Communicator sip DNS issues

A couple of months ago, I stood up an Office Communications Server and it's been running flawlessly.  We mainly use it for the IM functionality but eventually I'd like to see us take advantage of all the other features.  Looking through my event logs today I notice the following entries:  

Event ID 3:

Communicator was unable to resolve the DNS hostname of the login server sipexternal.acme.com.

Resolution:

If you are using manual configuration for Communicator, please check that the server name is typed correctly and in full.  If you are using automatic configuration, the network administrator will need to double-check the DNS A record configuration for sipexternal.acme.com because it could not be resolved.

After doing some googling around I came across Jeff Schertz Blog DNS Lookups with OCS Automatic Configuration, which he basically confirms the event log entry (good job on the error logging Microsoft!).  Looking at my DNS server, I notice the sip CName missing.  I checked the certificate SAN to confirm what should be listed, then added the record and now my machine is able to resolve sip.acme.com.  Lesson of the story is make sure DNS is flawless inside and out.  DNS=Lifeblood of AD.

Hyper V Failed to add device "Microsoft Synthetic Ethernet Port"

So I came across a need to user Hyper V at one of our remote locations which has a box running Windows Server 2008 64bit.  I added the Hyper V role and launch it only to find out that the packaged version is a pre-release and that I needed to update.  So I ended up having to install the update (Get it here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950050) which, after installing requires a reboot......so many reboots...anyhow...I digress.  After the reboot I fire up Hyper V...cool.  Looks straight forward.  I plow through the wizard and at the last step which is creation, I get hit with the error: "Failed to add device "Microsoft Synthetic Ethernet Port".  After surfing around a bit, I found that this is caused by anti-virus software settings on the directory.  We use trend micro but apparently Forefront causes the same issue.  I would not be surprised if others fit the bill.  As soon as I excluded the directory where the VHD is stored as well as *.xml files, the VM wizard completed successfully.

Blogging from the gadget

Well I loaded up Blogger Buddy as a Windows Vista Gadget and apparently, now I can blog at a moment's notice...We'll see how this goes!

My journey down linux lane

So I've decided to try and migrate to a 100% linux desktop. I have toyed with various flavors (redhat, suse, mandrake) but I have to say that I'm pleased with using kubuntu. I've set up my system to dual boot until I completely ween myself off. So the installation was a piece of cake but trying to get my wireless usb adapter configured is like pulling teeth. I think this is probably one of the biggest road block of would be linux users. I like the fact that adept can update packages. The number one reason for migrating to linux though is the coolness factor. I love the fact that the console window can be transparent but the icing on the cake is beryl. I actually saw beryl while attending DefCon two years ago but did not know what it was called. It just flat out rocks. I'll keep you posted on how I progress.

Tech Ed Wrap Up

Well, I didn't finish up my write up of Tech Ed when I should but I figured I'd put down my thoughts while I still remember them lol. So where did I leave off? Oh yeah...so the week at Tech Ed was phenomenal. There was so much relevent info/technology that I didn't get to attend all the sessions that I wanted to. Luckily, Microsoft provides all of them recorded on DVD. Just waiting for it to arrive :-( The conference in it of itself was by far the best 2 Grand of company funded expenses I've ever spent. I made some great contacts from other companies, all of whom do exactly the same thing I do but just in different business sectors. I'm definitely there next year.

Attending Microsoft Tech Ed 2007!

First impression....WOW! I've been to many conferences but none on this scale. The conference this year is being held at the Orange Convention Center in Orlando. I ended up getting a room at the Hilton Garden Inn in Orlando:Sea World which is right down the street. This is the second H.I.G. I've stayed at thus far and I have to say, when traveling for business, I highly recommend it. Today was the first day of the conference. Registration was fairly straight forward and was pretty fast. Upon registering, you get a really cool Tech Ed backpack which rocks because it has to configurations (Backpack and Carry Bag: Handle at the top) as well as a small pocket in the front for an MP3 player complete with earphone port. On the first floor is where all the main action is. All Microsoft booths on one side and all the Vendors on the other. In the middle are a gazillion stations for internet access. One section has Cat5 connections to hookup your laptop for connectivity and another has workstations preconfigured with Office apps and internet connectivity as well as a printer. ROCK ON! They give you a lanyard with your identification (the usual) but on the back side is a mini pamphlet with the entire show schedule as well as other useful info such as the routes for shuttles going to/from the hotels.


The vendors had the usual set up. Schwag in exchange for your contact info to have sales people harass you. Something different was some of the cool stuff required you to basically hang out/walk around and look where the lines were forming or the vendors made you jump through hoops. AMD had you basically go on an information treasure hunt of their product and fill out a form to get the shirt. Blackberry had you go visit their partner booths to validate a card. Man....whatever happened to the good ole days of just handing out stuff. It was pretty funny because I was walking by the APS booth and they supposedly had USB sticks to give out in exchange for a filled out card. Some rep announced they didn't have the sticks until tomorrow and as soon as he said that, the crowd parted like the Red Sea. Another funny site was as I was walking by the MS area early in the morning before the sessions were about to begin, it was blocked off by dividers. There was a giant box in the middle of the section piled high with t-shirts. As soon as the floor crew came by to pick up the dividers, no less than 10 seconds had passed and there was a rush of attendees that started to horde the shirts. A couple of seconds later, an MS rep saw the crowd and immediately ran over and told people that the section is not open yet. Then she had one of the floor crew people guard it until the "officialy" open. Amazing site to see. Techie Schwag Frenzy

More on tomorrows blog...

Latest update

So I haven't blogged in a while...couple months to be exact. It's been crazy at work and so things are finally slowing down and I wanted to make a commitment to blog more. So...as of late, I've been trying to get more into working on my golf game. I'm getting better but man, it's definitely a lot harder than it looks. Been playing a lot of Gunbound (gunbound.net). It's a spinoff of the old worms games but with a fresh, online twist. Good stuff. Only thing that sucks is I played it a couple of years ago and built up my guy pretty good but then stoppped playing and now when I log into the account, it tells me it has been banned for abuse!....WTF!

Microsoft + Novell = Power to be reckoned with

As you've probably read elsewhere, MS is teaming up with Novell (Can you imagine that concept in the mid 80's) o.O . This should get interesting seeing that MS has had a stranglehold on the industry for sometime and Novell has been making some strategic moves to position itself to compete. I'm looking forward to seeing what will come out of this from a technology standpoint. Read more here: http://voipforenterprise.tmcnet.com/feature/service-solutions/articles/3389-microsoft-novell-team-up-integrate-windows-linux.htm

My 1st Official Blog@!

Well...I've decided to get into blogging to share my thoughts with everyone and to jump on the train as I've benefited from many a blog.

So here I am blog world.......WOOT!