I am working in the Hands On Lab with Exchange 2013 and wow does it ever look neat!
The Admin Center and a _huge_ step above the current Exchange Management Console.
There's lots to learn here with many of the sessions filling up fast!
I am glad that I am here.
Attendee's portal
http://mymec.mecisback.com/
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
SBS MVP
As mentioned previously we were looking for a power brick that will work with the Intel Desktop Board DQ77KB Slim Mini-ITX. We received _a lot_ of feedback on that quest and came to the following:
We had a few of these adapters shipped to us by Mini-Box.com and are getting ready to plug everything in but hit a bit of a snag in that the Intel Active Thermal Solution HTS 1155LP was not available for ship at the same time as the rest of the components.
Note the size of the DQ77KB box next to the 80GB Intel 320 Series SSD OEM box and the i5-3470S sitting on top of it.
The Lian-Li PC-Q05 is a gorgeous case:
It has a power button around the corner from the two status LEDs on the right front bezel. It is lit while the system is powered on along with the power status LED on the front. The other is for the hard drive.
Size wise the PC-Q05 is a lot slimmer than the standard Mini-ITX cases we have been using though it is a bit wider to accommodate the low profile heat sink.
We believe this unit will be a good seller for us as it can be tucked away virtually anywhere or sit out on a desk as above or on its side depending on the user's needs.
For professional services firms the PC-Q05 will fit right in especially where technology needs to be minimalist such as in dentist offices or reception/office administration areas.
Now on to the stress testing!
Thank you to all that contributed to our finding the adapter! :)
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
It seems that Simply 2013 (Sage 50) is going to want to install .NET 4.0 on SBS 2008:
Once the routine had finished it then requested a reboot prior to going further into the Sage 50 – Simply Accounting 2013 Accountant’s Edition install.
After the reboot the Setup.exe started up automatically and:
Once the above install completed we were finally greeted with:
We then had our new Database Manager installed and were able to disable the 2012 version in Services.msc.
Note that the firewall exceptions that we make for the MySQL and accompanying services are still good so we did not need to make any changes to the SBS 2008 Standard/Premium firewall setup.
It was a curious thing that an Internet Explorer security block came up for Google Analytics when the Sage post Setup Configuration Help page popped up. ;)
Also, the service set itself up to the start-up type “Automatic (Delayed Start)” on SBS 2011 Standard but “Automatic” on SBS 2008. We flipped the service over to Delayed Start on SBS 2008 too as we have had some issues with the Database Connection Manager not starting on its own in the past.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Let's take a 10 seat firm that is looking at their options today versus a month ago when SBS 2011 STD and the Premium Add-On (PAO) was still available on the Open Value Agreement pricelist with the Spread Payment Option.
Here we are talking about a _new_ agreement that was put together when the SBS SKUs were still available to us. The Spread Payment option was chosen so the indicated price would be paid on the agreement's anniversary at the beginning of year's 2 and 3. All Open Value Agreement SKUs are a composite of License + Software Assurance for the duration of the agreement.
Again, the following is for a 10 seat firm:
So, our difference in cost between the two solutions is $1,185.00/Year.
Most firms that are not facing a cash crunch or impact due to the uncertainty in the economy can afford an extra $10/Month for each user in the firm.
What does an on-premises solution based on the new stack give our clients?
What do we have today?
We have _everything_ our clients have come to expect from their Small Business Server IT Solutions that we have been designing for them for the last eight to ten years. But, now they have a lot more!
As we have mentioned before the new solution set offers us so much more in the way of flexibility to tailor IT Solutions for our clients.
Custom IT Solutions is one area that Cloud cannot touch. We can pull together a broad base of technologies and customize them for our client's environments. Cloud is a one-size-fits-all kind of solution that is very difficult to tailor into a client's needs.
Thus, we see a huge opportunity for our clients and our own IT Business going forward!
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Hello all.
We are trying to get a system configured using the Intel Desktop Board DQ77KB Thin Mini-ITX motherboard and are having some difficulties since we are not using an Intel All-in-One unit.
The Power Supply situation:
The Thin Mini-ITX Component Catalogue gives us the following:
So far we have not had too much success sourcing any of the above adapters.
Please do comment or e-mail us with your suggestions!
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Looking for a specific Group Policy setting?
This search tool will be very helpful when there is a need to figure out a setting or series of settings for a particular environment.
There is also a Windows Phone 7 App that works just as well as the online version. Check it out!
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
A bit of the dyslexic bite there.
The title for our last blog post has been updated: Microsoft Attack Surface Analyzer 1.0 Released.
Happy Monday everyone and thanks for reading! :)
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
Need to know what kind of impact installing a Line of Business (LoB) application has on a server?
Run the Attack Surface Analyzer prior to installing that application to get a baseline.
After installing that LoB run the Analyzer again and compare against the baseline.
In some cases, be prepared to be surprised at the changes the LoB install made.
This is definitely one to keep on the Technician's Thumb Drive (blog category).
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
I will be speaking at the upcoming SMB Nation Fall Conference.
For those that are planning on attending please note that the Early Bird discount ends tomorrow. So, save a few dollars for an evening event and pick up a conference ticket now.
We will have a good sit-down session together to discuss where we are going and what we are doing about the current state of IT in SMB.
My goal with this session is to get the brain juices flowing to inspire hope for the future of our SMB IT Business.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.
So, it seems that any Open Value Agreement or Open with SA orders placed close to the end of last month to get folks onto SA with SBS 2011 STD and/or the Premium Add-On are running into hiccups.
If orders were placed make sure to verify that the orders have indeed gone through and the client has the licensing in hand.
If not, make sure that everything timing wise is well documented because the only option if the agreement did not go through and the timing _to Microsoft_ is off is to run with The Stack (Server, Exchange, and CALs for both).
Note that this is also possible with orders placed for Windows Server 2008 R2 prior to the SA SKU being retired at the end of June.
For those of us that manage our client's Microsoft Licensing it is up to us to be on top of this situation.
It might be a good idea to verify those orders now before running the projects that may be starting now or over the next few weeks or so.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.
In the area? Looking to get some skills on the new Windows Server 2012 platform, then this could be for you.
Michigan IT Pros are pleased to join the Dayton usergroup in hosting a JAM session for the Early Experts program in Windows Server 2012.
The Windows Server 2012 "Early Experts" Challenge provides a FREE study group with certification exam preparation materials for quickly learning about the latest version of Windows Server! Currently, our study group is targeting Exam 70-410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 from Sept through Nov 2012
We will meet each third Thursday of the month to gather together and join a Lync meeting for instructor lead training. Each student is required to setup their own lab using the provided Azure lab environment. Ideally you should have your lab setup prior to attending this event.
To setup your lab go to http://blogs.technet.com/b/keithmayer/p/earlyexpertlabsetup.aspx#.UEoh8EDD-P8 for instructions for setting up your own virtual lab.
Please tell your friends! Space is limited to 20.
I personally learn better at in-person training events. Thus the trek to Florida for MEC later on this month.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.
Between moving our residence and taking care of our clients, along with working on some prospects, things have been running at 115%.
So, blogging has been lite and may continue to be for the next week or so. At least until we settle in a bit. :)
Thanks for reading!
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.
