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Hot off the press! Now available via the Microsoft Downloads site, Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 Update Rollup 7 has been released and is jam packed with over 40 updates.

• Click here to download the update…
• Click here to view the associated KB960384…

Direct from the MS Exchange Team, here are the highlights:

1. First off, we fixed the SCR issue which have caused everyone some pain and which did not get completed in time to be included in the last update roll-up.

   KB 961281 Update Roll-up 5 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 introduced an issue where you receive an error when attempting to enable SCR on a storage group if the environment has a parent domain -> child domain active directory structure. Tim has blogged about this over here. This is now fixed.  Additionally, there are also 2 other SCR related issues which we have been addressed in this roll-up and have been asked for by many customers.

   KB 957834 Network shares are deleted and created intermittently by the replication service on an Exchange SCC cluster when SCR is enabled on the Exchange server

2. KB 958331 Restore-StorageGroupCopy command may fail in an Exchange Server 2007 SCR environment.

3. We have also fixed two issues which caused intermittent crashes in the IMAP4 service and resulted in event 4999 being logged in the event logs. The following KBs have more information on the scenarios which are fixed:  KB 957504 and KB 960292.

Read the entire post here…

Matt :: Mar.19.2009 :: Exchange, Microsoft :: 1 Comment »

Well, if you believe all that you read from Microsoft, it may appear that way.  Seems Microsoft let the cat out of the bag and Tom Keating from TMCnet was there to find that cat, hidden away in the “UC Analysis Report for Sample.doc, Section 5.5: OCS On-premise Deployment” of the Microsoft Unified Communications Business Value Tool on the Microsoft Partner website.  It reads as follows:

You will deploy Office Communications Server 2010, which expands on the communications capabilities delivered in OCS 2007 R2. This release is designed to remove the need for PBX equipment within your organization and replace it with an integrated communications system that dramatically reduces management costs and gives end users innovative tools to communicate and collaborate across geographic boundaries from their office, home or on the road.

Read more here…

Matt :: Mar.17.2009 :: Microsoft, OCS :: No Comments »

A post over on TMCNet caught my eye the other day and I finally had a chance to sit down and take it all in.  The post talks about the company Evangelyze Communications and their impressive suite of products to enhance and extend the current capabilities of OCS 2007.  I am particularly fond of their SmartSIP product which enables SIP connectivity to virtually any ITSP.

Here’s a blip from their website:

Evangelyze Communications’ (EC) SmartSIP solution extends the already powerful telephony capabilities of the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 platforms by enabling SIP connectivity with virtually any internet telephony service provider (ITSP) or SIP phone.

• Extends OCS SIP trunk support to virtually any ITSP

• Multi-SIP trunk support per OCS Mediation Server

• Improvements to OCS 2007 R2 platform:
• ENUM support

• NAT Traversal

• AD phone number matching for extension/DID

• Support for generic SIP PBXs and endpoints/devices

• Virtual gateway service

Click here to read more and download their brochure…

Matt :: Mar.17.2009 :: Microsoft, OCS :: No Comments »

Released to the Microsoft downloads on (of all dates) Friday, March 13th, Forefront for OCS 2007 has been RTM’d.  You can easily download the trial software and give it a go.

This release included:

• 64bit support
• Support for OCS 2007 R2
• Support for OCS 2007 Enterprise Edition server roles
• Integration with OCS 2007 Access Edge role to protect corporate IM from external public IM threats
• Localization in 11

Read the OCS Teams post on Forefront for OCS…

Matt :: Mar.17.2009 :: Forefront, Microsoft, OCS :: No Comments »

Looks like MS will be adding some new IP addresses to support Windows Live Messenger PIC & Federation.  In case you missed the original posting these changes go into effect Friday May 9, 2009 so you have some time.  If your firewall restricts access on a port by port basis then you will want to add these to your access list before the deadline.

New IP Addresses

• 65.54.227.249
• 64.4.9.181
• 64.4.9.245
• 65.54.52.53
• 65.54.52.245

Check out article 897567 for a complete listing of IP addresses and host names.

Click here for the OCS Team’s original post…

Matt :: Mar.09.2009 :: Microsoft, OCS :: No Comments »

None other than a ginormous list of link compiled by Aaron Tiensivu whom I’m beginning to suspect is part Borg. 

Click here to view the list and bookmark for your archive…

(So rarely does one get to use the word “ginormous” that I couldn’t resist)

Matt :: Mar.09.2009 :: Microsoft, OCS :: No Comments »

Microsoft updated the Open Interop program information for OCS 2007 R2 
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/bb735838.aspx

Supported Configurations Available for Qualification with Office Communications Server 2007 R2

The program currently supports three primary telephony integration components: SIP-PSTN Gateways, IP-PBXs and SIP Trunking Services.

• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/bb735838.aspx#supported1

Direct SIP: Gateways and IP-PBXs Qualified for Office Communications Server

Listed below are gateway and IP-PBX products and necessary firmware combinations that have been independently qualified. It is recommended that you visit the vendor’s Web site listed in the table below for the latest information regarding PBX, protocol, capacity, country support and documentation including a Quick Start Guide, release notes and known issues. Other supported products are also listed by request of the Vendor as the same firmware runs across these products. While these have not been specifically tested, the Vendor does fully support this configuration for the listed Qualification Level. Please contact the Vendor for more information on these products.

• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/bb735838.aspx#direct

SIP Trunking Services Qualified for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2

SIP Trunking enables an enterprise to connect their on-premise voice network implemented by Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 to the Public Switched Telephony Network (PSTN) directly over SIP.  SIP Trunking services are offerings from IP Telephony Service Provider partners that offer PSTN origination, termination, and emergency services using the SIP protocol. 

• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/bb735838.aspx#trunking

Matt :: Mar.09.2009 :: Microsoft, OCS :: No Comments »

This looks like a good update here to the MS Transporter Suite as it ads support for Server 2008.

Updates to Microsoft Transporter Suite for Internet Mail

The February 2009 release includes the following major updates to the Transporter Suite for Internet Mail:

• Multi-Threading of POP/IMAP migrations: The POP/IMAP Migration tool is now completely multi-threaded which greatly increases its performance when extracting content from an IMAP server.
• Support for Windows 2008: The transporter suite now supports running on and against Windows 2008 servers.

Updates to Microsoft Transporter Suite for Internet Mail

The February 2009 release includes the following major updates to the Transporter Suite for Lotus Domino:

• Support for Windows 2008: The Transporter Suite now supports running on and against Windows 2008 servers.
• Support for Lotus Notes R8.x:  The Transporter Suite now supports migration from, and coexistence with, Lotus Notes R8.x.
• Removed the Application Analysis: The Application Analysis tools were removed from the migration console.

Check out the original post here…

Matt :: Mar.09.2009 :: Exchange, Microsoft :: No Comments »

If you haven’t had a chance to bookmark the Exchange 2007 installation guides now is the time to do so.  The MS Exchange Team just released a new installation guide for Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) on Server 2008.  Head on over and check it out.

They also made some other updates to previous installation guides as well…

Matt :: Mar.09.2009 :: Exchange, Microsoft, Server :: No Comments »