Ubuntu: Get set for 'cutting-edge' Linux

TalkBack 8 of 89:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

What's it to you, John

I have spent the last 3 weeks trying to get MS SBS up and running on a new HP Pavilion AMD Athlon box with a SATA drive and dual channel DDR Ram at 1 GB. What a nightmare. It took three days (after a weeks hiatus to fix the computer because the installation fried a critical hardware subsystem) to find why the installation tanked each time I tried. The three days occurred after I had some clue where the problem was due to the nature of the hardware fault it caused. I looked in vain on the MS Support and Knowledge Base, but it took a lot of effort and time to find the right set of search terms to drill down to the actual problem. Since you're the smartest guy in the world, why don't you tell me where the basic problem was? Once it was running, setup for test lab users and fully patched, I tried to upgrade SQL 2005. Installation was a snap but Exchange was hosed and so was the Sharepoint service. Re-installation of both from MS retail disks could not fix the problem. Care to tell me why, John? I re-installed SBS 2003 (I am getting good at it now, even if it takes almost an hour), and tried to install Windows SharePoint Portal Server. That didn't work at all and trashed the server beyond repair. This time I used NTBACKUP for restoration. That almost worked fine, but getting the MTA stores back online and mounted took many tries because the server system state cannot be restored at the same time as the Exchange data stores mapping information. The system restart after the system state restore allows the Exchange Services to attempt to start without the full data store mapping and that hoses the database files. I would hope that the NTBACKUP routines for the server would allow for a single restoration path or the MS would supply a Server Restore tool based on scripts and NTBACKUP that would manage the whole process without complicated boot sequences using different start-up options at different boot times in the sequence.

I admit that I new to Windows Server 2003 and my efforts here were intended to get up to speed in a test lab setting. But the problems I experienced were not due to failing on the RTFM front. In fact, I found it almost impossible to find clear instructions regarding proper procedures, or even server product compatibility guidelines. Searching the MS Knowledge Base is somewhat similar to looking for a BB in the sand at the beach.

On the other hand, installation of ubuntu was flawless. Adding packages to it was so easy as to not even being worth the mention. If I had a question or an issue, documentation was concise and clear. Have you tried it, John? I doubt that you use or will use ubuntu, so why waste your time posting about it?

BTW, itanalyst was not posting about MS's release schedule, he was pointing out that any MS release is Betaware for at least the first 6 to 8 months REGARDLESS of when it is actually released. I agree with that position because it has been absolutley been true for every release since Windows 95. I doubt the windows "Vista" will be anything different.

Okay, now everyone can call me an idiot for having some much difficulty with what would appear to be simple tasks and difficulties. But the fact of the matter is that MS's server infrastructure is like "sticks glue and bailing wire." It's very interdependent, very easy to break, and inconsistent. SharePoint users and privileges are stored in a SQL database while the domain users and privileges are stored in the system. The SharePoint users must be part of the domain but the converse is not necessarily true. Why not store the Sharepoint privedges as a privilege group on the domain? In the current mode, it is quite easy to have these two databases get out of sync. I am still learning about post Server 2000 infrastucture but I have learned this: ease of use is not the hallmark of MS's ecosystem.

Posted by: msolgeek   Posted on: 04/21/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Virtualization: Architectural Considerations And Other Evaluation Criteria VMware Of the many approaches to x86 systems virtualization available in the ... Download Now
• Five Steps to Determine When to Virtualize YourServers VMware Server virtualization isn't just for big companies. Entry-level ... Download Now
• Server Consolidation and Containment With Virtual Infrastructure VMware To meet the constant demand to deploy, maintain and grow a broad array of ... Download Now