Thoughtsofanidlemind's Blog

  • Kindle edition of Microsoft Exchange 2010 Inside Out available now!

    I’m delighted that my Microsoft Exchange 2010 (including SP1) Inside Out book published by Microsoft Press is now available in a Kindle edition. The book is also available at Amazon.co.uk and other country-specific sites. Other e-book formats (ePub, MOBI, PDF) for the book are available from the O’Reilly web site.…

  • Exchange 2010 SP1 Store Driver throttling

    The Store Driver is a very important Exchange component. Running on all hub transport servers, its function is to provide the mechanism to deliver inbound messages to mailbox databases. Unlike Exchange 2003 and previous versions, all messages go through a hub transport server, even if they are sent between two…

  • Tweaking the Mailbox Replication Service configuration file

    The Mailbox Replication Service (MRS) is an essential component of any Exchange 2010 deployment as it controls the movement of mailboxes between databases. MRS runs on all Exchange 2010 Client Access Servers (CAS). MRS gets involved in migrations from Exchange 2003 or 2007 to Exchange 2010 because moving mailboxes is…

  • Where did all this snow come from?

    Ireland isn’t used to snow but we’re getting it in bucket loads at the moment (at least in Dublin). Not only is the quantity a surprise, it’s also the fact that snow is falling in late November and early December. Must be evidence of all of that global warming that…

  • Batching Exchange 2010 mailbox moves

    My post from November 22 about clearing mailbox move requests prompted some questions about auto suspending moves. This is new functionality introduced in Exchange 2010 as all mailbox moves performed in earlier versions occur synchronously. In other words, an administrator decides to move a selected mailbox and the chosen management…

  • Clearing out mailbox move requests

    After you’ve run Exchange 2010 for a while, you’ve probably moved a few mailboxes around and have accumulated some completed mailbox move requests. When it begins to move a mailbox, the Mailbox Replication Service (MRS) stamps the user object for the mailbox with six attributes that it uses to indicate…

  • Busy with rugby in Limerick and Scotland

    This time of year is a busy representative period for rugby in the Northern hemisphere as there are touring teams from New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Fiji, Argentina and Samoa visiting to play games against Ireland, England, France, Wales and Scotland. On Tuesday, November 18, I was at Thomond Park…

  • Thoughts on lagged database copies

    One of the best things about delivering training to smart people is the questions that they pose after you introduce a topic. During the recent Exchange 2010 Maestro seminars that Paul Robichaux and I delivered in Boston and Anaheim, I took the lead in talking about the Database Availability Group…

  • RTM of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 (SP1) Inside Out

    I see from the Microsoft Press blog that my Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Inside Out book, also available at Amazon.co.uk and other fine booksellers, has now been Released To Manufacturing (RTM’d). RTM is a term that is normally applied to software or hardware products. It’s usually the point when a…

  • View from Row E: Ireland v Samoa

    On Saturday, November 13 it was time to return to Lansdowne Road (aka the Aviva Stadium) to retake our seats in Row E of the South Stand for the Ireland v. Samoa match. Ireland’s performance in week’s game against South Africa had been a real disappointment and we all hoped…