amy and Chris Rue, both EBS MVP’s, will be the guest speakers at the Fresno SBS user group. Chris will provide an overview of EBS and Amy will discuss choosing a firewall to protect SBS 2008, particularly the Calyptix Access Enforcer.
See Susan Bradley’s blog, www.sbsdiva.com, for log on information to join us via Live Meeting.
SBS 2008 Update Rollup 1 Available
Posted by: | CommentsMicrosoft released the first update specifically for SBS 2008, information can be found in KB958715. The Officical SBS Blog also discusses the update. The update addressess two issues in the initial release of SBS 2008:
- The Security Tab in the SBS console did not correctly report anti-virus status on connected workstations for some anti-virus programs. I’ve been experiencing this with Sophos Anti-virus, which we use with our client base. After installing the update, I can confirm that the anti-virus status is now correctly reported with Sophos Anti-virus on the workstations.
- The Internet Address Wizard stops functioning when registering a domain name through GoDaddy.
The update is now available through Microsoft Update and should appear in the Update subtab of the Windows SBS Console. You can approve the update in the console and allow it to roll automatically through WSUS, or you can manually install the update as follows:
- Open the Windows Update panel from the Start Menu.
- Click the Check online for updates from Microsoft Update link in the panel.
- When the check finishes, you should see at least one update available. Click the View available updates link to see all updates available.
- Under Windows Small Business Server 2008, you should see the Update Rollup 1 for Small Business Server 2008 (KB958715) in the list and checked.
- Click Install to install the update.
No restart is needed after the update installs, but you should close the SBS Console prior to installing the update.
January Webinar Recording Now Available
Posted by: | CommentsThe recording from the January SBS 2008 Tips and Tricks Part 3 webinar is now available for download. Extract the ZIP file and open ReplayMeeting.htm to view the session. The recording plays back best under IE 6 or IE 7. Enjoy!
Q&A from Group Policy Webinar
Posted by: | CommentsQuestion: w/out Mac or Linux can we keep SMB signing turned on…
Answer: Depends. I’ve hit Digital scanners/copiers that needed it off.
Question: Where will the download be located?
Answer: On www.thirdtier.net
Question: 3 questions on Group policy preference (GPP) 1.I have the following issue with setting GP preferences. We have migrated from SBS2003 to SBS2008. We needed to change the path of our network drive (N drive) share from the 03 server to the 08 server. I configured the GPP(default domain policy) on our SBS2008 action to replace on the GPP general tab and set the Item-level targeting to the relevant and OU. The results were that the required results worked on the desktop but not on the laptop which belong to the same user both desktop and laptop are running Vista SP1. How can I resolve this? 2.Do you recommend creating a unique group policy for GPP and not modifying the default policies? 3.Can you import/export GPP’s?
Answer: Does the laptop have roaming profiles? If you can ping directly this may take more debugging that in a live meeting Q&A, In general most GP folks I see prefer to set a separate policy rather than adjust the default policies. It ensure you can track what you did much easier. Yes one can import export/adjust.
Question: laptop does not have roaming profiles
Answer: I’d still email directly, there are group policy processing log files that should be looked at to see why it’s working on one and not the other
Question: If you add a W2k3 server to a SBS 2008 domain, why does it add it to the SBScomputers container and not the SBSservers?
Answer: I don’t remember the exact technical reason that the connect wizard was not able to detect the OS, but suffice it to say it can’t. Thus it only adds it to the one OU. Yes that’s one part of the join domain wizard that I find annoying as well
Question: What Log files should be looked at to debug group policy?
Answer: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc775423.aspx Check out that url. the Userenv log files can be invaluable
Question: when creating GPP (i.e drive mapping) you get a red,yellow or green symbol next to it what’s the colours meaning?
Answer: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverGP/thread/2d03b45f-4f2b-4359-89ab-4729aabd8ab0/ it has to do with “action” if the action is “update” you will see yellow, if “create” you will see green, I’ll have to see what red is, haven’t seen that one
Question: What is the red color in drive mapping?
Answer: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverGP/thread/2d03b45f-4f2b-4359-89ab-4729aabd8ab0/ I would assume that means you’ve hit a drive mapping error 
Question: At what level of the AD are the custom created GP & GPP’s applied?
Answer: Answered by Eriq — you can select where those custom policies are applied. It’s where you set up and “create and link policy”
Question: Where can I get a free copy of the 2008 Unleashed?
Answer: Well if you write the book you get a free copy I’ve given some away some at my user group, but most will have to purchase it from Amazon.com
Question: Just some feedback for Eriq – I bought your book and find it very well written. A great reference for everyone!
Answer: He says thank you!
Question: What is the meaning of SBS 2008 Life?
Answer: According to Mark Minasi, SBS is a cult
Question: Since migrating over to SBS2008 the IE 7.0 Do you want to close all tabs? prompt keeps coming up on every new logon even though I check do not show me this dialog again checked . Is GP issue or not?
Answer: Is this only on the workstations or on the server?
Question: THANKS GUYS!
Answer: You are welcome!
Q&A from Group Policy Webinar
Posted by: | CommentsQuestion: w/out Mac or Linux can we keep SMB signing turned on…
Answer: Depends. I’ve hit Digital scanners/copiers that needed it off.
Question: Where will the download be located?
Answer: On www.thirdtier.net
Question: 3 questions on Group policy preference (GPP) 1.I have the following issue with setting GP preferences. We have migrated from SBS2003 to SBS2008. We needed to change the path of our network drive (N drive) share from the 03 server to the 08 server. I configured the GPP(default domain policy) on our SBS2008 action to replace on the GPP general tab and set the Item-level targeting to the relevant and OU. The results were that the required results worked on the desktop but not on the laptop which belong to the same user both desktop and laptop are running Vista SP1. How can I resolve this? 2.Do you recommend creating a unique group policy for GPP and not modifying the default policies? 3.Can you import/export GPP’s?
Answer: Does the laptop have roaming profiles? If you can ping directly this may take more debugging that in a live meeting Q&A, In general most GP folks I see prefer to set a separate policy rather than adjust the default policies. It ensure you can track what you did much easier. Yes one can import export/adjust.
Question: laptop does not have roaming profiles
Answer: I’d still email directly, there are group policy processing log files that should be looked at to see why it’s working on one and not the other
Question: If you add a W2k3 server to a SBS 2008 domain, why does it add it to the SBScomputers container and not the SBSservers?
Answer: I don’t remember the exact technical reason that the connect wizard was not able to detect the OS, but suffice it to say it can’t. Thus it only adds it to the one OU. Yes that’s one part of the join domain wizard that I find annoying as well
Question: What Log files should be looked at to debug group policy?
Answer: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc775423.aspx Check out that url. the Userenv log files can be invaluable
Question: when creating GPP (i.e drive mapping) you get a red,yellow or green symbol next to it what’s the colours meaning?
Answer: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverGP/thread/2d03b45f-4f2b-4359-89ab-4729aabd8ab0/ it has to do with “action” if the action is “update” you will see yellow, if “create” you will see green, I’ll have to see what red is, haven’t seen that one
Question: What is the red color in drive mapping?
Answer: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverGP/thread/2d03b45f-4f2b-4359-89ab-4729aabd8ab0/ I would assume that means you’ve hit a drive mapping error
Question: At what level of the AD are the custom created GP & GPP’s applied?
Answer: Answered by Eriq — you can select where those custom policies are applied. It’s where you set up and “create and link policy”
Question: Where can I get a free copy of the 2008 Unleashed?
Answer: Well if you write the book you get a free copy I’ve given some away some at my user group, but most will have to purchase it from Amazon.com
Question: Just some feedback for Eriq – I bought your book and find it very well written. A great reference for everyone!
Answer: He says thank you!
Question: What is the meaning of SBS 2008 Life?
Answer: According to Mark Minasi, SBS is a cult
Question: Since migrating over to SBS2008 the IE 7.0 Do you want to close all tabs? prompt keeps coming up on every new logon even though I check do not show me this dialog again checked . Is GP issue or not?
Answer: Is this only on the workstations or on the server?
Question: THANKS GUYS!
Answer: You are welcome!
