CoNetrix

Blog: Microsoft

I’ve been upgrading our internal Office Communication system to the new Lync 2010 environment. Everything I had been reading showed the two servers can run side-by-side, albeit with different pools created. Running side-by-side allows for easy testing and migration rather than switching everyone over and hoping it works. Unfortunately, what I didn’t realize was the two servers use some of the same database names. While Microsoft has documented this, you have to dig a little through the documentation to find it.

I discovered this travesty soon after I hit the magic “go” button. This button (also known as “Publish topology”) started the deployment of the Central Management Store into my SQL instance. This process involves taking existing databases and placing them into restricted mode. Then the installer attempts to drop the database and recreate it. Since these were OCS R2 databases, however, the Lync installer had problems recreating over the existing table layout. The whole process choked, leaving the databases in a funky, inconsistent, restricted state and communicator non-functional. I was able to connect as ‘sa’ and remove the restriction, but the databases were pretty much a lost cause. Restoring from the previous night’s backup allowed everyone get back online.

Moral of the story: Here’s yet another Microsoft product that does not warn you before dropping databases. Be wary when installing applications that automatically set up databases as part of the installation procedure.

Networking, Microsoft, Lync, SQL Server,
 

Microsoft has introduced a technology that competes with the QR codes. One of the main differences in the Microsoft Tag is that there is a tracking mechanism that will tell the tag owner how many people have accessed the tag… and also allows the tag owner to change the contents of the tag over time.  QR tags are static.

All the tagging technology (readers, creators and the web site to control the content) are free at this time from Microsoft. [more]

Here are a couple articles of interest:

http://tag.microsoft.com/overview.aspx

http://www.signsoveramerica.com/sign-blog/index.php/2010/11/15/qr-codes-vs-microsoft-tag-reader-predicting-the-winner/

General, Microsoft,
 

If you have more than one domain controller and are trying to examine why an account keeps locking out (for example, after a password change), you can download a tool from Microsoft called LockoutStatus.exe.  This tool will help you analyze which Domain Controller the lockout happened against if there is more than one DC.  It will also list the time it happened so it can help speed up the process of examining the Security logs in the correct DC’s event logs. 

The tool can also be used to unlock accounts easily.  You must specify the name of the domain account that you are searching for.  [more]

Further information can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738772%28WS.10%29.aspx

Networking, Microsoft, Software Utility,
 

In a News Press Release yesterday, Microsoft Corp. announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.  Windows 7 should be generally available to customers around the world in mid to late October, and Windows Server 2008 R2 should be generally available on or before October.  To learn more, visit http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2009/jul09/07-22Windows7RTMPR.mspx

General, Networking, Microsoft, Windows 7, Windows 2008 Server,
 

On Thursday, October 23 2008, Microsoft released a critical out-of-cycle security update. This update addresses a vulnerability in the Windows server service that could allow remote code execution. Microsoft has rated this vulnerability Critical for all supported editions of Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. This vulnerability has been rated Important for all supported editions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting the way that the Server service handles RPC requests. Additional technical details on the vulnerability and update can be accessed at:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-067.mspx

As a best practice, RPC functionality should not be exposed directly to the Internet. However as a precaution, CoNetrix recommends applying the update available from Microsoft as soon as possible.

If you have any questions or need assistance with this update, please contact CoNetrix at support@conetrix.com or call (800) 356-6568.

IT Security Alerts, Networking, Security and Compliance, Microsoft, Patch, Remote Code Execution, Vulnerability, Alert,