TAG | 2010
My latest project involves a Dell Poweredge 1800 Tower.
It has an Intel Xeon 3.0 Ghz Processor with 4GB of RAM. It came with a SATA RAID controller with 3 x 250GB 10k SATA drives in a RAID 5 configuration. Now like most people playing with old hardware i wanted to run Server 2008 R2 with some room for expansion to include Exchange 2010 and maybe OCS 2010. However the OS would not install on the Array. I added the RAID controller drivers but the O/S Installation would not show the array as a possible location to install the O/S.
So i removed 1 HDD from the array and connected it to the SATA on board controller. I installed Server 2008 R2 successfully and installed the Dell Open-Manage software. This told me that my SATA RAID controller was in need of a firmware upgrade which i applied using the Rev 02 as the initial one failed to work. Once the O/S was online i installed the SATA RAID controller drivers and added 3 x 1TB SATA Drives in RAID 5.
The process of creating this array is taking forever. Even now, 3 hours later, the percentage is at 3. 3% complete and any attempts to copy data to this array mean slowing that down and a crippling 3MB/s transfer rate.
*Update* the raid build took a total of 4 days.This was made worse by the fact that when i try transfer files to the array i get a minuscule 5MB/s. This combined with the fact that i have no other SATA Raid card to use other than the on board one in my PC means i am retiring this project as a file server/central storage.
Instead i installed AD on the server and exchange 2010 which was surprisingly fast. In my attempts to install Sharepoint 2010 i ran into errors that are due to low server specs, lack of RAM and CPU and most likely slow HDD. While the server takes DDR2 it will not boot with standard desktop ram. I’m going to keep looking for an alternative setup, perhaps another desktop PC second hand with a SATA Intel Raid controller on the motherboard, should be simple enough with a dual/quad core to keep it quiet which is after all the main reason for not leaving the array in my desktop since that is water cooled and I’m not happy leaving it on 24/7.
2010 · Dell · Exchange · poweredge · raid · sata · server 2008 R2 · sharepoint
More fun with Exchange has been had. Firstly by default exchange is configured for Internal .local domain mail only. So you need to add a new domain under Organization Configuration -> Hub Transport -> Accepted Domains. Then add a new Policy to make that external mail address default. This will enable the server to receive mail for this external domain.
But the fun doesn’t stop there. You now need to add a Send Connector, while you are not relaying through an ISP you still need to tell it to route mail via MX requests from DNS records. This is a given in SBS so i found it confusing at first but given the “Edge Server” that Microsoft try to push, it begins to make sense.
Now my server is setup and when i try to send a test email i get this error “530 5.7.1 Client was not authenticated Connection closed by foreign host”. This error is again down to Exchange 2010 expecting to see a transport server from the edge, and not a users mail server trying to deliver it directly to exchange. The work around for this will make your server accept mail from all servers but once you have your “Accepted Domains” in the section above listed correctly then it will not be a problem. For quick ease this is the command: Set-ReceiveConnector -Identity “Default <servername>” -PermissionGroups “AnonymousUsers”
Another snag in the remote mail setup. The self assigned certificate isn’t being accepted by outlook. I had gotten a free SSL certificate when i purchased my domain personatechsystems.com as my testing domain. The good folk at www.namecheap.com supplied me with a “Positive SSL” certificate.
Importing/exporting explained here http://www.digicert.com/ssl-support/pfx-import-export-iis-7.htm
Certificate installed and i still cannot add an Exchange mail account to Outlook 2010 with mail over https selected. I would have hoped that Microsoft had resolved this “issue” for fully remote users to not need to use a VPN to setup the mailbox initially. However the need for a VPN brings me to installing Routing and Remote access for a VPN. Guide source http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7E973087-3D2D-4CAC-ABDF-CC7BDE298847&displaylang=en . In Server 2008 R2, Routing and remote access is installed via the Network Policy and Access Services (NPAS) role. Configuring this is the same as server 2003, although it does require 2 NIC’s, choosing a custom install will get around this. Do NOT use 2 nics as it will install the server as a Router, which is not what we want.
My progress on this was hindered today due to a migration of data from an old server 2000 box in work to my new DFS. More tomorrow.
So today began my first steps into Exchange 2010.
I created a new virtual machine yesterday with Server 2008 R2 and updated it. The prerequisites for Exchange 2010 are as follows. As has been customary on Server 2008, installing these roles and configuring them for first time use is simple.
Roles:
Active Directory (AD)
Application Server (.Net 3.5.1 & TCP Port Sharing)
Domain Name Services (DNS)
Web Server (IIS 7) and vitally important — IIS 6 Management Compatibility Role Services.
File Services (SYSVOL etc)
Applications:
2007 Office System Converter
.Net 3.5 (installs with Application Server Role)
Initial Problems
When trying to Install Exchange the prerequisites check failed on Connecting to IIS and checking is the WWW Publishing service had started. Installing IIS 6 Compatibility in Role Services resolved this. As such i have added it above as a Prerequisite.
So i create a new user for my laptop to login with. I log-in OK on the laptop, try to add the new account automatically but i get an error. Adding it manually fixes this and bingo i have email. The error was due to using my router for DNS and not the internal DNS. Auto configuration now works OK.
Tried to log-in via OWA failed on invalid user/pass. There are no errors in the event viewer or IIS logs. The realisation that i had not selected “Windows Authentication” under “Security” when i installed the Web Server (IIS) became a hope for a quick fix. That didn’t work. However the rejection for my user/pass is taking longer than previous attempts so i enable “Basic Authentication” as a Role Service. Bingo OWA is up and running.
More fun tomorrow!
2010 · Exchange · server · windows 2008 R2
Having seen the recent release of Server 2008 R2 i decided to get rid of the 7100 Build (Release Candidate) that i was using and install a fresh copy at home. As with all my testing this will be done through VMWare Workstation at home on my Desktop PC. Installing the OS itself took 2 hours, probably due to windows updates.
Server 2008 R2
The purpose of this is the new features in Server 2008 R2, such as Direct Access (personal interest in this), and all the tech in Exchange 2010, Office 2010 and Sharepoint integration. Hopefully my dummy lab network i have on personaltechsystems.com will be up and running by next week to show off these features.
As for my comment the other day regarding SSD’s. I’m getting 2 Corsair Performance models @ 72GB each. Specs on these are 220/MB -170/MB read/write and a new Sata controller to go with them. I will have more specs once they actually arrive but they should be here early next week.
