It took us longer than expect due to some conflicting schedules however Jeffrey Rosen and I were able to record episode number two.

Subscribe to the Podcast feed here, or

The show notes are here.

Please send us feedback on the Podcast at podcast@exchangeexchange.com. 

About nine months ago I promised to blog about the different high availability options available in Exchange Server 2007. I followed up with a post on LCR but then abandoned the project. So, today lets start that series back up. This time around lets cover in detail what CCR is, how to use it and when you should and shouldn’t use it.

What is Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR)?

CCR is similar to LCR in the fact it keeps two copies of the databases on disk, however CCR is different in that it relies on Microsoft Clustering and a pair of servers. CCR has no single point of failure if configured properly, as there are two servers with two sets of everything. To take full advantage of having two copies of the data, on two separate servers, two separate storage systems should be used. Thankfully, Exchange 2007 has a lower disk I/O requirement than previous versions of Exchange, so that inexpensive local storage can often be used to ensure complete separation between nodes. CCR can only have two cluster nodes, an active and a passive node. Just like with LCR, you can only have one database in each storage group.

Configuration considerations

Since you do not need shared disk for a CCR cluster, you will most likely choose to use a file share witness rather than using a quorum disk. It is recommended to use a local Hub Transport server as the file share witness as being a file share witness will not put a substantial load on the server.

When would you use CCR? It is an excellent solution for environments that need local data redundancy and have the experience in working with Microsoft-base clusters.

 Pros

• No Single point of failure
• Two copies of data exist at all times

Cons

• Requires Microsoft Clustering Service
• Requires double the disk space to store two copies of logs and data

Other than Fruit Rollups, Exchange rollups are my second favorite type of rollup.

This is no exception as Exchange Server 2007 RTM Rollup 7 and Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Rollup 3 have been released. These updates contain a long list of updates and security fixes. The security bulletin 08-039, posted yesterday not only effects Exchange Server 2007, it also effects Exchange Server 2003. The rollups are recommended updates for everyone, however if you have and QFE fixes installed you will want to verify if this rollup supercedes that QFE, or if you will require a new or need to reapply your QFE after installing the rollup.

• You can find the full description of Update Rollup 7 for Exchange Server 2007 RTM here. Download the update here.
• You can find the full description of Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 here. Download the update here.

You can also download just the security update for Exchange Server 2003 SP2 here.

I received notification this morning that I have been awarded Exchange MVP status!

Dear Joel Stidley,

 

Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2008 Microsoft® MVP Award! The MVP Award is our way to say thank you for promoting the spirit of community and improving people’s lives and the industry’s success every day. We appreciate your extraordinary efforts in Exchange Server technical communities during the past year. Microsoft will soon send your MVP Award gift package. It is our way to say “thank you for making a difference."

 

You can check out my MVP profile here.

It has been a couple of months so it is time for a contest. In honor of our new (almost-monthly) podcast we are giving away a 1GB Zune Ipod Shuffle along with a copy of Professional PowerShell for Exchange Server 2007 SP1. I do apologize for featuring an Apple product. I have two Zunes and I love them, perhaps my dear friends at Microsoft can help me out for the next contest.

To enter the contest, send us an email at podcast@exchangeexchange.com along with a question, comment or topic we can feature on the next podcast. The winner will be chosen at the end of July and notified by email. All decisions are made at the discretion of the fine people at ExchangeExchange.com

Wow, another service outage for RIM users early on June 18th. This time it only effected users in the southeastern United States.

With the large selection of decent Windows Mobile devices that don’t require reliance on a third-party its an excellent time for even the most zealous BlackBerry fans to start considering a change. Of course my favorite demonstration of this is the Palm’s Be Direct ad campaign.

I was at the airport last week and noticed another passenger waiting and reading a book on his Amazon Kindle. The device is a lot neater looking in person that it is on the Website. If you have a Kindle and want to read the book you can get it here.

I don't often do book reviews; however I figured I would share my latest reading experience. I picked up a copy of Mary Jo Foley’s book Microsoft 2.0 at TechEd. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the balanced view of how Microsoft plans to stay the powerhouse that it is today. She explains some of the current business thrusts of the company as well as a lot of the plans the company has for the future. This is all done with a very pragmatic and unbiased view.

I was also impressed on how current the book is. Even though it takes a couple months for a book to complete the copy edits and layout the book reads as if you were reading today’s technology headlines. If you are interested in Microsoft and one view on how BillG’s retirement will effect the company, I would recommend picking up a copy of Microsoft 2.0.

To ensure that it stays current, Mary Jo will keep the book up-to-date by posting information at www.microsoft2.net.

HMC 4.5 (Hosted Messaging and Collaboration) is now available for download here. The big deal with this release is support for OCS 2007 with IM and conferencing. What a great value add for hosters to offer!

More information from the download:

Overview

HMC 4.5 brings together powerful Microsoft enterprise products such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, and
now gives you Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, which manages all real-time communications such as instant messaging (IM)
and audio and video conferencing.

Other new features and enhancements:
• Exchange Server 2007 SP1: Web-based OABs and resource mailboxes
• Windows SharePoint Services: multi-tenant People Picker functionality
• Provisioning capabilities have been expanded: Microsoft Provisioning System (MPS) cross data store integration procedures and Individual Information Worker (IIW) tenant model

I have given away two books already. I have one left and I don’t want to carry it back with me.

I will be at the TechEd Attendee party this evening and at the sessions tomorrow. The first person to post a comment or send me an email will get the book!

After the Bob Muglia keynote I headed over to listen to Robert Gillies and Andrew Ehrensing talk about Exchange 2007 migration scenarios. There had to have been over 400 people in the room, it was obviously a hot topic for most everyone.

After that I milled around the show floor and then sat in on a session on how to write books for MS Press. That session was sparse but it was good information... I would have loved to have had this information before I started writing books. (That information would have been helpful yesterday! – Robbie)

I then went over to a session on SQL clustering, however the little theater was overflowing with people and it appeared they spent a lot of time talking about the Windows Server quorum models so I left a little early.

The next session was a free-form session on PKI, this session allowed time for the attendees to ask questions, which was great.

Finally, the last session of the day was the Exchange Storage Deep Dive with Ross Smith IV. He covered a ton of material in a very clear manner. He was very well prepared as well.

At the end of the day was the Vendor Welcome Party and the Microsoft Learning Party. All I can say is I walked away with an overflowing bag of goodies…. even for the most part I try to avoid “getting scanned” needlessly. The MSL party was a lot of us geeky-types listening (some did “dance”) to music that was cool when I was in grade school, however the real reason for being there is MSL announced the new Springboard series content available to get people up to speed on new Microsoft technologies.

Be sure to attend UNC451 Automating Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Deployments Using Windows PowerShell at 10:30 am tomorrow and listen to Robert Gillies an Andrew Ehrensing talk about deploying Exchange Server 2007 with PowerShell. They will also be giving away a copy of my book, Professional PowerShell for Exchange Server 2007!

See you there!

Keynotes from both the ITPro and the Developers sessions are available to review.

• Bob Muglia's TechEd NA ITPro Keynote
• Bill Gates TechEd NA Developers Keynote

As mentioned earlier, I will be at TechEd next week. I will have several copies of Professional PowerShell for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 with me. I will give a copy to the first person who can find me and tell me their Exchange Exchange forum name.

Update 6/10 2:15 PST: I have given away the copy I had with me today. Try to find me tomorrow when I will have another copy.

I will be at TechEd next week, attending as many of the Exchange session possible and taking 70-238 on Wednesday. Is anyone else going? What sessions will you be attending?

I will try to blog about the days activities as well as twittering while I am there.

My schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, June 10

10:30 AM - 11:45 AM UNC366 Successful Migration Techniques for Migrating to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM  LUN55 How to Get Published: What it Takes to Become a Technical Author on Microsoft Technologies

1:15 PM - 2:30 PM  DAT55-TLC Introduction to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering

3:00 PM - 4:15 PM SEC54-TLC All You Ever Wanted to Ask about Designing and Operating an Enterprise PKI

4:45 PM - 6:00 PM UNC454 Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Storage Deep Dive (Repeats on 6/13)

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM  Partner Expo Reception

Wednesday, June 11

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM  SVR370 DNS 2008 Style: How Name Resolution Changes in Windows Server 2008 Infrastructures

10:15 AM - 11:30 AM  UNC451 Automating Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Deployments Using Windows PowerShell

12:00 PM - 12:45 PM  LUN61 Do These Ten Things Now or Else Get 0wn3d!

1:00 PM - 2:15 PM MBL452 Windows Mobile as Secure as Blackberry: Are You Joking?

2:45 PM - 4:00 PM  UNC350 Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Tips and Tricks

4:30 PM - 5:45 PM MGT378 Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007: Desired Configuration Management

6:30 PM - 7:30 PM  BOF956 I Need a Doctor! IT Professionals in the Healthcare Sector

7:45 PM - 8:45 PM BOF962 Integrating Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Office Outlook 2007

Thursday, June 12

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM  VIR358 Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Architecture, Scenarios, and Networking

10:15 AM - 11:30 AM  DAT363 Microsoft SQL Server: Essential Database Maintenance

12:00 PM - 12:45 PM

1:00 PM - 2:15 PM SEC450 Windows Logins Revealed (Repeats on 6/13)

2:45 PM - 4:00 PM UNC361 Going Big! Deploying Large Mailboxes with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 without Breaking the Bank  & UNC53-TLC Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration, Version 4.5 and Beyond

4:30 PM - 5:45 PM  UNC368 Exchange ActiveSync and Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1

8:00 PM - 11:59 PM  Attendee Party at Universal Studios

Friday, June 13

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM  SVR359 Auditing and Compliance in Windows Server 2008

10:15 AM - 11:30 AM  UNC358 Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1

12:00 PM - 12:45 PM

1:00 PM - 2:15 PM  SVR451 Windows Server 2008 Kernel Advances

2:45 PM - 4:00 PM  SVR376 Failover Cluster Validation and Troubleshooting with Windows Server 2008

4:30 PM - 5:45 PM  UNC50-TLC Understanding Security for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007