DND IT takes a great leap forward

[RADOPSIGOPACCISOP]

First, storing mail in a pst file on a network drive makes no sense, that's why it's never been supported by Microsoft, going back as far as Exchange 4.0. Pst files are for local storage, they use file commands, not network driven commands, and this causes a lot of overhead when you are working directly back and forth to a network stored pst.

Second, mail is ALREADY stored on a server, it's stored on the Exchange server AND it's usually backed up on a NAS. We don't need to download email, and then archive it back on a file and print server, only then to AGAIN back it up on the NAS. Essentially then you have 4 copies of the same email on the servers, and 1 copy on the workstation.

Third, there is PLENTY of local storage on a computer for email you are working with. If the system craps out your mailbox with the associated mail is located on the exchange server and backed up to the NAS.  DND should be increasing the mailboxes to 1 Gb soon. If your really worried about keeping your own copy of your email then download it to a usb key (DND issued, of course )



Finally, regarding Windows 7. It is, by far, the greatest OS Microsoft has ever put out. DND is slow to move on OS, but this is a VERY good thing. Think about it, if we had jumped on the bandwagon we could have been stuck with Vista, or even worse, moving on to Windows 8. My computer now is using Windows 8. It feels like two separate OS tied together with bubblegum and shoelace. And they put the less desireable OS on top.

Hint on how Microsoft Releases OS. First they release a bad OS, then they release a server OS then they release a good desktop OS. (Millenium, Windows Server 2000, Windows Xp) (Vista, Server 2008 [+R2 upgrade], Windows 7)

 

[Occam]

First, storing mail in a pst file on a network drive makes no sense, that's why it's never been supported by Microsoft, going back as far as Exchange 4.0. Pst files are for local storage, they use file commands, not network driven commands, and this causes a lot of overhead when you are working directly back and forth to a network stored pst.

Sure it's been supported, it's what is in use now.  I agree that it's not the best practice, but until we upgrade beyond Outlook 2003 you don't have many options.

Second, mail is ALREADY stored on a server, it's stored on the Exchange server AND it's usually backed up on a NAS. We don't need to download email, and then archive it back on a file and print server, only then to AGAIN back it up on the NAS. Essentially then you have 4 copies of the same email on the servers, and 1 copy on the workstation.

That's not entirely accurate.  Mail comes in, it's in your Exchange mailbox.  That's one copy.  It gets backed up to a SAN/NAS.  That's two copies.  If you want to move it to a PST folder, you drag it from your Exchange mailbox to your Personal Folder (stored locally), causing it to be deleted from the Exchange Mailbox.  That's still two copies.  Then you back up your PST to the network, that's three copies.  The backup of the Exchange mailboxes doesn't continue forever, so the message will eventually be deleted from there as well.  You're back to two copies (one local, one backed up on a file & print).

I agree Outlook 2007/2010 have better methods of dealing with personal archive mailboxes, but I don't believe they're backward compatible with .pst files, are they?  Meaning you can't transfer your mail from the old .pst files to the new personal archive mailboxes, can you?

Third, there is PLENTY of local storage on a computer for email you are working with. If the system craps out your mailbox with the associated mail is located on the exchange server and backed up to the NAS.  DND should be increasing the mailboxes to 1 Gb soon. If your really worried about keeping your own copy of your email then download it to a usb key (DND issued, of course )

"Plenty" is a relative term.  The 10 years of archived mail from my predecessor(s) get accessed quite frequently, and I'm pretty sure there's at least 5-10 GB of mail there.

If they want to start saving space on the Exchange servers, they should inhibit the ability to embed bitmaps into your e-mail (some people's signature blocks are big offenders) and force people to use JPG attachments.  Nothing drives me battier than to get a 10 MB screenshot or two, and then a couple of 10-15 MB PDF files to completely fill my mailbox while I'm out of the office for a few days.

I'm looking forward to using Windows 7 at work.  I've been using it at home since it was in beta over four years ago.  I'd have to agree that it's probably the best OS that MS has released, and I've been using everything since MS-DOS v.5 or so...

 

[Benzyme]

Windows 8 has been released so in two years when Windows 9 is out, we'll upgrade to 8.


:facepalm:

2 Years? We've been on a 10 Year old operating system for the past... 10 years.

We will all be on Windows 7 until MS no longer supports it. Think another 10-12 years.

Windows 10 will be out by the time we switch from 7.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

2 Years? We've been on a 10 Year old operating system for the past... 10 years.

We will all be on Windows 7 until MS no longer supports it. Think another 10-12 years.

Windows 10 will be out by the time we switch from 7.

That's pretty close to it.

My provincial IT is the same. They won't upgrade until MS stops supporting the current installation, whether it's the OS or a program like Office.

 

[dapaterson]

And why should DND spend millions in time and money to constantly upgrade to the latest version of solitaire?

If it works, why break it?

 

[Benzyme]

And why should DND spend millions in time and money to constantly upgrade to the latest version of solitaire?

If it works, why break it?

That's a good point, and I'm not going to argue with that.

 

[Drag]

And why should DND spend millions in time and money to constantly upgrade to the latest version of solitaire?

If it works, why break it?

We are almost never at the latest version of any software....  But we still need to be on call it the "next-to-latest" version because of vendor support, manly fixes and patches for known security issues problems.  Up to date patching addresses probably 70+ of the known IT security threats out there and lets us concentrate of the higher end threats.  Developing our own for a non-supported piece of software would be a nightmare and much more expensive than keeping up with the vendor releases.

 

[George Wallace]

We are almost never at the latest version of any software....  But we still need to be on call it the "next-to-latest" version because of vendor support, manly fixes and patches for known security issues problems.  Up to date patching addresses probably 70+ of the known IT security threats out there and lets us concentrate of the higher end threats.  Developing our own for a non-supported piece of software would be a nightmare and much more expensive than keeping up with the vendor releases.

Don't forget that DND and the CAF are not the sole users of IT.  All Government Departments are at the mercy of Treasury Board when it comes to approval or not of adopting new or upgrading IT.  They control the purse strings.

 

[dapaterson]

We are almost never at the latest version of any software....  But we still need to be on call it the "next-to-latest" version because of vendor support, manly fixes and patches for known security issues problems.  Up to date patching addresses probably 70+ of the known IT security threats out there and lets us concentrate of the higher end threats.  Developing our own for a non-supported piece of software would be a nightmare and much more expensive than keeping up with the vendor releases.

But that's still no reason to go bleeding edge.  We have a complex software ecosystem; upgrading X can break Y.  Keep the foundation stable for as long as possible.

 

[Old EO Tech]

The funny part is I have heard more about that, then the pending inability to use DRMIS.

Although there were concerns about Win7 and DRMIS, there was already a patch put in place for the rollout and it worked fine.  As it was only about half the machines in my shop got Win7 anyway as the rest were to old and have to be replaced, including all our CF 30 laptops that we take in the field for maintenance.  So a few hoops to jump threw before Win7 is deployed everywhere.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

My Outlook box is my main tool for communicating, I average 100-200 files at any one time, some them huge projects and receive massive amount of project related e-mails. Often it comes to fast to digest, so I move them into a unique folder for that project, which will contain various sub folders for the different issues. It's not perfect, but it's far better than any other method of quickly and efficiently receiving, storing, accessing, reviewing and forwarding large amounts of information.

As for SSC, forget ever again getting useful support for your issues. It will become a beast who's sole purpose in life is to generate "ticket numbers" to justify it's own existence. Even now try making useful changes to your department website and you are caught in a maze that supports the "Common look, Common feel, Common suck" mantra. I should bill IT everytime I have to help a proponent navigate the crap to masquerades as our website.   

 

[George Wallace]

Any Unit Ops WO will tell you that their life is going to be very miserable without the capacity to create and store email files.  Converting large amounts of emails to some other format for storage will become very time consuming (If that is the solution IT folk have come up with).  There are people who have to deal with large amounts of email traffic daily, and archive it for future reference.  Any loss of that capability will have a drastic affect on productivity.

 

[FJAG]

Glad to see Windows 7 is up and running in-service now. I've used it privately for years and it's a very stable platform.

Not so glad to see the continuing use of Outlook in its old fashion. My last job when I was serving was working for three years to deliver an new records management solution for JAG. Our biggest enemy was Outlook which has two major records management issues: Firstly by storing email in an individual's Outlook account, the emails (i.e. corporate records) were not transferable to an individual's successor (i.e. the records were stored by user rather than by file or project). Secondly, these emails did not become part of the corporate file for record keeping purposes dictated by Archives Canada legislation.

The work around had been that users had to print off the emails that they considered corporate records and then place them in the paper files. A cumbersome and paper wasteful system prone to many errors of duplication or omission.

We solved the problem by requiring the use of RDIMS which provided for the ability to make files transferable from user to user and saved all electronic records associated to a file/project. RDIMS was not my favourite records management program solution but was the mandated one by ADM(IM) and was quite usable.

If some of you are wondering why it takes so long to role out software and why it's always a version behind, the answer is quite simple, it takes the IM security guys a long time to kick the programs tires to ensure it doesn't import system vulnerabilities and that it plays nicely in the box with all the other programs/servers/etc that it needs to be compatible with. We have too few security folks and too vast a system to do that quickly.

:subbies:

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

I thought you could save emails to a thumb drive.?

 

[George Wallace]

I thought you could save emails to a thumb drive.?

You need to have a thumb drive that has been issued you by DND.  If you don't, you can't.  If you insert a USB stick that is not DND issue, you will have the Fun Police lock your acct and more fun things.  :nod:

 

[Colin Parkinson]

RDMIN's the creator of which should be burned in the eternal flames of hell. Our IM is all about compliance regardless of the cost to the ability to conduct our core functions which is service to Canadians and industry in safe  and timely manner. If I followed process to the letter, it would cut my work production to a 1/4 of what I do now. In the last 15 years I have watched the steady creep of process into the system like vine strangling a tree. It is the virus.

 

[PMedMoe]

You need to have a thumb drive that has been issued you by DND.  If you don't, you can't.  If you insert a USB stick that is not DND issue, you will have the Fun Police lock your acct and more fun things.  :nod:

Not true.  Just take your stick to the IT section so they can check it for viruses.

 

[George Wallace]

Not true.  Just take your stick to the IT section so they can check it for viruses.

As long as they scrub it and approve it, OK.....Some IT sections are not as accommodating.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Thought most places had stand alone scrubbers? My unit has at least 3 of them....

 

[Occam]

Not true.  Just take your stick to the IT section so they can check it for viruses.

By the letter of the law, only DND USB sticks may be used on a DND network.  There's no latitude given in the security orders.  Some units may be turning a blind eye to it, but it's not legal.