Tools which you can’t live without -- LastPass:

LastPass is a superb tool for managing all your online usernames and password in a highly secured way. Believe me the time you will start using this tool you will become a big fan of it and then you will realize that why I ranked it as Tools which you can’t live without. You can easily import your password data from other password keeping tools like Firefox,IE built-in feature of remembering passwords and others like Keypass etc. The good thing it has also a virtual keyboard feature too which saves you from key-loggers. Get more info and features list here https://lastpass.com/ and just give a try.

Microsoft DirectAccess! No more dialing VPN Connections:

Microsoft DirectAccess is a new cool feature available in Windows 7 in partner with Windows 2008 R2 Server (aKa Windows 7 Server). If your organization has number of mobile users working from home or anywhere outside the office, normally they need to dial some kind of VPN connection to connect with corporate network and then can utilize the intranet resources. This kind of VPN connections some time restricted in cafe or coffee shop firewalls and also the user has to be educated that how to connect. But now with introduction of DirectAccess everything is completely transparent to user. He just will power on his portable machine and if configured then Windows 7 Enterprise will automatically connect to the corporate office even before the user logon screen. Here how it works:

DirectAccess clients use the following process to connect to intranet resources:

1. The DirectAccess client computer running Windows 7 detects that it is connected to a network.

2. The DirectAccess client computer attempts to connect to an intranet Web site that an administrator specified during DirectAccess configuration. If the Web site is available, the DirectAccess client determines that it is already connected to the intranet, and the DirectAccess connection process stops. If the Web site is not available, the DirectAccess client determines that it is connected to the Internet and the DirectAccess connection process continues.

3. The DirectAccess client computer connects to the DirectAccess server using IPv6 and IPsec. If a native IPv6 network isn’t available (and it probably won’t be when the user is connected to the Internet), the client establishes an IPv6-over-IPv4 tunnel using 6to4 or Teredo. The user does not have to be logged in for this step to complete.

4. If a firewall or proxy server prevents the client computer using 6to4 or Teredo from connecting to the DirectAccess server, the client automatically attempts to connect using the IP-HTTPS protocol, which uses a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection to ensure connectivity.

5. As part of establishing the IPsec session, the DirectAccess client and server authenticate each other using computer certificates for authentication.

6. By validating Active Directory® group memberships, the DirectAccess server verifies that the computer and user are authorized to connect using DirectAccess.

For more info visit : http://www.microsoft.com/servers/directaccess.mspx

Installing Hyper-V Manager in Windows 7 RC:

If you have MS Hyper-V 2008 Server or Hyper-V running on MS Windows 2008 Server OS, you can manage these remotely through Windows 7 also. To achieve this goal you need to install Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 which is available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=7d2f6ad7-656b-4313-a005-4e344e43997d&displaylang=en. Once you download and installed these tools the next step is to enable Hyper-V Tools using Control Panel—> Programs and Features—> Turn Windows features on or off—> Remote Server Administrator Tools—> Role Administration Tools—> Hyper-V Tools.

After enabling it you will find it under Administrative Tools. Add the Hyper-V servers in console and you are ready to go.
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Tools which you can’t live without -- Xobni 1.7. No more Betas:

I am going to start a new blog series where I will share the most commonly daily use tools which one can’t live without. If anyone of you also know this kind of tools kindly share with me, I will include those in this new blog series.

Xobni is a free tool funded by Cisco Systems and BlackBerry Partners Fund. This tool integrate in your MS-Outlook and gives you excellent search capabilities with extra details like email statistics, linkedin profiles, facebook profiles and many other action items. It was in beta phase but on 25th March, 2009 its stable, faster and reliable version has been launched. You can learn more about its features and download from here : http://www.xobni.com/learnmore/

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Troubleshooting Exchange 2007 Email Transport issues using Pipeline Tracing:

Pipeline tracing is a very handy feature for Email Administrators introduced in MS-Exchange 2007. After enabling it you can get a detailed log of message routing through Hub Transport or Edge Transport Servers, this helps me many times to isolate transport issues.

Pipeline tracing generates log files only for e-mail messages that are sent from the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) e-mail address that you specify by using the PipelineTracingSenderAddress parameter on the Set-TransportServer cmdlet. Pipeline tracing does not generate log files for messages that are sent from any other e-mail address. The SMTP e-mail address that you specify can be internal or external to your Exchange organization.

To enable it run the following command in EMS:

Set-TransportServer <Identity> -PipelineTracingSenderAddress <SMTPAddress>

For example, to configure the SMTP address, abc@contoso.com, as the pipeline tracing sender address on the Server1 computer, run the following command in EMS:

Set-TransportServer Server1 -PipelineTracingSenderAddress abc@contoso.com

Once enabled then try sending email using the above email address it will generate the whole transport log in C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\TransportRoles\Logs\PipelineTracing by default, you can find this folder on Exchange Server. You can change the default path using this command in EMS:

Set-TransportServer <Identity> -PipelineTracingPath <LocalFilePath>

For example, to set the location of the pipeline tracing log directory to C:\Pipeline Tracing Logs, run the following command in EMS:

Set-TransportServer Server1 -PipelineTracingPath "C:\Pipeline Tracing Logs"

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Nice new Interface of MS Exchange 2010 OWA aka Outlook Live:

I recently installed MS Exchange 2010 beta over MS Windows 2008 in my test environment. Truly speaking new Exchange 2010 OWA  has a very nice interface and which has near resemblance to Windows live mail thats why Microsoft started calling it Outlook Live. It has also a new conversation grouping view same like Gmail. The good thing is that its fully compatible with Mozilla Firefox also. Have a look at below screenshot.

 

Allow Anonymous Inward SIP Calls in Trixbox:

Most of the online VoIP providers will give you the steps how to configure their SIP trunk for incoming and outgoing calls in Trixbox but after following those steps you often not able to receive inbound calls. This is because Trixbox does not allow inbound anonymous calls by default. To allow anonymous calls you have to go to PBX Settings –> General Settings then on right pane scroll down and you will get the option to allow anonymous calls, select it and save the changes. Have a look at below screenshots.