Peter Gallagher's TS2 Blog

Working on the road

I missed my connecting flight from Dulles to DFW on Friday.  I was stuck in the Dulles airport for 8 hours.  BORING!!! 

If you have attended one of the TS2 events that I deliver, you know that I use myself as an example for various technologies/solutions.  So what's a guy to do in an airport for 8 hours??  I used Outlook over the Internet, Office Communicator, MSN Messenger, Windows Vista, Windows Mobile, Remote Desktop, a Bluetooth headset and a Verizon wireless connection on my Lenovo T60P to work while I was waiting on my flight. 

Using *mostly* Microsoft technologies, I am able to work in an airport (or wherever) almost as efficiently as I can while in the office.  I would say the biggest thing I miss from a hardware resource perspective is using multiple monitors.  I am waaaay more productive with two full monitors than I am on a laptop display.  I think one of the things I will be looking into in the future is a docking station for the home office.

Petergal

In the Boston area this week

This week I was in the Boston area presenting in Springfield and Portsmouth.  In our S2 demonstrations, we use Small Business Server 2003 R2 with a side-by-side install of WSSv3 per this document.  I was responsible for the Virtual PC image that the TS2 team is using.  I did vary from the document for simplicity sake.  Rather than using a unique port number for the new website, I opted for a host header.  The reason for this was so that everyone (my teammates) would not have to worry about typing port numbers after the URL.  Some quick DNS entries on the server and HOSTS file modifications on the client and it works like a champ.  During my Springfield presentation, I went into a discussion of how I varied from the docs.  People wanted to the specific steps on how I did it.  Well, I thought about the ramifications of doing what I did and consulted with Mark Stanfill about potential gotchas.  Mark slapped me HARD through email and reminded me that you cannot use SSL with Host Headers.  For security reasons, stick with the alternate port number rather than host headers (in other words, follow the doc step by step and you will be fine).

Petergal

My First Solo Events

Last week were my first solo events in New Jersey area.  I was completely exhausted after each event!   

Key Takeaways:

• Get a better handle on the opening 30 to 45 minutes.  During that time I was getting a feel for the audience...and the energy level was low. 
• Keep focused on the content.  There were several healthy discussions that went "off-topic".  They were definitely productive open discussions however they went on for a bit too long.  People are passionate about backups!  Of course my response was "Everyone knows how to back-up, do you know how to restore?"  My PSS history rearing it's ugly head.
• Get more sleep on the night before an event.
• You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time...you know the rest.

I also heard through the grapevine that we had a winner for this contest!  Congrats!  BTW, I am sporting a beard these days.

Petergal

Outlook updates and BCM

The Outlook team released a couple of updates to address performance issues around large PST's and OST's.  If you are running BCM (Business Contact Manager), you may need to follow-up the Outlook update with a BCM update.  Please see the Exchange Team Blog for more information regarding the details.  Note these are all "client-side" updates.

Petergal

Team Meetings

Last week was spent in Hilton Head, South Carolina for a MSAM team offsite.  The TechNet, MSDN, TS2 and Connections teams were all represented in some form or another.  Working with virtual teams across the country presents some unique challenges.  If anything, it drives home the value of true face to face meetings.  Building relationships, putting faces to names and email addresses, etc.  For example, I finally got the opportunity to meet Eric Ligman. 

They joys of a new role...I am trying to wrap my brain around all the logistics of traveling all over the country, booking flights, hotels and rental cars.  Learning the check-in process, registration for events, etc.  This is a very cool gig but it can be a beating.  The flight back from Hilton Head to DFW on Friday got diverted to Shreveport due to weather in the DFW area.  We really didn't wait long enough for the weather to clear prior to heading from Shreveport to DFW as the ride was really bumpy!  We were passing those special paper bags up the isle as the flight attendants were not allowed to unbuckle from their jumpseats.  Friday was a looong day.

Check out Susan's blog and you could win one of these!  I fully support this contest.

Petergal