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[NetRyder]

Originally Posted by madmatt

I'm working on setting up SBS 2003. I want OWA too. Problem is that my IP changes every so often. Running it on a P4 1.5GHz, 512MB RAM, 80GB 7200RPM HDD.

Set up a free dynamic DNS at www.dyndns.org
That's what I did, and I pointed the MX records for my domain to the dyndns address. That way, any mails to @domain.com get delivered correctly to the Exchange box, even though it doesn't have a static IP.

I also set up a subdomain that redirects to my ___.dyndns.org/exchange URL, which is where I can access OWA.

[kcnychief]

Alternatively you could use www.no-ip.info, same thing pretty much but I have used it extensively and it works well

Kunal - do you have any problems of your mail being suspected as spam to people you send to?

[NetRyder]

Yeah, I did, actually. UCLA's mail servers, for one, were rejecting messages. I think Gmail was also not happy. So I use my web host's SMTP server (1and1) instead, and everything's great.

I ran a sort of incubation test for a week before moving everything over for good. I would highly recommend doing something like that, rather than diving right in, because there are a few gotchas like this one that you need to make sure you handle.

[kcnychief]

I have had that problem in the past, even when using webmail back in the day. I had a feeling that may still be an issue.

I think I have a fix though, when I test it I will post results

[kcnychief]

Harold Wang put up a video regarding Exchange 2003 SP2 and Windows Mobile 5.0 concerning getting Direct Push to work correctly

http://msexchangeteam.com/videos/9/t...try426996.aspx

[NetRyder]

Yeah, it's not hard to setup Direct Push.
I'm just waiting for T-Mobile to officially release the ROM update that enables it, because I just can't get myself to install an unofficial, unsupported ROM on this, and risk turning it into a brick.

[kcnychief]

I went and saw one at the Verizon store tonight, MUCH smaller than I anticipated. I have big fingers, not sure I can be very accurate. I wish there was a stylus.

[NetRyder]

Originally Posted by kcnychief

I went and saw one at the Verizon store tonight, MUCH smaller than I anticipated. I have big fingers, not sure I can be very accurate. I wish there was a stylus.

Look carefully, Derek. It does have a stylus. ;p

Since the Wizards don't have an antenna stub, the stylus slides out from the bottom-right corner. The Apache (which is what Verizon and Sprint have) has the stylus embedded in the antenna stub on the top-right. Both models keep them well concealed.

[madmatt]

And the Verizon/Sprint model is larger than the T-Mobile/Cingular version.

[perris]

Originally Posted by madmatt

And the Verizon/Sprint model is larger than the T-Mobile/Cingular version.

phones are just about the only thing a man wants smaller then everyone else

[kcnychief]

Originally Posted by NetRyder

Look carefully, Derek. It does have a stylus. ;p

Since the Wizards don't have an antenna stub, the stylus slides out from the bottom-right corner. The Apache (which is what Verizon and Sprint have) has the stylus embedded in the antenna stub on the top-right. Both models keep them well concealed.

I only held it for about 30 seconds, perhaps a re-visit is in order.

[madmatt]

Originally Posted by perris

phones are just about the only thing a man wants smaller then everyone else

haha, good point.

Derek, one of my customers has the Verizon model. It is indeed one sexy phone and it works extremely well. The buttons are well placed, although I kept hitting the IE button by accident (I think my customer had a problem with the record button because there were a bunch of saved recordings in her documents folder that were dead air). Well worth it.

[kcnychief]

How much is the data plan extra monthly?

[madmatt]

Cingular's data plan is $39.99/month for unlimited (plus the voice plan). Not quite sure what Verizon's runs.

[perris]

Originally Posted by madmatt

Cingular's data plan is $39.99/month for unlimited (plus the voice plan). Not quite sure what Verizon's runs.

sorry to add politics but this is on topic as well

you might have seen in the news lately a few phone companies are invading your life and illegally gave away everyone's phone records (contrary to the claims made, we find out this includes the personal records and emails of Americans with no ties to any questionable activity) without a warrant, some of these companies understood the personal implications and their obligation, the data released including sensitive bussiness correspondance as well as personal information and refused the illegal request

no further request came to those companies that rufused to break the law and preferred to protect their customers and our country

I know T-Mobile, Sprint, Nextel and quest are not among the companies that gave away sensitive and personal and information we need protected without a warrant

if you are not locked into a contract, please do not give any bussiness to the companies that gave away our information without a warrant

if you are with any of the companies that violated your data and life, this includes at&t and others, see if your are bound by any contractual obligations

if not, please switch companies and make your statement where it counts, in the pocketbook of those corporations.

sorry to add such a dire note to this thread. we live in troublesome times

[kcnychief]

Good information Perris, no need to apologize for that submission

Another concern I have regarding this whole setup is downtime. I know Kunal travels a bit, at least where he is away from home at UCLA or goes on weekend trips, and I'm not always home either. My concern would be after the eventual switch on my end, if the server goes down and I can't get home to it, wether I'm on the road or just working for another 10+ hours from the time the problem concerns. If e-mail bounces back to a potential or current customer, that could cost me money.

I know this is a very small percentile of the time, but it's still a valid concern. What are your thoughts guys?

[madmatt]

Any company with a server (or several) has this problem. The only way to avoid it is to go with a colo which costs a lot of money.

Right now I have my business (web site and email) hosted at a colo in Springfield.

I plan on chaging that and I am confident that my server won't go down for a reason other than my ISP having issues (which is hardly ever these days).

[kcnychief]

Good point madmatt - I was mostly thinking of hardware problems.

I will just backup extensively and hope for the best

[NetRyder]

That's a valid concern, Derek, and it's certainly something I thought about as well. Good you brought it up.

When you start hosting your own mail server for a given domain name, you need to point the MX record to the address of your mail server, which in this case, is the Exchange box. But here's the nice thing. You're also given the option to specify additional MX records with different priority levels. So if someone sends you email and your server happens to be down, the message gets delivered to the server that the next MX record in the priority list points to, rather than getting bounced back. This server will then periodically check to see if your mail server is back up, and will deliver all the queued messages when it gets a response.

If you have a web+mail hosting plan already (like I do with 1and1), you can set the next MX record in the priority list to their mail servers, which are bound to be reliable. That way, if your Exchange box goes down, incoming mail won't get bounced back, but will be queued at the host's server until you get your server back up.

This is your best option, in my opinion, but there's something important to keep in mind - while your server is down, you won't be able to access the queued messages because they don't go into any particular mailbox. Also, the server that's holding onto queued messages won't attempt to redeliver forever. The number of hours/days/weeks after which they reject queued messages varies from host to host. For both these reasons, you need to make sure you get your Exchange box up ASAP if it ever goes down.

Other than that, yes, backups are a must. I've setup my box so that the OS and data files are on separate physical drives. SBS 2003 has a built-in scheduled backup feature, but I opted to use disk imaging instead because I find that bringing a machine back up from images is easier and faster. The data drive gets imaged twice every week at 4AM, and the OS drive gets imaged twice a month at about the same time, on different days.

Hope that helps.

[kcnychief]

Very good advice Kunal, thanks.

I do also have 1and1, although haven't always. I used them about 6-8 months ago, have since left, but am going back as my hosting needs have changed. I assumed I would have to adjust MX records, but was not aware they supplied the option of pointing to essentially backup servers, that is quite amazing.

What program are you using that actually does scheduled disk IMAGING? That would be the best way to go, assuming the files are in use.