Where’s POP3?

A few people have asked where to find the POP3 service in Windows 2008 for a simple mail server. The answer: nowhere.

While SMTP is alive and well in the Features section of the Windows 2008 Server Manager, POP3 has been removed from Windows 2008 altogether.

POP3 isn’t a very “good” method to retrieving mail and I know very few organizations that still utilize it. IMAP and Exchange connectors are far more feature-rich and useful especially in today’s multiple-device world. I do run a POP3 mail server for World’s Cutest Animals because it is quick, has minimal resource usage and is perfect for a mail server that only has a few mailboxes.

Before we all scream foul and ask Microsoft to add POP3 back into Windows 2008 SPx, I suggest you check out Hannes Preishuber’s POP3 connector for Windows 2008 x86 and x64.

http://weblogs.asp.net/hpreishuber/archive/2008/04/30/visendo-smtp-pop3-extender-for-windows-2008-server.aspx

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Ridata announced three new SSDs today (Ultra-S Plus Series) in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB models.

The new drives utilize the multi-level cell technology – resulting in lower cost, but also slower speed. The drives will have a nominal read speed of 128MB/s and a write speed of 80MB/s. The drives will retail for $170, $295 and $538 US respectively.

Although choosing these drives for speed is ultimately a poor decision due to the availability of inexpensive SATA/SAS RAID configurations, there is simply no denying the amazing access times – 0! ms. These SSDs are fantastic for IO performance. They are well suited for database servers that are small in size but handle above average volumes of requests.

http://www.ritekusa.com/pressrelease.asp?pressreleases_id=54

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With the release of Windows Server 2008 and IIS 7, Microsoft has included PHP5 FASTCGI support. ISAPI is still faster in my opinion, and if used correctly, very stable. PHP uses a 32-bit DLL so it will not work with an x64 system. There are several ports of PHP to x64, but all have proved to be unstable. Below I will outline the steps to install PHP 32-bit on Windows 2008 x64 (and have it stable).

1. Install the PHP4 or PHP5 package (32-bit) in C:\PHP or wherever you like. Only use the Windows installer from php.net if you do not need any extensions. I would recommend downloading the PHP zip package. 
2. Update April 2010: The VC6 x86 Thread Safe package is ideal for ISAPI. If you are going to use FastCGI, download the VC6 x86 Non Thread Safe package.
3. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. 
4. Double-click “Handler Mappings” from the main IIS screen.
5. Click on “Add Script Map.”
6. Set up the handler mapping for c:\PHP\php5isapi.dll with extension *.php and check to allow the ISAPI extension and execution of scripts.
7. Double-click “ISAPI & CGI Restrictions” on the main IIS screen. Right-click on PHP and select “Edit Feature Settings” and check “Allow unspecified ISAPI modules.” 
8. Right-click on the Default Application Pool (or the one you want to use if more than one) and select “Advanced Settings.”
9. Change the “Enable 32-bit Applications” to True. Click OK. This spawns the App Pool in 32-bit mode, so if you have other modules that need to be run in 64-bit mode, best to separate the website into two App Pools: one 32-bit and one 64-bit.
10. Restart the server.

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I’ll be honest…and I’m sure no one will believe me, but I have not snooped on anyone in my organization on purpose, but I have come across privileged information by accident. I do believe the 33% that said they snooped did not look at anything overly sensitive. I would hope 1/3 of IT staff are not that dishonest.

What would you do if one of your superiors asked to keep logs / screenshots of everything you did, so as to be sure you didn’t abuse your power?

How many IT admins have access to their superior’s confidential files and emails?

How many IT admins would hold their company ransom for a raise? threaten to quit? How many have hindered their company’s network when they quit or were fired?

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