This past week, I was in Orlando for Exchange 14 Ignite training.  This consisted of hands-on labs and presentations from Microsoft employees about the next version of Exchange.  While we were at the training, Microsoft unveiled the official title for Exchange 14, Exchange 2010.  There are some great new features.

• Database Availability Group (DAG) – allows database replication without a lot of the complexity that existed in Exchange 2007.  The nice thing about this is you can have a server with multiple roles and have a DAG.
• Self-healing databases – if there are multiple copies of a database (in a DAG array) Exchange now has the capability to recover from page errors in the database (-1018, –1019, and –1022).  A copy of the bad page can be copied from another database copy.
• Exchange Federation Gateway – This allows organizations to use a broker service provided by Microsoft in the cloud to authenticate cross-organization.  From this people can view Free/Busy information and even details.
• Decreased IO footprint – Exchange 2010 has the potential to reduce IO by 70% over Exchange 2007 and a total of 91% over Exchange 2003.  This is great news which can lead to larger mailboxes.
• Online mailbox moves – that’s right!  Now user’s do not have to be kicked out of their mailbox while it is being moved.

There are plenty of other features, but this is just a quick taste.  Overall, I feel that there are several features which warrant this upgrade from Exchange 2003 and even Exchange 2007.

Check out more details at: http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/2010/

-Allen

I was at a customer’s site this week when I ran into an issue with Vista on my laptop.  It kept displaying a network as Unidentified and I could not change this.  This was the loopback adapter that I was using for Virtual Server 2005.  I had recently enabled this adapter so I could move files from my physical laptop to virtual machines.

It turns out the workaround for this is to add a default gateway to the NIC.  That will give you the option to change the label/name for the network connection.  I found the solution for this in the following forum:

http://forums.techarena.in/showthread.php?t=671112

-Allen

I recently finished reading Giving by Bill Clinton and must say that I look at him in a whole new light.  Coming from a Republican upbringing, I was not a huge fan of Clinton while he was in office.  Of course this was before I came a hippie and got into the Dead, Phish, moe., and the scene.    However, after reading this book, I have a new found respect for Clinton and all of the work that he has done to try and make this world a better place.  It could also be that my views have changed over the past few years as I have become more traveled.  Now on to the book.

There were fantastic examples of people who had so little but gave so much.  For instance, somebody who barely made a living by washing and ironing clothes for people saved $150,000 after 75 years.  That money was given to start a scholarship fund.

There was an example of a homeless organization in my own backyard.  Paramus, the town right next to mine, has an organization that helps the Bergen County homeless.  In such an affluent area, people often don’t think that others are going hungry.

There are even examples of non-profit organizations that help individuals and corporations be better eco-citizens by "going green".  With my hippie roots, that is right up my alley.

It has opened my eyes to the many organizations, corporations, and individuals out there that are doing good to make the world a better place.  The next tough decision is figuring out which one I will help out. 

I find myself in an extremely fortunate situation where Microsoft will match what I contribute to any 501(c)3 organization, up to $12,000 per year.  It is nice to double the impact of the donations.  They even match time if you choose to volunteer with an organization.  I encourage all of you to look into what your companies offer for matching.

This quote has stuck in my mind.  "…how much money we could give also applies to gifts of time, skills, things, reconciliation, and new beginnings.  If we all just gave according to our ability, the positive impact would be staggering."

If you can’t find inspiration from this book, I have to question if you are human. 

Give.

-Allen

Today marked my 7th year at Microsoft! It seems like yesterday I started in Service Academy in TX. My how time flies when you are having fun! I look forward to many more years!

-Allen

After many meals, stories, labs, and technical information, it has to come to an end. Today I finished up delivering the Train The Trainer class here in Malaysia. This was my first international teaching experience. Everybody in the class was extremely nice and I look forward to working with them in the future. (Pictured Left to Right: Yudhil, Jakapong, Chung, me, Sanjeev, Albert, Val. Not pictured: Cheng Pei. Click the picture for the full size image)

-Allen