Archive for category I.T. Certification

Microsoft Exchange 2003 Spam Protection

Posted by Ken Thompson in Brain Busters, I.T. Certification, Projects, The PCs That Kevin Built on May 6, 2009

So now that I have Exchange all hooked up and chugging away, I still had a few issues to sort out before I could (In Demtel’s Words) “Set it and Forget It!”. Namely, now that my domain’s MX records pointed straight to my server, there was no SPAM protection (when hosted on my web server, I had SPAM Assassin). On another SPAM related issue, because I am behind a dynamic IP, a lot of SPAM black lists block these ranges so I was getting a few bounce backs as a result of that… so I need to enable the exact same filtering that is blocking my outgoing emails currently!

So firstly, I setup my Exchange server to cross reference emails against a publicly available SPAM black list, SpamHaus. You do this via adding a connection filtering rule in message delivery properties (in the Exchange System Manager snap-in):

  1. Under Global Settings, right-click Message Delivery and select Properties
  2. Select the Connection Filtering tab
  3. Click Add
  4. Enter zen.spamhaus.org as the DNS Suffix of Provider and Display Name
  5. Clock Ok

exchange_spam

Next you have to manually enable filtering with this rule on your SMTP Virtual Server. To do this:

  1. Under Servers > *Server Name* > Protocols > SMTP, right-click your SMTP server and select Properties
  2. Click Advanced next to IP Address
  3. Click Edit
  4. Tick all the Check Boxes in this window and choose OK

exchange_spam2

 

So now that has blocked dynamic IP ranges and publicly known SPAM servers / address ranges for sending you email, too easy! As I don’t have that many address on my domains, this and some basic SCL filtering is thus far proving to be very effective at blocking SPAM. Obviously on an enterprise level you will need some 3rd party SPAM / Virus software on top of this basic SPAM protection available in Exchange.

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Exchange 2003 – All Systems Go

Posted by Ken Thompson in I.T. Certification, Journal, Projects, The PCs That Kevin Built on May 4, 2009

ms-exchange-2003

Well it has been a few weeks now since I got my server going and I had yet to get Exchange fully functional. I had only got as far as installing it and having all the services running, but hadn’t hooked it up to my websites or started using it rather than my web server’s POP3 email accounts.

I have started studying for my 70-284 (Implementing and Managing Microsoft Exchange Server 2003), so that inspired me to get everything going; especially as it’s exactly what I am learning about right now. I have actually decided that I will sit this exam next as I am finding it very interest (and a little easy!) and it will break up the studies a bit. I want to do the exam within the next 2 weeks as I really need to get some of these exams out of the way and get back on my certification war path.

I really didn’t have that much to do, and I’m pleased to say everything went exactly to plan and I had everything hooked up and working in no time at all; a pleasant surprise to the norm. So I changed my domain’s MX records to point to my FQDN address, which is a dynamic forwarder (as I have a dynamic IP from my ISP, the router updates this FQDN any time it changes). Then I setup the following port forwards to my server:

    • 80 – HTTP (already activated for other services)
    • 25 – SMTP
    • 110 – POP3
    • 443 – Outlook Web Access
    • 389 – LDAP (required for remote access user authentication)
    • 143 – IMAP4

Then I enabled and started the POP3 and IMAP services (for access on PC’s I have linked to other Domains & Exchange Accounts) and I was in business. Too easy!

I did hit one stumbling block though. I want to use one exchange account which is configured with 2 SMTP accounts for different domain names (Pixsoul and XXIV) which works perfectly for receiving email from either account. However when you send email it address it from the default SMTP account, so you can only send email from one of the accounts – no choice. I have done a lot of playing and poking around but it appears the only way to have this work is to create 2 separate user accounts in AD, linking each individual email to their accounts…I will keep searching though and post up on the success / failure of that tomorrow.

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Windows 7 – Learning Portal

Posted by Ken Thompson in I.T. Certification, Journal on May 3, 2009

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Well unfortunately I missed out on getting a shot at the beta Windows 7 exam. But in reality, it’s no skin off my nose as I won’t be using or deploying until mid to late 2010 at the earliest; the only benefit of doing now was that it was free, the professional relevance was irrelevant.

Despite that I am still using Windows 7 and won’t be going back to Vista or XP (except at work, an XP environment) at all. I am still learning the ropes of the OS and came across a new resource for learning Windows 7:

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/windows-7/default.mspx

A few more bits and bobs there to look into, namely sample chapters of new Windows 7 documentation. The timing couldn’t be better either, with Windows 7 RC1 being officially released on the 5th of May. But I expect all you fellow Windows 7 geeks to already have the leaked version! I’m yet to install mine, but definitely looking forward to the Windows XP inbuilt VM; I will post more on this when I use it a little bit.

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Windows 7 Beta Exam

Posted by Ken Thompson in I.T. Certification on April 21, 2009

Windows 7 Beta

I noticed on the Microsoft Beta Exam Blog that the Windows 7 Beta exam has been announced. Which I am definitely looking forward too. I have been mucking around with the Beta since it’s release on and off; using it as my primary OS for around a month now. It will be a good excuse for me to stop tweaking and overclocking, and actually learn the ropes of the new OS; including improved features from Vista, which I have yet to learn to their full extent.

Here is a brief run down of the requirements to do the Beta:

71-680: TS: Windows 7, Configuring

  • Registration begins: April 27, 2009
  • Beta exam period runs: May 5, 2009- May 18, 2009
  • Testing is held at Prometric testing centers worldwide
  • Use the following promotional code when registering for the exam: WIN7J

As per usual with Beta exams, there are limited numbers of seats they will offer. It is usually quite a large ammount, but it’s first in best dressed. So if you want to do it, don’t sit about thinking about it; Do it ASAP on or after April 27. You haven’t got anything to lose except maybe some time studying and faffing about with Windows 7 (if you’re at all interested in IT, you are already doing this!); it’s free to sit and if you pass you get the full certification when it is made official (passes Beta).

Here are some links useful to learning about some new features in Windows 7, there are a bunch of features that are built on Vista features. So it would be a safe bet to have a look “new” features in Vista and learn those as a bridging aid.

Windows 7 Resources on Technet

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/windows/dd361745.aspx

Windows 7 Resources on Microsoft Learning

http://learning.microsoft.com/manager/Catalog.aspx?clang=en-US&dtype=Catalog&Sort=PublicationDateDescending&page=1&cats=%7b11182676-d3c8-405d-bf7b-bf8604ca2c9e%7d%3a%7b166722f0-6926-4a78-82d5-cd021f777a70%7d

Windows 7 “Learning Snacks”

Implementing User Account Control in Windows 7

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/_silverlight/learningsnacks/win7/snack02/Default.html

Introducing BitLocker and AppLocker in Windows 7

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/_silverlight/learningsnacks/win7/snack03/Default.html

Desktop Experience in Windows 7

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/_silverlight/learningsnacks/win7/snack04/Default.html

Setting Up a Home Network in Windows 7

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/_silverlight/learningsnacks/win7/snack05/Default.html

Introducing the Troubleshooting Platform in Windows 7

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/_silverlight/learningsnacks/win7/snack06/Default.html

Using the Deployment Image Servicing and Management Tool for Servicing Windows 7 Images

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/_silverlight/learningsnacks/win7/snack07/Default.html

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Completed 70-290 Microsoft Certification

Posted by Ken Thompson in I.T. Certification, Journal, Work on March 23, 2009

MCP - Microsoft Certified Professional

Well we’re already 3 months into the year and I’m already falling behind on my personal goal of finishing my MCSE by the end of the financial year. I have been keeping up my study regularly this year and have finished initial studies of the majority of exams, but yet to do final study on these and actually sit them.

So last Friday, I decided to pull my finger out and I booked in my first Windows Server 2003 exam, 70-290: Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment.

I went home for the weekend with my brother and sister, for a belated birthday present for Dad; riding round wineries in Rutherglen. It was a great weekend and obviously had a some good patches of not doing much (especially in the car), making room for some decent periods of study. Having finished studying for this certification in December before I started my new job and with 3 months on-the-job experience since starting in January at my new job, I was very confident that this exam wouldn’t pose too much trouble for me. Over the weekend I did 100s of example questions, averaging around low 80% for these. I was happy with this, especially considering every question I got wrong, I would see what the correct answer was and why this was…so even when I was getting questions incorrect, I was learning about these and wouldn’t make the same mistakes twice.

I had a mini sleep-in this morning and wasn’t particularly worried about cramming in study this morning, instead blasting music, starting my Twitter account and cruising through a bunch of sample questions…procrastination was rife! I rocked in to the exam, very confident I knew the material inside and out. That was until I was actually doing the exam and started crapping my dacks! I was expecting to see questions similar to what I had been studying (since I have probably done about 400-500 example questions on this exam), but nothing at all was similar; it was all new and quite scary! I uncomfortably answered my way through, using the knowledge and experience I had built up. But I was not confident I had done well at all, on the contrary, I was very sure that I wasn’t going to pass (you require 700/1000 to pass)…I found it extremely hard. I finished the last question then held my breath as the very slow computer system calculated my score…only to find out I got 904/1000!

So I left feeling very happy with myself, although physically I felt like I had failed (thanks adrenaline!). Fortunately all the hard work paid off though. 2 Down, 5 to go!

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