From time to time I get calls from IT teams that have stability and performance issues after completing P2V conversation.

Mr. Eric Siebert wrote a nice manual on the steps that are needed to be done after completing P2V conversation:

Removing old hardware after a P2V conversion

From my own experience, I recommend also to  remove the following utilities/drivers:

1. Hardware vendor related utilities/drivers (e.g. Raid management utilities etc.).

2. P2V Agent.

3. “Teaming” utilities (Some of them require a manual uninstall process from the network adapter –> properties).

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Attached a few links on common public folder management tasks in Exchange 2010:

 

Exchange 2010 Public Folders: Part 1
Exchange 2010 Public Folders: Part 2
Exchange 2010 Public Folders: Part 3

Useful Public Folder Management Scripts in Exchange Server 2010

How to Move Public Folder from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010

How to Remove an Exchange 2010 Public Folder Database

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“CheckOR.com - Open Relay Check Tool” is available from the following link.

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Microsoft released a new suite of tools that can help you during migration from a third party database to Microsoft SQL.

This tools can be downloaded from the following links:

Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant for MySQL v5.1

Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant for Oracle v5.1

Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant for Sybase v5.1

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“The Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 SP1 Feature Pack is a collection of stand-alone packages which provide additional value for Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2”.

The feather pack can be downloaded from the following link: Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2 SP1 Feature Pack.

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Microsoft released a updated documentation for migration SBS environment:

Migrate to Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard from Windows Small Business Server 2003

Migrate to Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard from Windows Small Business Server 2008

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The following post cover a few tips and tricks that can improve you iSCSI performance.

Before making this changes in a production environment, its recommended to:

1. Contact the storage and the server vendor support team and check with them the suggested recommendation in this post.

2. Test the effect of the suggested changes in a testing environment that is the same as the production environment.

Note: Ignoring the aboved recommendation can lead to a data corruption.

 

General

1. Use the latest Microsoft operating System.

2. Update the current ISCSI initiator to the latest version.

3. If it applicable, use a HBA (Host Bus Adapter) with iSCSI accelerator.

4. In some scenarios, you may need to use the latest DSM (Device-Specific Module) software module, that can be obtained from the storage/HBA vendor.

5. ISCSI usually supported in 1 GB or higher infrastructure. Using 10/100 MB infrastructure can lead to low performance/data corruption.

6. Please use a dedicated network adapter/s (or HBA) for iSCSI connection. Combining regular network traffic and iSCSI traffic can lead to performance and security issues.

7. The network switch/s that planed to be used for the iSCSI infrastructure should be certificate for ISCSI traffic.

Note: Not all the common network switches officially support iSCSI.

9. Use the latest driver for the network adapter/HBA card/s.

10. For backup LUN by using direct SAN technology, its recommended to allow the backup server to have a Read only privilege to the required LUN.

11. Although iSCSI support block level transfer over TCP/IP, a regular network issues can lead to performance issues. To avoid performance issues, its recommended to implemented a full network design that includes redundant and optimize Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) implementation.

12. Consider to use Jumbo frame on the iSCSI network (Its specially recommended to environments that planed to be use for large file transfer).

 

Network Performance

1. Review the current network settings by using the command:

netsh interface tcp show global 

2. Consider to optimize the autotuninglevel level by implement one of the following settings:

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=restricted
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=high
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disable

Note: Its recommended to reboot the server after appling this changes.

To restore to the default autotuninglevel settings, please use the command:

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

Note: Its recommended to reboot the server after applying this changes.

Some customers recommended to apply one (or more) of the settings bellow:

netsh int tcp set heuristics disabled
netsh int tcp set global dca=enabled
netsh int tcp set global congestionprovider=ctcp
netsh int tcp set global ecncapability=enabled
netsh int tcp set heuristics disabled

However, I didn’t had the need to implemented this changes until now.

2. Consider to disable Chimney Offload State support:

netsh int tcp set global chimney=disabled

Note1: The settings can be disabled/enabled per network adapter, by using “Device Manager”.

Note2: To restore to the default Chimney Offload State settings, please use the command:

netsh int tcp set global chimney=anabled

Note3:Its recommended to reboot the server after applying this changes.

netsh int tcp set global chimney=enabled

3. Consider to disable Receive Side Scaling (RSS) support:

netsh int tcp set global rss=disabled

Note1: The settings can be disabled/enabled per network adapter, by using “Device Manager”.

Note2:To restore to the default Receive Side Scaling  (RSS) settings, please use the command:

netsh int tcp set global rss=anabled

Note3:Its recommended to reboot the server after applying this changes.

4. Although its usually supported, don’t use any firewall/routing device in the ISCSI network.

5. Consider to disable EnableICMPRedirect support:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Value DWORD 32bits: EnableICMPRedirect set to "0"

Note: Its recommended to reboot the server after applying this changes.

6. To implement a high availably and high performance solution, consider to implement MPIO (Microsoft® Multipath I/O):

Understanding MPIO Features and Components

7. Integrating iSCSI, FCIP, and iFCP technologies required a special care. For start, please review: Mr. Jane Shurtleff article:

IP storage: A review of iSCSI, FCIP, iFCP

 

For further information, please review:

Information about the TCP Chimney Offload, Receive Side Scaling, and Network Direct Memory Access features in Windows Server 2008
Storage

Netsh Technical Reference

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I found today an interesting error message while trying to use DCPROMO command on Windows 2008 R2 SP1 server:

“The operation failed because Active Directory Domain Services could not transfer the remaining data in the directory partition DC=DomainDnsZones,DC=DomainName,DC=Local to Active Directory Domain Controller DCName . "The directory service is missing mandatory configuration information, and is unable to determine the ownership of floating single-master operation roles."

After reviewing a few posts I found the following solution:

NTDSUtil shows different FSMO role owner than LDIFDE!?

 

However, before using the suggested solution (or any other solution) please note:

1. Changing Active Directory settings manually can lead to a unexpected downtime.

2. Please make sure that you have a current and a valid Active Directory Backup.

3. I recommended to made this changes on FSMO server, while it reside in a “private” LAN/VLAN (so no replication will be done during the changes) or

temporary disabling the Active Directory replication on the FSMO server  How to disable Active Directory Replication per Domain Controller

4. The error massage usually indicate that you may have some Active Directory replication issues and/or you don’t use the correct procedures to Promote/Demote domain controllers etc.

5. After restoring the FSMO server to the Active Directory replication infrastructure, its recommended to run a full Active Directory Synchronization by using the command: Repadmin /syncall 

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The following article describe the recommended process for resetting Exchange 2010 Autodiscover Virtual Directory:

 

1.  Run the following command and document the current Auto Discovery settings:

Get-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory -server MyCasServerName | fl InternalUrl,ExternalUrl

Note: This step should by done for each CAS server in the enterprise.

2. Delete the old Autodiscover Virtual Directory by using the command:

Remove-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory –Identity “MyCasServerName\Autodiscover (Default Web Site)”

 

3. Create a new Autodiscover Virtual Directory on each CAS Server:

New-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory -WebsiteName “Default Web Site” -WindowsAuthentication $true -BasicAuthentication $true

4. Set the correct internal or/and external URL’s of the CAS Auto Discovery service:

Get-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory -server MyCasServerName  | Set-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory  -InternalUrl 'https://MyCasServerName.MyInternalDomainName.local/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml'

or

Get-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory –server MyCasServerName| Set-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory -ExternalUrl 'https://MyCasServerName.MyExternalDomainName.local/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml'' -InternalUrl 'https://MyCasServerName.MyInternalDomainName.local/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml'

 

Note1: To apply this settings to a CAS Array, you may need to provides the URL for the VIP name (that was setup during the network load balance deployment stage).

Note2: In a multi Active Directory sites, you may need to use the following command instead:

Set-ClientAccessServer -Identity "MyCasServerName" -AutodiscoverServiceInternalURI https://ActiveDirectorySiteName/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml AutodiscoverSiteScope "ActiveDirectorySiteName"

Note3: In Multi Active Directory Forests environment,  a special settings may need to by deployed. Consult Microsoft official documentation to complete this task.

 

5. Reset IIS by using: iisreset command.

Note: In some cases, a full server reboot may need to be done. 

6. Verify the new Autodiscover Virtual Directory settings by using the following commands:

Get-AutodiscoverVirtualDirectory -server MyCasServerName  | fl InternalUrl,ExternalUrl

Test-OutlookWebServices -ClientAccessServer "MyCasServerName"

Note: If the tests fail, please verify that there is no Active Directory Replication/DNS issue.

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The following article describe the installation process of Microsoft Lync 2010 Enterprise Prerequisites (On Windows 2008 R2 SP1 Server:

 

Note: Some of the software prerequisites would be installed automatically during Microsoft Lync 2010 Enterprise installation.

 

a. Active Directory Directory Services

Forest functional level and Domain functional level - Windows Server 2003 native mode or higher

 

b. Software Prerequisites can be installed by using PowerShell:

import-module servermanager

add-windowsfeature web-common-http, web-static-content, web-http-errors, web-http-redirect, web-asp-net, web-net-ext, web-isapi-ext, web-isapi-filter, web-http-logging, web-log-libraries, web-http-tracing, web-basic-auth, web-windows-auth, web-client-auth, web-url-auth, web-filtering, web-stat-compression, web-mgmt-tools, web-mgmt-console, web-scripting-tools, web-mgmt-compat, web-metabase, web-wmi, web-lgcy-scripting, web-lgcy-mgmt-console –restart

 

Note1: If you plan to deploy Archie Server role, please install the following MSMQ feathers: The Message Queuing Server and Directory Service Integration

Import-Module ServerManager
Add-WindowsFeature msmq-server,msmq-directory

Note2: After completing the software prerequisites installation step, its recommended to run Windows Update.

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After using dcdiag tool (e.g. “dcdiag.exe /V /C /D /E /s:dcname”,  the following error message may appear: “Could not be queried, error 0x6ba "The RPC server is unavailable.”

Usually, this issue occurred due to Microsoft Windows Firewall forbidding unhallowed TCP/IP traffic.  To resolve this issue, use one of the following technics:

1. Disable the Microsoft Windows Firewall (Less recommended).

2. Add "Remote Administration", as a firewall exception.

3. Add the following TCP/IP Ports: Configuring System Service Firewall Rules ,  as a firewall exception.

 

Note: Third party applications (e.g. Antivirus etc.)  may also block the TCP/IP traffic.

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After installing internet explorer 9, the following error may appear “You must close all dialog boxes before you can close Exchange Management Console”.

Reviewing Microsoft web site didn’t provided  any solution for this issue (although it looks like a commutability issue between Exchange 2010 and Internet Explorer 9).

Currently there is  a few workarounds that may use:

1. Uninstall Internet Explorer 9 (I usually don’t recommended to uninstall applications from a production server, so do it on your own risk).

2. Add https://localhost ”  and ” http://localhost  as a Trusted Web Sites (Under Internet Explorer –> Security –> Trusted Sites).

3. Created a customized MMC and add to it Exchange 2010 Snap-in.

4. Wait for Microsoft official solution/hotfix.

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Symptoms:

After replacing Exchange 2010 Certificate , the following error may appear during accessing Exchange 2010 OWA (Outlook Web Access): “Page Cannot be Displayed”.

Reason:

The imported certificate may not contain a “Private key”.

Solution:

During certificate export process, verify that “Export Private Key” checkbox has been marked. After completing the new certificate, import it the Exchange 2010 server and assigned it to the relevant services.

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Mr. René van Maasakkers wrote an interesting post on two Exchange 2010 PowerShell commands: New-MailboxRepairRequest and  New-PublicFolderDatabaseRepairRequest.

By using this commands, you can do a online repair to a User Mailbox, Exchange Mailbox Database and Public Folder Database.

The article can be is available from the following link: Exchange 2010 SP1 Database Integrity checking: New-MailboxRepairRequest

Note: New-MailboxRepairRequest and New-PublicFolderDatabaseRepairRequest commands start a repair process that cant be stopped, unless you dismount the Exchange database manually. I don’t recommended to dismount the Exchange database manually, so use this commands carefully.

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According to Microsoft TechNet site: “Exchange Search uses IFilters to index text content in different file formats. Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Packs includes filters for Microsoft Office 2010 and Office 2007 file formats. Installation of the Filter Pack is a pre-requisite for Exchange 2010 Mailbox and Hub Transport servers. For details, see Exchange 2010 Prerequisites. The following file name extensions are supported by the filter pack: .docm, .docx, .one, .pptm, .pptx, .vdx, .vsd, .vss, .vst, .vsx, .vtx, .xlsb, .xlsm, .xlsx, .zip. For more information and to download the Filter Pack, see Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Packs. “

Source: Register Filter Pack IFilters with Exchange 2010

Some customers may like to add the ability to search for PDF file extension, so Adobe released the following guide Adobe PDF iFilter 9 for 64-bit platforms.

However, this guide is updated to Exchange 2007 server version only. To add PDF iFilter support to Exchange 2010, you may need to implement the required changes under the following registry key:

“HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ExchangeServer\v14\MSSearch”

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