My Computer Interest, Career and Hobby

[Chevelle_Nut]

I have been in IT for years and part of IT is being able to learn and adapt to new technologies. When I started in it almost 25 years ago I had a IBM Tower PC and that was running Windows 2000. I got tired of having to change email addresses and built another IBM PC and installed Exchange 2000 on it.

Throughout the years I have had an Active Directory domain at home for storage and email. Sometimes it has been a challenge as I haven't been an Exchange Admin for 15 years, always learning how to make things work.

My current setup is an HP DL360 G7 Server running Server and Exchange 2016 (a Hillary Server). Unfortunately technology and security are moving on and it is time to upgrade. Recently the IT world has blocked the use of TLS 1.0 and 1.1 on browsers but some legacy applications still use it, the iLO3 for example. The iLO is a remote control tool for the server that allows complete control of the Bios and access to the Operating system (with a proper license key). The iLO3 uses Java or .Net to access the Remote Control. With the deprecation of IE last week, .NET and TLS requirements in Edge block its use. Firefox can be modifies to access the iLO but the Remote Control function using .NET or Java re not supported.

The real kicker was I installed newer KVMs and the old servers to not communicate with them, USB works but I am betting there is a driver issue. Server 2016 was never supported on the DL360 G7 servers due to video driver issues and it has come to a point where I need to upgrade.

I have ordered an EBay DL360 Gen 9. I have complete access to firmware and HP Software for Gen9 and Gen10 servers with my work account and I have spare parts available too. This will be the first server I need to upgrade to server 2022 and the latest Exchange version, it is a long process to do so as there are certificates and licenses involved and a bunch of configurations. The second one is a firewall replacement server, it too is on a HP G7 server running a Linux core. It will not be as difficult because it is an appliance.

I have never been a fan of buying new computer equipment, I always buy stuff that is a little older. I have a used 42U IBM network rack in my basement that was being discarded at work where I house my equipment. I have a wireless and wired home. Come to think of it I need to also upgrade my Cisco switch. I am thinking of installing a POE unit so I can run a camera system.

 

[Molly's 70]

My computers biggest problem is the operator.

 

[kmakar]

I still have an Exchange 2010 SP4 server running on Windows Server 2008 and ran the shell scripts to upgrade to TLS 1.2 and haven't had a stitch of problems with it.

I know at somepoint I'll have to deal with it, but then I'll force my clients off that mail server and get them on Office 365 because I won't spend the money to upgrade. That virtual server has been running since 2011.

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

I still have an Exchange 2010 SP4 server running on Windows Server 2008 and ran the shell scripts to upgrade to TLS 1.2 and haven't had a stitch of problems with it.

I know at somepoint I'll have to deal with it, but then I'll force my clients off that mail server and get them on Office 365 because I won't spend the money to upgrade. That virtual server has been running since 2011.

My company will be moving to Exchange Online within the next year, IDK if the cloud moves are smart, a lot of companies have moved back to physical from the cloud due to cost.

Server 2008 is a rock solid platform but unfortunately unless you have purchased extended support for vulnerability remediation it does not stand up well to vulnerability scans.

 

[kmakar]

My company will be moving to Exchange Online within the next year, IDK if the cloud moves are smart, a lot of companies have moved back to physical from the cloud due to cost.

Server 2008 is a rock solid platform but unfortunately unless you have purchased extended support for vulnerability remediation it does not stand up well to vulnerability scans.

I personally don't like moving into the cloud because then they have you by the balls and will increase costs just enough to piss you off, but not enough to make you move because of the hassle to move everything back. All my clients are hosted on exchange 2008, but my company has a dedicated exchange 2016 server (in house of course).

Server 2008 isn't as robust as later versions, but then again I have it sitting behind a firewall with only https exposed through a apache modssl reverse proxy (incoming and outgoing email is proxied through a spam filter), so not much can go wrong there and the actual exchange server isn't exposed at all. I won't upgrade because of the cost and I won't try and compete with M$ because their pricing is better than I can offer.

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

Microsoft is the devil, they change OSs so old equipment won't work, force people to pay subscriptions for Office software and deprecate good applications for junk. Large Linux software firms are going down the same path.
Cloud hosting is the rage but remember Parler? They were shut down because the hosting company was woke and did not like their views. Parler now has their own equipment in their own data centers.