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How to Kill a Company in One Step or Save it in Three

Wesley David — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The majority of companies that suffer a major data loss subsequently go out of business. David Wesley remembers vividly the day when the organisation he worked for found that they couldn't restore their data, and the subsequent struggles that ensued. Shoulda-woulda-coulda.

Migrating from OCS 2007 R2 to Lync: Part 4

Johan Veldhuis — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Having migrated the rest of our users and legacy resources across, and start getting ready to decommission OCS 2007 R2, this final article in the series explains how to complete the migration, reconfigure the federation traffic, and remove the OCS 2007 R2 environment

Physical Network Layout for the Reluctant

Matt Simmons — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

How do you select the hardware for your network, and connect it all together? How do you then test your network and ensure that it is secure? Our crash course for the reluctant tells you enough of the basics in simple language to get you started.

Exchange 2010 Service Pack 2 - What's New

Jaap Wesselius — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Microsoft Exchange Service Pack2 (SP2)is now released, so Jaap Wesselius has taken a look at the latest update, highlighting some of the most interesting features of the latest build.

Extending Exchange 2010 Shadow Redundancy Cross Forest

Antoine Khater — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

When a customer asks for an Exchange Server feature that you have no idea how to implement, and you just get one item coming up on Google, then you've got the blues. Antoine relates the struggle from that point to successful delivery of the feature.

Logical Network Layout for Small Networks

Matt Simmons — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Matt examines what it’s like to design a network from the ground up, as well as dealing with an existing network that has been undocumented, by analyzing the relationships between the systems

Networking - The Crib Sheet

Matt Simmons — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

When anyone mentions network masks and the 'seven layer model' we all nod wisely and hope not to be asked too many questions. No longer need we feel embarassed, as Matt Simmonds has produced the simple cribsheet for 'the rest of us'.

Documentation: Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

Barry Morrison — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Every sysadmin knows that they should be documenting everything they can; not only is it good practice, it can be the difference between a speedy recovery and a lost job when something does go wrong. Barry Morrison delves into just what you should be covering, even if you think you can’t spare the time.

Recover a Mailbox Server in A Database Availability Group (DAG)

Jaap Wesselius — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

When one mailbox server in a Database Availability Group (DAG) is accidentally deleted, then it is supposedly easy to fix the problem, but if the DAG is not fully cleaned up, it can prove a little more complex.

Migrating from OCS 2007 R2 to Lync - Part 3

Johan Veldhuis — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

So far, Johan has walked us through the whole process of preparing our new Lync Server 2010 environment, step-by-step. Now it's time to expand that environment, migrate the rest of our users and legacy resources across, and start getting ready to decommission OCS 2007 R2.

Disk Space Monitoring and Early Warning with PowerShell

Sean Duffy — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Sean Duffy recently had an unwelcome encounter with Exchange Server Back Pressure, which cut off his message flow due to a lack of space on the server. To make sure it didn’t happen again, he found a way to automatically monitor all his servers from afar, with a little PowerShell magic.

Managing Office 365

Jaap Wesselius — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

As you start to use Office 365 more extensively, it becomes crucial that you understand all of the options for managing your new cloud-based infrastructure. Jaap Wesselius has done the research, and explains all.

High Availability or High Recoverability?

Wesley David — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Having pierced the veil of confusion surrounding High Availability, Wesley David finds himself asked (and being asked) whether HA is worth the money it burns through. Perhaps it’s more cost-effective to have a recovery process that moves like greased lightning?

Network Administrators Past, Present, and Future

Brien Posey — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Even in the short time that PCs have been signficantly networked, what it means to be a SysAdmin has changed dramatically. From the first LAN parties to the lumbering infrastructures of today, the role of SysAdmin has evolved and adapted to the shifting needs of users and corporations alike. Brien Posey has been on the front line of it all, and considers the future of this thus-far essential IT role.

The One Way That High Availability Will Help You

Wesley David — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

High Availability (HA) is a term that is beloved of the marketing people, with its connotations of an unspecific sense of reassurance. However, service reliability cannot be bought like bath salts: But, explains a seasoned and cynical expert in the field, HA can be more than the start of 'HAHA!'. There is a role for HA in keeping your services running, if used as part of a broader solution.

Readying your Oracle Database for Your First Apex Application

David Njoku — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

APEX can be a great way to create an application rapidly on an Oracle Database. Although it is generally straightforward, there are just a couple of things you have to watch out for.

Migrating from OCS 2007 R2 to Lync: Part 2

Johan Veldhuis — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In the story so far, Johan has described how to check that the migration from your OCS to Lync is supported and how to determine the requirements for the new installation This was followed by a walk-through of the preparation the Active Directory and installation of the first Lync Front End Server with a Mediation Server co-located. Now Johan tackles the merging the OCS configuration, and connection to the outsode world, followed by testing, performing and then validating the migration.

Multi-Language database applications using Oracle Apex

Peter Raganitsch — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

It isn't straightforward to design a database application that has to provide text data in several languages. There are several problems to overcome such as, for example, allowing the translation bureau to work independently, using their own specialised formats. Fortunately, Oracle Apex can, if you follow the advice in this article, do the hard work for you.

Be the Puppet Master! Control Multiple PCs with one Keyboard and Mouse

Wesley David — Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In the average IT department, geek-credibility is bound up with the number of monitors you are simultaneously using. What about going one step further, and running them on several computers at once, with just one mouse and keyboard?

Office365 and Lync Online

Jaap Wesselius — Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Having gotten us up and running with the basics of Office365, Jaap Wesselius now dives deeper, walking us through the setup process for Lync Online, the Office365 component which provides cloud-based Unified Communications. He even shows us how to integrate it with our on-premises systems in quick, easy steps.