The Year 2007 Problem

Update: 2/19/2007 - Microsoft has released a wizard to walk people through the process of all of the updates required for various Microsoft operating systems and applications. For Windows 2003 and Exchange 2003 SP2, for instance, the following is the general list of steps required to update the systems (unfortunately it misses noting the update required for the domain controllers that Exchange also relies on):

• Apply and verify updates to server operating systems (KBs 931836 and 914387)
• If you are running Outlook Web Access, Exchange Lotus Notes connecter, or BlackBerry Enterprise Server for Microsoft Exchange , install the Exchange Patch CDO.DLL (KB 926666)
  

No Rush to adopt Exchange 2007

This was a solid and accurate article by Elizabeth Montalbano, of IDG News Service, which feeds into InfoWorld, ComputerWorld, and NetworkWorld around the globe.

It's almost a duplicate template to the December 27, 2006 article of the "After month, no rush to adopt Vista" she also wrote.

The reality is, although Exchange 2007 has its warts, many companies that we've talked to are seriously considering the move to Exchange 2007 in 2007. From talking with our customers, here are the top 10 (well, 11) reasons they are making the move:

We’ve been spending a lot of time in the Azaleos engineering team trying to select the correct approach to supporting business continuity needs with Exchange 2007.

Hypothetically, using Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR), customers can deploy stretch clusters for Exchange 2007. This is where Active and Passive nodes of a server cluster are deployed at geographically disperse sites. But do you really want to do this?

Exchange 2007 offers the following options for business continuity and disaster recovery:

1. Use new Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) feature in a stretch cluster configuration. This ships log files from the active to passive Exchange cluster nodes, replaying them on passive nodes to synchronize mail store databases across the cluster nodes

Next week, on February 6th and 8th, Azaleos is sponsoring Exchange 2007 events in Vancouver, BC and Calgary, AB, with the help of Microsoft, IBM, Network Appliance and XSM Systems, our first Canadian reseller. We're also doing an evening event on February 15th in Pittsburgh, PA.

For the very first time, Azaleos will be talking about our brand new (version 3) managed Exchange 2007 appliance. We're also choosing to forgoe traditional methods over "new media" and don't expect to announce our Exchange 2007 solution via the press until mid-March --- so attendees at these events will get the first information about how we've already optimized Exchange 2007 and delivered it in an appliance form factor.

I spent most of this last weekend (and eventually into the week) upgrading my house and office to Vista. In total I upgraded 3 servers and a laptop, and synchronised all of my content using one of the best new tools in Vista, robocopy.

It made me realise that doing a manual upgrade to Exchange 2007, Office 2007, or Vista is not for the faint of heart.

My new Lenovo T60 laptop came preloaded with Windows XP. It was great - turn on the power, push the power (aka Easy Button), and an hour later my Vista environment and all of the third party applications I like were configured and installed. I then inserted the Windows Vista DVD, waited two hours, realised the update process wasn't working because wireless isn't automatically configured, plugged it in, and waited another 2 hours for 80MB of drivers to be downloaded from Microsoft.

Network World Article: Exchange 2007 facing integration issues with other Microsoft software - January 11, 2007

Read the Full Article...

As Microsoft updates the individual key components of its enterprise software, integrating those pieces is proving challenging.

The issues center on Exchange 2007 and its relationship to Vista, released late last year along with Exchange to corporate users, Virtual Server 2005 R2 and the forthcoming Longhorn Server, slated to ship by the end of the year. In a nutshell, Exchange 2007 can't run on Microsoft's most current virtualization software, Exchange's management tools won't run on the just released Vista desktop operating system and the 64-bit messaging server is not compatible with Microsoft's forthcoming 64-bit server operating system called Longhorn...

Happy New Year from Azaleos, and best wishes for 2007!

In this issue:

• Azaleos adds over 10,000 e-mail users to OneStop Services in 2006
• Azaleos begins international expansion into Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia
• History of Azaleos published in Redmond Channel Partner magazine
• Microsoft Exchange Cost Calculator made available on www.azaleos.com
• Azaleos V2 releases Oct 23rd, adding rich functionality for E-Mail Archiving, Monitoring, Reporting, Remote Mgmt, and Disaster Recovery – and preparing our customers for Exchange 2007
• Welcome to our newest customers: Coinstar, Fortify Software, Clark Nuber, Golf Savings Bank, Allegheny Technologies (additional site), First American Bank, CIEE
  

There are a few major changes regarding Exchange 2007 licensing that create differences from previous releases of Exchange. According to our read of the latest information on Microsoft's sites, this is a summary of the changes as we interpret them. For definitive information, contact Microsoft or read the articles linked to in the "Sources" section below.

1. Outlook 2007 is no longer included as part of the Exchange Standard CAL ($67). Outlook 2007 must be purchased separately ($109.95) or as part of Office 2007. Customers who bought Software assurance on Exchange 2003 before November 30, 2006 receive a free upgrade to Outlook 2007.