TechEd 2007 - Here I come!!

I booked a spot into TechEd this morning.

I'm especially looking forward to it this year, for a couple of reasons. First, there should be some really good content with the recent release of products such as Exchange 2007 and Vista, as well as "Longhorn" and the new System Center suite of products being on the horizon. Second, it is back in Orlando!

If you've never been to TechEd or haven't seen the details for this year's event, check it out here: http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2007/default.mspx

I hope to see you there!

Let the migration begin!

I finished DST updating - it's done, or I'm done.... Either way it's behind me now. This is important, not only because I'm out of the nightmare which DST was (mostly anyway), but it means I'm free to move on to bigger and better.... Thus, in the words of wise old Rafiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafiki) I am happy to announce: It is time!

Yes, my long awaited time to begin migrating to Exchange 2007 has arrived! This really gets back to one of my main reasons for starting this blog anyway: tracking and posting about my plans, progress, trials, and accomplishments in migrating to Exchange.

Since first seeing Exchange 2007 in action at TechEd 06 I've been looking forward to putting it into production. Now the expectation becomes reality.

My first step from here will be getting the hardware to run it. Next week I'll give some info on what I'm looking at for servers and how/why I've specced them out.

Fun with DST

Yes, I'm still working on DST updates. If you haven't seen it yet, it's probably too late now, but here's the link to Microsoft's "Daylight Savings Time Help and Support Center" from which you can take the appropriate path: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst

So far, I've addressed the:

1. OS updates for Windows 2003 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931836/en-us
2. Exchange 2003 SP2 updates - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926666/en-us
3. Applied the same CDO update as above for Exchange to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and sent out the updates for the Blackberry devices that needed it - http://www.blackberry.com/select/dst2007/

Now all I've got left to tackle, before week's end of course, is:

1. Updating appointments in the mailstores using Exchange Calendar Update Tool - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930879/en-us
2. Updating Windows Mobile devices - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/daylightsaving/default.mspx

This whole process is truly a headache. And while I've heard some complaints against Microsoft (and other vendors) for making this process so complicated, I don't really blame them nor think that it's their fault. I just don't think enough thought was given in regards to the impact that the changes in DST would have for so many things and the work that would be involved to make corrections and/or adjustment for it before it became a law. Just my take on the matter...

More Exchange 2007 Documentation

I just received another Microsoft Download Notifications email. You can subscribe to that here: http://www.mircrosoft.com/downloads

Of particular interest was an available download for a standalone version of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Help. The download is available here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=555F5974-9258-475A-B150-0399B133FEDE&mg_id=10110&displaylang=en

A handy resource for quick reference!

OT - My adventures in PSP

Ok, so after a whole 2 days of hardcore blogging, I thought it would be a good time to go into something off topic from the main technical arenas this blog was started to discuss.

And so I've chosen to talk about gaming. I'm not a huge or extreme gamer by any means. But I do enjoy the diversion every once in a while. I've got an XBOX console at home, which I do play some, but my wife likes it to stay put away so usually I'm not in the mood (too lazy) to go through the trouble of taking it out and hooking it up and then putting it away. I don't really do any PC gaming (other than an occasional round of Pinball or Minesweeper), that died out for me after we had to take our Half-Life server down, yes the one at the office of course. I did find that I was inclined to take out my PocketPC and get in a quick game here and there, which led me to think of going down the mobile gaming path. Now, my daughter has a Nintendo DS and is quite happy with it, but I wanted something a little more. That really only left the Sony PSP. So after much contemplation (or what my good friend "The" John Hann calls obsession) I finally caved and got one last year.....

I bought the Entertainment Package which included a 1GB memory stick, the ATV Offroad Fury game, and the UMD Lords of Dogtown movie. If I had to do it over again, I must say I'd go with just the base package and buy a memory stick. I ended up buying a 2GB stick to go with it as well, which was a great deal from Best Buy during the one of their one day sales during the holidays for $39. I should have bought two at that price!!

As far as games go, I've got:

1. ATV Offroad Fury (Ok game, if you like racers)
2. Lumines (cool game, I could probably do better at it if I hadn't played so much Tetris)
3. Gradius Collection (love it, but it still kicks my butt)
4. Ghosts N Goblins (great game, still working on it)
5. X-Men Legends II (pretty decent I guess, took a bit to get used to and now feels a bit repetitive like you're just doing the same thing over just on different levels)

My opinion of the PSP overall?? I like it. I enjoy the games and I like being able to transfer movies from DVD to the memory stick and watch them. It's not something I'm addicted to as I probably only play games a few hours a month. But what is really nice about it is that when I'm ready to play, so is my PSP. Enough said.

Exchange 2007 Documentation

I know a couple of books have been put out on Exchange 2007 already, such as:

• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unleashed by Rand Morimoto, Michael Noel, Andrew Abbate, and Chris Amaris (Paperback - Jan 23, 2007)
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Administrator's Pocket Consultant (Pro Administrator's Pocket Consultant) by William R. Stanek (Paperback - Jan 31, 2007)

I intend to get my copy of these books soon. However, in the meantime the premier source of documentation and reading material comes from Microsoft directly on the TechNet website:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996058.aspx

This, of course, includes documentation on Exchange 2003 as well.

Personally, I have used the TechNet documentation extensively in preparing and planning for a migration to 2007. I feel that it's a great place to start if you're looking to just dig in and do some solid reading on the product. Check it out and I think you'll agree!