Author Archive
Kerio Connect Webinar Online
Posted by: | CommentsThe July Third Thursday webinar featuring Eriq Neale and a Kerio Connect installation demo is now online. Head over to the Store where you can download the webinar for free!
Q&A from Kerio Connect Webinar
Posted by: | CommentsThe following is the Q&A from the today’s Kerio Connect webinar with Eriq Neale. The recording of the webinar will be available in the store later in the week.
Question: Shouldn’t we be using the 64 bit version?
Answer: Kerio Connect is 32 bit, but supports also 64 bit in compatibility mode
Question: So you are saying that the 2nd IP address on the NIC and 2 available Public IP Addresses are a REQUIREMENT (minimum needed) for this product’s implementation or this is unique to Server 2008 Foundation?
Answer: Only if you want two different web applications on the same box. Otherwise you can run one of the two web services on a non-standard port
Question: Think this will work on a WHS box?
Answer: Yes you can run Kerio Connect on Home Server
Question: Since this product uses an AD connector, will it require a step for AD and then in Kerio to add a new user?
Answer: Answered live.
Question: Outlook 2010 supported?
Answer: Yes, Eriq is using Outlook 2010 live now.
Question: The Kerio connector setup screens all referred speicifcally to Outlook *2007* – that’s why I asked about Outlook 2010 So Outlook 2010 support is a qualified ‘yes’?
Answer: yes, with the limitation I just decribed regarding the Kerio settings dialog
Question: Migration from Exchange? Migration back to Exchange from Kerio Connect?
Answer: Answered live.
Question: Shared calendars and contacts?
Answer: Demonstrated live.
Question: Client is thinking about repurposing a Win2000 Pro wkstn. Thoughts?
Answer: Windows 2000 Extended Support ended 2 days ago (July 13, 2010) so running a production mail server on a non-supported box probably isn’t a good idea.
Question: Is there a benefit to use Kerio over Exchange on an SBS 2003 network or would this be a potential change to make when upgrading server hardware?
Answer: Answered live.
Question: On whs, you could presumably use different ports so as to not conflict with the remote access web site?
Answer: Yes, you could use different ports, but that would keep you from being able to use ActiveSync internally and externally. You could manually configure Outlook to use the differnet ports as well as Internet Explorer, but some tools cannot have their port configurations changed and wouldn’t work in that scenario.
Question: Can you talk about DR and support (DR or just generall support) from Kerio (8-5, paid, included, email only, etc.)?
Answer: Answered live.
Question: Any anti-spam features?
Answer: Yes. You can get more details at http://www.kerio.com/connect
Welcome Cliff Galiher!
Posted by: | CommentsThird Tier is pleased to announce the addition of Cliff Galiher to our team! Cliff brings a wealth of expertise in networking, Active Directory, OCS as well as SBS. He has been active at Experts Exchange as well as in the SBS newsgroups and forums for quite some time. You can find out more about Cliff on his bio page.
Welcome to Third Tier, Cliff!
Hyper-V Webinar Recording Posted
Posted by: | CommentsThe Third Thursday webinar that Wayne Small did on Hyper-V has finally been posted in the Third Tier Store for download. We apologize for the delay in getting this webinar posted as it has been one of the most asked-about sessions we have done.
Third Tier at SBS Migration IT Pro Conference
Posted by: | CommentsThird Tier staff members Eriq Neale and Steve Banks are attending the SBSMigration.com conference in New Orleans and will be speaking in various sessions this weekend.
Steve will be moderating and leading a discussion on “right-sizing” servers Friday afternoon from 3:00-4:15pm.
Eriq will be doing a demonstration of the Kerio Connect group collaboration solution Saturday morning from 9:15-9:45, then leading a panel discussion on monitoring and remote access form 9:45-10:45. Eriq will also be posting summaries of the various conference sessions over at his MVP Blog.
If you’re at the conference, be sure to stop them and introduce yourself!
Q&A from Hyper-V 101 Webinar
Posted by: | CommentsHere is the Q&A from April’s Hyper-V 101 Webinar hosted by Wayne Small
Question: How does Hyper-V deal with servers where memory is “assigned” to a specific processor? Is all the memory and the cores just accumulated automatically or is there something that needs to be configured?
Answer: It is a configurable option. Wayne is actually going to cover this later in the presentation.
Question: Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 (the free edition) does not have the memory limitations as the non-R2 version had.
Answer: thank you for that information
Question: check http://www.microsoft.com/hyper-v-server/en/us/default.aspx for a R2 Comparison Chart.
Answer: Thanks Tim!
Question: You no longer need to know command line to run the free Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, check out the Core Config tool at http://coreconfig.codeplex.com
Answer: This is a community created add-on, not a feature of the product but a good reference none the less. Very few people are good at command line server management anymore.
Question: Is it ok to put a file share – not app – on the Hyper-V host without license issues?
Answer: I will ask Wayne this question at the end.
Question: Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker’s “Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2″ book is available as a free eBook – http://blogs.technet.com/eec/archive/2009/10/30/3290424.aspx
Answer: Free is good. Thanks for the tip.
Question: How soon will the recorded meeting be available for review….or do I need to take notes. 
Answer: The recording will be posted in a few days.
Question: how to create an isolated network (from a dhcp point of view, eg for creating an sbs test environment without affecting the live sbs environment) but for it to still have internet access – http://mundy.net.au/Hyper-V/testing-sbs-in-hyper-v-isolating-dhcp-while-allowing-full-internet-connectivity
Answer: Thanks for the link.
Question: Not clear on the IDE part – have Proliant ML350 servers running with NO IDE drives – just SCSI
Answer: The IDE drives are virtual not physical. Your physical server can be scsi, while the virtual disks are IDE. That’s how I run mine. Same as Wayne.
Question: Can Wayne address the advantages of one large striped and mirrored drive vs separate spindles for each guest O/S
Answer: I will ask him at the end of the session
Question: So when you create a few snapshots and your testing is completed how do you merge all of the changes that you have made into the parent VHD?
Answer: We’ll address this question at the end of session.
Question: can you delete snapshots to increase the performance again?
Private Answer: Yes you can.
Question: Can y’all recommend some “how-to” videos on Hyper-V?
Answer: I used the Microsoft eLearning tools and virtual labs. We will ask Wayne for his suggestion.
Question: I just saw Waynes Tweet on this, So I’m 1hr late, is there going to be a slide deck download available? Thanks
Answer: The presentation is being recorded and will be available on our website in a few days
Question: what about memory allocation for the TS server?
Answer: Recall that Wayne said that they added 8 more GB’s of ram to bring the server to 24GB total. The added 8GB went to TS. It was not reflected in the slide.
Question: The folder on host in question is an Install share used by all of the lan users.
Answer: yes that would be a violation on the licensing agreement
Question: What is Wayne’s take on joining the host to the SBS domain as a member server?
Answer: All of Wayne’s hyper-v hosts are not joined to the domain because there is no other domain controller besides that hosted SBS server. You can join it to the domain when you have a non-virtual domain controller.
SBS 2003 Monitoring and Update Services Node Failing on April 14
Posted by: | CommentsMany SBS 2003 R2 servers experienced an unusual interruption in the daily monitoring reports and system administrators also noted that the Update Services node in the Server Management Console failed to display correctly starting Wednesday, April 14, 2010. The Official SBS Blog has a post explaining the issue and a workaround/resolution for the problem at http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2010/04/14/windows-sbs-2003-update-services-gives-error-the-element-already-exists-in-the-collection.aspx.
If you’ve been experiencing this issue with your SBS 2003 R2 servers, follow the instructions in the SBS Blog to address the problem.
RunAs Radio: Eriq talks Macs and Active Directory
Posted by: | CommentsThird Tier’s Eriq Neale will appear on the April 14th episode of RunAs Radio (http://www.runasradio.com) discussing issues surrounding incorporating the Macintosh platform into an Active Directory environment. This will be the second time in as many months that a member of Third Tier has been the featured guest on the program (Amy Babinchak appeared in the March 31 episode discussing security in EBS).
So who wrote this blog and what do they do for a living anyway?
We’re Third Tier. We provide advanced Third Tier support for IT Professionals.
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LinkedINMac Mini an Alternative to SBS?
Posted by: | CommentsIn a March 31 article at crn.com (http://www.crn.com/software/224200956), ChannelWeb correspondent Kevin McLaughlin posits that Apple’s special configuration of a Mac Mini with Snow Leopard Server preinstalled could pose a serious threat to sales of Small Business Server. Third Tier’s Eriq Neale was interviewed for the article and offered some insight on the topic. To get a deeper view of Eriq’s take on the premise of the article, come to SMB Nation Spring in East Brunswick and sit in on his session Alternative Solutions in the SMB Space. Even if you saw the session he did at the Fall conference in Las Vegas, this is one you won’t want to miss!
So who wrote this blog and what do they do for a living anyway?
We’re Third Tier. We provide advanced Third Tier support for IT Professionals.
Get Support Blog Twitter Facebook LinkedINFoundation Webinar Q&A
Posted by: | CommentsHere is the Q&A from today’s Foundation Server webinar. The recording will be available soon in our Store, http://www.thirdtier.net/store.
Question: Good to hear that Texas twang again. 
Answer: you’re quite welcome, sir!
Question: Will it run on Hyper-V?
Answer: No, we’ll cover the limitations of the product in the presentation.
Question: Russell Clements – Systems Administrator at Institute for Creation Research (DFW-SBS President in my spare time…). I’ve used Third Tier twice and was VERY impressed with the OUTSTANDING service provided. It’s a GREAT resource – THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!
Answer: Thanks, Russell.
Question: He mentioned 15 users in AD. Does that count include all the “default” users (Administrator, Guest, IIS_WPG, IUSR_SVRNAME, IWAM_SVRNAME, etc.)? Or only the named users that we add for the customer’s employees?
Answer: No it does not includes those users. Only the named users. There is a licensing service then runs every few minutes and checks for users in the domain.
Question: I am not seeing slides changing
Answer: You should be on the slide What CAN Founcation Server do? Slide. If not, you may have lost connection and need to sign out and back in again.
Question: they are changing REALLY slowly
Answer: OK, well at least moving. Eriq hasn’t shown many slides yet.
Question: In Server 2003, there was a POP3 mail server. Is there one available for Foundation?
Answer: If there is in Server 2008 R2 then it’s available in Foundation Server.
Question: If a vendor says in there specis that they need server 2008 will a Foundation Server work?
Answer: Yes, unless it hits upon one of the feature limitations that eriq mentioned. But in almost all cases, yes it will.
Question: How are you handling email with this solution?
Answer: I am using hosted Exchange. POP mail through an ISP would also be an option.
Question: Do you have a link that compares windows home server with foundation server?
Answer: There is no direct comparison because they are housed in different divisions within Microsoft.
Question: Will there be evals or NFR’s that we can get maybe through the Action Pack to get familiar with the software?
Answer: Foundation Server came in the Action Pack with the last quarter delivery.
Question: For the small offices that have been limping along on Server 2000 or Server 2003 is there a migration path to Foundation? What about SBS03 users that have decided to move to hosted Exchange?
Answer: There is no direct migration from 32-bit to 64-bit.
Question: Can you add Exchange, Sharepoint ect. and is there any separate pricing for it.
Answer: Sharepoint services is a free download. Anything that you install onto Foundation Server will need to be purchased.
Question: Since this is sold in OEM only, if the server hardware dies then we cannot do bare metal restore because it violates OEM license EULA, correct? Or am I missing something.
Answer: Yes, regular OEM licensing limitations apply.
Question: What about a migration path similar to SBS03->08? If we want to preserve the existing AD …
Answer: Yep, you can join it to the existing domain as a domain controller, it will then have a copy of the AD. Don’t forget to move the FSMO roles after you remove the old SBS03 server.
Question: I’m not that familiar with the low-end Dell boxes. What is your recommendation for RAID? PERC S100/S300 (”software based”)? Or a hardware RAID card?
Answer: This is a matter of opinion. But in my mind, this is a low end box and therefore mirror is probably most appropriate. There are no limitations in the product itself regarding drives.
Question: Great job, but I joined late. Is this recorded?
Answer: YES! http://www.thirdtier.net/store
Question: So we need to be careful with additional users, like backup service, zenith remote admin, etc (which aren’t specifically “named Users” but it sounds like they will take up a foundations CAL?
Answer: Yes, any created user would count as one of the 15 users.
Question: 15 users – counting disabled? // What if foundation is not a DC role, can it be in a domain with trusts? // Can virtualization be used for validation of recovery processes OR as a temporary solution for recovery in case of critical hardware failure? // What are you doing to address Backup of foundation server?
Answer: answering live
Question: can Foundation Server software be purchased from Ingram or D&H?
Answer: No. Foundation Serveris OEM only and only to the major manufacturers at that.
Question: There was some debate in forums about whether you can attach in a larger domain as long as the user usage is 15 or lower. IE. 50 user shop. 10 users hitting FS with TS?
Answer: Nope. It can only be installed at the root of the domain, so it will count all of the users in the entire domain.
Question: You said Dell will ship this preinstalled. How do they configure RAID, disk partitions, etc.? Are there OK options or do you end up blowing it away and rebuilding?
Answer: The options availalbe from Dell have seemed OK to me. We have left it as installed and just setup our own data partitions.
Question: Foundation was recently sent to SBSCs for test setup
Answer: Yes, SBSC’s did get a copy of Foundation Server.
Question: Can you comment on why one would put in a foundation server vs a windows home server?
Answer: answering live
Question: Standard Microsoft Action Pack subscribers do not get Foundation server. I just checked on my online product downloads page. I am not SBSc.
Answer: It was shipped as a seperate DVD and not available for download. It may have been for SBSC Action Pack subscribers only.
Question: so the “administrator” counts as one user already, out of the 15?
Answer: We are not certain. We will get the answer and post it to the blog.
Question: Does the administrator user account count as one of the 15 users?
Answer: Look for the answer to this on our blog.
Question: Very good stuff guys. Thanks!
Answer: Welcome
Question: Excellent webinar.. thank you very much.
Answer: Welcome
Question: Thanks good info
Answer: Welcome
Question: Great info as usual.
Answer: Thanks Tom
Question: Foundation server only adds AD and TS?
Answer: Group Policy and all features of Windows 2008 R2
Question: is $299 the msrp?
Answer: Yes
Question: Thanks – Great Info
Answer: Welcome
Question: except direct access
Answer: It can be a DA client, just not the server side
URLs mentioned in the webinar:
Foundation Server Marketing Page: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/foundation.aspx
Foundation Server Technical Page: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744832(WS.10).aspx
Server 2008 R2 Feature Comparisons: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/r2-compare-features.aspx
Server 2008 R2 Role Comparisons: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/r2-compare-roles.aspx
