Changes to IP and SPF records for ExchangeDefender
We’re growing, again, and that means more IP addresses and more networks. We expect a new growth bump to require additional hardware that will be added during Q1 and Q2 of this year so please keep an eye on this page.
Moving & Maintenance on mail1.ownwebnow.com
Our shared mail hosting infrastructure is moving. We’re going from 65.99.192.2 to 65.99.255.2. With the additional bandwidth and carriers, the network change will speed up the response time and transfer on larger attachments.
If you have your DNS record managed by us, there is nothing to worry about. We’ll take care of it.
If you have your DNS record managed externally, and have records that point to 65.99.192.2 manually – you will need to make changes. Since we don’t know where your record is or if you aren’t using us (you should be, that’s the assumed operational state) there is no way for us to notify you beyond this blog post so make sure that you make the change ASAP. The IP address at 65.99.192.2 will cease to operate Monday, January 25th, 2010.
We have a scheduled maintenance window at 10 PM EST on Thursday, January 21st, during which time there will only be intermittent access to our mail infrastructure.
ExchangeDefender SPF records
If you are using SPF records as a part of your domain name to limit joe-job’s and spoofing you’re probably aware of having to manually add IP addresses to it when a new ExchangeDefender outbound network is created. Good news – you don’t have to do it manually any more! Just add the following directive to your SPF record (in bold):
“v-spf1 include:exchangedefender.com –all”
Adding the include:exchangedefender.com to your SPF TXT field will include all of the defined outbound SMTP servers used by ExchangeDefender so you don’t have to manage them manually. Naturally, you should also list all of your other SMTP servers that relay mail for your domain. Note: ExchangeDefender does not offer technical support for SPF records as they are not a part of our service. However, if you wish to use them and know how to implement them, ExchangeDefender is making it easier to track our records.
Enhanced SMTP Security requirements now in effect
As noted previously (and discussed in our portal, conference call and newsletters) the enhanced SMTP security policies are now in place. Going forward, all SMTP traffic on our networks (inbound and outbound) will have to pass through ExchangeDefender in order to reach it’s target server. This network change affects all servers and all networks controlled by Own Web Now Corp.
If you have a requirement for plain SMTP connectivity for mail relay please either consider establishing a VPN directly to your server (if you are a dedicated/virtual customer) or upgrade to Microsoft Outlook and use RPC-over-HTTPS proxy available for our hosting customers. If you require SMTP for your client needs (Thunderbird, Outlook Express) please use SMTP-over-SSL (TLS) in your setup.
Despite enhancements in the security products and reduced cost of antivirus products, SMTP based attacks have continued to rise through 2009. We are committed to protecting our customers and limiting exposure that comes with an open SMTP port.
Increased security across Exchange 2007 network
Effective July 1st, 2009 we will no longer accept anonymous or plain text SMTP connections on our ExchangeDefender network. If you are using the SMTP protocol to connect to the Hosted Exchange please switch them to MAPI or RPC over HTTPS. If you have limitations requiring you to continue using SMTP, please note that you will only be able to connect to the servers using SMTP over SSL.
Again: No port 25 connectivity will be alllowed starting July 1st. This change affects Exchange 2007 network only, we will issue separate alerts for Exchange 2003 network, Zimbra network and our Virtual Hosting SMTP mail later next quarter.
This change is a part of our effort to improve the security of the network and eliminate direct connections by SPAM bots. Please stay tuned to this blog, one of the major areas of focus next quarter is improvement of overall security and controls on the ever-growing OWN network.
Blackberry Discounts
We are running a new promotion on Blackberry services, courtesy of RIM. You can choose from two options:
$99 setup, $10 /month.
or
$49 setup, $15/month.
This is in addition to the fees related to Exchange hosting. As usual, volume discounts apply, if you have over 100 seats we can reduce the pricing significantly.
This is a limited time promotion courtesy of RIM for new BES accounts only.
OWN Partner Call with Matt Makowicz
Joining us to wrap up the Microsoft WPC is Matt Makowicz from Ambition Consulting and Endevor, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and an ExchangeDefender marketing powerhouse! Matt talks about the overall impressions with the event and how different it was this year in particular:
- Business maturity
- Change in partner profile at WPC
- Passions of Vista stop short
- Partner training and ambitionmission.com
OWN Partner Call with Vijay Riyait and Dean Calvert
Joining us today live from Microsoft WPC in Houston are two partners from the opposite sides of the globe and opposite business models in the IT business. They are both great proponents of OwnWebNow and our services so we got them on to discuss the Microsoft’s new direction and how it impacts their business.
Dean Calvert is the president of Calvert Technologies, Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and Small Business Specialist from Adelaide, Australia. Dean’s firm specializes in network design, management and technical consulting. Dean was recently a Microsoft PAL and has been recognized for many years as an expert Microsoft MVP in Small Business Server product.
Vijay Riyait is the managing director of iQubed, Microsoft Small Business Specialist from Leicester and a leader in the SMB community, working with Microsoft as a PAL representing SBSC interests of the community to Microsoft. Beyond that, Vijay’s company focuses on on SharePoint and Information Worker technologies, their development and use in SMB.
Wednesday was the final keynote day at Microsoft WPC 2008 and we caught up to Vijay and Mark for a first impression of where they believe they can use their significant expertise to impact their clients business and grow their own as well. Discussion included:
- Use of SharePoint in social networking cases
- Australian SMB owner habits and hosted services penetration
- Discussion over the changing business models with the services in mind
- SBS and EBS importance and expectations
- Partner Program changes and the impact on you.
OWN Partner Call with Scott Colson
Scott Colson, Microsoft CRM MVP and Vice President of Autonomix (Gold Certified Partner from Seattle) has been a long time friend and partner of Own Web Now. Autonomix specializes in Microsoft CRM deployments and given the recent launch of Microsoft CRM Online and Microsoft S+S announcements from WPC, he was the best candidate to discuss the further Microsoft penetration into the area of services and where this leaves us Microsoft partners. Scott joined us live from the Microsoft WPC keynote with Ballmer in the background to talk about:
- Microsoft Software + Services
- Status of Microsoft CRM Online and direction so far
- Personal take on what Software + Service means for us
- The opportunity for partners to use Microsoft in this space
- SBS and EBS annoumcements
.. and we also discussed Scott’s key area of expertise: Delivering Microsoft Dynamics solutions, in particular CRM. Besides being the person to call for ExchangeDefender in the Seattle area, Scott and OWN share a client that has leveraged the online CRM solution for their business. Scott talks about the partnership process and the value delivery in services beyond infrastructure and why they are so critical to the businesses we all serve. An excellent interview to consider not just from the S+S news perspective but also possible business ventures you can pursue with CRM (and with Scott of course!) For more information, take a look at his web site: http://www.autonomix.com
OWN Partner Call with Mark Crall
Mark Crall, MCP, PAL from Charlotte Tech Care Team joins us live from Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference to discuss the news and events from the first two days and PAL meetings affecting the SBSC:
- Launch date SBS and EBS announced
- Upcoming changes to the SBSC requirements
- Free SBS 2008 exam vouchers
- Changes to the Microsoft partner program for SMB
- Software + Services
- Tech business in Charlotte
Mark runs Charlotte Tech Care Team (OWN ExchangeDefender, Exchange 2007 partner) in Charlotte, NC and has a very popular blog covering the SBSC & MSP buzz. If you need tech work in Charlotte, SMB support services, ongoing managed IT care, any of our OWN products, VoIP/ResponsePoint product support you can reach Mark at (704) 248-8328.
OWN says G’day to Australia
One day after our UK launch we are taking another giant step in our mission to level the world of hosted business services. Today we proudly announce the launch of our Australian line of business, with Exchange 2007, SharePoint v3, Virtual Hosting with the same features, higher storage limits and most importantly, the same price as in United States and Europe.
We would like to again thank our partners in Australia for making this possible with the help of Equinix, SuperMicro and Microsoft. Our partners from Australia and New Zealand have made ExchangeDefender and ShockeyMonkey into a huge regional success and we are doing our part to help our partners from down under add more services to their portfolios. We believe that making these services affordable will open up a lot of opportunities for our partners to provide additional services on top of Exchange and SharePoint that would otherwise not be possible for customers that are not interested or in a position to design servers and reliable network infrastructure required to support their business.
All services will be branded and centrally managed through the upcoming OWN Service Manager portals that will extend the partners brand over services and solutions delivered from our two data centers in Sydney. Portion of profits will be used to help support the local ITPRO communities across Australia.
We would also like to extend special thanks to several individuals that made these moves possible: Dean Calvert of Calvert Technologies, Wayne Small of Correct Solutions, Robbie Upcroft of Microsoft Corp, Jared Hirst of Equinix as well as thousands of partners across Australia and New Zealand that have done business with us throughout the years and demanded these solutions in their country to help serve the emerging market in need of technology business management beyond network infrastructure design and upkeep.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Vlad Mazek, MCSE
CEO, Own Web Now Corp
OWN Launches European Branch
We are very proud to announce the launch of the European division of Own Web Now Corp. After years of global success with ExchangeDefender and a large growth in our other lines of business in UK, Ireland, Germany, Greece, France, Italy and Spain the demand for an European line of business, and a native European network, made the following moves possible.
Effective July 1st, Own Web Now Corp is proud to start offering all our hosting services in Europe, starting with the following:
Exchange 2007 with 10 Gb Mailboxes by default, OwnWebNow Offsite Backups, SharePoint 3.0, Virtual hosting services for Web (Linux or Windows), SQL, FTP and email.
All services will be priced at identical levels to their United States counterparts but due to the further commoditization of server infrastructure solutions we are able to offer more storage better performance with services spread across the continent: United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Germany.
To comply with the new EU privacy laws, and avoid United States Patriot Act concerns, the European infrastructure is managed and located completely within the EU geographic limits.
With this move we are also establishing funding for IT community support in Europe. Stay tuned for details, further global expansion, new product announcements, centralized management and branding announcements and more over the next few days.