Caley's Blog

Leopard Issues with Exchange

2007-11-06T22:26:00Z

After doing some testing with Leopard we have found there are issues. Mail in some cases stops working and there seems to be no fix at this point to make it work again.

After a lenghthy call with Apple support they tell me that there are issues when upgrading an existing OS to Leopard in some cases. And they now say it is a documented bug that they are working to resolve.

They did say that they have had no reports of this being an issue with clean installs of the OS but I have no confirmation on that at this point.

We Will keep you posted as they work through thi sissue and post the resolution as soon as we have one.

Turning up the heat on servers and other computers. Cooling and power issues for the summer.

2007-05-08T20:05:00Z

As the temperature rises and summer starts to lead to BBQs and beach parties, we once again brace ourselves for power issues and brownouts and god forbid rolling blackouts.

For anyone who runs a NOC as we do, full of servers all generating heat and needing dedicated cooling and power conditioning. This is the time of year for action.

Testing your back up UPS battery systems, replacing batteries and units where needed, testing backup generators, and scheduling all your HVAC and generator maintenance.

And going over your strategies for power outages and continuity of service plans. Now is the time.

But what about the end users? People may not be aware that they often shorten the life of their computers and electronics buy not performing small checks and maintenance.

Does your Tivo have enough airflow where you have it to keep it cool? Does your PC on your floor under your desk have clear paths for air to flow? Is the power supply fan clogged with dust? To sometimes simply making sure that the comforter on your bed is not covering up the vents on your laptop when you are relaxing and surfing the net.

Electronics are very sensitive to their environment. Too much moisture or too much heat can make a very expensive purchase last years less than it should. Make sure they have room to breathe and are free of dust and they will last longer and give you your money's worth.

Home Uninterruptable Power supplies are now relatively cheap and are really a great idea. Your new 50 Inch plasma TV has no built in protection from a power drop or surge which can damage the electronics inside and will not be covered under warranty. Same with your new Dell Computer or iMac. At very minimum a power strip with a surge protector is important to use with any of today’s electronics.

APC and Tripp-lite make affordable home UPS units from $199 and less.

Micorsoft Zune, No Vista Support?

2006-11-27T17:51:00Z

The RTM of MS's new OS Vista came just days before the release of the new Zune, the supposed iPod killer.

But Oddly enough Vista support is not available at all. Maybe by december.

The Zune has amazing sound and video and a nice 30GB internal storage capacity. It is a great buy and I love mine.

Pet peeves, cannot queue all videos to play back to back. Other than that I love it!

Nokia E61 and E62 With Good Mobile Technology.

2006-10-20T14:46:00Z

They are here! These are nice little units, slim, nice keyboard, good display and very clear sound with the phone function.

Nokia recently released these two and we are seeing quite a few people switching to these devices. They seem to be less troublesome for set up and use compared to the Motorola Q and have features from most of the popluar handhelds with better clarity as a phone.

They are an exclusive through Cingular wireless and something that makes them a lot more attractive is the price.

They are offering the E62 for $199 with a $50 mail in rebate with a new 2 year contract.

As compared to the Cingular 8125 with has a price tag of $349 with a $100 mail in rebate with a new 2 year contract.

www.lanlogic.net

Sharepoint asks me for my password every time I try and open a file after I log on.

2006-10-18T23:00:00Z

I have heard this complaint from many Sharepoint users.

Well after some research it turns out it is a limitation of IIS.

IIS cannot pass authentication outside of IIS. So the ASP driven Sharepoint will authenticate, but if you access a file that need domain authentication it will promt you to enter your password again.

There are 3 possible fixes.

1: Disable Integrated Windows Authentication and turn on Basic Authentication. This poses a security risk as the passwords are sent as clear text.

2: Create priviledged accounts and hard code the username and passwords into ASP (encrypted) again a potential security risk

3: Enable Kerberos Authentication on the domain.

Here is a link with more information on this and all of the possible solutions.

http://blogs.msdn.com/mjeelani/archive/2004/12/07/275921.aspx

The "My Company's Internal Web Site" link on the default Web site Welcome page does not work when you connect to the site over the Internet in Windows SBS 2003

2006-08-30T06:42:00Z

We had a Client yesterday who wanted to use the Intranet site that comes with SBS 2003 as an internet acessible site. Turns out this is not as simple to do as one might think. The soloution was found in the following Microsoft article.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=838429

Please always be sure to back up any files before you modify them manually!!