|
Vol. 12, #41 - Oct 22, 2007 - Issue #647
|
|
Unified Communications Launched: Death Of The PBX
|
| This issue of WServerNews is sponsored by |
|---|
 |
- Editor's Corner
- Unified Communications Launched: Death Of The PBX
- Feedback From A Sales Survey
- Webinar: Enterprise Class Email Archiving for Exchange
- Webinar: What's New in CounterSpy Enterprise Version 3.0
- Quotes of the Week
- Admin Toolbox
- Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without
- Tech Briefing
- October 2007 Web Server Survey
- PCs Shipping At Fastest Rate In 2 Years
- Special Report: Virtualization And The Changing Windows Desktop
- Expert Tip: SQL Server Password Management
- How To Troubleshoot Disk Problems In Microsoft Windows Vista
- A Windows Administrator's Guide To Printer Management
- Release Policies Set Standards For Rollouts
- Windows Server News
- Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Is A Must
- WServer Third Party News
- What Makes A Happy Customer?
- Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Email Discovery
- And Yet More Vulnerabilities, Here Is The List:
- WServerNews Fave Links
- This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
- WServerNews- Product of the Week
- Instantly Reduce Every Message In The Exchange Store to 2-5K!
|
Save a tree. Save money. And a whole lot of time too.
You can stop printing employee directories by leveraging your Active
Directory with rDirectory. It's the perfect system: a web-based employee
directory where users can self-edit to update their info, a template driven
account creation tool with provisioning, a way for users to create and
self-subscribe to email lists and groups, a self-service password reset
utility, a valuable tool for any help desk and more. And with Microsoft's
Office Communication Server 2007, we have integrated presence capabilities
so your users can seek, find and click to communicate. We offer four editions
so you can find the perfect fit for your needs. See why customers call
rDirectory the most versatile Active Directory tool available:
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-rDirectory
|
 |
Editor's Corner |
|
Unified Communications Launched: Death Of The PBX
This week, Redmond introduced its Unified Communications (UC) strategy,
together with new products and an Exchange 07 service pack update. The big
idea of UC is a suite of communications software that connects phones with
servers and delivers messaging, voice and video conferencing in an integrated
package. I have seen it work at TechEd and it's pretty cool. Microsoft showed
off some early bird adopters, and about 50 partners ranging from VARs to
telephony vendors like Nortel and Ericsson, and of course the required ISVs
and phone and device manufacturers. "What today's announcement is about, is
taking the magic of software and applying it to phone calls," Gates said.
The official code released is called Microsoft Office Communications Server
2007, which from now on we'll call OCS 07, Microsoft Office Communicator
2007, a new version of Microsoft Office Live Meeting, and Microsoft RoundTable.
Redmond's OCS 07 product is the foundation for its UC strategy. It is a Session
Initiation Protocol (SIP) -based server that can route and switch IP-based voice
traffic, IM, Web conferencing sessions, and presence from within MS Office.
You will also see integration with Dynamics ERP and the MS CRM product.
There are a whole bunch of moving parts here, as with OCS 07 comes the
Office Communicator 2007 client solution, so you can deliver phone/IM/video
to PCs, mobile devices and browsers. Redmond also showed of their new hardware;
Microsoft RoundTable is a newfangled phone that includes a 360-degree camera
to deliver video conferencing.
Redmond of course claims a whole slew of benefits: reduce hold- or wait times
while on the phone, reduce the need for travel, and improving collaboration
within businesses, given the unified communications capabilities. The buzzword
is 'presence'. It's supposed to mean the end of telephone tag, blind dialing
and voicemail hell. Forrester came out with glowing predictions of 500% in ROI
across three years. The market is supposed to be worth $17 billion in four
years, up from $4 billion now. Yah sure.
Redmond is now attacking the last remaining island that has not been affected
by IT. It goes straight into the teeth of some big players like Cisco, and
it will take some time for this technology to penetrate. Think earliest
2009, 2010 before you see companies roll out OCS-based integrated web
conferencing and whole-hog UC. But you might as well get ready, and study
up on UC as there's a good chance you're gonna have to manage those servers
too in the near future. Call it job security. Here is a good roadshow you
can sign up for to get to know more about UC:
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-OCS07
Feedback From A Sales Survey
"I am very happy with CounterSpy. The purchase price was good and it's
easy to manage. I also use Ninja on our Exchange server and I love that
product too. Sunbelt is the best company I have worked with in years. Your
guys are always helpful in the forums and seem to really listen to things
like feature requests. It feels like you guys really care about your
customers and that's something that is hard to find in most companies
theses days. Please keep up the good work. Thanks." - B.H.
Webinar: Enterprise Class Email Archiving for Exchange
Join us for a sneak preview of Sunbelt Software's new Exchange email
archiving and compliance solution, Sunbelt Exchange Archiver(tm), scheduled
for release the first week in November. If you need a powerful, easy to
use, enterprise-class email archiving tool that automatically enables you
to comply with all requirements, and allows you or your end-users to
transparently retrieve any archived email, then don't miss this webinar!
The webinar will be hosted by Alex Eckelberry, CEO and Greg Kras, VP of
Product Management for Sunbelt Software on Tuesday, October 30th at 2:00pm
EDT and will explain the features and benefits of implementing a powerful
email archiving solution on your Exchange Server at an affordable price.
Learn how Sunbelt Exchange Archiver can help you:
- Improve Exchange performance
- Eliminate PST headaches
- Dramatically reduce backup times
- Use up to 80% smaller message store
- Meet compliance requirements
- And more
When: Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 2:00 PM EDT
To register for this event please visit:
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-SEA-Webinar
Can't Wait? Want to see the first recorded webcast instead? Here is the
link to the slides, the webcast and also all the questions that were
asked and answered during the webcast... (20 pages worth of technical
questions in a PDF)
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-SEA-Resources
Webinar: What's New in CounterSpy Enterprise Version 3.0
Join Sunbelt Software for an overview of the new features in CounterSpy
Enterprise version 3.0. This new version continues to provide robust
protection against complex malware threats for corporate environments while
delivering several new features, including new management dashboards,
reporting improvements, and console usability enhancements.
The web demo will be hosted by Alex Eckelberry, CEO and Greg Kras, VP of
Product Management for Sunbelt Software on Tuesday, October 23rd at 2:00pm EDT.
Learn about the new features of this robust enterprise antimalware product
including:
- New configurable management dashboards that allow administrators to easily
create a customized "malware command center" that gives instant access to
their most used reports and policy controls.
- Reporting improvements that make it easier to schedule and customize the
library of reports, and includes a new report scheduler and custom report
editor
- Console usability enhancements that offer easier-to-understand alerts and
customizable views
When: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 2:00 PM (EDT)
To register for this event please visit:
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-CSE-Webinar
Quotes of the Week
"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth"
-- George Washington
"I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of
what I am saying." - Oscar Wilde
And thank you for being a WServerNews subscriber.
|
Double-Take Software - Recovery Made Easy
Disaster Recovery Virtualization - Past, Present and Future;
With Analyst Guest Speaker! Date: November 14th, 2007 Time: 5pm - 6pm
CET Speakers: Bob Roudebush, Director of Solutions Engineering, Double-
Take Software and John Humphreys, Analyst, IDC. The virtualization market
continues to grow at a rapid pace, fueled by industry leaders such as VMware
and Microsoft, as well as newer companies vying for a piece of the
virtualization action.
- What virtualization solutions are available today?
- Which technology for an organization's business continuity goals?
- Are there solutions designed to leverage the capabilities of virtualized
servers to make implementing disaster recovery easier and cheaper?
- What kinds of use cases are most beneficial to investigate?
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-Virtualization-Recovery
|
|
Tech Briefing |
|
October 2007 Web Server Survey
Apache has around a 10% market share advantage over IIS now, which is the
smallest gap between the two since IIS was launched in 1996. On the active
sites measure which excludes templated sites, Apache gains 1 million sites
this month, though this is eclipsed by growth of nearer 3 million for
Microsoft-IIS. Here are all the graphs:
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-Web-Server-Survey
PCs Shipping At Fastest Rate In 2 Years
Computer shipments rose this summer at the fastest rate in nearly two
years, and Hewlett-Packard Co. pulled still farther ahead of Dell Inc.
as the world's largest maker of PCs, two technology research firms
reported Wednesday. Read more:
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-PC-Sales
Special Report: Virtualization And The Changing Windows Desktop
The classic Windows desktop is changing, and eventually it will alter the
way we do our jobs. This Special Report defines the new terms and addresses
the options that Windows managers might consider for virtualizing the desktop
and for planning their near-term technology needs. (registration required)
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-Virtualizing-Desktop
Expert Tip: SQL Server Password Management
There are several risky assumptions about SQL Server passwords that can get
you into a bind quite easily. Read this tip to find out what not to assume.
(registration required)
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-SQL-Password-Management
How To Troubleshoot Disk Problems In Microsoft Windows Vista
This excerpt from "Windows Vista Resource Kit," provides instructions for
troubleshooting disk problems in Microsoft Windows Vista. It explains how
to prepare for disk failures, how to use Chkdsk, how to work with the Disk
Cleanup Wizard and how to disable non-volatile cache.
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-Vista-Disk-Problems
A Windows Administrator's Guide To Printer Management
Printer management is more than simply sending print jobs to a network print
queue. It also entails configuring, fine-tuning and troubleshooting problems
-- not the least of which is dealing with the quirky ways end-users use them.
Find out more in this resource guide, which examines printer management issues
Windows admins commonly encounter and offers tools and tactics that can help
optimize printer performance. (registration required)
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-Printer-Management
Release Policies Set Standards For Rollouts
Before deploying Windows Vista, make sure you develop a release policy that
identifies how the rollout will be managed in order to optimize productivity
and minimize disruptions. Find out more in this tip!
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-Vista-Policies
|
|
Windows Server News |
|
Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Is A Must
The main thing to take away is that if you want to run OCS (a.k.a. Office
Communications Server 2007), you need SP1, no doubts about it. It also
supports W2K8 and Vista. Next, it beefs up secure e-mail access, has
better support for email encryption, and adds an third manual
middle-of-the road HA/Fail-over option.
For admins, there is a whole slew of goodies, like GUI console and shell
updates. On the console side, much of the features that were command-line
-only are now in the GUI and that includes POP/IMAP management, public folders,
VoIP security, and clustering. And if you are a scripter, you will like the
Exchange PowerShell toolkit additions. They make it a lot easier to use,
as well as provide support for importing and exporting PST files.
From the end-user perspective, they get SharePoint and public folder access
via OWA which is nice. (they claim the security is covered) To keep Web-based
traffic more secure, SP1 now includes support for S/MIME encryption via the OWA
client. There's quite a few new features your end-users will like, including
new OWA themes, Office 2007 document converters, and a new monthly scheduling
view.
And there's more. An update to ActiveSync, and more granular tools such as
log management updates and mobile remote wipe confirmation. Like I said,
this is a must-have. Here is Microsoft's event about it. Watch at any time:
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-E2K7-SP1
|
|
WServer Third Party News |
|
What Makes A Happy Customer?
My name is Peter Neuman and I am the owner and President of PCN Network
Consulting, Inc. We are a small IT consulting firm in Westchester NY
servicing small and mid-sized companies and their IT needs. For a long
time, we were experimenting with various methods to block spam at various
client networks. One of the main complaints we had with many of the available
spam blockers out there was that if spam was blocked, there was no convenient
way to sift through the blocked mail to make sure a legit message was not
sent to the spam folder (which can often happen). And if it we found it
complicated, imagine trying to explain it to an end user.
One of the products we used ( I won't mention the name ) blocked the spam
and then at the end of each day, generated and sent an email with a list
of the messages that were blocked. Waiting until the end of the day to
see that a message I was supposed to get in the morning was blocked -
does not work for me or any of my business clients.
We finally stumbled upon Sunbelt's Ninja Spam Blocking tool. I was immediately
pleased that we were able to download a trial prior to purchasing and that
their software support team was kind enough to walk us through the installation
even though we had not purchased it yet.
Upon installation, my first impression of the software was that I liked the
SPAM folder that gets automatically created in the outlook folder list.
Within the spam folder are three subfolders (Quarantine, allowed senders,
and blocked senders) The quarantine folder is where the spam emails
automatically go so you can actually check it in real-time as they come in.
There is no delay or wait time. Another excellent feature is that if a legit
email is being blocked, simply drag the email out of quarantine and place it
in the allowed senders folder. The Ninja service learns and will correct
the problem. It is a trouble free, simple solution that just works. As
with all software applications, there are times when we have questions or
require a bit of assistance in getting something installed correctly.
This is where Sunbelt shines.
Each and every time either myself or one of my associates has contacted
Sunbelt, their support staff has always been extremely helpful. Christina
Gibellino is one of the sales associates and has become one of the most
reliable and customer satisfaction oriented people I have ever run into.
She is extremely helpful and goes above and beyond which is such a rare
thing to find these days. She is such a pleasure to speak with, that
the reliability of the Ninja spam filter software is just an added bonus.
Once you find a winner, you stick with it. Our search is over.
Peter Neuman
PCN Network Consulting, Inc
President
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Email Discovery
As you know, email is increasingly used in court cases. Often
e-discovery for civil lawsuits provides the grounds for prosecuting
criminal cases. What is not known, is -how- often this is the case.
The ePolicy Institute found that 21% of companies have been required
to produce employee email in legal cases.
This obviously means that you as an admin need the ability to query
the exchange message store quickly and efficiently. You need powerful
tools with both simple and advanced full-text search and also be
able to do granular extraction of relevant emails and attachments
with a minimum impact on IT staff. Here is the answer to all this:
Sunbelt Exchange Archiver:
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-Sunbelt-Exchange-Archiver
And Yet More Vulnerabilities, Here Is The List:
SNSI uses the latest Mitre Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) list of
computer incidents. It also contains the latest SANS/FBI top 20 vulnerability
list. SNSI also uses the latest CERT, CIAC Microsoft and FedCIRC (Department
of Homeland Security) advisories. New vulnerability updates for this release
include:
W3214 Adobe GoLive 9 BMP, PNG image handling
W3213 Adobe Illustrator CS3 PNG, BMP, DIB, and RLE image handling
W3212 Adobe PageMaker font name handling W3110 Java Runtime Envrionment
W2994 CA ARCServe Media Server, RPC, Message Engine Vulnerabilities
W2992 Java Runtime Environment 1.5 latest not installed
W2991 Java Runtime Environment 1.4 latest not installed
L0138 Wesnoth UTF-8 string truncate error - FC
L0139 HPLip hpssd user input error - RHE
L0142 Cpio safer_name_suffix vulnerability - SuSE
L0143 Emacs crafted image size error - SuSE
L0144 Krb5 Multiple vulnerabilities - SuSE
L0145 PPTpd GRE out-of-order and dequeue error - SuSE
L0146 MySQL multiple vulnerabilities - SuSE
L0147 QT3 Off-by-one QUtf8 Decoder error - SuSE
L0148 Balsa ir_fetch_sep FETCH response error - SuSE
L0149 Id3lib RenderV2ToFile temp file error -
L0151 TCL/TK animated GIF image error - SuSE
L0153 Lighttpd fcgi & mod_proxy overwrite errors - SuSE
L0154 Novell-groupwise-gwclient SSL intercept - SuSE
L0157 Sylpheed-claws inc_put format string bug - SuSE
L0158 Kernel multiple vulnerabilities - SuSE
S0516 Streams module vuidmice instability - Solaris 8 - 10
S0517 Labeld Trusted Extensions service vulnerabilities - Solaris 10
S0518 Kernel VFS, Auditing vulnerabilities - Solaris 10
S0519 X Font Server font handler vulnerabilities - Solaris 8 - 10
S0521 Shutdown not completing cleanly - Solaris 10
S0522 StorEdge 3510 FC FTP service vulnerability -
H0167 OpenSSL multiple vulnerabilities - HP-UX 11
Sunbelt Network Security Inspector version 1.6.80.0 was released October 17, 2007).
Sunbelt Software recommends you download the new SNSI version 1.6.80.0, scan,
and patch your machines today. To get the latest SNSI version, visit:
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-SNSI
|
|
WServerNews Fave Links |
|
This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff.
|
|
WServerNews- Product of the Week |
|
Instantly Reduce Every Message In The Exchange Store to 2-5K!
Sunbelt Exchange Archiver improves performance, productivity and allows you
to comply with legal and regulatory retention requirement, within budget!
Also, note that the following 'Archiving Myths' are BUSTED:
- "Our 'archive' is really our backups."
- "We purge email frequently in order to have no 'smoking guns.'"
- "The courts will let us off the hook if we can't produce data because
of our 90-day deletion policy"
- "We don't need to archive because we're not in a regulated industry"
http://www.wservernews.com/071022-Sunbelt-Exchange-Archiver
|
|
|
|
|
Email me: 