Ran into an issue today where a clients SBS 2008 server stopped servicing requests made to hostname/owa. I am still unsure as to what caused this issue but find a fairly simple way to recreate the OWA virtual directory for IIS. Many admins are familiar with this procedure / howto for Exchange 2003 but are unable to find something similar for Exchange 2007. While the step that I will describe below is not as in depth as the previous link, it did resolve my issue.
If your OWA is giving you the dreaded 404 treatment try this: Open IIS Manager and delete the OWA virtual directory. Next you will need to open the Exchange Management Shell. Enter in the following command and press enter afterwards: New-OWAVirtualDirectory -OwaVersion:Exchange2007 -Name "OWA" .
That will rebuild / recreate the OWA virtual directory and start accepting client requests immediately. Please note that this recreates the OWA virtual directory under Default Web Site, not under SBS Web Applications like a default SBS / Exchange 2K7 install.
Hopefully, this one liner will save you some trouble.
–Himuraken
This one seems like an obvious one, but I will post it anyways. Chances are that you have deployed and/or maintain Windows 2003 Small Business Server. Many small businesses purchased SBS during “the good times” of 2003-2008.
Due to the licensing restrictions imposed on the product by Microsoft, these servers are always one boxed. That is to say that they have too many servers and services on the same hardware. Most of these systems are reaching their end of life and are running slower than ever.
These 32bit boxes are usually maxed on RAM (4GB) and are starving for more. Lately I have been auditing the list of installed applications and removing as needed. The memory hog is usually some SQL server running even though it isn’t in use. Take into account Backup Exec, WSUS, SBS Monitoring, and Sharepoint and you begin to see where all that RAM is going. Almost all of my clients have been moved over to a managed services platform which handles Windows Updates and system monitoring. That takes out two standard SQL databases/instances right off the bat.
So the long story short is this: Reevaluate the needs of your aging servers and get more from them by removing obsolete tools.
–Himuraken
One open source tool I use everyday is Firefox web browser from Mozilla. Currently on version 3.5, Firefox is perhaps the main alternative to Microsoft Internet Explorer. Now with the release of IE8 and the significant resources impact on many machines, there is an even stronger demand for a stable, easy-to-use web browser.
The open source security process that Mozilla implements for Firefox results in faster bug-fix and a quicker response to network wide threats. This is real security for the user. According to the Brian Krebs, Washington Post, 1/4/2007 blog post “Internet Explorer users Unsafe for 284 Days in 2006″, Firefox users only had nine days of risk. This is a huge difference! Security is the top priority for Firefox coders.
Comparisons such as installation file size show that Firefox i smuch more compact as well. Firefox 3.5 is a 7.7MB download, while IE8 for Windows XP weighs in at 16.1MB, more than twice the size. Firefox will also run in a portable mode from a thumb drive or other removable storage. This is excellent for travelers who like to carry favorites lists with them. All data is stored on the thumb drive when browsing, which also increases user privacy and security.
As a Network Manager I use Firefox for managing Cisco networking devices, as I have often experienced errors using IE in the past. Firefox connects to the device every time.
Firefox Resources:
Firefox Tweak Guides
Download Firefox
8 Easy Firefox Tweaks for Super Fast Web Browsing