What is the correct model number?

Today we received a batch of new Seagate Enterprise hard disks, which should have been model ST2000NM0011. It looks like someone in the label department in Thailand made a mistake, as the model number is shown with a 1 (1TB) and a 2 (2TB). After plugging it in, it was detected as a 1TB drive. Glad to know we can’t always rely on stickers.

The Motorola XOOM is the first device to run the Android 3

The Motorola XOOM is the first device to run the Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) OS, optimized for tablets. With a 1GHz dual-core processor, 32GB memory, and 1GB RAM, plus a gorgeous 10.1" widescreen HD display and support for Adobe Flash 10.2, you can experience the best in multimedia, and multi-task with the ease and performance of a PC.

The Motorola XOOM is the tablet you've been waiting for.

Exchange 2010 SP1 Rollup 3 and BlackBerrys sending duplicate messages

Tonight I had a customer informing me that since we installed the latest rollup for Exchange 2010 SP1 their BlackBerry were sending duplicate messages. After doing some research into the issue, I came across this blog http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2011/03/14/exchange-2010-sp1-rollup-3-and-blackberrys-sending-duplicate-messages.aspx For the time being, hold off on installing RU3 until Microsoft get’s this fixed. In fact, they state that they have pulled the Rollup for now. I suggest looking at the EHLO link above to confirm when it is fixed.

Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Calculator

I am currently working on planning out a new data center that will be running Exchange 2010. I found a great tool from the Exchange team called Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator which is quite powerful. An updated version of this tool can also be located at http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2010/01/22/3409223.aspx

Android update gives more features with Exchange EAS

Today my wife updated her Sprint Samsung Transform phone with the latest Android OS. I have been waiting for Sprint to push out this update as I found a very strange bug in the base OS that was shipped with the phone in November 2010. For a list of versions and when they were shipped, see http://socialcompare.com/en/comparison/android-versions-comparison The bug I identified was if you setup the phone to Sync with the Exchange server, in this case Exchange 2010 SP1 RU2 and then proceed to select a contact, change the picture of the contact to one that is on the device, and re-sync, you will now see the new picture in your Outlook. That is how it is suppose to work. The bug part comes in when you now edit that contact, say change the phone number or email address. Now sync the device, and you will notice the data doesn’t change in the device. The only way to fix it from my testing was to delete the contact via the phone. Once you do that, re-sync, and it will be gone from the Contacts in Outlook. Now go into your deleted items and you will see the contact. Move it back to your contacts, and re-sync the phone, and the contact is now correct on the phone. But if you make a change to the contact again, you will run into the same issue. This was VERY annoying! I had found an update to the Android OS but it required rooting the phone, something I didn’t want to do. After the update came down today from Sprint, I retried my issue, and the bug has now been fixed. Other things I noticed in the new update is the support for OOF, or Out of Office. That is a nice touch as Active Sync get’s more aligned to the features in Exchange 2010 and EAS. I also noticed that the new update now enforces Active Sync’s security policies, including requiring a device password. Now we wait for Microsoft’s own Windows Phone 7 to start supporting more Exchange EAS policies. If you are interested in knowing more about EAS, here is a chart by Marco Nielsen

White House wants to impose tougher penalties for software piracy

The White House is currently reviewing a new set of much tougher laws for software piracy, including jail time of up to 20 years. There are several other items in this list of recommendations that do not pertain to software, like drug offenses, but all fall in the intellectual property category. If you want to see what these new limits are about take a look at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ip_white_paper.pdf

SBS 2011 setup or migration fails

Today I did my first SBS 2003 to SBS 2011 Standard migration. I did all the checks, BPA’s, and every other best practice I have learned over the years including reading Susan’s blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2010/12/23/sbs-2011-migration-keys-to-success.aspx . Everything on the source server looked great. I created my answer file, and started the migration installation. Everything seemed to go fine, until the final screen which said: I thought that was quite weird. Upon further digging, I noticed in the ExchangeSetupLogs folder the file ExchangeSetup.log had the following errors: [12/28/2010 00:35:18.0614] [1] Installing MSI package ‘C:Program FilesWindows Small Business ServerBinCMPNENTSEXCHANGE14_SP1exchangeserver.msi’. [12/28/2010 00:35:18.0616] [1] Installing a new product. Package: C:Program FilesWindows Small Business ServerBinCMPNENTSEXCHANGE14_SP1exchangeserver.msi. Property values: DISABLEERRORREPORTING=1 PRODUCTLANGUAGELCID=1033 DEFAULTLANGUAGENAME=ENU DEFAULTLANGUAGELCID=1033 INSTALLCOMMENT=”Installed language for this product: English (United States)” REBOOT=ReallySuppress TARGETDIR=”C:Program FilesMicrosoftExchange ServerV14″ ADDLOCAL=AdminTools,Bridgehead,ClientAccess,Mailbox,AdminToolsNonGateway [12/28/2010 00:35:46.0524] [1] [WARNING] Unexpected Error [12/28/2010 00:35:46.0524] [1] [WARNING] Installing product C:Program FilesWindows Small Business ServerBinCMPNENTSEXCHANGE14_SP1exchangeserver.msi failed. The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance. Error code is 1601. Last error reported by the MSI package is ‘Error writing to file: amd64_Microsoft.VC90.MFC_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.4959_x-ww_db77817b.cat.