Has anyone tried a Halo Video service/conferencing before?
I only had experience with it once and whaooo.

What are the real benefits of it over other solutions 'cos man its pretty expensive.

i'm interested O!! highlight your experience wiff the software pls.

Will be back with more and elaborate explanation but all I can say for now is that the hardware alone blew me away. 

Well first up, I have never used Halo. But it is something the organisation where I work is currently considering, although I hear word that the implementation might not take place, at least not in the immediate future.

Halo has drawn great reviews, and as far as I am aware, the 'Halo' expereience is something else - a mini conferencing studio that gives you more of the impression of being in the same room with the other video participants, perhaps a better experience than the other players in the field. We use Polycom, which is currently a leader in the industry. Two reasons why Halo, regardless of its unmatched 'reality' quality, may not be implemented where I work, and may take a while to be generally accepted as a standard: price and compatibility. Interestingly, these two reasons are linked.

At $550,000 for the hardware and about $16,000 to $19,000 monthly in bandwidth, it is certainly not cheap. But to make matters worse, it is very proprietary, and is not compatible with other video conference systems like Polycom (which we use). What does this mean? For an organisation with multiple sites/branches, you will need to acquire a Halo studio with its associated costs. It's easy to work out the costs, and see why it is expensive. If the compaibility issue was not there, a comapny could acquire one stuido, say at the corporate office, and then use cheaper solutions in branches.

Even for a smaler comapny requiring only one studio, the costs still appear quite high.

I guess a company would need to work out what's more important - quality video conferencing with huge costs, or pretty much standard quality if using cheaper solutions. And don't forget - cheaper does not mean bad quality - I mean Polycom, Tandberg and the others have HD, top-quality audio, full screen.

Hope this helps.

@ Xanadu, brilliant!!!

I experienced it once and believe me, its breathtaking. The studio was of course sound proof along with its giant HD screens closely placed to the sits. Its more more like an executive sound studio though quite small in size.

My company already uses it and I learnt it's being used for high power discussions and only in the big headoffices.
The cost is not for the feable minded, plus its incompatibility with other solutions. me thinks Dreamworks and HP hit it big on this one.

Quite an impressive kit!

Thanks @FBS for sharing that photo. Yes, HP have a potential winner on their hands - they just have to sort out how to make the pricing perhaps more competitive (if that's possible at all!)

For some time now we have known that technology has made the world a global village - but with tech-wonders like this, we will all soon be living in a global room!

I drop my hat for all Guru's ,on this thread , i am a very fresh system administrator working for a medium size network ,with a big problem on my neck ,so you can imagine my joy when i saw this thread ,it is nice to have a forum by nigerian to help nigerian ,makes it kind of  special.
I am currently working as an admin on a server2003 small business server with 10 system on a wireless network.but on my network i have all personal client files
(my documents,picture, music )downloading to the server,with my documents,picture, music   disabled on the start menu,my initial diagnosis is Folder Redirection with some access right disabling my documents,picture, music   on start menu ,but i still havent found a solution to this problem.i WILL appeciate it if you guys can tap into you vast wealth of knowledge and point me in the right direction.Thanks to the originator of this thread ,i Pray it becomes a permanent feature on nairaland

Ok @D~ngi, thanks for your post. But your question is not very clear (to me). Let summarise what I understand:

I am currently working as an admin on a server2003 small business server with 10 system on a wireless network.but on my network i have all personal client files
(my documents,picture, music )downloading to the server,with my documents,picture, music disabled on the start menu,my initial diagnosis is Folder Redirection with some access right disabling my documents,picture, music on start menu ,but i still havent found a solution to this problem.

1. You have an SBS 2003 network, with Folder redirection Setup
2. My Documents, My Pictures, My Music s 'disabled on Start Menu'

Are the above correct?

If they are, has the problem always been there since the network was setup, or is it something that has started recently, perhaps after some change etc on the DC?

Is this happening for ALL the users, or just a few (or even one person)?

Thanks for the  fast reply
@xanadu

1. You have an SBS 2003 network, with Folder redirection Setup
2. My Documents, My Pictures, My Music s 'disabled on Start Menu'

Are the above correct?

If they are, has the problem always been there since the network was setup, or is it something that has started recently, perhaps after some change etc on the DC?

Is this happening for ALL the users, or just a few (or even one person)?

yes the above is correct ,

the problem just creeped up recently,
and it only affects members of my Administrator group .

Two things I'd recommend first of all (I am assuming you set up redirection using the default SBS 2003 path (\\SBSSERVER\Users\username\My Documents.)

1. Do a backup of users data
2. Take one user, and check the permissions (NTFS) on the Username folder in the path above (on the SBS server), and ensure the user has Full Control to this folder
3. If the pemissions appear ok, I would simply stop the redirection and re-enable it. Just to be sure, follow these steps:

. From Server Management, open the Users Section
. Click on the Configure My Documents redirection
. Choose Redirect all My Documents. As I stated above, it will set the path to \\SBSSERVER\Users\username\My Documents. Don't forget you can also configure it to redirect to a folder of your choice on the network, by clicking Redirect all my Documents to a Network folder.

Remember that you could also use old-fashioned but reliable Romaing profile to basically achieve what you want

Do let us know how it goes.

Its been long, what's been happening on the thread!!!!!!

silence? sys admins, wake up!!!

OK, since nobody's talking, i'd like to commission someone to lecture us on Exchange server 2003 deployment, from ground up,reference materials, class readings etc. any volunteers, /?

Techs, am having a serious problem with Ms-Exchange which we use as mail client, it runs on Windows 2003 server.

The problem is this: Ms Exchange disconnects all email users every 2days and wont connect unless the Server system is restarted b4 all other users will be able to connect and send mails, and this problem repeats it self every 2days so I have to be restarting the server every 2days.

Help on this issue will be highly appreciated.

Hey, i am tempted to suspect your DHCP IP leases on your AD server or whatever is responsible for dishing out IPs. if u can, lookup the lease period and try extending it to 1 week i guess. better still, if the computers in ur enterprise aren't much, create reservations for the mac addresses, or start with this troubleshooting tip, and let's know what's up;.

@Renz,
First off - please let know what version of MS Exchange you are running.

Here's a tip - one of the first things you must try to do is: check your event logs. Simple as it is, this can save you hours of frustration trying to troubleshoot issues.
So - on the box hosting your Exchange server, got to Administrative Tools -->Event Viewer. Check the Application and System logs, paying attention to the entries that coincide with the dates and times the user disconnect occurs. You might find out whether some service was stopped, or hung etc. You can post that here. The bottom line is this: try not to simply restart the server every time this issue occurs without checking the system to see why there was a problem in the first place - or it will keep on happening.

@mikkyphp raises a good point about about the DHCP leases. I do think though that if your clients lose connectivity to the Exchange Mail Server, but can log on and access other resources in the domain, then it might not be a DHCP issue. So the question is: when this happens, do the clients lose access to all network resources completely? Is Exchange the only application running on that box or are there other apps?

It is possible that some exchange service might be hanging, or stopped for some reason - if this is the case restarting the service is preferable to restarting the server.

Lets know the result of your checks in the event logs.

My colleagues I have some challenges here concerning domain controller. I recently migrated all my clients to domain and now as a domain member, they cant change their system date and time. This is very critical to our operation and it is threatening the new network topology. I will be glad if u guys can put me thru all i can allow individual member to change date and time at will. I didnt create any GP as regard that and i hv tried to allow that in the default group policy still it doesnt work.
help pls

@sholasys,

Firstly, a (small) 'alarm' for you - I am sure you have your reasons for wanting your users to have the ability to change the system time on their workstations. However, I must tell you that in an active directory environment, it is NOT considered a wise idea to do this, for the obvious reason that different workstations might end up having different times. Now active directory depends on well-synchronised tome in its environment to function properly - a difference of anywhere from 5 minutes upwards between workstations and a domain controller can end up with a lot of problems. This is the reason the Change System Time right is not given to all users by default.

Having said that,  perhaps the easiest way to allow the right you want for your users is to create a GPO or modify your default one:
* Computer Configuration/Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/User Rights Assignments
* Give the users the right to Change the system time

Remember: your users should normally be able to make the change if they are logged in LOCALLY - that is, not logged in to the domain. But once they make that change and then log in to the domain, the computer time is synched with the domain controllers own time.

Alternatives - add your users to the local administrators group on their machines. I think adding them to the Power Users group will do it as well, but you need to check that out.

So you have all the above alternatives - I'd go the GPO way.

BTW: Why not dedicate standalone workstations (not on the domain) to the users that need to carry out these tasks, and make them admins on thosemachines. That way, they can change the time as much as they like, without jeopardising the stability of your active directory environment.

Hope the above helps.

xanadu
Thanks for your reply, I appreciate. I have tried from GP thru the default GPO it didnt work. I couldnt go futher today bc i hv a network problem. I hv been trying to sort it out.
I have limited or no connectivity problem. so domain member can obtain ip from the ISA dhcp server and some domain client cannot obtain IP. If i assign static ip to those that can not obtain ip thru dhcp, they broswe. IF u hv any idea abt this pls do

Hey, i am tempted to suspect your DHCP IP leases on your AD server or whatever is responsible for dishing out IPs. if u can, lookup the lease period and try extending it to 1 week i guess. better still, if the computers in ur enterprise aren't much, create reservations for the mac addresses, or start with this troubleshooting tip, and let's know what's up;.

PS - review your ISA server and make sure dynamic dns is enabled too.

sholasys:

xanadu
Thanks for your reply, I appreciate. I have tried from GP thru the default GPO it didnt work. I couldnt go futher today bc i hv a network problem. I hv been trying to sort it out.
I have limited or no connectivity problem. so domain member can obtain ip from the ISA dhcp server and some domain client cannot obtain IP. If i assign static ip to those that can not obtain ip thru dhcp, they broswe. IF u hv any idea abt this pls do

Sounds like the DCHP lease scope has been fully utilized since you say some domain clients get assigned while others dont. Verify that you indeed have sufficient usable address in the lease scope to service all the requesting clients.

Also, are all the clients on the same physical network segment, both those that recieve DHCP lease and those that dont?
If those that don't receive lease are segmented by a router, then the problem lies in the router. . .which most likely isn't[b] RFC 1542[/b] compliant. In a nutshell, routers drops all DHCP Discover packets(i.e broadcast message). If this is the case, then you may need to install a DHCP relay agent on the network.

Please, confirm these before I go on with assumptions.

Cheers!

@Renz, coupled with all the suggestions above, I want to ask.
1. what version of exchange are you using?

Have you checked the event log to know what may the causing the problem?

If it is exchange then it could be Mapi 32 connections limit. 

Also perform a malware scan.

Hope this helps.

@sholasys?
why would you want to do that?
Anyways, if nothing is working, you can manually add users as admin on their respective workstations. (though I dont know how many system you have. . .I imagine you having 100?  )

Downside: they are at liberty to download all sorts of rubbish and mess up the system.

HI guys,
Thanks for all your suggestions. I would hv answer all your question but needless since i hv resolved the problem.
I had try some of the suggestion above which didnt work. Eventually, since the ISA server is also the dchp server, I jst deleted the dhcp server service and install it again and define new cope with the same IP range and all dhcp set up. I restart the server and all get IP
I appreciate . Thnks for the LOVE. May our knowledge continue to wax stronger

@sholasys

Nice to know you've resolved the situation. . .though the "mean way"

Imagine a scenario where your existing DHCP server consists of several scopes, interwoven or discrete, with several defined IP reservations and DHCP User class ID & Vendor class ID definitions for lease assignments!!!

Recreating the above scenario after re-installing the DHCP service will be relatively tough. The DHCP service mostly runs without hiccups and thus, a lot of time administrators rarely look through the logs, and hardly backup the database!

A regular scheduled backup and database reconciliation should be a practice administrators should adopt. In your case, I believe the database got corrupt (somehow) and thus the whole issue. An existing backup restore would probably have corrected the error. The default hourly backup of the database by windows overwrites existing ones. Thus, the need for offline backup.

. . .just my addition.

Cheers!

Maleeq, ur addition is very analytical and administrative. why i was re-configuring the dhcp, it occur to me that if i had backed up i wouldnt hv waste much time in resolving this issues. I hv back it up now. Can u jst explain more about user class ID and vendor class ID. thanks

Class IDs, user or vendor, can be used to assigned specific IP configuration to certain clients. A class can be defined to have details such as the default gateway, dns servers, lease time etc and another one that excludes these details. When hosts in the specified class requests IP assignment, the mathcing configuration class is sent to it.

In a typical application of Class IDs, it can be used to restrict leasing IPs to just any computer that plugs into your network, or to assign specific IP scope that grants access to certain network resource.
Eg. if DHCP-aware clients in your human resources (HR) department require a different default gateway or DNS server than the rest of your clients, you can configure DHCP Class IDs to distribute these options to HR clients.
or
Say you have a lounge for visitors in your company. They could plug into specific connections in a conference room or guest area and those connections could go back to a separate DMZ (Demilitarized zone) that isn't on your regular network. If they don't need to login to your network and only need Internet access there is much less risk and work involved if they are on their own separate network on a DMZ.

These can be achieved with the class ID definition.

What happens is, you define a class ID (an name you want) on the DHCP server and specify the details you need assigned to clients (IP scope, DNS, gateway etc). Now, these class ID can be user based i.e you chose a name and manually specify the client to with this class affects.
or
they can be vendor based i.e the UUID of the network adapter can be used. Such as Intel adapters only, etc. Thus you can achieve things like "all DELL PCs sharing a particular IP scope" etc.

For the user defined, you have to set the same class ID on the clients before they can get lease from the DHCP server. This is done via the ipconfig /setclassid adapter_name class_id command on the client machine.

You could read some more on these links:
- Link 1
- [url=http://www.codedigest.com/Articles/Directory%20Service/67_Securing_your_network_using_Microsoft_Windows_DHCP.aspx]Link 2[/url]

Cheers!

Great stuff guys - thanks to all contributors. This is gradually becoming a very good resource for learning and sharing.

In my spare time, I run a small business specialising in supplying IT services (what we call 'PP' in Nigeria!), targeting small and medium size business. The major solution I recommend to clients and implement is MS Small Business Server 2008.

I'd like to know if this MS product is widely used in Nigeria (even in earlier versions, especially SBS 2003). Does any one in the house have any experience using SBS? Any one like to share SBS 'Best practices' and tips?

Thanks!

xanadu:

Great stuff guys - thanks to all contributors. This is gradually becoming a very good resource for learning and sharing.

In my spare time, I run a small business specialising in supplying IT services (what we call 'PP' in Nigeria!), targeting small and medium size business. The major solution I recommend to clients and implement is MS Small Business Server 2008.

I'd like to know if this MS product is widely used in Nigeria (even in earlier versions, especially SBS 2003). Does any one in the house have any experience using SBS? Any one like to share SBS 'Best practices' and tips?

Thanks!

That is very true. I admire you guys alot, and you can be sure that lots of people have learnt much from this thread.

@ Systems Administrators,

I really appreciate this thread,

For now am managing around 20 Vsat sites, mainly install Vsat networks both ku and c band, now want to go more into server administration on both windows, linux and Mac Os X platform.

I seriously need your recommendations on the following :

My boss wanted me to come over with proposed solutions and hardware requirements for the following:

1. We are two use to Servers, 1 for VPN Based Intranet Portal and the other for backup purposes, on the main server we will run Linux (Redhat or Federa), we would like to use Intranet based php/mysql Portal, jabber/voip server, and any suitable enterprise management software like egroupware, the portal will be accessed by around 300 -400 clients (pcs) on the network.


2. The second server will be backup purpose.

So now with the above little details what you will suggest for the type of Servers, routers, etc and in what way do you think is the easiest and faster way to implement such a project, with the consideration of security and development based on linux (license free apps).

I will really appreciate your urgent support, thanks once again for this thread.

@ Systems administrators,

Pls anybody willing to assist in recommending the best solutions for the above project ?

Thanks.

Maleeq
I need some help on subnetting and want to find out if you can help me.