I manage DNS for an organization with a class B range and a few thousand more private IP ranges. We've used NetID in the past (originally owned by Optivity, now Nortel). It gets the job done with an Oracle database and a java interface/application server and can manage IP, DHCP and DNS - but is quite expensive. Infoblox is slowly replacing its functions.
I'd say that "IP address management" can include allocating DHCP and static IP ranges, recording information about hosts (hostname, responsible party, etc), and probably includes some DNS record management as well.
And no, for a large and complex organization - a large, flat text file is not a good enough management tool. If multiple parties need access to the data, probably with different permission sets and some type of referential integrity is needed, PHP+text files will get a bit cumbersome.
Are there only 300-something users, TOTAL in your environment?
There are a copule of issues here -
1) For Exchange performance, you can't keep mailboxes that large around. Besides hurting users with large mailboxes, store.exe can't load enough data in memory to effectively serve MAPI clients. While not preferable, offloading to PST will at least help performance for everyone on that server.
2) All of those PSTs will cost at least as much, if not more, in network storage $$ than their Exchange database sizes. That, and exporting massive amounts of mail will just leave you with holes that will require an offline defrag of a database so massive, that your eseutil job will last for a day or two on good hardware. Large enterprises are looking at near-line storage of Exchange messaging through the use of archiving/storage management products that are exchange-aware. Not sure if these are an option for you, but Veritas, Legato and others all have options.
We have 10,000+ mailboxes and face similar issues (no one at 13GB, though).
Good point - I had forgotten about that whatif.
OK - so for ActiveSync, you have to have an extra server. Still saves money over BES or Goodlink. If you're using a frontend server to handle ActiveSync requests, the entire site stays SSL-required. No security breach.
The workaround for IIS is listed IF you want to choose the lower-security option, not as an example of poor security in the design of the product...
No - but as soon as the OEMs release the device-side update for Microsoft Mobile 5.0, the push will no longer require SMS at all. I also don't think it's very common to desire supporting HTTPS connections specifically for handhelds, which is very new even for Exchange 2003, without a front-end server. While you can do it, security-wise it's a pretty poor idea. All that "workaround" is doing is getting around the default, secure settings that ship with Exchange 2003...
Try a Treo 700w - does basic (pull only, unless you get unlimited SMS) synch with an Exchange mailbox over HTTPS, out of the box, with any Exchange 2003 server. No Goodlink required...
There isn't any "Microsoft network" used with Exchange ActiveSync, because it's not a true push technology. The mobile device sends an HTTPS keepalive to the server, which will then send a small notification packet back to the device (via straight TCP/IP) if there is any new content to be synched. The keepalives last for 15 minutes by default, at which point the device has to send another keepalive...
It's not nearly as battery-intensive as a scheduled pull "every 1 minutes", but not as good as a true push, either.
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I'll second the suggestion of Infoblox.
I manage DNS for an organization with a class B range and a few thousand more private IP ranges. We've used NetID in the past (originally owned by Optivity, now Nortel). It gets the job done with an Oracle database and a java interface/application server and can manage IP, DHCP and DNS - but is quite expensive. Infoblox is slowly replacing its functions.
I'd say that "IP address management" can include allocating DHCP and static IP ranges, recording information about hosts (hostname, responsible party, etc), and probably includes some DNS record management as well.
And no, for a large and complex organization - a large, flat text file is not a good enough management tool. If multiple parties need access to the data, probably with different permission sets and some type of referential integrity is needed, PHP+text files will get a bit cumbersome.
Are there only 300-something users, TOTAL in your environment? There are a copule of issues here - 1) For Exchange performance, you can't keep mailboxes that large around. Besides hurting users with large mailboxes, store.exe can't load enough data in memory to effectively serve MAPI clients. While not preferable, offloading to PST will at least help performance for everyone on that server. 2) All of those PSTs will cost at least as much, if not more, in network storage $$ than their Exchange database sizes. That, and exporting massive amounts of mail will just leave you with holes that will require an offline defrag of a database so massive, that your eseutil job will last for a day or two on good hardware. Large enterprises are looking at near-line storage of Exchange messaging through the use of archiving/storage management products that are exchange-aware. Not sure if these are an option for you, but Veritas, Legato and others all have options. We have 10,000+ mailboxes and face similar issues (no one at 13GB, though).
Good point - I had forgotten about that whatif. OK - so for ActiveSync, you have to have an extra server. Still saves money over BES or Goodlink. If you're using a frontend server to handle ActiveSync requests, the entire site stays SSL-required. No security breach. The workaround for IIS is listed IF you want to choose the lower-security option, not as an example of poor security in the design of the product...
No - but as soon as the OEMs release the device-side update for Microsoft Mobile 5.0, the push will no longer require SMS at all. I also don't think it's very common to desire supporting HTTPS connections specifically for handhelds, which is very new even for Exchange 2003, without a front-end server. While you can do it, security-wise it's a pretty poor idea. All that "workaround" is doing is getting around the default, secure settings that ship with Exchange 2003...
Try a Treo 700w - does basic (pull only, unless you get unlimited SMS) synch with an Exchange mailbox over HTTPS, out of the box, with any Exchange 2003 server. No Goodlink required...
There isn't any "Microsoft network" used with Exchange ActiveSync, because it's not a true push technology. The mobile device sends an HTTPS keepalive to the server, which will then send a small notification packet back to the device (via straight TCP/IP) if there is any new content to be synched. The keepalives last for 15 minutes by default, at which point the device has to send another keepalive...
It's not nearly as battery-intensive as a scheduled pull "every 1 minutes", but not as good as a true push, either.