Vladimir Meloski Blog

Microsoft TechEd IT Professionals North America 2008 - Orlando, FL - My BOF session is accepted

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:25:23 GMT

I am very happy that my BOF session is accepted for this year's conference Microsoft TechEd IT Professionals North America 2008 in Orlando, FL.

The session title is: Microsoft Exchange Server 2007: Have You Made a Transition Yet?

What will this session cover: Exchange Server 2007 has been released for more than a year, and SP1 is also here. A number of new features are available now. So, have you made a transition yet? We discuss different implementation strategies, server roles configuration and placement. How do you protect from spam, viruses, and other security threats? What is your favorite high availability feature, and have you implemented LCR, CCR, SCC, or SCR? Are you using Unified Communications? Has anyone deployed Exchange Server on Windows Server 2008? Of course, isn’t it cool to work with Exchange using PowerShell? Finally, it is all about users, so how do they like the new look and feel from client perspective, including Outlook 2007, OWA, OVA, and mobile devices? Share your experiences, discuss, and learn from others about implementing Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

I want to thank everyone who voted for my session.

It is scheduled on Wednesday, June 11 7:45 PM - 8:45 PM, at the N310 E room - North Hall. The session code is BOF961.

Welcome:)

18th of April - Heroes {Community} Launch at Institute of Informatics at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Skopje

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:01:57 GMT

Today we are at the Institute of Informatics at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Skopje.

I am always glad to talk about new technologies, especially with the students who will apply this knowledge in their future work.

The sessions as usual were followed by a lot of questions and discussions about the new cool features presented.

16th of April - Heroes {Community} Launch at European University in Skopje

Tue, 06 May 2008 23:51:54 GMT

The roadshow continues.

Today we are at the European University in Skopje, and again a lot of young people interested to learn about new technologies.

The students were able to attend the sessions from two locations, onsite in Skopje and online in Ohrid, using Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

As always I was very happy to answer all the questions from the students.

14th of April - Heroes {Community} Launch at Goce Delcev University in Stip

Tue, 06 May 2008 23:44:28 GMT

Today the Heroes {Community} Launch continued at Goce Delcev University in Stip.

The sessions were attended by a lot of students and IT people. It was amasing how the young people are interested in these great technologies.

A lot of questions were discussed during and after the sessions.

8th of April - Heroes {Community} Launch - 3,2,1, - Go!!!

Tue, 06 May 2008 23:38:54 GMT

So, finally it's here.

Macedonia joins the worldwide launch of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008.

The sessions were presented at the anual TechUpdate event, on 8th of April at the Alexandar Palace Hotel.

This is the agenda:

09:00 – 10:50	Key note Joseph Landes, Microsoft Corp Marin Bezic, Microsoft UK Mile Grujovski, Macedonian .NET User Group Vladimir Meloski, Macedonian Exchange User Group
10:50 – 11:00	Break
11:00 – 12:00	Windows Server 2008 – Overview Aleksandar Gelevski Vladimir Meloski Macedonian Exchange User Group
12:00 – 12:45	Break
13:00 – 14:00	SQL 2008 and VS 2008 - Next Generation Web Dejan Dimitrovski Ivan Acev Macedonian .NET User Group
14:00 – 14:15	Break
14:15 – 15:15	SQL 2008 Server Aleksandar Talev (MVP – SQL Server) Robert Lakinski PASS Macedonia

Overall, it was a great event and a lot of IT Professionals, DBAs and Developers attended the sessions.

Microsoft Windays 2008 in Opatija, Croatia

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:40:28 GMT

Opatija is a beautiful city and touristic destination on the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. It is also a place where IT Pros and Developers get together attending annual Microsoft Conference called WinDays. This year is 8th conference in a row, and even it is organized in a Croatia, a lot of attendees from South Eastern Europe also enjoy, sun, sea, and of course, great technical content.

The conference is schedlued from 22nd to 25th of April (21st Pre-Conference Day).

I have never attended WinDays, but everyone who did says it is a great experience.

Here is some information from the WinDays web site:

"Microsoft WinDays is the largest business and technology conference in Croatia, bringing this year once again knowledge and information on the latest Microsoft technologies. For the eighth time, the leading individuals from the worlds of technology and business will gather in Opatija."

And also:

"Over 160 lectures in 4 days will be held by the best domestic and foreign professionals, who will present an overview of products we can expect in the future. Along with the main content of the conference, we have prepared various technology workshops and demonstrations of the latest Microsoft and partner products."

You can find more information and register on following link: https://www.microsoft.com/croatia/windays/english/default.mspx

Have a great conference:)

TechNet Virtual Labs: Exchange Server

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 03:46:23 GMT

So you are interested what Exchange Server 2007 SP1 brings. Or even more excited, you heard that it can be installed on Windows Server 2008?

That's great, so why don't you give it a try?

Visit following link http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/bb499043.aspx, where you can experience a lot more of Exchange Server 2007 scenarios about:

- security;

- disaster recovery;

- unified messaging;

- PowerShell;

Enjoy;)

Exchange Server 2007 SCR Blogcast

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:43:25 GMT

As you may already know, one of the coolest new features of Exchange Server 2007 SP1 is SCR (Standby Continuous Replication). So If you are still wondering how it works, or you want to learn more, you can watch (and download) this great 5-part blogcast about enabling SCR, monitoring SCR, and activating an SCR storage group copy using the Exchange Management Shell. The blogcast is located on following link http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/09/13/447006.aspx, and is presenter by Scott Schnoll, a Principal Technical Writer on the Exchange Server product team.

The link I mentioned above - http://msexchangeteam.com/ is The Microsoft Exchange Team blog, and it is a great resource of information about Exchange Server.

Enjoy it;)

Macedonian Exchange User Group - Fifth Meeting

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 03:32:06 GMT

On Thursday, 28th of February, Macedonian Exchange User Group members had their fifth meeting. You can notice by the date that it is the same date the Launch events were going on. So after I completed my sessions on Virtual Launch events, the new excitments were following.

This meeting we had a special guest - Dejan Foro, Exchange MVP from Croatia, working for Swisscom in Zurich, Switcerland.

Here is Dejan's CV:

Dejan Foro

Exchange MVP

MCP, MCP+I, MCSE NT40, MCSE+I, MCSE 2000, MCSE 2000:Messaging, MCSA 2003, MCSA 2003:Messaging, MCSE 2003, MCT

15 years of experience with Microsoft technologies and 4 Exchange generations (5.5, 2000, 2003, 2007). Involved with Exchange 2007 since it was a design idea with a codename Titanium. One of cofounders of Exchange User Group Croatia and fouder of Exchange User Group Europe which currently gathers nearly 1000 Exchange professionals from all over the world. He is often a speaker at Microsoft Conferences and events, and also runs his own small web site on topic of Exchange server at www.exchangemaster.net Member of MCP Hall of Fame (1 of 6 worldwide) and Microsoft Most Valuable Professional in area of Exchange (1 of 103 worldwide). Lives in Zurich and works at Swisscom as System Specialist Messaging.

Dejan Foro presented a session about Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Communications. A great presentation with a lot of interesting topics and demos. And I almost forgot to say, the session was presented via Live Meeting, so Dejan was not actually in our conference room;)

A lot of interesting questions followed after the session, overall it was a great experience and thanks very much to Dejan for having him on our meeting. We hope that soon we will have him in person here, too, so we can have a beer and pizza somewhere after the event;)

For more information about Microsoft Unified Communications technologies, visit http://www.microsoft.com/uc and http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/evaluation/unifiedmessaging/default.mspx

The next, sixth meeting of the Macedonian Exchange User Group is planned for the end of March.

HEROES happen {here}

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 02:09:07 GMT

These two days, 27th and 28th finally the Official Launch is beginning. Great new technologies are presented worldwide with live and virtual events.

It is a great feeling that I am a part of the Launch events, speaking about Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Official Distance Learning - MODL, on a 24-hour Live Webcast. Together 24 MCTs from different parts of the world are presenting sessions about Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and MODL. My sessions were scheduled from 2:00am an 4:00am PST. Don't worry:) I am located in Europe, so it's just 11:00am and 1:00pm CET:)

I am also very happy that the sessions were followed by a lot of attendees, including from my country, too.

Thanks very much to Microsoft Macedonia for being my host for the sessions I presented.

You can find a lot of information and watch recorded sessions and Launch events following this link: http://www.microsoft.com/heroeshappenhere/events/default.mspx

On the first picture, you can see me after finishing my session at the virtual event. On the second one, me and Dimitar Grozdanov from Microsoft, talking about the Launch Events and the Live Webcast sessions.

Microsoft TechEd North America 2008 - Orlando, FL

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:46:30 GMT

Registration for the biggest Microsoft events in North America is open. This year, for the first time, TechEd US is following the concept of TechEd Europe and it is divided in two separated events: Microsoft TechEd North America Developers (June 3-6 2008) and Microsoft TechEd North America IT Professionals (June 10-13 2008).

I suggest everyone who has never been to TechEd US to attend, it is an amazing experience, a lot of sessions, Hands on Labs, networking with peers, an opportunity to meet Microsoft Experts of different products, and of course, don't forget there are a lot of great parties and a lot of fun!!!

The only thing I am going to miss is networking with my colleagues developers. Since the European TechEd events are divided, TechEd US was the only place where all IT people were brought together in one place. Being an IT Pro, I should attend the second event, but I am planning to arrive several days earlier in order to meet with some great people attending the first one;)

Find more information on following links:

TechEd Developers - http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2008/developer/default.mspx - Keynote Speaker - Bill Gates, Microsoft Chairman

TechEd IT Professionals - http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2008/itpro/default.mspx - Keynote Speaker - Bob Muglia, Microsoft Senior VP, Server & Tools Business

Have a great time in Orlando:)

Teaching in Tirana, Albania

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:11:58 GMT

What a great holiday. Feeling like a brand new after this amazing week.

These days (from 3rd to 8th of Favruary) I am in Tirana, Albania teaching about Windows Server 2003. A great opportunity to meet some new friends, and of course, to visit my old friends, too. I can feel the excitement of the students about new generation of the operating systems, Vista, and especially Windows Server 2008. Only less than 20 days until the World Launch Events of Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. So, we are discussing every single feature of Windows Server 2003, and how it is changed or improved in the new version.

After every day of teaching, together with my colleagues Angel, Jana and Goran, we are having a great time in the city. On this picture I am in my Ask the Experts T-shirt from the latest TechEd IT Forum 2007 in Barcelona, but this time in a role as an Expert for Bowling:)

Winter holidays

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:46:08 GMT

After a number successful months, we are finally on a holiday. This week - beginning from 27th of January I will spend in a magnificent village of Oraovec, near Veles - Central Macedonia. Maybe more than twenty houses, no internet, only mobile phone - of course in silent mode, fresh air, a lot of walking through the mountains, rivers with clear water, natural springs, and of course my family - son and wife. What a paradise for a geek.

Cisco Systems & Semos Education Technical Event

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:13:12 GMT

On 15th and 16th of January, I was invited as a speaker on a technical events organized by Cisco Systems and my company, Semos Education.

I presented a session and demo lab on Unified Communications technologies, showing how to integrate Cisco Call Manager 5.0 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

The attendees were excited about ability to use their voice mail, e-mail and fax in their inbox, and of course, trying the mail that "speaks to you":)

Dive Deeper Events 08

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:53:09 GMT

I am glad to accept an invitation to be a speaker on Dive Deeper 08 technical events in Cairo and Dubai this year.

Here is some information from the official event site:

"In a major collaboration between Windows IT Pro, Quality Training and Community Works This Febrary we are super excited to announce that Dive Deeper 08 is coming to one of the worlds most exciting locations, Dubai. Join us and over 250 IT Professionals in a truly amazing 1 day event.

We will have a choice of four targeted in-depth technical tracks (level 300/400) on several topics, running from Windows Server, Exchange Server, (Office Cummunications Server) OCS, Virtualization, SharePoint, Security, PowerShell etc. Over 20 breakout sessions and internationally recognised speakers from many different countries will train the delegates. Per city on average 200/250 system administrators, IT managers and IT decision makers will be taken to the next level. We deliver advanced sessions with the opportunity to explore the technologies, and your products and services in greater depth."

I am going to deliver three sessions on Exchange Server (including SP1) and System Ceneter Operations Manager 2007 (including SP1, too):

1. High Availability Scenarios for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Deployment

2. Client Access In Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

3. Monitoring Your Exchange Organization Using System Center Operations Manager 2007

For more information about on these events, as well as sessions and speakers, visit http://www.divedeeperevents.com/

Heroes Community Launch

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 01:27:23 GMT

Since 7th of December 2007, technical communities around the world have begun enrolling for a virtual train-the-trainer and launch execution program consistent with the 08 Launch Wave of Windows Server 2008™, Visual Studio 2008™, and SQL Server 2008™.

I was invited to participate in these events as a Community Leader of the Macedonian Exchange User Group and member of Culminis (www.culminis.org).

So I will be a Community Launch Leader, hosting launch events in my country about these great new technologies.

The invitation provides me with an opportunity to include two more community members, so I invited following devoted professionals: Aleksandar Talev (MCT, MVP SQL Server, President of the PASS Macedonia), and Daniel Joskovski, MCT and cofounder of the Macedonian Developer User Group).

Looking forward to lead these events.

Different versions of Operations Manager 2007 Consoles

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 23:48:30 GMT

After you apply Operations Manager 2007 SP1 RC, you may notice that on other machines where RTM version of the Operations Console is installed, the following message is displayed: "You have attempted to connect to a server which is incompatible with your Operations Console".

Be sure to login as opsmgradmin user and apply the SP1 RC on your operations console.

There are cases when you receive the same message if you try to install SP1 RC with insufficient privileges. The installation will fail and after that starting the Operations Console will display the same message.

The solution of this problem is to install the SP1 RC with opsmgradmin privileges, too.

If you want to try the OpsMgr 2007 SP1 RC, which is fully supported, visit the following link: http://connect.microsoft.com/systemcenter

Macedonian Exchange User Group - Fourth Meeting

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:31:27 GMT

On Tuesday, 18th of December, Macedonian Exchange User Group members had their fourth meeting.

The change of date was because of the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

First of all, I introduced the group members with the activities during the previous month.

The second part of the meeting was a technical session by Dimitar Grozdanov (Microsoft Macedonia), Zoran Zasovski and Darko Nikolovski (Login Systems).

The session topic was Unified Communications demo of Office Communications Server 2007, Office Communicator 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1 and SharePoint Server 2007. The complete infrastructure contained from virtual machines, desktop clients, USB phones, IP Phones and mobile devices. It was a really impressive demo and everyone was very excited about this cool technology.

At the end, we wished everyone Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

As usual we had a special networking/refreshments part of the meeting where a lot of discussions and plans about the new technologies were made.

Next meeting is planned for the last Wednesday in January, and we will have more sessions about this technology for sure.

For more information about Microsoft Unified Communications technologies, visit http://www.microsoft.com/uc

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 is here

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:31:57 GMT

At the very end of November, Microsoft announced the first Service Pack for Exchange Server 2007.

So let's see a brief overview of the features:

- You can now install Exchange 2007 on a Windows Server 2008 operating system;

- Active Sync enhancements are added;

- Additional OWA features are added such as: a monthly calendar view, public folder access is back, S/MIME support;

- POP3/IMAP4 user interface is added to the Exchange Management Console;

- Improvements to transport functionality;

- Public Folder Management is added to the Exchange Management Console;

- New High Availability features: Standby Continuous Replication (SCR);

- Windows Server 2008 support: multiple subnet failover clusters, IPv6;

- New Unified Communications features (some of them available with integration of Office Communications Server 2007);

- Enhancements to the Exchange API sets.

For more detailed information, visit: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb676323.aspx

Macedonian Exchange User Group - Third Meeting

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:27:37 GMT

On Wednesday, 28th of November, Macedonian Exchange User Group members had their third meeting.

It took place in Microsoft offices in Skopje gathering Exchange administrators and professionals.

After I introduced them with the activities during the previous month, two technical sessions were presented.

The first one was summary of Microsoft TechEd IT Forum 2007, where I made a brief overview of the new technologies announced on this conference, focusing on Windows Server 2008, Microsoft System Center Family, and of course, Exchange.

The second one was presented by Vladimir Stepic, about his visit of Redmond for the first time, and attending a training event for Exchange 2007.

At the end, of course networking/refreshments part of the meeting where a lot of discussions about the new technologies took place as usual.

Next meeting is planned in the middle of December, and we are making an exception because of the Christmas and New Year’s Holidays.

According to our plans, we will have a technical presentations and demos about Unified Communications.

Blog list: Blog list

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 01:54:55 GMT

You Had Me At EHLO...
The Microsoft Exchange Team Blog
Windows Server Division WebLog
Focusing on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Storage Server, Compute Cluster Server, Centro,SBS, and Virtualization
Operations Manager Product Team Blog
Communication from the product team about Ops Manager 2007 and MOM 2005
Nexus SC:
The System Center Team Blog
Il blog di Lorenzo Barbieri
Lorenzo Barbieri is a trainer/consultant based in Milan, Italy. He is a Visual Developer - Team System MVP. The blog is on Italian, but you can easilly read it using web transator.
Exchange Master - Dejan Foro
Dejan Foro is an Exchange MVP and founder of the Europian and Croatian Exchange User Groups.
Andy Malone's Blog
Andy is a motivated technical trainer, Microsoft speaker, and technology evangelist. Andy was also the 2006 winner of the TechEd: IT Forum Speaker Idol contest.