Microsoft: Configure a Relay Connector for Exchange Server 2010

In most Exchange Server 2010 environments there will be the need to allow relaying for certain hosts, devices or applications to send email via the Exchange server.  This is common with multi-function devices such as network attached printer/scanners, or applications such as backup software that send email reports.

SMTP communication is handled by the Hub Transport server in an Exchange organization.  The transport service listens for SMTP connections on it’s default Receive Connector. However, this connector is secured by default to not allow anonymous connections (ie, the type of connection most non-Exchange systems will be making).

You can see this in effect if you telnet to the server on port 25 and try to initiate unauthenticated SMTP communications.

For some Hub Transport servers that are internet-facing, anonymous connections may already be enabled.  In those cases relay would still be denied but will behave differently than the first example.

You’ll note that relay is denied if I try to send from an @hotmail.com address to an @gmail.com address, because neither is a valid domain for the Exchange organization. But with Anonymous Users enabled on the Receive Connector I can send from an @hotmail.com address to a valid local address.

However if I try to relay out to an external recipient, the Exchange server does not allow it.

To permit a non-Exchange server to relay mail we can create a new Receive Connector on the Hub Transport server. Launch the Exchange Management Console and navigate to Server Management, and then Hub Transport. Select the Hub Transport server you wish to create the new Receive Connector on, and from the Actions pane of the console choose New Receive Connector.

Give the new connector a name such as “Relay ” and click Next to continue.

You can leave the local network settings as is, or optionally you can use a dedicated IP address for this connector if one has already been allocated to the server. Using dedicated IP addresses for each connector is sometimes required if you need to create connectors with different authentication settings, but for a general relay connector it is not necessary to change it.

Highlight the default IP range in the remote network settings and click the red X to delete it.

Now click the Add button and enter the IP address of the server you want to allow to relay through the Exchange server. Click OK to add it and then Next to continue.

Click the New button to complete the wizard.

The Receive Connector has now been created but is not yet ready to allow the server to relay through it.  Go back to the Exchange Management Console, right-click the newly created Receive Connector and choose properties.

Select the Permission Groups tab and tick the Exchange Servers box.

Select the Authentication Tab and tick the Externally Secured box.

Apply the changes and the Receive Connector is now ready for the server to relay through.

Because the remote IP range has been secured to that single IP address, any other servers on different IP addresses still won’t be able to relay through the Exchange Server. From any other IP address not included in the remote IP range on the Receive Connector relay will be denied.

Microsoft: Test SMTP Service

To test the SMTP service, follow these steps:
1. Type Telnet at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.
2. At the telnet prompt, type set LocalEcho, press ENTER, and then type open <machinename> 25, and then press ENTER.
The output resembles the following:
220 computername.microsoft.com ESMTP Server (Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Service 5.5.2651.58) ready

3. Type helo me, and then press ENTER.
The output resembles the following:
250 OK

4. Type mail from:email@domain.com, and then press ENTER.
The output resembles the following:
250 OK - mail from <email@domain.com>

5. Type rcpt to:youremail@yourdomain.com, and then press ENTER.
The output resembles the following:
250 OK - Recipient <youremail@yourdomain.com>

6. Type Data, and then press ENTER.
The output resembles the following:
354 Send data.  End with CRLF.CRLF

7. Type Subject:This is a test, and then press ENTER two times.
8. Type Testing, and then press ENTER.
9. Press ENTER, type a period (.), and then press ENTER.
The output resembles the following:
250 OK

10. Type quit, and then press ENTER.
The output resembles the following:
221 Closing Port / Mail queued for delivery

VMware: Enable or Disable Storage DRS for a Virtual Machine

To enable or disable Storage DRS for a virtual machine, please follow the steps below:
1. Right-click on the Storage DRS cluster
2. Choose Edit Settings
3. Click on Virtual Machine Settings
4. In the Automation Level column, you can see the current Storage DRS settings on a per VM level and change the settings accordingly

Microsoft: Turn Junk Mail Filters Off via Exchange 2010

There are two recommended methods for you to turn off the junk mail filtering via Exchange 2010.
<< Method 1 >>
1. Open the EMC on the Edge Transport server.
2. In the console tree, click Edge Transport.
3. In the work pane, click the Anti-spam tab, and then select Content Filtering.
4. In the action pane, click Enable or Disable as appropriate.

<< Method 2 >>
1. Open the Exchange Powershell
2. Type in Set-ContentFilterConfig -Enabled $false

* Note: 
When you disable content filtering, the underlying Content Filter agent is still enabled. To disable the Content Filter agent, run the command: Disable-TransportAgent "Content Filter Agent"

* Note:
To verify that you have successfully enabled or disabled content filtering, do the following:
Run the following command:
Get-ContentFilterConfig | Format-List Enabled

and verify the value of the Enabled property that's displayed.

VMware: vSphere HA Initiated a Virtual Machine Failover Action in Cluster - Warning

The solution of this warning is to turn OFF and turn ON the vSphere HA feature as follows:
1. From the vSphere Client, display the cluster in the inventory.
2. Right-click the cluster and select Edit Settings.
3. In the left pane of the Cluster Settings dialog box, select VM Monitoring.
4. Select Cluster Features and then in the right pane, clear Turn on VMware HA.
5. After the task has completed, check Turn on VMware HA.
6. Click OK.

Microsoft: Setup DHCP Servers with Split Scope - 80/20 Rule

<< 80/20 Rule >>
You will probably install more than one DHCP server so that the failure of any individual server will not prevent DHCP clients from starting. However, DHCP does not provide a way for DHCP servers to cooperate in ensuring that assigned addresses are unique. Therefore, you must carefully divide the available address pool among the DHCP servers to prevent duplicate address assignment.

For balancing DHCP server usage, use the 80/20 rule to divide scope addresses between DHCP servers.


<< 80/20 Rule Model >>
DHCP Server 2 is configured to lease most (about 80 percent) of the available addresses. DHCP Server 1 is configured to lease the remaining addresses (about 20 percent).

This scenario allows the local DHCP server (DHCP Server 2) to respond to requests from local DHCP clients most of the time. The remote or backup DHCP server (DHCP Server 1) assigns addresses to clients on the other subnet only when the local server is not available or is out of addresses. This same rule can be used in a multiple-subnet scenario to ensure the availability of a DHCP server when a client requests a lease.

But how to install this DHCP server. In Windows 2003 it was a lot of work but now with Windows 2008 R2 is is much better,install one serve and get one for free, ok almost. Let me show you how to do this.

First you need two servers in the same domain with the DHCP role on it. Sure You can cluster the DHCP and the management is done on one console and if one DHCP server fails the fail-over will take place and the scopes are running on the second node.

Now two single servers with any scope rule you want.

After the add role the wizard popsup and want to configure the DHCP server , the listener address:

If you don’t want to configure the scope right now, do not add scope. Fill in the domain and use IPv6 or WINS if you want it:

Now that the DHCP server is running we do a Split Scope.

Right click on the scope and do a split-scope again the wizard pops-up

Fill in the second DHCP server with or without scopes and select your scope range I choose for the common 80/20 or better 73 /27 scope bet you are all using this.

In the delay time you can make sure that one server is a faster listener than the other.

As you can see there is no scope on the secondary node , now that the wizard is finished the scope is auto configured on the other node.

If you do this, make sure all the settings and reservations are set on the first node because there is no wizard that syncs the servers.

IT Technology: A New, Easier Way to Start a Skype Conversation and Invite Anyone to Join

We’ve been hard at work and are pleased to announce that now Skype users worldwide can invite anyone to join a Skype chat by sharing a unique link and anyone can join as a Guest on Skype for Web. Make sure you’re on the latest version of Skype for Windows, Mac or Web, click +New and send your unique URL to anyone, even if they’re not on Skype.

In the early days, Skype’s goal was to get the whole world talking for free; we wanted people to share more and to say hello to at least one new person every day. Over the years, our goal has remained the same: to break down communication barriers, making it easier for everyone to come together on Skype. Wherever you are, whatever device you have – from computer and mobile, to tablet and TV – Skype just works. Skype makes it easy to get together and chat one to one or in a group, to hear a friendly voice and see eye to eye, all for free.

Today, we’re excited to announce something new – a small change that will make a big difference to how people use Skype every day. We’ve started to roll-out the ability for users to invite anyone to join a Skype chat by sharing a unique link – send it however you want, in an email, on Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger or Twitter.

But best of all, anyone can join the chat as a guest from their computer using Skype for Web and enjoy one to one or group instant messaging, voice and video calls. No Skype account or app download required. Now you can use Skype to chat with anyone and not just the people in your Skype contact list.