Forgive me, I am reminiscing today. So, I am working on a little skunk-works
project (that I may write up some day, who knows), and I bumped back into the
Exchange storage system with which I became so very, very familiar back in 2000.
The memories started rolling when I hit this little number:
\\.\backofficestorage
If it doesn't look familiar, don't worry. Basically, with Exchange 2000 (and
2003) you can access the storage system like a regular drive (at your own peril
if you are not on the ball) by using this path plus the server name or domain +
server name. Before Exchange 2003, the storage was automatically mapped to a
drive, the "M" drive, but this has been wisely removed in 2003. People would run
apps against the M drive (like file system scanners or a home-spun app) that
could create a mess in the store itself. Nevertheless, if you really want to get
in there, you can (there is an option to disable any access through this door in
Exchange 2003, if I recall correctly).
Anyway, although I tried hard to not write apps in the store this way, I did
a lot of poking around in there, and I learned a ton about how Exchange 2003 and
SharePoint v1 stored things. It was a great education. I also learned about the
Forms Registry, one of my favorite technologies that few have attempted to
develop against. It's the basic technology that makes OWA possible, and I ought
to blog about it tomorrow. It's like a trip down memory lane for me. I did a lot
of Forms registry development. It had its ups and downs.
Rock thought
for the day: Rock radio is getting so boring. Supposedly "alternative" radio
stations are just putting out the same Nirvana songs over, and over, and over.
Sure, there are some new tunes every now and then, but hearing Float On for the
100th time in a day is about as satisfying as hearhing an Avril Lavigne song for
the 10th time (ever). I suppose she can laugh at that statement in her $15M
dollar home. Indie radio is still alive only on the Web, in my opinion. BTW: I
really like Bob Mould. True artist.
Rock on.
