If you have visited this site in the last couple of days, you may have received odd HTTP error messages. This blog "disappeared".
On Wednesday (23rd) afternoon, the server that hosted this blog, along with the amset web sites suffered a hardware failure. It was the worst kind of failure for a web server - the hard disk.
The hosting company replaced the machine quickly and I was able to get the amset web sites running around six hours later.
Unfortunately the blog had to wait as it required more work, including configuring Community Server to operate in the way that I liked.
I have now completed the configuration and am in the process of populating the blog with my old articles.
I kept a copy of the articles offline on my home system, along with original publishing dates so I can easily restore the content.
I also took the opportunity to update the server to the latest release of Community Server.
For those of you reading this through RSS, I apologise for the number of "new" articles that you have seen popup. That was me repopulating the blog and couldn't be helped.
I have added some new content on OWA...
Redirecting OWA... How you have can have a single URL for both OWA and OMA then redirect accordingly.
Or have a plain http URL on your web site for the users to remember that redirects them to a secure site - means you don't have to open port 80 to your production network.
http://www.amset.info/exchange/owa-redirectpages.asp
OWA URLS
By manipulating the URLs in OWA you can display the information in different ways.
http://www.amset.info/exchange/owa-urls.asp
Stop Exchange using a Script
I have posted the script file I use when I need to stop Exchange.
http://www.amset.info/exchange/shutdown-script.asp
Coming Soon...
As I seem to be helping with a lot of EAS and OMA queries at the moment so I am currently working on a series of articles on Exchange Active Sync, Outlook Mobile Access. Look for those real soon.
A couple of new bits and pieces for my technical web site amset.info
The articles on working with Distribution lists have been grouped together and can be found here:
http://www.amset.info/exchange/groups.asp
This was caused by the publication of three new articles...
Creating a moderated distribution group:
http://www.amset.info/exchange/groups-moderated.asp
How to make your distribution lists appear at the top of the Global Address List (which is actually quite old, but was buried on another page)
http://www.amset.info/exchange/groups-top.asp
And how to hide the membership of a group, or even the existence of a group from the GAL. http://www.amset.info/exchange/groups-hidemembers.asp
Elsewhere, two pages have been added to the Pocket PC section, which may be of interest to Exchange Server administrators.
Working with SSL Certificates deals with getting SSL certificates on the handheld devices. If you are deploying OMA or Exchange Active Sync then this could be of interest to you.
http://www.amset.info/pocketpc/certificates.asp
Using the Windows Mobile 5.0 Emulator could also be of interest as it lets you simulate what the users are doing with their devices can aid support of those devices by your support team.
http://www.amset.info/pocketpc/wm5emulator.asp
Many of the articles on the web site are reviewed frequently, as I update the techniques or correct errors, so please check back often!
Well I thought it might be time to join the ranks of the bloggers.
Not going to bore you with personal stuff though... this will be a technical blog.
Who am I?
Simon Butler, aka Sembee. At the time of writing (early February 2006) I was the lead expert on Experts Exchange with in excess of 7 million points. I have over 5 million in the Exchange Server topic area alone.
Expert of the year and most answered questions on that site in 2005. In 2004 I was Rookie of the year. I reached the top of the tree in less than two years, only actively posting for just a little over 18 months.
You will also see me contributing to other forums and email lists, mainly on Exchange server topics.
I was awarded the MVP status in Microsoft Exchange server in April 2005.
The Blog?
You will probably find opinion pieces and technical snippets that aren't really suitable for the main web site at amset.info.
For the technical howtos you should still look at http://www.amset.info/ and if you want to hire me to work on your Exchange project (UK only though) then you need to go to http://www.amset.co.uk/
Comments and ratings are currently turned off while I get to grips with these things. If you want to ask me a question about Microsoft Exchange server and you aren't a client, then put it on one of the forums or email lists where it will be picked up. Business proposals need to go through Amset (see above).
