Mailhelp

Use Distribution List Manager to create distribution lists from many emails all at once or from a single email with a lot of addresses (or anything in between). It works with To, CC, and From recipients when adding distribution list members from emails; add to existing lists or create a new list each time you add a member. See the current count of members of your distribution lists before you add the new member and receive a warning you when you approach or exceed the Outlook distribution list limit. Discount Code, enter during checkout: WD9BHK53

Are images in incoming messages not being rendered? Do they appear when you reply or forward those messages? Check out this post on Omar Shahine’s blog for a solution.

Hope this helps,

Ellen

Synchronize Microsoft Outlook data between multiple PCs using external USB device, shared network folder or FTP. Share and Sync Outlook Calendar folders with Google Calendar service.

Background

This is a follow up to my recent post: A study of Exchange 2007 SP1 Hub throughput with different message sizes . Please refer to this post for full background information and test details. I promised in that post that I would add results for smaller message sizes and include data for SATA disks -- what we can call commodity storage'. Columns 1 and 2 of the Table below show the results of 2 more scenarios, using same high end SCSI storage as in the previous post, adding message sizes of 57 KB and 80KB to the posted measurements. Columns 3 and 4 were taken on a newer, more powerful server but with less expensive 'commodity storage' (SATA drives). Server Configuration 1. Ultra SCSI storage server: 2 processors x 2 core, 2.2 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 1MB L2 cache per processor, 4 GB RAM, 400 MHz memory, Ultra 3 SCSI disk controller ("entry level") with 128 MB Write-Back Cache, 3 x Ultra320 Universal SCSI 15K RPM disk. Optimized E2K7 transport database queue configuration:

• 1 disk for DB logs
• 1 disk for DB queue file
• 1 disk for OS and other transport logs: Message Tracking, Connectivity, Agent logs, etc.

2. SATA disks server: 2 processors x 2 core, 2.33 GHz, 1.33 GHz FSB, 4MB L2 cache per processor, 16 GB RAM, 333 MHz memory, SATA interface without Battery Backed Write-Back Cache, 4 SATA disks 7200 RPM . Optimized E2K7 transport database queue configuration:

• 1 disk for DB logs
• 2 disk for DB queue file, Raid 0 configuration
• 1 disk for OS and other transport logs: Message Tracking, Connectivity, Agent logs, etc.
• Disabled: Enable advanced performance disk policy
• Disabled: Enabling write caching to disk disk policy

Hub Storage	Ultra SCSI storage		SATA disks
Limiting Resource	CPUBound	CPUBound	IOBound	IOBound
Message Size	57KB	80KB	57KB	80KB
SMTP Receive Throughput (msg/sec)	138.17	118.87	48.85	40.36
Aggregate Queue length (MAX)	358	409	44	64
Queue size in MB (MAX)	20.41	32.72	2.51	5.12
%CPU	84.60	84.15	17.65	17.81
Msg Cost (MCyc/msg)	50.93	59.29	30.36	37.30
Msg Cost (MCyc/ByteOfMsg)	893.51	741.13	532.63	466.25
Disk Writes/sec (log)	146.14	165.08	48.50	51.51
Disk Writes/sec (queue)	91.15	124.78	75.00	116.00
Disk Writes/msg (log)	1.06	1.39	0.99	1.28
Disk Writes/msg (queue)	0.66	1.05	1.54	2.87
Avg msec/write (log)	0	0	11	13
Avg msec/write (queue)	0	0	97	109
Avg disk Queue length (log)	0.14	0.17	0.64	0.74
Avg disk Queue length (queue)	0.18	0.33	3.90	6.57
Disk Reads/sec (log)	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Disk reads/sec(queue)	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Analysis of Results

The first 2 columns are an extension of the previous results, using the default 128 MB transport DB cache size. Quoting the previous blog post: "storage is key for transport performance, all the above data only applies to a Hub server with at least an "entry level" SCSI controller with 128 MB of BBWC (battery backed write-back cache) that optimizes the IO pattern transport performs on steady state flow: continuous writes with very few or no reads." The last 2 columns present the results on the new hardware. Notice the high disk latencies and the appearance of a disk queue without having a BBWC (battery backed write-back cache). Also notice the smaller MCyc/msg cost, this is because the new machine's cycles are much more powerful than the cycles on the older machines thanks to higher FSB, and more L2 cache. New disclaimer: On the SATA disk machines, the Write Caching disk policies checkmarks Enable advanced performance and Enable advanced performance have been both disabled. Yes, I tested briefly with these policies enabled. Setting Enable advanced performance, raises the SATA disks performance to the level of the SCSI storage, resulting in even better throughput in the test because it's a faster machine! But it is not safe to enable it on production machines, because without a real hardware BBWBC controller data can be lost during hardware failures. See Windows Confidential - The Power of Bugs (April 2007 issue of TechNet Magazine) for a through explanation.

GALHider allows network administrators to easily hide and show users in the Exchange Global Address List (GAL). GALHider is compatible with Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Server 2003.GALHider requires a network with Active Directory and Microsoft Exchange.

Microsoft has just released a new Beta version of the Outlook Connector – an add-in that puts your Windows Live Hotmail data in Outlook. Previous versions of the Connector synchronized e-mail and contacts for free, but required a subscription to premium services to synchronize your Hotmail calendar. With the new 12.1 Beta, calendar synchronization is free and what’s more, it synchronizes to the new Windows Live Calendar Beta service! You can now take advantage of Outlook’s great calendar and time management features and still access your schedule on the web anytime, anywhere… for free! The Windows Live Calendar Beta features a fast and functional Ajax user interface that provides a rich experience on the web (visit http://calendar.live.com and check it out for yourself). It also supports some great new features that make the experience in Outlook even better. For example, you can have multiple calendars on Windows Live Calendar and each of them will synchronize to Outlook with the Outlook Connector 12.1 Beta. Windows Live Calendar supports calendar sharing as well and guess what? Shared calendars to which you have access will also synchronize with Outlook!

If you already use the Outlook Connector 12.0 and keep your calendar data in Outlook, the new Outlook Connector 12.1 Beta will upload your appointments and meetings to your new Windows Live Calendar when you upgrade.One thing to note is that if you currently use the classic Hotmail calendar and do not subscribe to a service that allows you to synchronize your data to Outlook, your new Windows Live Calendar won’t have your old classic Hotmail calendar data. Not to worry though, with the Outlook Connector 12.1 Beta, you can create your appointments in Outlook quickly and easily and those items will synchronize to Windows Live Calendar. We’ve also made improvements to the e-mail and contacts synchronization that makes the 12.1 Beta version of the connector faster and more reliable. Give it a try and let us know what you think. With the new Outlook Connector 12.1 Beta, everyone can get the best of Windows Live Hotmail including the new Windows Live Calendar Beta and Microsoft Office Outlook, so Download it Today! Alessio Roic Outlook Program Manager

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• Outlook Connector Beta Syncs All Your Microsoft Calendars [Featured Windows Download]

Please join us next Wednesday July 30th, 4-7PM PST for the next meeting of the UCDoers - Pacific Northwest Unified Communications User Group meeting!

The UCDoers will meet at the McKinstry Company located at:

5005 Third Avenue South
Seattle, WA  98134
(http://www.mckinstry.com/).

This month Greg Taylor & Per Farney of Microsoft's Certified Architect (MCA): Messaging Program also known as the "Exchange Rangers" will join us. Greg and Per will provide an overview of the program including requirements to attend, what the training program consists of and the benefits of the Exchange Ranger program to the Messaging Community.  We will also provide an update on upcoming meetings\plans for the group as we continue to grow the UCDoers User Group!

Come out and join us; food and drinks will be provided!
RSVP: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/923349/?ps=5

Thanks,
Rob Herman | Unified Communications Messaging Specialist

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Enterprise Communications Support (formerly known as Exchange Messaging Support) has recently seen an increase in support incidents around the -519 Jet_errLogSequenceEnd issue. In this blog I will explain this issue in detail, why it may occur, how to recognize it, and what to do next.

Exchange has had a robust data engine that provides an ACID database from the early days; the transaction-based JET database engine ensures all database changes are Atomic, Consistent, Isolated and Durable. We accomplish this with the use of transaction log files. In Exchange Server 2000 and 2003, we introduced the concept of Storage Groups. Storage Groups can contain up to 5 databases, but share one set of common Transaction Logs. To differentiate between Storage Groups, all Transaction Log file names contain a prefix, followed by a 5 digit hexadecimal number, like so:

Enn00001.log

Where nn is the number of the Storage Group, typically 01, 02, and so on. As transactions (changes such as new e-mail, mail being read, tasks created, views built, etc) occur Exchange records them in sequentially numbered logs. This allows us to recover from certain database problems by knowing exactly which log comes next in a replay sequence. In Exchange 2000 and 2003, the transaction log file name length is 8 characters long. Since 3 of the characters form the file name prefix, 5 remain. Thus, the largest possible hexadecimal number we can represent is

EnnFFFFF.log

The actual largest number ESE in 2000/2003 will allow is FFFF0. That number in decimal is 1,048,560, representing the maximum number of log files we can write sequentially before running out.

With over one million 5 MB log files available, in some cases, it can take as long as a few years to hit this condition. When the transaction log sequence is exhausted, the Microsoft Jet database engine returns error -519, JET_errLogSequenceEnd to the Information Store. Depending on which version of Exchange 2000 or 2003 you are on, this error will result in slightly different symptoms. These symptoms are described in the following Knowledge Base articles:

830408 Store databases are dismounted without warning or users cannot log on to their mailboxes in Exchange Server 2003 or in Exchange 2000 Server

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;830408

896001 An event is not logged in the Application log before the last available transaction log in the sequence is used in Exchange 2000 Server

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;896001

In the latest revisions for Exchange 2000 and 2003, we added some fixes to warn you of this impending problem and prevent it from occurring. Store will warn you when you are nearing the end of the log sequence with the following event:

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: ESE
Event Category: Logging/Recovery
Event ID: 514
Description: Information Store (2748) SG2: Log sequence numbers for this instance have almost been completely consumed. To begin renumbering from generation 1, the instance must be shutdown cleanly and all log files must be deleted. Backups will be invalidated.

If you have databases in Storage Groups that have been online contiguously for several years, you should be monitoring your transaction log sequence and the Application Log for this event. When you see this, it's time to reset the transaction log sequence.

Notice that if you miss the ESE 514 warning your databases will dismount and generate the following events:

Event ID: 1159
Event Type: Error
Event Source: MSExchangeIS
Event Category: General
Description: Database error 0xfffffdf9 occurred in function JTAB_BASE::EcEscrowUpdate while accessing the database "First Storage Group\Mailbox Store (SERVER)".

Event ID: 9518
Event Type: Error
Event Source: MSExchangeIS
Event Category: General
Description: Error 0xfffffddc starting Storage Group Path_of_Storage_Group on the Microsoft Exchange Information Store. Storage Group - Initialization of Jet failed.

OK, great, what the heck does 0xfffffddc mean? Glad you asked! You can look up Exchange error codes here: Microsoft Exchange Server Error Code Look-up

Note that error translates to Jet_errLogSequenceEndDatabasesConsistent:

Err 0xfffffddc -
# for hex 0xfffffddc / decimal -548
  JET_errLogSequenceEndDatabasesConsistent esent98.h
# /* databases have been recovered, but all possible log
# generations in the current sequence are used; delete all
# log files and the checkpoint file and backup the databases
# before continuing */

If you attempt to mount databases in this condition you will discover another cause for this common error in the Exchange System Manager:

An internal processing error has occurred. Try restarting the Exchange System Manager or the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service, or both.
ID no: c1041724
Exchange System Manager

Let's Get Fixed!

Now that I've explained the issue and how it will be reported in the event logs, here's how to correct this problem:

KB 830408 has a workaround section that describes how to reset transaction log sequence manually. However, we have included this functionality in the Microsoft Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant "Reset log generation number task". We talk about that here:

MSExchangeIS 9518 (0xfffffddc): Exceeded the Maximum Number of Transaction Logs Available for this Storage Group

Microsoft recommends using the Troubleshooting Assistant (ExTRA) because it automates the process of verifying the health of your databases and resetting the transaction log sequence. Download the Microsoft Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant v1.0 and follow these instructions to reset transaction log sequence: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998611(EXCHG.80).aspx

We also recommend monitoring all your Exchange 2000 and 2003 Storage Groups' transaction log sequences to avoid a potential temporary outage of service. Monitor your application logs for the ESE 514 events.

Now, while it is theoretically possible to hit this condition in Exchange 2007, it will probably take a really long time. For Exchange Server 2007 we decreased the log file size to 1 MB but increased the transaction log file name length to 11 digits, meaning we can go up to

EnnFFFFFFFF.log

Due to the way ESE math works our upward limit is actually 7fffffec log files, but that is still a HUGE number. After figuring in the change in size to 1 MB, that's still about 409 times the number of logs we could generate in 2000/2003. Read more about this improvement in the following TechNet Magazine article located here.

Corbin Meek
Enterprise Communications Support

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Scheduling enhancement for Exchange to optimize resources by managing by activity (such as scheduling a series of interview rooms for an employment prospect's visit), balancing resource use, and accounting for travel times in building schedules. Uses Outlook or Outlook Web Access as the client. Also exposes scheduling information as XML Web Services for integration with Office and other applications.

Active Directory Command Centre is a tool that lets the administrator easily create/modify/remove and export active directory objects. Beta version .95