David Mackies Blue Brain

The under $1000 AUD UMPC Dream now realised

Today I was notified that only one week after it's Australian Release the WiBrain B1E has dropped in price to a huge $999.00 RRP and of course we are doing better for a limited time to celebrate the realisation of this massive Milestone in UMPC Platform for Australia.

Sorry for the specials notice in this blog but it is more about the realisation of a two year coming milestone really.

WiBrain B1E 4.8" UMPC

SKU:  WB1E
With QWERTY keyboard
Price: WAS $1299.00

Now $979.00
WiBrain Spec Sheet

WiBrain B1E

Video Conferencing

I have been tasked with finding a video conferencing and colaboration system for a client.

Since I'm not really a guru on collaboration it will be a journey we can all go on I think

Hmmmmmm where to begin?

Stop Complaining - Resolve to be more positive

Earlier today I wrote ....

So today I feel like a bit of a Partner Group Fan-boy but I am hoping to eradicate any negativity this year and this really has helped with the positivity today.

So how am I going to eradicate negativity?? With one of these Bracelets!! OK more explanation required.

I was told by someone who's opinion I respect that I can always be relied on to be negative. Bloody Hell what the ......

So I filed that away as an unthinking comment and to not get too negative about it.

THEN a little down the road someone else told me that some of the things I have said (no screamed) has hurt me in a way that I kind of expected and since I never really thought I would get the opportunity in question, I had never been too concerned. Now that I had been close to something I have made impossible due to my own immature outlook I have decided that I need to be what I want the world to be Positive.

It apparently takes 21 days to break a habit well actually to form a new habit. I know because I have not had a cigarette in nine years but would still have one tomorrow under the right conditions (Habit of smoking not broken, Habit to not smoke created).

You wear these bracelets on your wrist, when you catch yourself complaining you move it to the other wrist. When you have the bracelet on the same wrist for 21 Days you have a new habit to not complain. How cool is that. You can get these from ComplaintFreeWorld.Biz

Heros Happen - Well done Partner Team ! ! !

Over time I have been a little more than a bit critical of the commitment to events in Canberra that the Softies in Sydney have shown. Well in the last three days I have been invited to the Hero's Launch Event three times!!! and I am not complaining in fact it has made me feel like maybe we have turned the corner and the ACT Partner Community might just need to put up or shut up now.

Why? Well one of the issues has been that events are poorly attended so not really economical to run here, but when I ask folk why they don't come along many say they didn't hear about it. I have icluded an excerpt from on of the Invitations this one from my PAM...

The upcoming Heroes Happen {2008} launch event for Partners is a complimentary evening session that has been created exclusively for Partners and will follow the daytime Customer event. The Partner event is designed to highlight the benefits of the much awaited new products and provide guidance to help you capitalise on launch opportunities. It will feature a keynote and three optional tracks which you will be asked to select from based on your business priorities.


Places are limited, so secure your spot today!

For more information on the Agenda and Track Session Outlines

I Recieved Information about this event from the SBSC Blog, a System builder email, and of course this one from Fiona so I can't say I didn't know about it.

So today I feel like a bit of a Partner Group Fanboy but I am hopeing to eradicate any negativity this year and this really has helped with the positivity today.

THANKS

Oh yeah the Canberra Event is

Now that is one more notification <VBG>  

Man am I confused? Charles Van Heusen has left me with many more questions

So I was reading what Charles Van Heusen has had to say about the up coming Windows Small Business Server Codename Cougar

What I can share about the versions is outlined in the slide above, the "standard edition" will include Windows Server 2008, Exchange 2007, and Windows SharePoint Services v3 out of the box.

The "premium edition" will include the same core products above, plus a new twist, a 2nd Windows Server 2008 Standard edition license, a flavor of SQL Server 2008, (which one has yet to be announced), as well as support for Virtualization.  Cougar will support the Hypervisor feature set (Virtualization) that Win2k8 standard supports. The RAM limitations will be the same as for Win2k8 standard.

Most customers purchased SBS2003 premium for SQL. With Cougar Premium, you can now offload the LOB app that relies on SQL on a separate server with the inclusion of Win2k8 standard and SQL 2008. This will also allow our customers who want to deploy terminal services in app sharing mode to do so on the second server.

Now I really like to see things in a graphical representation and this slide "should" have really helped me but here is where some of my confusion comes from.

Standard has Windows 2008, Sharepoint Services 3.x and Exchange 2007

Now Premium brings a second server on which I can do:

* SQL Server 2008 (??? Edition)

* Virtualization

* Terminal Services (as Charles suggested workload)

BUT I would not want to do any two together (just me) If I'm paying for SQL 2008 I will want to use it and I'm pretty sure I will not load it on a Terminal Server, so to me that makes it a separate server too. If I am reading press releases properly there will be a version of Windows Virtualization called Hypervisor Server which if I am not mistaken is the $28USD Virtualization Layer.

Here is what I would do given the diagram above and Charles Suggested possible workloads:

Deploy Cougar Standard features on Server 1

Deploy Hypervisor Server on the second Server Hardware then load the 2nd Sever Software to run SQL 2008 ??? Edition, then of course buy a third Windows 2008 Server to run as a Terminal Server (if needed depending on the customers Branch Office requirements)

I think this will be a greatly flexible solution if I can deploy it as I have described, I am a little more used to the SBS team being a lot more prescriptive with the deployment scenario so perhaps that will come later in the development cycle.

I do notice a missing piece from the picture and I wonder where it is intended to be deployed? There is no mention of System Center Essentials 2007 in what Charles has to say nor the Diagram. We know SCE 2007 is included because we have been told by many people over the last little while and the announcement was made as far back as TechED 2006, so not seeing it on the chart is a concern although this may just be that there is no decision as to which version of Cougar to release it on. ***Hint put it in BOTH editions***

Now if I were to speculate SCE 2007 would be a workload for Server 1 and to that end I have done some work with SBS 2003 R2 to run SCE 2007 and with the promised memory improvements SP1 will bring this seem to be a good choice, after all if a third server were deployed I'd be an ISA Server away from Essential Business Server 2008.

So where are we at? I am a little concerned that there is a far bit of deployment variation possible which is not very SBS Sized and I still don't know details of how this will be managed, however given the track record of dropping features, I have only really seen MS drop promised deliverables because they are not ready, so since SCE 2007 is already shipping I expect to hear more about where it fits in this suite very shortly.

Got to love claims some people make to differentiate their products

This afternoon we went out for some frozen custard at GOODBERRY'S now this is a great store and has been around for quite some time, and as far as a treat for the kids pretty damn good.

Today I noticed an "all about GoodBerry's" sign, I only took a picture of part of it. I'm sure you will get the message.

I wonder at what percentage 100% air in Ice cream allows us to just call it air, Hmmmmm??

Of course it got me thinking about what we say about our competition to make our products and services look better to others. Have you caught yourself making these kinds of outrageous claims?

Any readers in North or South Carolina? Can you checkout the sign in your store and let me know if this silly claim is made there too.

How can we become more efficient?

I was reading Karls blog earlier today and he was talking about how to not be "Interrupt Driven" and it got me thinking about how we work and yes we are very much dominated by our helpfulness.

So how do we get out of this hole we have dug with our own best intentions?

• With policy
• With education
• With great relationship skills (OK we are hosed)
• AND with a commitment to document our work flow and guess where we are doing that?

Welcome to the recapture of focus, this year will be a tough one for us and I want to bring others on that journey with us.

Now I can blog anywhere

I was out with my wife when she had a physio appointment and I had an idea that I wanted to blog, but didn't have a way to get it down on paper so to speak. When I looked around the net for a tool that would allow me to blog on Community Server from my Blackjack and have the ability to have posts offline and publish later. I found Diarst by Kevin Daly which when downloaded didn't work on my phone, but here is the amazing part, around Midnight I thought I'd ping Kevin to see if this issue was known and he sent me a version that worked on my phone at 5:30 AM my time, TOO Cool.

This version doesn't have all the features that the Pocket PC/touch screen version has - mostly editing/formatting features that don't work well without a touch screen and a couple of other bits where I basically couldn't work out where to fit the UI.

Well I'm pretty happy I can blog when out and about even insert pictures, and do any formatting in Live Writer when I get to a PC this suits me just fine. Which is what I have done here.

Thanks heaps Kevin

SCE 2007: Configuring on SBS 2003 R2 Premium Edition - SQL Workgroup Edition Needs more work to get running

When I wrote the post about what SQL instance and version should we install SCE 2007 to, I was pretty sure my best practice would be the copy of Express that ships with SCE 2007

I do know that running SCE 2007 on SBS 2003 R2 Premium DOES work with the Express Database that ships with System Center Essentials 2007, and to be honest this really should be good enough given the cap of 75 Devices in SBS 2003 and the number of dedicated SQL Instances that get installed on an SBS Build. So what's one more in the scheme of things?

I have completed a build on the Default Instance of SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition which ships with SBS 2003 R2 and all things considered I would always recommend that the Express Instance be used.

That said here are the manual work around's I used which did not need to be done using the Express Instance:

• Install SQL 2005 Workgroup edition according to the SBS Installation Instructions use the version from the web site as the version on the DVD is version 1, (make sure you do not install reporting services);
• Rerun the installation of SQL 2005 Workgroup selecting Reporting Services, (do not configure reporting services);
• Install SQL 2005 Service Pack 2
• Run the Reporting Service Configuration....

I looked at the reporting services configuration as set in the "Express Build" and made it the same for the "Workgroup Build" which I hope you agree we do not recommend. Oh BTW did I mention the SCE Installation does this for you if you choose the SQL Express route.

	Select the Correct Instance and Click Connect
	Click Server Status; Check the Service Status: is Running
	Click Report Server Virtual Directory; Click New
	Select Default Web Site; Enter ReportServer; Click OK
	Click Report Manager Virtual Directory; Click New
	Select Default Web Site; Enter Reports; Click OK
	Click Windows Service Identity; Click Built-in Account; Select Local System
	Select Web Service Identity; Press New next to Report Server; Repeat for Report Manger
	Enter ReportServer or ReportManager in the application pool name; Select Built-in Account and select Local System
	Click Database Setup; Select the SBS Server Name and click Connect; Select ReportServer from the list of Databases; Select Service Credentials from the list Click Apply
	Click Email Settings; Enter and address for the Sender Address ie Reports@smemanaged.com; Enter the SMTP Server details
	Click Execution Account; The default is domain\administrator (however I suggest some effort be taken to find a least privilege alternative)

Install SCE 2007 IAW Installing System Center Essentials in SBS 2003 R2 Standard Edition 

In the section that covers the removal of the SSL Certificates the following procedure should be followed instead, if the SSL Port remains configured SCE 2007 Install will report un-configured Reporting Services.

	Select the Default web and Right Click Properties
	Click Advanced
	Select the SSL Address and Click Remove; Click OK
	Select the Directory Security Tab; Click Server Certificate
	Click Next >
	Click Remove the current certificate; Click Next >
	Click Next >
	Click Finish

Return to the installation

When complete reverse this procedure

My two favourite publicity hounds interview Wendy Smith

So on Partner TV tonight I saw an interview with Wendy Smith conducted by Ryan Spillane from Correct Solutions and Alexandra Day (Giles) from Phrixus about Small Business; Ryan and Alex seem to be doing great things to raise the profile of their companies AND the SBS Community in Sydney. I think they are leading the way for many smallish companies in Sydney and Australia Wide.

 
Video: Partner-TV: Wendy Smith talking about Small Business

I thought the Interview was a great little fireside chat and it seems that Wendy is quite laid back and lovely (damn you Alex making it all girly and wedding reminiscent) no really I got to put a face to a name and really am looking forward to where both Wendy and Robbie will be taking the Small and Midmarket  Server products in Australia over the next few years.

SCE 2007: Configuring on SBS 2003 R2 Premium Edition - SQL Workgroup?? or should we install to the Express Instance and be done?

When I asked around about issues people have had deploying SCE 2007 on SBS 2003 R2 Premium, I was told there were some issues with SQL Server (2005 Workgroup Edition). I have not been able to collect the exact issues because many of the people are working from memory.

I do know that running SCE 2007 on SBS 2003 R2 Premium DOES work with the Express Database that ships with System Center Essentials 2007, and to be honest this really should be good enough given the cap of 75 Devices in SBS 2003 and the number of dedicated SQL Instances that get installed on an SBS Build. So what's one more in the scheme of things?

The Installing SQL Server 2005 WorkGroup Edition in Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Document says:

and the Installation of ISA Server 2004 adds a (Microsoft ISA Server 2004 instance).

I am very much in favour of doing an upgrade of the MSSQL$SHAREPOINT instance to SQL 2005 Workgroup Edition so that Full Text Search is enabled for Windows Sharepoint Services, but if I didn't have a line of business application that needed SQL Server 2005 Workgroup then I wouldn't be installing a Default Instance just because I could.

Why all the cross posting to Mackie.is-a-geek.net?

When I created SME Managed I really wanted to keep all the design, support and management information in the SME space together where I could refer people to it. I already had Mackie.is-a-geek.net and it is a mix of all geeky things I want to talk about and I didn't necessarily want folk to go to two places to get everything.

Not to mention right now a very different group of people are getting to each blog, I expect it to converge over time but the automatic cross posts are here to stay unless I get massive negative feedback from this post of course.

Mackie.is-a-geek.net Traffic

SMEManaged.com Traffic

SCE 2007 Fault Finding: Failure to Install with ISA 2004 Installed

When I tried to install System Center Essentials 2007 on SBS 2003 R2 Premium Edition, I received an installation failure. Viewing the Setup log file revealed errors setting up reporting services.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Machine         : SMEMANAGED01

Product         : Reporting Services

Error           : The setup has encountered an unexpected error while Setting reporting service and share point exclusion path. The error is: Fatal error during installation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Machine         : SMEMANAGED01

Product         : Reporting Services

Error           : The setup has encountered an unexpected error while Setting reporting service and share point exclusion path. The error is: Fatal error during installation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Machine         : SMEMANAGED01

Product         : Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services

Product Version : 9.1.2047.00

Install         : Failed

Log File        : C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\LOG\Files\SQLSetup0001_SMEMANAGED01_RS.log

Last Action     : InstallFinalize

Error String    : The setup has encountered an unexpected error while Setting reporting service and share point exclusion path. The error is: Fatal error during installation.

Error Number    : 29528

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This issue is caused by the Configure Email and Internet Connection Wizard setting the Default Web Site to the Local IP Address instead of the default All Unassigned. The fix is of course to reconfigure the Default Web temporarily to allow the installation to complete, this is described in a knowledge base article http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=920803.

I have prepared a quick Visual Guide because some folk just like to see.

	Open IIS Manager; Select Default Web Site; Right click Properties
	Select IP Address; Choose (All Unassigned); Click Apply; Click OK Close IIS Manger

When SCE 2007 is successfully installed return the configuration to the internal IP address.

SCE 2007 Problem Reporting

In the course of developing some of the builds for SCE 2007 on SBS 2003, my server threw an error and asked permission to send error information. As you can see the dialogue box says Please tell SMEManaged01_MG about this problem. I am curious why this does not use the Organisation from the Servers Registration information. I'm of course in search of a way to change this to give the users a better experience.

SCE Support on SBS 2003 SP1 / R2 - Good Idea??

I have spent some time this week installing System Center Essentials 2007 on SBS 2003 SP1 / R2 with some interesting conclusions, lets go on the journey.

The first go through I installed an SBS 2003 R2 Standard Edition Server on VMware Server.

I created the base server with:

• 127GB IDE disk, 
• 3096MB RAM and
• (initially) a single NIC

Once I had documented the Single NIC Build I added a Second NIC to emulate the very popular Windows Firewall behind a Broadband Router configuration (SCE Computer details shown on the right).

In both configurations for Standard Edition I found no reason why this would not be a very useful management tool

I would be much less keen to add this workload to Premium Edition, in fact the the same build as my Standard Edition Virtual Machines I have had more than one Blocking Error and still do not have a stable build.

I will not post these until I have fixes, I am still collecting data and will ask for help on the Managed Forums to see if there are resolutions to these installation blocks.

So for today I think SCE 2007 on SBS Standard edition with 4GB of RAM is something I am very happy to deploy, especially if the rumour of Service Pack 1 having much lower memory requirements are true.

BUT even if the Installation blocking issues are easy to resolve I'm not too sure I would want to add SCE 2007 to a machine that runs...

• Exchange 2003
• WSUS 2.0
• WSS 2.0
• WSS 3.0 <--- Very common SBS Community Additional Install
• ISA Server
• SQL 2005 Work Group
• Trend Micro CSM for SMB 3.6 <--- Doesn't everyone run Trend?

Best Practice so far:

System Center Essentials 2007 on SBS 2003 R2 Standard Edition? Give it a try looks to me as a definite future up and comer especially in SBS (Next) and Windows Essential Business Server.

System Center Essentials on SBS 2003 R2 Premium Edition? I really do think a Windows 2003 R2 Standard Edition Server to act as a management Server will be the best solution or you may have some pain. Plus if you remove WSUS from the SBS Server in favour of the SCE 2007 Server you get back a few cycles and a bit of RAM to let you serve a few more users.