In my previous post on Upgrading from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2013 on Windows 2012 (Part 1), we covered the prerequisites to installing Exchange 2013 in your Exchange 2010 environment.  In this article we will cover installing Exchange 2013 and configuring it for coexistence.  For simplicity’s sake, I will show screenshots from a single “all-in-one” server installation, since they do not vary much.

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When making changes to Active Directory, like Schema updates, it is recommended to make a backup of AD. It is also recommended to perform these changes on an offline Domain Controller, perform your tests, and the only then replicate the changes to the remaining DCs. The topic of this article is about backing up AD.

NTDSutil provides a mechanism to perform backups on your domain controllers.

  1. Open an elevated command prompt and run NTDSutil.
  2. Run activate instance ntds to set the active instance to “ntds“.
  3. Type snapshot.
  4. Then Create.

For more details on NTDSutil: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753343(v=WS.10).aspx

 

The star of last year’s product roadmap was Office 365. Microsoft this year looks likely to pivot from the public cloud to the private cloud, while also shipping staples like SQL Server and releasing major betas — and possibly final versions — of blockbusters including Windows 8 tablet, client and server, and Office 15.

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One of my goals with any solution is “simplicity”. Make it easier for users to access the resources they need in a safe and secure manner. Redirecting your general URL for Outlook Web Access/App to the proper secure address makes life for your users much easier. The old method for doing this will no longer work in Windows 2008 R2/Exchange 2010 due to some of the new features (i.e. Remote PowerShell). Read More →

Time synchronization is an important aspect for all computers on the network. By default, the clients computers get their time from a Domain Controller and the Domain Controller gets his time from the domain’s PDC Operation Master. Therefore the PDC must synchronize his time from an external source. I usually use the servers listed at the NTP Pool Project website. Before you begin, don’t forget to open the default UDP 123 port (in- and outbound) on your firewall. 

  1. First, locate your PDC Server. Open the command prompt and type: C:\>netdom /query fsmo
  2. Log in to your PDC Server and open the command prompt.
  3. Stop the W32Time service: C:\>net stop w32time
  4. Configure the external time sources, type: C:\> w32tm /config /syncfromflags:manual /manualpeerlist:time.windows.com
  5. Make your PDC a reliable time source for the clients. Type:C:\>w32tm /config /reliable:yes
  6. Start the w32time service: C:\>net start w32time
  7. The windows time service should begin synchronizing the time. You can check the external NTP servers in the time configuration by typing: C:\>w32tm /query /configuration
  8. Check the Event Viewer for any errors.

Tested on Windows Server 2008 R2 (Build 7600).

http://www.cgoosen.com/2010/05/securing-exchange-2010-with-forefront-threat-management-gateway-tmg-2010-part-1-the-introduction/

http://www.cgoosen.com/2010/05/securing-exchange-2010-with-forefront-threat-management-gateway-tmg-2010-part-2-installing-exchange-server-edge/

http://www.cgoosen.com/2010/05/securing-exchange-2010-with-forefront-threat-management-gateway-tmg-2010-part-3-installing-forefront-protection-for-exchange-server/

http://www.cgoosen.com/2010/05/securing-exchange-2010-with-forefront-threat-management-gateway-tmg-2010-part-4-installing-forefront-threat-management-gateway/

http://www.cgoosen.com/2010/06/securing-exchange-2010-with-forefront-threat-management-gateway-tmg-2010-part-5-putting-it-all-together/

http://www.cgoosen.com/2010/06/securing-exchange-2010-with-forefront-threat-management-gateway-tmg-2010-part-6-publishing-outlook-web-app/

http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high-availability-recovery/eliminating-traditional-backups-using-native-exchange-2010-functionality-part1.html

http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high-availability-recovery/eliminating-traditional-backups-using-native-exchange-2010-functionality-part2.html

http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high-availability-recovery/eliminating-traditional-backups-using-native-exchange-2010-functionality-part3.html

http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2010/high-availability-recovery/eliminating-traditional-backups-using-native-exchange-2010-functionality-part4.html

Recovering Deleted Items in Outlook 2010
http://www.nirmaltv.com/2010/03/09/recover-deleted-mails-in-outlook-2010/