The new version contains the following changes:

• Added support for Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. To fulfill the requirements, code was added to install .NET Framework 4.5, Windows Management Framework 3, disable/enable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration (IE-ESC), install required hotfixes KB974405, KB2619234 and KB2758857 (which supersedes KB2533623).
• Because of the mandatory reboot after installation of the hotfixes, a phase was inserted; this phase will be skipped when installing on Windows Server 2012.
• Added InstallPath to AutoPilot parameter set (or default path won’t get set).

You can download the updated version of the script via the original Exchange 2013 Unattended Installation Script page (which also contains instructions) or directly from the Technet Gallery.

The script has been tested with Exchange 2013 CU1 but it should work with RTM as well (if you must ..). Your feedback is very much welcomed!

The last version is version 1.53, dated June 15th, 2013; For changes, consult the changelog on the original article or Technet Gallery page.

This episode is hosted by Pat Richard, who’s joined by Johan Veldhuis, John Cook and Tim Harrington. Special guest is Chris Cook, creator of the Lync Environment Report Builder.

Amongst the topics discussed in this episode are:

• TechEd North America
• Exchange 2010 SP3 UR1 released
• Exchange 2010 Mailbox Role Calculator updated to v20.7
• Lync Networking Guide
• Lync Server federation with Microsoft.com: Root Certificate Change
• Blackberry Enterprise IM 3.0 enabled Blackberry 10 users communication with Lync users
• Chris Cook’s awesome scripts
• Updating Lync Phone Edition Devices for Lync 2013
• John’s MaxEndpointsPerUser=1 issue
• Lync 2013 Database Mirror Manager Tool
• Snooper shows only TL_Errors in detail pane
• Jaja Voice Service for Office 365 & Lync to be discontinued
• Cisco challenges Microsoft buy of Skype in EU court
• Lync-Skype federation & provisioning guide
• Lync Jump Start for 70-336 exam – slides available
• Lync Attendee hotfixes
• Event: Next Microsoft US User Group London
• Event: MUCUK UK Lync Tour dates
• Event: MS UC User Group Norway

More information on the podcast including references and a link to download the podcast directly here or you can subscribe to the podcasts using iTunes, Zune or use the RSS feed.

Restoration of 100 DB Limit
Exchange 2013 CU2 Enterprise Edition will bump the limit for the number of database per server from 50 to 100. The initial limit to 50 for Exchange 2013 RTM (and CU1) is said to be chosen due to performance reasons, but many customers complained they want to host more databases per server. For CU2, Microsoft made changes which enable increasing this limit to 100 again. Perhaps the customers complaining transitioned from or are currently running Exchange 2010, and are facing having to introduce additional servers to host an equal number of databases. In such cases, be advised that regardless of this increased limit, Exchange 2010 and 2013 are not directly comparable and you should utilize the Exchange 2013 Server Role Requirements Calculator to size your Exchange 2013 environment (an update will follow as soon as CU2 becomes available). An important side note to keep in mind with all this is that adding (or removing) databases in Exchange 2013 requires a restart of the Information Store service, so you might prefer maximizing the number of databases from the start, not when required to, so you’ll avoid having to shut down services or having to move mailboxes around to comply with your SLAs.

DAG Management Service
The to be introduced MSExchangeDAGMgmt service will offload the Replication service by hosting the Replication Service MonitoringComponent, providing information on health status, logging events in the same location MSExchangeRepl used to, i.e. Application Eventlog using the same Crimson channel, but still using MSExchangeRepl as source.

DAG Witness Server in Azure (possibly!)
When you’re an Azure subscriber, a feature possibly included in CU2 will allow your DAG Witness Server to be located in Azure. This allows for example customers with 2 physical datacenters to utilize automatic site fail-over, as automatic site fail-over normally requires a 3rd well connected datacenter for hosting the Witness Server. From an Azure perspective, the Witness Server will be single File Server on Azure IaaS VM or two File Servers using persistent VMs with XStore shared storage. Note that extending Active Directory permissions to the Public Cloud is required for this option.

Responder Throttling per Group
Responders are part of Exchange 2013′s Managed Availability, and define if and how to act on generated alerts, e.g. restart a service or take a Mailbox server out of service. In CU2, several responders will be throttled per group, e.g. DAG, instead of per server.

ARR Support
Not CU2 related, but it was announced that support for ARR, which stands for IIS Application Request Routing, is coming for Exchange 2013. With the discontinuation of TMG, customers are looking for alternatives to publish their Exchange 2013 (or Lync web services) and ARR is one of them, often used because it utilizes IIS and is free despite it lacking some of TMG’s features. A clue for this could lie in one of the features announced for Windows Server 2012 R2, which will contain a Web Application Proxy, which basically will be an HTTP reverse proxy aimed at publishing corporate resources for access from the public network.

This poster (PDF) contains the architecture highlights and feature set of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013. You can download the Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Architecture poster here.

Now, for your convenience I put down a list of all UC related sessions; note that you can find an overview of all TechEd NA 2013 sessions here.

Exchange

• Understanding Compliance in Microsoft Exchange, Sharepoint and Office
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Managed Availability
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Client Access Server Role
• Overview of eDiscovery across the Microsoft Office Platform
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 High Availability and Site Resilience
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Sizing
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Transport Architecture
• Virtualization in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013
• Developing Mobile Apps with Microsoft Exchange Web Services
• Get Moving with your Mailbox
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 On-Premises Upgrade and Coexistence
• Microsoft Exchange Hybrid Deployments and Migration on your Terms
• Microsoft Exchange Archiving Policy: Move, Delete or Hold
• Team collaboration with Site Mailboxes
• The Deep Dark Secrets of Unified Messaging
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 Tips & Tricks
• Data Loss Prevention in Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Outlook 2013
• Microsoft Exchange in the Cloud: scared of losing your job?
• Internals of Deploying the In-Place Archive: Online, On-Premises or Hybrid
• The New Outlook Web App: Designed for Touch and Offline Too!
• Modern Public Folders Overview, Migration and Microsoft Office 365
• Exchange Online Protection
• Microsoft System Center 2012: Managing a Microsoft Exchange Infrastructure and Lync Server 2013 – Better Together

Lync

• Designing for High Availability and Disaster Recovery in Microsoft Lync Server 2013
• Migration and Coexistence with Microsoft Lync Server 2013
• Microsoft Lync Hybrid Scenarios
• Enterprise Network Requirements for Microsoft Lync Server 2013
• Planning and Deploying Your Enterprise Voice
• Deep Dive into New Unified Communications Web API of Lync 2013
• Planning and Deployment for Edge Server with Microsoft Lync Server 2013
• Voice Interoperability Fundamentals
• Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Dial Plan and Voice Routing Deep Dive
• Scripting and Automation for Microsoft Lync
• Network Design and Deployment Strategies to Ensure Success for Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Enterprise Voice
• Introducing Lync Room System
• All about Archiving with Microsoft Lync Server 2013

Office 365

• A look inside Microsoft Office 365
• Microsoft Office 365 Deployment
• Choosing the right cloud service
• Overview of Microsoft Office 365 Identity Management
• Microsoft Office 365 Directory and Access Management with Windows Azure Active Directory

Compared to 20.7, this version contains a fix for secondary CAS CPU calculations.

You can download the calculator here. For more information please consult the changeblog or usage instructions.

Bug Fixes since version 20.6:

• Fixed CAS and HT memory calculations formulas to not report #NAME when designing site resilient topologies.

You can download the calculator here. For more information please consult the changeblog or usage instructions.

Here’s a list of fixes contained in this Rollup:

• 2561346 Mailbox storage limit error when a delegate uses the manager’s mailbox to send an email message in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2729954 Can’t send voice message to a selected non-primary email address in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2750846 Information Store service crashes when you mount public folder databases on an Exchange Server 2010 server
• 2751628 Event ID 9682 does not record the folder name when you delete a public folder in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2756460 You cannot open a mailbox that is located in a different site by using Outlook Anywhere in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2763065 Move request log is logged when you move a mailbox in an Exchange Server 2010 SP2 environment
• 2777742 Address Book service crashes on an Exchange Server 2010 Client Access server when a server has been running for 25 days or more
• 2781488 RPC_S_SERVER_UNAVAILABLE (0x6BA) error code when you use a MAPI or CDO-based application in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2782683 Email message that a user sends by using the “Send As” or “Send On Behalf” permission is saved only in the Sent Items folder of the sender in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2784210 Ethical wall does not function as expected when the ReportToOriginatorEnabled property is disabled in an Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2010 coexistence environment
• 2793348 Read receipt is sent unexpectedly when you view an email message by using Outlook Web App
• 2796490 Microsoft Exchange Information Store service crashes on an Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox server
• 2802569 Mailbox synchronization fails on an Exchange ActiveSync device in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2803132 Delayed email message delivery on a BlackBerry mobile device after you install Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2010 SP2
• 2806602 EdgeTransport.exe process crashes on an Exchange Server 2010 Hub Transport server
• 2814723 Server loses network connectivity and UDP ports are used up on an Exchange Server 2010 server
• 2814847 Rapid growth in transaction logs, CPU use, and memory consumption in Exchange Server 2010 when a user syncs a mailbox by using an iOS 6.1 or 6.1.1-based device
• 2816934 Error code 0X800CCC13 when an additional POP3 or IMAP account is used to send an email message and Outlook online mode is used to connect to an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2817140 Exchange Replication service crashes intermittently in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2817852 Cyrillic characters are displayed as question marks in the “To” field of message items in the Sent Items folder in an Exchange 2010 environment
• 2818456 Attachments are missing from an embedded message in an Exchange Server 2010 SP2 environment
• 2822208 Unable to soft delete some messages after installing Exchange 2010 SP2 RU6 or SP3
• 2826066 VSAPI-based antivirus software causes delayed response in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2827037 Copy of an item is created in the Version subfolder in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
• 2833888 No items are displayed in Outlook after you install Exchange Server 2010 SP3 or Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2010 SP2
• 2840099 ArgumentOutOfRangeException exception when an EWS application creates a new MIME email in an Exchange Server 2010 environment

As of Service Pack 2 Rollup 4, its no longer required to disable/re-enable ForeFront Protection for Exchange using the fscutility to be able to install the Rollup properly. However, if you want to remain in control, you can disable ForeFront before installing the Rollup using fscutility /disable and re-enable it afterwards using fscutility /enable.

If you want to speed up the update process for systems without internet access, you can follow the procedure described here to disable publisher’s certificate revocation checking.

If you got a DAG and want to properly update the DAG members, check the instructions here.

As with any Hotfix, Rollup or Service Pack, I’d recommend to thoroughly test this rollup in a test and acceptance environment first, prior to implementing it in production.

You can download Exchange 2010 SP3 Rollup 1 here.

This Monday saw the start of the (inaugural) Exchange Virtual Conference. Paul gathered enough well-known people from the Exchange community to have a nice line-up of speakers and interesting sessions. Unfortunately, I couldn’t commit at that time nor find time after that to create a session, so I had to pass.

Here’s an overview of the sessions, which are pre-recorded and are 45-60 minutes (lunch break material):

• May 27th – What’s New in Exchange 2013: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (J.Peter Bruzzese)
• May 28th – Load Balancing Exchange Server 2010 and 2013 (Johan Veldhuis)
• May 29th – Exchange Server 2013 Site Mailboxes (Serkan Varoglu)
• May 30th – Upgrading to Exchange Server 2013 (Jaap Wesselius)
• May 31st – Identity and Access Management in Office 365 (Michael van Horenbeeck)
• June 1st – Exchange Server Tips from the Trenches (Paul Cunningham)

Note: List will be updated with links to sessions as they become available.

Enhancements since version 19.9:

• Calculator now supports defining server requirements for dedicated Hub Transport and Client Access servers; specifically CPU and memory sizing.
• Calculator will state how many dedicated Hub Transport and Client Access servers should be deployed in a datacenter.
• Calculator now includes Hub Transport and Client Access impact on server megacycles and utilization calculations for multi-role deployments.
• Global catalog processor core calculations were optimized and simplified.
• Calculator has been rebranded as Exchange 2010 Server Role Requirements Calculator.
• Fixed column headers in results tables to match Site Resilience scenario

Bug Fixes since version 19.9:

• Fixed conditional formatting bug when site resilience is not enabled, yet SDC instance input has greater than 0 copies specified.
• Fixed logic error where calculator would calculate storage requirements when there were more database copies (HA+Lagged) than Mailbox servers.
• Fixed logic error in calculating remaining active databases during first and second server failures in secondary datacenter for single DAG A/A scenario.
• Fixed /environment formula for standalone number of database formula.

You can download the calculator here. For more information please consult the changeblog or usage instructions.