The problem is that Windows Updates will not run properly (giving you various errors) and when Roles or Features are selected un the Server Manager you get the following error:

Error: Cannot display data until your computer is restarted.

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Exchange Outlook Web Access is a wonderful feature, but directing users to access it on their own can be a patience testing proposal if you’re not using URL redirection.

For example: you’ve installed Exchange 2010, configured all the appropriate roles, including the CAS (Client Access Server; responsible for OWA), and deserve a hero’s welcome, or at least a pat on the back. You then send an email to staff telling them that they can access webmail from the following public URL – https://webmail.domain.com/owa; easy enough right? Wrong! A few days later, calls come streaming in with users attempting to access OWA using incorrect URL’s: http instead of https, forgetting to append /owa to the URL, etc.

Well you can clear all of this up and make it transparent to the user, and they’ll never know you did it; it will just work.

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To get the best performance out of VMware’s iSCSI initiator it’s a good idea to enable jumbo frames on the ESX hosts.  First configure a new vSwitch dedicated to the iSCSI network and if you’re doing this in the GUI delete the default port group that is created.

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Here’s a tip if your ESX host freaks out and you happen to be storing a VMFS partition on the same volume as ESX: 

If an “upgrade” install doesn’t fix the problem then do a clean install and on the page that shows how it will cut up the partitions there is a checkbox that says not to touch the existing VMFS partitions on the volume.  Leave that checked and then proceed with the install. 

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Several of our customers recently purchased HP DL180 G6 servers.  They are perfect (and economical) servers for iSCSI storage as they support up to 14 drives in a 2u form factor.  We however ran into a logistical problem in the purchase as the servers ordered were a HP Smart Buy, meaning that it’s a preconfigured server for a bit of a discount. 

This particular Smart Buy came with a PCI cage in the rear of the server for 2 PCI-E slots and a slimline DVD drive.  Well it being a storage server we had no need for the DVD drive and really wanted additional expansion slots.  The standard PCI cage will allow for 3 PCI-E slots or 4 with an optional riser card.  So I called HP and they directed me to a part number and so I ordered it.  When it arrived I could tell by the box that it was too small and sure enough it was just a PCI-e riser card, not the cage.  So I called them back and explained the situation and after I talked to 3 different departments I was still not convinced that the part they were telling me to order next was the right one.  Being in a crunch I ordered all rear PCI-e accessories.  When they arrived I opened box after box and they were all wrong! 

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Woo Hoo!  The floodgates are now open:  starting today, you can officially purchase a retail copy of Windows 7 or an OEM version included with your new computer.  Microsoft is coming out in full force with this release, which promises to be the most stable and thoroughly tested release ever.  They have dedicated their home page to the Windows 7 love-fest today, displaying comments from satisfied users via twitter.

We, at Advanced Data & Network Solutions, are fully prepared to assist you with purchasing, installing/upgrading, and maintaining your new Windows 7 installation in a home or business environment.  In fact, most of us here have been using Windows 7 as our OS of choice for a few months, with some having gone through the beta testing for almost a year!

An exciting feature of Exchange 2010 is its support for message waiting indicators (MWI).  While this doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, one of the biggest complaints about Exchange 2007 was its lack of MWI support.  Even though Exchange Unified Messaging is able to send voicemails to an email address, most users are accustomed to the phone notifying them when they have new voicemail.

Even more exciting were the reports that MWI with Exchange 2010 and Cisco CallManager 7 just worked out of the box without extra configuration. Many articles I read spoke of the ease of configuration at getting this feature enabled. This, however, was not the case in our lab.  As it turns out, some of the default settings for SIP trunks in CCM 7 will cause problems with MWI.

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Well, it’s been two weeks and I seem to have all the applications I need installed.  After I got Windows 7 up and running (joined our domain, delegated myself the appropriate credentials, applied all released updates, and set the system settings I desired (remote desktop, firewall tweaks, etc)) I began installing additional software.

In this post, I’ll focus on the applications that have given me trouble, as well as some more common suites and if they required any additional work.

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Analytics software can be invaluable when it comes time to prove the worth of the SharePoint site you migrated your company’s intranet from, or when seeking that budget increase for more hardware.

The problem is with the nature of SharePoint sites being fluid, in that they are constantly changing as the data they serve is being updated or consolidated.  New features and web parts are being added, and so the code under the hood is always evolving.

This brings me to the problem I faced when a customer needed assistance in setting up analytics software on the SharePoint site.

There are plenty of sites that will walk explain the integration for MOSS 2007 and Google Analytics (GA), but none that I found for WSS 3.0.

The site I am working with is using a combination of default and custom Master Pages. 

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OK, so the install was pretty much like all other installs of Vista.  Since I was moving from a 32-bit (x86) environment to a 64-bit (x64) implementation, I was not able to perform an in place or other upgrade. Fresh, or clean install it is!

Upon booting off of the DVD, Vista users will recognize the familiar screen…

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