Error 0x8004020f during Internet connection wizard

Working on a SBS system that involved a Sing Migration. On the new machine when we ran the Connect to Internet Wizard we received a failure on the firewall configuration. When we looked at the logs we saw :

error 0x8004020f returned from call to sending RUP intro mail()

After some searching it appears that error was DNS related.

Turns out that we are changing the server from a 2 NIC configuration to a single NIC configuration and there were still some entries for the old external IP address ins some of the DNS zones. Once we removed there and rebooted the wizard ran fine.

Corrupt Arcserve database

Have an installation with Arcserve 11.1 where when you attempt to access either the device screen or the database screen the console hangs and has to be terminated by task manager. The tell tale sign that there is a problem with the Arcserve database is the fact that the Arcserve backup job runs but the details are not recorded in the database. So bottom line corrupt database.

Normally, this is pretyy easy to fix, you simply go to the Arcserve server admin and reinitialize all the Arcserve databases. This basically empties them ready for new content. If you need the Arcserve database back then you can simply restore from a tape or restore the Arcserve database itself.

Problem is when we went to initialize the database we got the same hang. There are good arcticle from CA about Arcserve databases here. Down the bottom it mentions about deleting the rdm files. We did this and still had the same problem. Next it mentions editing the velocis.ini file which we did and hey presto we could go in and reinitialize all the Arcserve databases. Also our console manager no longer hung when we acccessed the database screen.

Interesting this site also from CA says that you should be running maintenance on the Arcserve databases weekly. First time we have heard of that! It is a good idea when you have very Arcserve databases but generally it is easier just to reinitialize them and start fresh. has worked everytime for us.

ISA no longer to be supported on SBS

Here’s some more confirmation that ISA on SBS is going bye, bye.

– SBS no longer will support being the edge box. You’ll need SBS to be behind a network firewall of some sort — could be a hardware firewall, could be a software firewall, such as ISA.

– ISA, itself, will no longer support running on the SBS server itself They’re building the SBS tools in the next rev assuming that the network firewall is elsewhere.

As we have said before this a good move we believe since it means less load and less services running on the poor old SBS box. It will also mean that users can still surf the net if there is problem with the SBS server.

Don’t get us wrong ISA is a great product and can do some amazing things but the bottom line for most businesses running SBS all they want is a firewall. They don’t want reporting or web publishing and so on. So the easiest option is to buy a dedicated firewall device that just does the basics and give more memory to SBS to do other stuff.

Some interesting things about Cougar

Been over reading Sean Daniel’s blog about the next version of SBS known as Cougar and the following points from the blogs struck us:

3. The SBS Backup solution is being completely re-vamped. However, we have made the full switch, and the backup solution will no longer support backing up to tape. Using snapshot technology, the backups will be extremely quick using incrementals that can be scheduled as often as every 30 minutes. A copy of NTBackup will be able to extract files from the old SBS 2003 format, but no new data can be added. If tape is super important to you, start sizing up 3rd party backup solutions.

So the next version of SBS will not only be 64 bit it will also not support tape drives. Backups appear to be moving to disk based snap shots. This is definitely the case with people like Symantec and Storagecraft developing excellent SBS offerings. No major surprise here but the interesting issue is how off site disaster recovery backups will be handled. One would guess that the most likely option when SBS Cougar becomes available is that off site backups will be done via the Internet. So you’ll do an regular backup image and this image will then be transferred offsite automatically. There are people that will do that now but it looks like we need to start getting up to speed with these sort of solutions before Cougar ships.

5. Cougar will need to be installed behind some kind of firewall and the single-NIC model will be the only mode. You must use a firewall in front of the SBS box, this can be a hardware router type item, or a software firewall such as ISA.

Now here’s something that we didn’t really know. There have been plenty of rumours that Cougar will allow you to migrate some of the SBS applications (typically ISA) onto seperate hardware and this makes good sense, but according to what Sean says this is going to be mandatory. So it appears that SBS willl come with any in built firewall and that you will have to use an external appliance for SBS Cougar Standard and ISA on a seperate box for SBS Cougar Premium.

The first ramification here is that any SBS Cougar sale is going to have include the sale of a dedicated hardware firewall or a new server to install ISA on. In summary, additional cost. Secondly, it means that there should be more memory for the remaining applications on the SBS Cougar box which is a good thing. More and more these days we are moving towards an SBS solution with a single NIC, for standard and premium, since it provides greater flexibility and removes the need for ISA on the SBS Premium box (which is already getting overloaded with applications now).

Interesting stuff but still needs to be taken with a pince of salt because thing certainly can and will change between now and release of Cougar. However, our take away is no more tape backups out of the box – so how do we handle offsite disaster recovery and secondly no more firewall on the SBS box – this means additional cost for systems. Luckily, we are already moving down those path and this information certainly confirms that we need to place more emphasis on this as Cougar gets closer to release.

Do you reckon this will affect SBS sales?

If you don’t already know, Microsoft is soon to release a product is calling Home Server. Interestingly it will network up to 10 PC’s and provide some basic networking, backup and file sharing. Now if you think that only home users are going to use it then we would suggest you think again. We will bet that a significant number of the 1-10 user SBS space will seriously consider Home Server. What will that mean…ummm…well unless you need some of the specific SBS features why would a business now buy SBS? if you just want basic networking why would you now buy SBS when you can get Home Server pretty cheap?

In our experience most of the 1-10 size businesses don’t really need Exchange server, they can typically get away with POP email accounts, so what’s their need for SBS now? Now you can look at this in two ways. Firstly, you could view it in the light of tha fact that the demand from the 1-10 user business is going to decrease. Or secondly, you could say there is an opportunity to sell this product into businesses that may not have even considered a server (including some homes as well).

To our minds there is little doubt that Home Server is going to affect the low end sales of SBS and that if you are serious about your business then you need either to prepare for the short fall or the opportunity depending on your business model.

Installing Small Business Server Video series

We have just uploaded the first YouTube video is a new series we are creating that will show you how to install Small Business Server on new hardware. This first video will show you how to boot to the initial blue screen (DOS) environment, then partition your hard disks and commence the Windows Graphical User Interface (GUI) installation. Click here for a direct YouTube link to our video or click here to go to our Supportweb site for a listing of all our video creations.

As always we welcome any feedback or questions you have have on our videos. Please stay tuned for more videos in this series.

If you find our videos at all beneficial we ask you to consider supporting us directly by making a donation via http://donation.saturnalliance.com.au. All donations allow us to devote more resources to the content we provide as well as improving its quality.

SBS 2003 Installation Part 3 video

The next video in our series of installing SBS 2003 is now on YouTube. To view the video simply click here. This video covers the installation of the premium components of Small Business Server that being SQL Server 2005 and ISA server 2004. If you are installing SBS Standard then you can skip this video because it is not relevant to that product.

SBS 2003 Installation Part 2 video

We have now uploaded Part 2 in our series of installing Small Business Server. You’ll find it on YouTube or clicking here for the direct link. This video takes you through the process of installing the basic Small Business Server 2003 components such as Exchange and Sharepoint. After this phase you should have a functioning SBS 2003 machine.

Videos still to come will include; installing the Small Business Server 2003 Premium Components, installing the R2 technologies and finally how to initially configure the Small Business Server via the ‘to do’ list and the wizards.

As always please provide your feedback directly on YouTube, which has ratings but you can also send us an email to let us know what you think of our videos as well as what you would like to see.