Cumulative Update 2 for Exchange Server 2013 resolves issues that were found in Exchange Server 2013 CU1 since the software was released. This update rollup is highly recommended for all Exchange Server 2013 customers.

The CU2 package can be used to perform a new installation, or to upgrade an existing Exchange Server 2013 installation to CU2.
You do not need to install Cumulative Update 1 for Exchange Server 2013 when you are installing CU2.

Cumulative Update 2 for Exchange Server 2013 contains the following major changes:

• CU2 increases the maximum number of supported databases per server from 50 to 100 in the Enterprise Edition;
• Enables silent redirection for Outlook Web App (OWA) to Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2013 when using multiple internet-facing AD sites or alternative ExternalURL settings (i.e. for legacy purposes);
• Introduces the DAG Management Service which will offload monitoring and reporting from the Replication Service;
• Shifting several responders from per-server throttling to per-group throttling;
• Support for updating local help files using the cmdlet Update-ExchangeHelp;
• Improvements in OWA Search to indicate search hit locations;
• Introduction of *-MalwareFilterRule Cmdlets to apply custom malware policies to users, groups or domains.

In addition the following (incomplete) list with things fixed in this CU (the list of bug fixes in this CU is undisclosed yet):

• KB2866064 Can’t load OWA Premium by using Internet Explorer 11 in an Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2010 or Exchange Server 2007 environment
• KB2846288 Information store worker process crashes when you export mailboxes in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• KB2842504 EAS users incorrectly throttled in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
• KB2830765 “MAPI_E_FAILONEPROVIDER” error when you use a MAPI application in a mixed Exchange Server 2013 and Exchange Server 2007 or Exchange Server 2010 environment
• KB2835562 You can’t disable Outlook Web App access for users in on-premises Exchange Server

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Download Cumulative Update 2 for Exchange Server 2013 (KB2859928) (Download file can be used as a full installation package for new installation (or upgrade), you can safely delete RTM and CU1 download file :) from your distrib. folder)

Version: 15.00.0712.024 (re-release)
Date Published: 7/9/2013
File name: Exchange-x64.exe
File size: 1.3 GB
KB Articles: KB2859928

Note: After you install this cumulative update package, you cannot uninstall the cumulative update package to revert to an earlier version of Exchange 2013. If you uninstall this cumulative update package, Exchange 2013 is removed from the server.

For list of Exchange Server 2013 version and CU visit Wiki page
Exchange Server 2013 and Cumulative Updates (CU’s) Build Numbers
http://aka.ms/rzm3eo

For more info visit Released: Exchange Server 2013 RTM Cumulative Update 2 and
Release Notes for Exchange 2013

This reporting workbook provides you with a detailed view into the email protection data that is available in the Office 365 Reporting dashboard.

This workbook is available to all Exchange Online and Exchange Online Protection customers. The workbook provides summary graphs for a number of different types of email message filtering. This includes messages identified as spam, malware, or good mail (mail that cleanly passed all filtering). It also shows graphs for messages that were identified by either a transport rule or DLP policy (Exchange Online customers only).

The data for the summary graphs is pulled locally via a web service call. After loading the summary data into the workbook, you can perform deeper analysis through the use of data slicers. These allow you to change the view of the data in order to identify trends or unusual activity. When such a condition is found, you can click through from the summary to the detail data. Another web service call will be made to pull the detail data that you can use to identify the actual messages that caused the condition seen in the summary graph.

Download Microsoft Office 365 Excel Plugin for Exchange Online Reporting

Version: 15.0.620.000
Date Published: 7/22/2013
File name: MailProtectionReport_v2_en32.msi (For Office Excel 2013 32 bit)
File size: 2.7 MB
File name: MailProtectionReport_v2_en64.msi (For Office Excel 2013 64 bit)
File size: 2.7 MB

Required Software:
1. Microsoft Office Excel 2013
2. Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5
3. Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant (for Exchange Online Protection customers only)
4. An Office 365 subscription that contains Exchange Online or Exchange Online Protection
5. Email address you use to sign in to Office 365

Install Instructions
1. Install the required software if it is not already installed.
2. Download the installer. Select the installer that aligns with your version of Excel 2013. For 32-bit Excel 2013 use the 32-bit MSI
3. Run the installer and follow the prompts.
Note: Customers who purchase EOP as part of the Exchange Enterprise CAL with Services subscription plan should install the workbook by selecting the Exchange Online service rather than the Exchange Online Protection service.
4. After completing the installation, open the workbook in Excel 2013 using the shortcut on your desktop.

 

 

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In case you missed this news, OWA for iPhone and OWA for iPad are now available!

For more details, head over to OWA for iPhone and OWA for iPad on the Office 365 technology blog

The Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Management Pack provides comprehensive service health information for your Exchange organization.

The Exchange 2013 Management Pack is engineered for organizations that include servers running Exchange 2013.

The key feature of this management pack is user focused monitoring. The simplified dashboard focuses on the user experience and makes it easier for you quickly determine exactly what your users are experiencing.

Feature Summary: The Exchange Server 2013 Management Pack works with the Managed Availability feature in Exchange 2013. The alerts within the System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) portal indicate unhealthy states as reported by the Managed Availability components in Exchange 2013.

The following are some of the new features in the Exchange 2013 Management Pack:

• Simplified dashboard The dashboard of the Exchange 2013 Management Pack has been simplified and refined into the following three categorie
  • Active Alerts Provides a list of all outstanding alerts in your organization.
  • Organization Health Provides an overview of the overall service health in your organization.
  • Server Health Provides an overview of the health of individual servers in your organization.
• User focused monitoring Exchange 2013 introduces a monitoring and recovery infrastructure called Managed Availability. Managed Availability focuses on the user experience. All Exchange 2013 components have built-in monitors that detect problems and attempt to recover the service availability. Any issues that can't be recovered automatically are escalated to the Exchange 2013 Management Pack as an alert.

You have one of the following versions of System Center Operations Manager deployed:

• System Center Operations Manager 2012 RTM or later
• System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 or later

Fore more information refer to Exchange Server 2013 Management Pack Documentation

• Exchange Server 2013 Management Pack Documentation provides detailed instructions and descriptions on how to import and use the Exchange Server 2013 Management Pack
• Exchange Server 2013 Management Health Set documentation comprehensive list of healthsets and details

 

Download Exchange Server 2013 Management Pack

Version: 15.00.0620.030
Date Published: 7/12/2013
File name: ExchangeServerManagementPack.msi
File size: 200 KB

Using FastTrack Deployment Resources for Office 365 you can easy get information and prepare for deployment Office 365,
Step-by-Step instruction from Discover to Pilot then to Deploy and Enhance your Office 365

Get your Office 365 FastTrack on http://fasttrack.office.com/

Office 365 Network Analysis Tool is a web based tool that will run tests checking things like port connectivity, route paths between the client and tenant, bandwidth speed and capacity tests, and VoIP readiness. At the end of the test the tool generates reports that visualize the data that was collected.

 

   

   

   

  

You can choose from a list of regions to which you belong

EMEA:
http://em1-fasttrack.cloudapp.net/
http://137.116.212.202

North America:
http://na1-fasttrack.cloudapp.net/
http://137.117.72.96

APAC:
http://ap1-fasttrack.cloudapp.net
http://168.63.169.67

 

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Note: To run Office 365 Network Analysis Tool you need to have Java, make sure to install latest version of Java from java.com

More about Office 365 launch in Georgia see post Office 365 Trial in Georgia available now

OK, Office 365 Trial is available, what is mean for you, for your organization, let me explain.

First of all this trial offer are 120 day, that mean you will get 4 month free (4 month free!!!) use of Office 365 in the following plans;

Office 365 plan for business
Office 365 Small Business Premium up to 25 Users
Office 365 Midsize Business up to 300 Users
Office 365 Enterprise E3 up to "Unlimited" Users

Office 365 plans for Education
Office 365 Plan A3 Trial

To see plans and Office 365 for Georgia you need change site to English (International) and choose your billing country/region to Georgia on http://office.microsoft.com/

What means 120 day for you? what will happened after trial is over? Simple answer would probably be that Office 365 will be launched in Georgia and you will be able to transfer trial to full production.

You can also try Office 365 using Microsoft Partners offers in Georgia, such offers also includes additional support from partners, they can help you in hybrid sceneries (On-Premises and Office 365) initial or additional configuration, user management (e.g. password synchronization) additional SharePoint configuration, Lync Public Connectivity and many more.

For example at this time High-Tech Solutions LLC currently offer advisory service in Office 365, for more information visit their Office 365 trial offer promotion on Facebook

That it for now, I will not write about how it easy to have Office 365 for organization how easy to manage and serve your users in Office 365 how less is overall time consuming using Office 365, to know it you must try it your self.

Lync Server 2013 Cumulative Update KB 2809243

Version: 8308.420
Date Published: 7/1/2013

LyncServerUpdateInstaller.exe 103.2 MB Download
admintools.msp 1.1 MB
CPS.msp 448 KB
Datamcu.msp 684 KB
MediationServer.msp 608 KB
MgcServer.msp 1.0 MB
OcsCore.msp 25.8 MB
ocsmcu.msp 1.7 MB
Server.msp 6.0 MB
UcmaRuntime.msp 4.6 MB
UcmaWorkflowRuntime.msp 192 KB
WebComponents.msp 60.9 MB

This update includes the following Lync Server updates

Update for Core Components
2835432Description of the cumulative update 5.0.8308.420 for Lync Server 2013, Core Components: July 2013
Update for Conferencing server
2835434 Description of the cumulative update 5.0.8308.420 for Lync Server 2013, Conferencing Server: July 2013
Update for Web Components server
2835435 Description of the cumulative update 5.0.8308.420 for Lync Server 2013, Web Components: July 2013
Update for Standard or Enterprise edition server
2819565 Description of the cumulative update 5.0.8308.420 for Lync Server 2013: July 2013
Update for Web Conferencing server
2835507 Description of the cumulative update 5.0.8308.420 for Lync Server 2013, Web Conferencing Server: July 2013
Update for Mediation server
2796554 Description of the cumulative update 5.0.8308.291 for Lync Server 2013, Mediation Server: February 2013
Update for Unified Communications Managed API 4.0, Core Runtime 64-bit
2835437 Description of the cumulative update 5.0.8308.420 for Lync Server 2013, Unified Communications Managed API 4.0 Runtime: July 2013
Update for Call Park Service
2835440 Description of the cumulative update 5.0.8308.420 for the Lync Server 2013, Call Park service: July 2013
Update for Persistent Chat server
2835433 Description of the cumulative update 5.0.8308.420 for Lync Server 2013, Persistent Chat: July 2013
Update for Unified Communications Managed API 3.0 Workflow APIs
2835438 Description of the cumulative update 5.0.8308.420 for Lync Server 2013, UCMA 3.0 Workflow APIs: July 2013
Update for Administrative Tools
2837510 Description of the cumulative update 5.0.8308.420 for Lync Server 2013, Administrative Tools: July 2013

Download Lync Server 2013 Cumulative Update KB 2809243

Great videos Windows Azure Practical with Jim O’Neil on all things in Windows Azure:

• (Part 1) – Azure Basics
• (Part 2) – What to do with Blobs?
• (Part 3) – Why do we need Drives?
• (Part 4) – Using the Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• (Part 5) – Table Storage Overview
• (Part 6) – Windows Azure SQL Database
• (Part 7) – SQL Database Federations
• (Part 8) – SQL Data Sync
• (Part 9) – Windows Azure Web Sites
• (Part 10) – Web Roles
• (Part 11) – Worker Roles
• (Part 12) – Caching
• (Part 13) – Windows Azure Queue Storage
• (Part 14) – Windows Azure Virtual Machines - Part 1
• (Part 15) – Windows Azure Virtual Machines – Part 2
• (Part 16) – Traffic Manager
• (Part 17) – Identity
• (Part 18) – Service Bus
• (Part 19) – Virtual Networks
• (Part 20) – SQL Reporting
• (Part 21) – HDInsight Service
• (Part 22) – Windows Azure Marketplace

OK, now we got it. But…

…let me start from the following; Windows RT main segment is Home Users, not Business users, ok, now let’s write down that what we got in Outlook 2013 RT, then you will understand why I start from this :)

Everyone who are running Windows RT 8.1 Preview now can find Outlook 2013 RT in the OS, is added to collection of Office 2013 RT applications as part of the operating system update.

I will not going to write a lot and write short; some of enterprise features have been removed! DUH!,
Here is the list of features that's not available in Office 2013 RT

• For mailboxes, there's no Online Archive or Personal Archive mailboxes, or Site Mailboxes
• No Messaging Records Management retention policies
• No Data Loss Prevention policy tips
• There's no support for Information Rights Management on new email messages
• No macros, add-ins or custom programs can be run
• Microsoft Lync isn't integrated into Outlook 2013 RT; neither is SharePoint
• No support for fax accounts
• The app can't be configured through Group Policy

You can also get more info from here Office 2013 RT Frequently Asked Questions

Just tested in LAB,

Exchange Server 2013 CU1 works fine on Windows Server 2012 R2 (9431)

Please Note: That this is just a test environment, no official statement or support was announced yet.

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