pantscat

What in particular with Packet Tracer is causing you aggro? I agree that it can be a bit clunky and occasionally things just don't work - but it is quite a useful tool to run through some simulations and see how things should work. I even know someone that used it to plan out their corporate LAN and then just copied and pasted the config into the 'real' switches... It's true that it's still not a substitute for the real thing - but even el cheapo second hand cisco kit from ebay will end up costing you a fair bit of money by the time you've got a couple of switches and a router. I've just done module 3 of my CCNA, so I'm more than happy to help out or offer suggestions! Ant

Just thinking out loud now... but if I built my Exchange 2010/2007 box now, could I use this as the OWA front-end even if the mailbox store is still on the old server? Hmm....

Sticking with Exchange 2007 at present as we use Sophos PureMessage for spam filtering and, as of yet, they do not support Exchange 2010. If that changes in the near future though, then I'll go straight to Exchange 2010. I suppose I could run it with a self-signed cert in the meantime, but it will confuse a LOT of our staff and panic will ensue...

Hi All, My current SSL cert expires next month and I'm planning to move over to Exchange 2007 in the summer hols. Does Exchange 2007 require a UCC cert? If so - could I purchase one of these now and continue to use it with Exchange 2003? It's tres confusing... Ant

Ooh! Cool... I'll check that out!

@cybernerd - is this a paid for thing?

In that case... blimey! I thought I had a bad deal. It has taken me nearly 18 months though to get to a stage where the people with the purse-strings are willing to part with enough money that I can implement a 3-year lifecycle programme for all PCs and laptops and replace the LAN (which is about 7 years old and in a right state!). So I suppose last budget year after all the running costs I had about 76k to do lifecycle and other such things with. This included replacing about 200 PCs/laptops (I've introduced a lease agreement to do this - partially because I couldn't get enough funding to buy them outright, but also because it means that a set level of funding will have to be adhered to for the next three years otherwise the bailiffs come and start carrying kit away!), replacing all the server infrastructure (with a nice shiny new VMware vSphere system + NetApp SAN), implementing a D2D2T backup system... and lots more.

Hi Stuart, What do you mean by annual stuff? Running costs, consumables, lifecycle replacements (?), software etc? If you've got 20k left over for developmental stuff then I think that's not terrible... Ant

Thanks chaps for the replies - much appreciated. RBCs don't concern me - I'm at a private school. @Synack - I've already got a smoothwall box... so I'd better re-read the manual!

Hi all, Does anyone run a secondary backup internet connection? If so - how do you do it? and what do you use? I've currently got a 20Mbps fibre line and am looking to upgrade this to 50Mbps - as part of this project I'm also considering getting a DSL connection that can be used as a failover for email traffic and whatnot as the fibre is a single point-of-failure. Could I just register the static IP of the DSL connection as a second MX record for my domain (with a different priority) or should I do something much more snazzy and clever? (I think a Citrix Netscaler might be a clever way to dynamically re-point things). Ideas or just general ramblings would be very much welcome. Thanks, Ant

We've got a few of these doing exactly the same thing - I'm about to set one of my techies on to HP. I'd be interested to hear how you're getting on though! Ant

Hmm... but surely he's just lost the £50 from the hooker?

Apart from the fact that the hotel proprietor is now £50 down...

Ah... is that just a case of exporting it to a .CER file from my Exchange box and copying it to the device, double-clicking... and hey-presto? Would it be possible to buy the type of cert I'll need for 2010 now and use it with my 2003 box? Ta, Ant

Right... I'm thoroughly confused. My current SSL cert (a nice Equifax one) isn't trusted by most Windows Mobile devices. So... can someone point me in the direction of a good (preferably cheap) SSL cert which will do the job for me? Not sure if it makes any difference, but I'm planning to migrate from Exchange 2003 to 2010 over the summer. cheers, Ant

pm sent - cheers.

It's just when I click New item... clicking ok (or completing the fields) does nothing. It's odd as this works perfectly happy accessing it via an internal URL - could it be an AAM problem? I've just reset the box (everything is on one server) and still no luck... A

Hi James, Yes - it does appear to be correct - for example if I try to add a new calendar item the URL changes to: https://mysharepointsite.co.uk/slg/Teachers/Lists/Calendar/NewForm.aspx?RootFolder=%2Fslg%2FTeachers%2FLists%2FCalendar&Source=https%3A%2F%2Fmysharepointsite%2Eco%2Euk%2Fslg%2FTeachers%2FLists%2FCalendar%2Fcalendar%2Easpx When I click OK the URL doesn't change... Ant

Hi All, I wonder if someone can help me? I've just noticed that although my AAM does appear to be working ok - when I access my sharepoint site externally and try to add, say for example, a new calendar item the "OK" button doesn not function (instead IE says that there is an Error On Page in the bottom left hand corner of the browser window). Oddly, the cancel button does work ok. It seems to only affect OK or Apply buttons - does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? I'm guessing that it's a javascript error... but I have no idea what is causing it. Also - I've tried several PCs but to no avail. Help...

Is it worth just doing a "ping -T" on the server just to see if any packets are being dropped? Could be something as simple as a dodgy network cable/card/switch...

£430 for a 2510G... that's a very good price! Any chance you can PM me? Also - the 3com Baseline range seem to be very very good value for Gb switches...

Or perhaps use a web-filter of some sort that will allow timed access? (Smoothwall does this...)

Sorry to hijack the post - but where do people order their SSL certs from? I've always paid on my credit card before... but obviously would be keen to avoid this!

Cheers - I'll have a chat with Andy.

No - haven't purchase yet. I do keep reading good things about the Sun boxes... any good recommendations for suppliers?