Fraser-09

Whooops, I've used the remote wipe feature for a number of our ex-employees. Imagine that, getting sacked and your phone factory resetting on the same day! I think 95% of our mobile devices use the built in apps. I've only seen one person use the OWA app. Thanks, Fraser.

Hi all, Just a quick question, what does the remote wipe of mobile devices on exchange server actually wipe? Is it just the active sync data (email, contact, calendar etc) or does it wipe the entire device including the users pictures, apps etc etc too? I had a look online but didnt find an exact answer. Thanks,

Hi all, Sorry for the late reply. I got the FSMO role migrated over without a hitch! The new DC is has now been physically moved to the new site and everything seems to be working well. Thanks for all the help. Fraser.

Stage 3 Complete. Will attempt to move FSMO roles over to the new server over the weekend. Do the roles need to be moved in any particular order? Thanks,

Thanks, Got the domain level updated and currently on stage 2 of the FRS to DFS-R migration. I guess migrating to DFS-R for Netlogon/sysvol will fix my FRS issue with that branch server Fraser. Edit: Stage 3 now - No going back now!

Ok so I ran dfsrmig /getglobalstate on SERVER-2 and it spat back: The current domain functional level is not Windows Server 2008 or above. DFSRMig is only supported on Windows Server 2008 or above level domains. It would seem this is escalating into a much bigger job than I intended! Am I right on thinking I need to update my domain Schema - If so can you point me in the right direction on how to do this? It's been a while since I've done this. I use DSF-R to replicate various folders between my DCs so I suspect its just NETLOGON and SYSVOL using FRS Thanks

Hi, Thanks for the replies. I have ran dcdiag /e on the PDC and all seems good except for the following: Starting test: FrsEvent There are warning or error events within the last 24 hours after the SYSVOL has been shared. Failing SYSVOL replication problems may cause Group Policy problems. ......................... SERVER-1 passed test FrsEvent and Starting test: Services IsmServ Service is stopped on [sERVER-1] ......................... SERVER-1 failed test Services I have started the IsmServ service and reran dcdiag /e and the second error has cleared. Regarding the FRS error, I have checked the event viewer and found the following 2 warning: The File Replication Service is having trouble enabling replication from SERVER-2 to SERVER-1 for c:\windows\sysvol\domain using the DNS name SERVER-2.Domain.local. FRS will keep retrying. Following are some of the reasons you would see this warning. [1] FRS can not correctly resolve the DNS name SERVER-2.Domain.local from this computer. [2] FRS is not running on SERVER-2.Domain.local. [3] The topology information in the Active Directory Domain Services for this replica has not yet replicated to all the Domain Controllers. This event log message will appear once per connection, After the problem is fixed you will see another event log message indicating that the connection has been established. and The File Replication Service has enabled replication from SERVER-2 to SERVER-1 for c:\windows\sysvol\domain after repeated retries. SERVER-1 is my PDC. The DNS server defined for each Domain Controller is its itself. It seems that these warnings appear once per day. I can confirm that if I put a file in NETLOGON on SERVER-2, it does replicate to SERVER-1 and vise versa. I can also confirm that both SERVER-1 and SERVER-2 can successfully resolve and ping each other. I have 3 DCs which replicate to SERVER-2 and all 3 DCs show the same 2 entries about SERVER-2 in their event logs so I suspect the problem lies with SERVER-2. However, what I did notice which I think may be the root of the problem, when SERVER-2 resolves it's self, it resolves to the IPv6 loopback address of ::1, rather than its IPv4 address. I have disabled IPv4 in the properties of the NIC but I believe I need to create the DisabledComponents Registry key as described here to completely disable IPv6 as loopback doesnt use the network card. Ideally, I'd like to get this resolved before I attempt to move the FSMO roles. Any advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, fraser.

Hello, I'm looking for a bit of advice. I have 14 Domain Controllers over 14 sites (1 DC in each site). I have now purchased a 15th DC to replace the PDC in the first site so I now need to transfer the FSMO roles over from the old DC to the new DC. The new 15th server has been promoted to a Domain Controller and it’s in the same site at the current FSMO server. My DCs are a mix of Server 2008 r2, 2012 and 2012 r2. The FSMO roles are currently on 2008 r2 and moving to 2012 r2. I have looked online and read various guides and the whole process looks fairly straight forward. When I come to do it, I think I will follow this one: http://www.techieshelp.com/how-to-transfer-fsmo-roles-graphical-and-command-line/ My questions to you are: Are there any gotchya’s or things to look out when attempting this? Is there anything I should do or check before attempting to move the FSMO roles to the new server? How long does it take for the updated FSMO server to be replicated to the DCs in other sites? Once all 5 roles have been moved, am I safe to demote the old DC and remove it from the network altogether? Sorry for the basic questions but I have never done this procedure before so it worries me that something could go wrong and I would need to seize the roles back which (by the looks of it) is a long dark windy road I've never been down and nor ever want to! Thank you, Fraser.

I use a 2830 at home too and a mixture of 2830 and 2860 all over the company. Think I've found one - TP-LINK TD-W9980 N600. Cost is about £50 but going to have a look at some reviews etc to see how well it will do. Fraser.

Hi guys, I have a homeworker who has a rubbish ADSL connection in her area so it gives her problems when using her VoIP phone. I would like to replace her router for a cheap VDSL wireless router that supports QoS. Normally I would install a DrayTek 2860n - but it seems a bit of an overkill (and pricey) for just the one home worker. What do you recommend instead? (Fibre is available in her area in about 18 months so would like to stick with VDSL rather then ADSL) Cheers, Fraser

Just reporting back with my final update - I replaced the PERC 5/i battery this afternoon. It took about 6 hours or so for the battery to charge before the controller went back to all green ticks. As soon as the battery was replaced, the Write policy changed from Write Through to Write Back - Even when the battery was still in the 'charging' state! All sorted now. Thanks everyone for their replies and comments. All the best for 2916. Fraser.

Well that's the RAID 5 finished rebuilding. All seems OK Just the battery left to do now which I'll do one night next week after hours. Thanks again for all your help. Fraser.

Thanks all for the replies and comments. I swapped the disk over this afternoon without a hitch. Old disk out, new disk in and it automatically started to rebuild When the disk failed 10 Days ago, I instantly got an email alert. For some bizarre reason Dell Open Manage does not have email alerts built into the utility, however email alerts can still be achieved using the "execute application" feature. See this link for how to create the email alert scripts. Or, if you are lazy like me, then you can buy them for £3 from this link. If I didn't have this set up then I wouldn't have known the RAID had failed and would probably be working from the degraded RAID for some time until I noticed the server's amber LED on the failed disk so IMO the £3 was worth it! Once the RAID has finished rebuilding, I will scheduled some down time to replace the battery. Currently the Write policy is Write through and Read policy is no read ahead. Happy new year y'all Fraser.

Awesome!! Just what I want to hear! haha. Thanks for the heads up. Fingers cross all goes ok - Will let you know. In the event it goes belly up, I should be ok. I have about 15 DC's (in multiple sites) so the AD is safe and the majority of the data is replicated to multiple servers too. The morning the disk failed, I spun up a new virtual Server (in the same site) and promoted it to a DC then replicated the all the files over to it too so in the event the server with the degraded RAID fails, I have a second DC pretty much ready to do (I'd just need to setup DHCP, printers and a few other bits and bobs which should get them back up and running. Then I'm free to rebuild the RAID5 and start from scratch! Fraser.

Thanks guys. I'll swap the disk out this afternoon and see how it goes. It bought the exact same disk (same part number) so the PERC should accept it without any fuss. Will get the battery in the new year once the array have been rebuilt. Is replacing the battery just as simple as powering down the server, popping the case off, disconnecting the old battery and connecting the new? There's no gotchya's or anything I should be wary about when doing it? Fraser.