Recently I had the opportunity to work with a customer that was looking for suggestions around storing large volumes of XML.  Currently they collect these XML documents and store them in the Windows Server file system with a very clever folder &...

Introducing PowerPivot for Excel 2010 PowerPivot for Excel is a data analysis tool that delivers unmatched computational power directly within the application users already know and love— Microsoft Excel . Leveraging familiar Excel features, users can...

With the number of requests for Windows7 and Server2008R2 going through the roof by the end of July, I had to make sure we could automate the deployment of both ASAP when I returned from vacation. The System Center Configuration Manager SP2 Beta and now...

Hi, I was experiencing a couple issues in our OCS R2 environment. These issues were: When one OCS Enterprise Eoice (EV) user called another OCS user and that user re-directed the call to Voice Mail, the call got re-directed back to the caller...

Our partners at Dell and HP have published 2 new TPC-H results with SQL Server 2008 using Fusion-io’s ioDrive solid-state technology.  These are the first TPC results using solid-state technology and they illustrate the high performance along with...

  Executive Summary The SQL Server Team is pleased to announce the release of the August Community Technology Preview (CTP) of SQL Server 2008 R2.  Your Data, Any Place, Any Time SQL Server® 2008 R2 expands on the value delivered in SQL Server...

Yesterday, we had a Roundtable that was experiencing some challenges with dropping voice calls. After investigating it, we discovered that it was running an old version of the firmware (Firmware: 1.0.3620.0). After some research, we discovered that this...

I have been working on a proof of concept testing an Active/Active/Passive Exchange 2007 cluster running on Windows 2008 SP2. We have been working to connect a Netapp 3170 SAN to the cluster. We encountered some challenges connecting the SAN to the servers...

Hi, I was installing Exchange 2007 today for a customer Proof of Concept (POC) and the customer wanted to replace the self-signed certificate used by OWA with a certificate issed by the Certificate Authority in the lab network. This would prevent any...

The Mac Office team released TWO great updates today. The first is the Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.9 Update (Service Pack 2) . Along with the standard security and stability additions included the Document Connection Pack ( http://www.microsoft...

Hi, I was testing a configuration integrating the OCS R2 with the Nortel CS1K PBX. During testing, I noticed from the OCS Front-end server, when I try to get information of the OCS R2 mediation server in the OCS Console, I am an error, "Retrieving...

Today is an important day in the evolution of the Windows Azure platform. During the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2009, we announced the business and partner model for the Windows Azure platform, including service level agreements and support...

Yesterday, I spent some time with Bruce Zieper (from Tandberg) investigating the scenario of providing remote viewer access to the MTC Envisioning Center (EC). We have had some instances where because of travel costs, the entire customer team couldn’t...

Today I held a Live Meeting with ATX Technologies who offers migration software, that integrates with Microsoft Visual Studio , to move customers off Oracle Forms, Microsoft Access and Cobol to Microsoft .NET.   This is the first step to move off...

As Director of the Irvine MTC, I hope our team can leverage this blog to share the great knowledge and experience we have to help make others great! The mission of the Irvine MTC is: To be the technical sales center of excellence in the West Region...

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The MTC is a Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) where we help our customers learn about the Microsoft platform, understand best practices in implementing our technologies, and reduce the risk of implementation. More details about the MTC can be found at...