Exchange 2010 SP1 introduced the concept of block mode or granular replication. This minimised the time taken for transactions on the active node to be replicated to passive nodes. Since the feature is enabled by default and is self-managing, there is a good chance that you are benefiting from it without being fully aware of it.
See also understanding High Availability and Site Resilience
The default option for DNS resolution on an Azure virtual network is to use the Azure DNS service. This is perfectly fine for regular Internet requests, if you need the capability to register internal DNS records for Active Directory then you will typically need to run your own DNS service. This is the case here and is also something observed with multiple customers. In each of these cases the … Read the rest “Intermittent Azure DNS Resolution Issues With With New Domain Controller”
This is a post to capture the stages of change in Active Directory when the first Exchange server is installed, and opposingly when the last Exchange server is uninstalled. We will not get into any specific details about the individual changes made to AD, rather this is a 20,000 foot view.
A brand new lab was created using Windows Server 2016 for the DCs and Exchange servers.… Read the rest “Stages of AD Changes When Installing and Uninstalling Exchange”
Now that multiple services have stopped supporting IE11 coupled with the end of support for legacy Edge, it is imperative that we transition to an updated browser on all of our devices. IE11 is already unsupported for multiple Microsoft services, and the list will grow over time. For example Microsoft Teams support ceased on the 30th November 2020, and overall Microsoft 365 support ends on the 17t… Read the rest “QuickTip – Removing IE11 Via Command Line”
Exchange 2019 CU9 has been released to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center! Exchange 2019 has a different servicing strategy than Exchange 2007/2010 and utilises Cumulative Updates (CUs) rather than the Rollup Updates (RU/UR) which were used previously. CUs are a complete installation of Exchange 2019 and can be used to install a fresh server or to update a previously installed one. Exchange… Read the rest “Exchange 2019 CU9 Released”
Exchange 2016 CU20 has been released to the Microsoft download centre! Exchange 2016 has a different servicing strategy than Exchange 2007/2010 and utilises Cumulative Updates (CUs) rather than the Rollup Updates (RU/UR) which were used previously. CUs are a complete installation of Exchange 2016 and can be used to install a fresh server or to update a previously installed one. Exchange 2013 h… Read the rest “Exchange 2016 CU20 Released”
Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI) is a critical component in the Defender security stack, designed to protect on-premises Active Directory (AD) environments from advanced attacks such as credential theft, lateral movement, and domain dominance. Before it carried the Defender name, this product had a long and interesting evolution. One that mirrors Microsoft’s broader journey into identity sec… Read the rest “Installing Microsoft Defender For Identity – February 2021”
You will have seen the multiple posts and communications around the Hafnium Exchange security issue. One of the most disconcerting issues has been the number of Exchange installs that have not been patched in several years. Once the storm has abated, I'll put down some thoughts and talk through some of the most problematic issues, but for now let's focus on the task in hand. Security updates ar… Read the rest “Install March 2021 Security Update–Exchange 2013 Net Framework 4.7.2”
The below are a series of links, tips and some very brief thoughts on Hafnium. I will purposefully not include the content of the other locations as it is changing so rapidly, and there is no way to ensure that it would be updated here in a timely fashion.
If you read nothing else, please ensure that you install the update from an elevated CMD prompt if you are manually installing.
Fai… Read the rest “Collected Links For Hafnium – March 2021 Exchange Security Issue”
Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) are protocols that provide secure communications. Today several versions of these protocols exist, and not all of them are considered secure by Microsoft or other security companies.
Schannel is a Security Support Provider (SSP) that implements the SSL, TLS and Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) Internet standard authentication pro… Read the rest “TLS Musings”