Wednesday, 28 November 2012

System Center Advisor

System Center Advisor is a cloud service that enables you to assess your server configurations and proactively avoid problems, while helping support staff to resolve issues faster by accessing current and historical configuration data; all with the security features that meet your needs.

Additionally, System Center Advisor helps reduce downtime by providing suggestions for improvement and notifying you of key updates specific to your configuration.

System Center Advisor provides support for System Center 2012, SQL Server, Windows Server, SharePoint Server, and Exchange Server.

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More information can be found here and here;

UPDATE(15/03/2013): Advisor is now FREE

Monday, 26 November 2012

Update Rollup 5 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2 - KB 2719800 (PULLED)

I was wondering why I missed this update to Exchange 2010 but after a few web searches the updated was pulled (yet another for the Exchange team) because it breaks your Exchange environment.

More information can be found here, here and here;

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Sunday, 11 November 2012

Lync 2012 – Find your build number

Open a Lync Powershell session and type the following;

Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from win32_product' | where {$_.name -like "Microsoft Lync Server*"} |ft Name, Version

OR

Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from win32_product' | where {$_.name -like "Microsoft Lync Server*"} |fl Name, Version

As of October 2012 : Lync Server 2010 build number is 4.0.7577.205
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Saturday, 10 November 2012

SQL 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups and SCVMM 2012 SP1

Have you ever wanted to create a SQL Server 2012 Availability Group to support either System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 or other SQL Databases?

For more information and a step by step guide guide; go here.

Friday, 9 November 2012

SQL Server® 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) released

List of the bugs that are fixed in SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 can be found here;

- Cross-Cluster Migration of AlwaysOn Availability Groups for OS Upgrade
- Selective XML Index
- DBCC SHOW_STATISTICS works with SELECT permission
- SSMS Complete in Express
- SlipStream Full Installation
- BI (with SQL Server SP1, Office and SharePoint Server 2013 Preview) are:
   - Enable self-service BI as a natural part of users day-to-day activities in Excel 2013:
   - Access and mash-up data from any source (PowerPivot).
   - Stunning visualizations and data discovery (Power View).
   - Discover, assess and audit user created spreadsheets via SharePoint Server 2013 Preview.
   - A new version of Reporting Services add-in for SharePoint 2010 and updates for SharePoint 2013.
   - Share and collaborate on self-service BI assets via SharePoint Server 2013.

Download details can be found here;

Thursday, 8 November 2012

Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Debugging Tools

Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Debugging Tools is a collection of additional tools for use by IT Admins to aid in troubleshooting Lync Server 2013 deployments. The collection of tools include:

  • Snooper
  • OCSLogger
  • OCSTracer
  • ClsController.psm1

Available for download here;

Microsoft Office 2013 Volume License Pack

Volume license editions of Office 2013 client products require activation. This download enables IT administrators to set up a Key Management Service (KMS) or configure a domain for Active Directory-Based activation. Either of these volume activation methods can locally activate all Office 2013 clients connected to an organization’s network.

Download available here;

Installation is pretty much next and finish.
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Once you enter your KMS key above you can see the Key under VAMT.
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Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Microsoft Lync Basic 2013 verses Lync 2013

Microsoft Lync Basic 2013 gives you instant messaging (IM), audio and video calls, online meetings, availability (presence) information, and sharing capabilities all from one, easy-to-use program. It’s a slimmer version of the full Lync 2013 client and provides the same core functionality.

With Lync, you can keep track of your contacts’ availability; send an instant message; and start or join an audio call, video call, or online meeting—all through a consistent, familiar interface. Lync integrates with other Office programs and is available for Windows, Mac, Windows Phone, iPhone, iPod, Android, and Office 365 subscribers.

Lync Basic 2013 provides all the basic functionality that’s available in the full version of Lync (Lync 2013). However, if you want to use any of the following features you must upgrade to Lync 2013 which is part of Office 2013:
  • Advanced call features (not available with all Office 365 subscriptions); advanced call features include team ring, call forwarding, simultaneous ring, voice mail, call park, call delegation, response groups, and remote call control
  • Calendar delegation
  • Gallery video view
  • OneNote sharing
  • Recording
  • Skill search (not available with Office 365)
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (not available with Office 365)
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Lync Basic 2013 is available on the Microsoft Download Centre;
Microsoft Lync Basic 2013 (32 Bit)
Microsoft Lync Basic 2013 (64 Bit)
Lync 2013 is available via the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Centre for customers with a Volume Licensing agreement.

Lync 2013 (Upgrade, coexistence and Clean Install)

Prior to installing Lync 2013 into our Lync 2010 environment I would like to point out the following articles; thanks and credit were due!

Install Lync Server 2010/2013 Public Preview Side-by-side - Part 1
http://www.pro-exchange.be/blogs/lync2013/archive/2012/07/16/installing-lync-2013-public-beta-step-by-step-screenshot-guide.aspx

Install Lync Server 2010/2013 Public Preview Side-by-side - Part 2
http://www.proexchange.be/blogs/lync2013/archive/2012/07/17/install-lync-server-2010-2013-public-preview-side-by-side-part-2-finish-install-and-use.aspx

Welcome to Lync 2013 – Part 1 | The Lync Guy's Blog
http://ocsguy.com/2012/11/01/welcome-to-lync-2013-part-1/

Deploying Lync 2013 – Part 2 | The Lync Guy's Blog
http://ocsguy.com/2012/11/05/deploying-lync-2013-part-2/

Lync Server 2013 features and how to configure them
http://msunified.net/2012/08/01/lync-server-2013-preview-features-and-how-to-configure-them/