As far back as I can remember my e-mail software checks for new messages every 10-15 minutes. Even in the midst of implementing David Allen’s GTD and focussing my energies on the task at-hand new email was trickling in and taunting me to read the subject line.

For a very short time I played with the idea of checking e-mail twice a day. It didn’t work because I often needed to be in Mail to peform a task and once it was opened, new mail poured in.

Then it hit me: turn off automatic e-mail checking. My inbox can stay open all day and I don’t need to lose focus on new messages.

Am I tempted to click the “Get Mail” button? Not really because I know that doing so might sideline me and make a mess of my inbox. With this new method of managing influx the “check it twice daily” strategy is worh revisting.

I thought Windows’ Distributed File System (DFS) was something with ugly hooks into Active Directory and the Registry. While it might, my recent migration of the DFS root from one server to another went smoothly. Most of the information about migrating DFS is wordy and confusing. I’ll attempt to explain the process using my client’s configuration as an example.

The Servers

Two servers with Windows Server 2003 SP1, both domain controllers. SERVERA keeps user profiles and shared data using conventional shares. SERVERB stores large amounts of project data separated into folders and residing on a SCSI-attached RAID-5 system. The DFS root share for the domain is kept on \\SERVERB\E$ in a folder (and share) called \DFSroot\Proj. A domain-wide DFS root called “Proj” points to \\SERVERB\Proj.

The Issue

The RAID system attached to SERVERB is getting long-in-the-tooth and ready for retirement. All of the project data was moved to a new HP Storage Area Network (SAN) but the DFS root was still on volume E of the old RAID. The DFS root must be moved to a different SAN volume on the same server.

The Migration

I found these links (1, 2) the most helpful to describe the process. Here’s what I did:

1. Export the current DFS links:

   dfsutil /root:\\DOMAIN\Proj /export:proj-dfs.txt

2. Remove the DFS links and root using the MMC
3. Run DFSUTIL using the /clean option as specified here
4. Run:

   net stop dfs

   then

   net start dfs

   on SERVERB

5. Delete the folder structure of the old DFS root (volume E, \DFSroot\Proj)
6. Create another folder structure for the new DFS root (volume I, \DFSroot\Proj)
7. Share the new Proj folder and assign NTFS and share permissions accordingly
8. Using the MMC, create a new domain-wide DFS root (called “Proj”) pointing to \\SERVERB\Proj
9. Import the DFS links using:

   dfsutil /root:\\DOMAIN\Proj /import:proj-dfs.txt /set

This took about 20 minutes to accomplish and was easier than I expected. The DFS root is just a “master” share which points to other shares and doesn’t touch (or harm) your data in any way. Of greatest concern is performing the export of the DFS links to save yourself a lot of typing.

The process shouldn’t be much different migrating between servers, however would include additional steps to move data and create folder shares as needed.

I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for a long, long time when they first started to release great GSM handsets. If you know anything about T-Mobile, that plethora of handsets is long gone unless you love BlackBerry and Sidekick. The Dash is cute if you like Windows Mobile but that’s not me.

About every couple of months I call customer service asking about the release of Symbian handsets like the N95 or when they’ll deploy 3G. Answer? “No” and “don’t know.” Thankfully T-Mo released their Hot Spot@Home VoIP service if you don’t mind running it on a bare bones phone but the public comes to expect feature-rich phones that can play music, surf the web, maybe run Google Maps.

I ran out of patience with T-Mobile to do anything remotely interesting in the wireless market. Perhaps they are planning great things for the U.S. (iPhone wasn’t one of them) unless you live in Germany.

Here is what needs to change at T-Mobile:

• Tell the public what you’re up to: you’re not Apple so stop the secrecy already
• Deploy 3G before the end of the decade or simply give up
• Carry handsets that people care about; show some love with Nokia’s Nseries and other smartphone devices that aren’t BlackBerry

What kept me a customer:

• Excellent customer service
• The best prices for voice and data, bar none

So I signed up with AT&T and unboxed my shiny, new, Nokia N75. It’s not so much about 3G or the iPhone but that AT&T is doing something in the wireless market and not keeping silent about it. I’ll deal with the rest until my contract expires and we see where T-Mobile winds up.

For the longest time I have stayed away from Windows XP feature Offline Files. Not for me, but for my clients. It’s lightly documented and there seems to be more troubles than success stories of people using it. However, one of my clients needs this feature, not a generic solution, to move seamlessly while traveling.

There are a myriad of issues to get the configuration correct, especially when using Group Policy via Active Directory, but they’ll sort themselves out. What always puzzled me was how Windows managed the synchronization of files between the client and server. Let me describe how it works.

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When we moved into our house the very first thing I did was change the exterior door locks. The front door received a new deadbolt and locking handle. The back door was keyed to match. Thereafter, a new garage door opener was installed.

There was one lock I didn’t change: the mailbox. Our condo complex has a front gate (entered via keypad or actual key) and a group of mailboxes which use cam-style locks. I figured the former owner changed addresses, the HOA would change the gate lock, and that would be that.

Wrong.

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