File Share Witness failed and resist deletion ( Microsoft Failover Cluster )

I was working on building an Exchange 2007 SCC lab for testing one of our customers scenarios prior applying to production . I built the cluster and all was going great till I want to change the file share witness folder name . I used the configure cluster quorum setting wizard and the new file share witness was created successfully .The problem is that there was another ( the old ) file share witness that mapped to a non existing folder . I tried to remove it from the failover cluster snap-in but there was no way to do it !

I tried also to use the Cluster.exe command line with the /delete switch but it also failed as the unneeded file share witness is a core resource .

Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2012 is here

Virtual Machine Servicing Tool ( VMST ) is one of Microsoft Solution Accelerators which provides automated tools and guidance that IT professionals can use to update offline virtual machines, templates, and virtual hard disks efficiently and without exposing them to security risks.

Virtual Machine Servicing Tool (VMST) 2012 is designed to work with System Center 2012 –Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 SP2.

VMST 2012 helps you reduce IT costs by making it easier to update your offline virtual machines, templates, and virtual hard disks with the latest operating system and application patches—without introducing vulnerabilities into your IT infrastructure.

This Solution Accelerator includes the following components:

Finally, Microsoft did it : Active Directory Replication Status Tool

One of Active Directory's strengths is its distributed nature. Since its architecture is spread across multiple domain controllers (DCs), AD scales extremely well and is highly fault tolerant to domain controller errors. However, the highly sophisticated replication engine that keeps AD data consistent across all these DCs is dependent on many other systems such as basic network topology, firewall configurations, and DNS. Active Directory topics are the highest call volume generator for Microsoft's Customer Support Services, and replication failures generate among the highest call volumes within the AD support area.

ReplMon was one of the common tools that was used to monitor and analyze replication patterns within AD infrastructure so an admin can figure where the errors were originated and hence proceed with fixing.

Although ReplMon was a useful tool  Microsoft replaced it with the command line RepAdmin tool with the release of Windows Server 2008.

Opposite to the GUI tool ( ReplMon ) , the command line tool RepAdmin was not as easy for use for most admins with its multiple switches and parameters.

In order to make AD admins life easier , Microsoft – finally - released Active Directory Replication Status ( ADREPLSTATUS ) tool .

Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter is RC

Today I received an Email from Microsoft announces that Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter which I posted for it while it was beta ( read here ) is now in a Release Candidate stage.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 7.0

As Windows Server 2012 / Windows 8 are coming soon ( RTM by August 2012 ) , I received an email from Microsoft announcing that Microsoft has released the new version ( 7.0 ) of  Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit , which provides organizations with tools to assess readiness for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) 7.0 provides you with the capabilities that allows you to :

Microsoft Outlook Configuration Analyzer Tool 2.0 is here

As posted earlier here for OCAT version 1.0 , the second version of Outlook Configuration Analyzer Tool (OCAT) provides a quick and easy method to analyze your Microsoft Office Outlook profile and mailbox for common configurations that may cause problems in Outlook. This can be very useful for busy Help Desk personnel when end-users call for help with Outlook or when you want to identify possible issues with Outlook proactively.

Microsoft Assesment Tool for Private Cloud

Moving to virtualizing your infrastructure or new to virtualization technologies, it would be nice to give Microsoft Assessment Tool for Private Cloud a try. The assesment tool for private cloud collects data from you via answering a few questions about your current IT infrastructure, virtulization capabilties in place already, service level agreements if any etc.. 

As soon as the tool completes its assessment, it provides you with a comparison of your business class as compared to other industry peers with cloud virtualization in place. In addition it provides you with a set of recommendations for various areas that you can improve in costs, delivery and quality to your end users and for your organization.

Exchange Server Deployment Assistant [ ExDeploy ]

Exchange Server Deployment Assistant (ExDeploy) is a Web-based tool that can help you with your Exchange deployment. ExDeploy asks you a few questions about your current environment and then generates a custom checklist and procedures that help simplify your deployment. 

Microsoft Exchange PST Capture

Microsoft Exchange PST Capture is used to discover and import .pst files into Exchange Server or Exchange Online.

Overview

PST Capture is used to discover and import Outlook Personal Folder (.pst) File Format files into Exchange Server and Exchange Online. PST Capture helps an organization that wishes to gain more control over their email data repositories by placing them into Exchange. By optionally installing PST Capture Agents on target machines, administrators can determine where .pst files are located and who their file owner is via the PST Capture Console. Administrators can import .pst files via Import Lists to Exchange Server or Exchange Online. Data can be directly imported into the primary mailbox or associated archive mailbox. 

System requirements

Supported operating systems: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista

• Exchange Server 2010, if used to import to Exchange Server 2010 mailboxes or archives
• Exchange Online (Office 365) subscription if used to import to Exchange Online (Office 365) mailboxes or archives
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 or 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
• Microsoft Outlook 2010 x64 (only required on the host computer where you install the Central Service and Console) 

Go and get it , here

Microsoft Script Explorer for Windows PowerShell (pre-release)

Microsoft® Script Explorer for Windows PowerShell® (pre-release) helps scripters find Windows PowerShell scripts, snippets, modules, and how-to guidance in online repositories such as the TechNet Script Center Repository, PoshCode, local or network file systems and Bing Search Repository. Microsoft® Script Explorer enables:

Lync Server 2010, Stress and Performance Tool

The Lync Server 2010 Stress and Performance Tools (LSS) can be used to prepare, define and validate performance targets of user scenarios offered by on-premise Lync Server 2010 deployment. LSS includes multiple modules and can simulate simultaneous users on one or more Lync Servers

Overview

The Lync Server 2010 Stress and Performance Tool (LSS) is capable of simulating user load of the following types:

• Instant messaging (IM) and presence
• Audio conferencing
• Application sharing
• Voice over IP (VoIP), including public switched telephone network (PSTN) simulation
• Web Access Client conferencing
• Conferencing Attendant
• Response Groups
• Distribution list expansion
• Address book download and address book query
• E911 calls and Location Profile