Thoughtsofanidlemind's Blog

  • SQL 2014’s link to Exchange 4.0

    It was nice to read the memories of ex-Microsoft Distinguished Engineer Hal Berenson in a post about SQL 2014’s delayed durability feature. Like me, Hal used to work at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), where he specialized on database engineering. He tells the story of prototyping delayed durability to fix some performance…

  • Tony Redmond’s Guide to MEC 2014 – Slicing and dicing the data

    One of the worse things that can happen at a technology conference is to turn up for a session that you really want to attend only to find that the room is packed out and you can’t even get inside the door. It’s only slightly better if you can get…

  • What caused the crippling of Exchange 2013 modern public folders?

    Now that the initial fuss about the limitations that recently emerged for Exchange 2013’s modern public folders has subsided (but just a little), cooler minds turn to thinking about why these limitations exist. After all, there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason why the limitations should kick in…

  • User interfaces are no way to assess Google vs Office 365

    I’m always interested when companies put their technologists forward as the public face of the company’s expertise in different areas. The idea is that the technologist will wow the readership with deep insights into technology that causes the readers to instantly make contact with the company to request their services/product/help/whatever’s…

  • Tony Redmond’s Guide to MEC 2014 – MVP Sessions

    I have already shared my recommendations for sessions to attend at the Microsoft Exchange Conference (MEC). Many of these sessions will be given by Microsoft employees, including members of different product development groups. There’s no doubt that great value can be gained from listening to technical information provided by Microsoft (especially…

  • When experts disagree, Exchange deployments stumble

    I seldom leap in to criticize people who write about Exchange because a) everyone is perfectly entitled to their own opinion about technology (good or bad as that might be) and b) it’s up to the reader of any article to put its content into context with their own operational…

  • OneNote suddenly got a lot more useful

    The March 17 launch of OneNote for Mac received a lot of publicity, if only a fraction of what you can expect if Microsoft makes the expected announcement about the availability of Office for the iPad on March 27 (the same day that MacWorld 2014 opens in San Francisco). It looks…

  • Talking Exchange 2013 on RunAs Radio

    Last week I chatted with Richard Campbell, the genial host of RunAs Radio, about the release of Exchange 2013 SP1, why companies wait for the first service pack to appear before they consider deploying a Microsoft server application, the best features of SP1, how technology developed to help Microsoft succeed…

  • Tony Redmond’s Guide to MEC 2014 sessions

    Happy St. Patrick’s Day… Some of you have been kind enough to ask what sessions I will be attending at the Microsoft Exchange Conference (MEC). I assume this is because you don’t want to bump into me, which is totally understandable. With up to nine sessions to select for an…

  • Exchange 2013 modern public folder limitations – what next?

    I’m sure that you all enjoyed the breaking news about the restrictions that exist for public folder mailboxes and the public folder hierarchy in the new, improved, and much-hyped modern public folders implemented in Exchange 2013 (and Exchange Online in Office 365). That is, if you like having the wind…