ISA Server 2006 Supportability Update
Last week, Microsoft announced the ISA Server 2006 Supportability Update package that contains some fixes and new features that were included in SP3 for ISA Server 2004, like:
· Improvements to the ISA Server Management console. These improvements include a new Troubleshooting node.
· Improved log viewing functionality.
· Additional log filter functionality.
· Diagnostic logging. Over 200 new diagnostic logging events are provided.
· Integration with the Microsoft ISA Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool.
As an MVP, I already installed the Beta version of the supportability update and it worked very well. You can install this final version on all ISA Server 2006 computers (Standard and Enterprise editions).
Many customers were waiting for this update because of the troubleshooting features. Beginning and advanced administrators have good reason to install it because of the new approach to troubleshooting ISA Server 2006. Now you can quickly find the reason why defined access isn’t working the way you expect it to. Other related advantages provided by the update are:
· Someone who is new to managing ISA Server 2006 has filter colors and better explanations of actions in the Logging pane.
· Advanced users have new options like save/load filter definitions, and can get detailed information with Diagnostic Logging.
· Many people already use the ISA Best Practices Analyzer Tool. Now it is integrated into the UI, so that with one click you can open it.
Download the Supportability Update at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=939455
Download the ISA Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=79754
Another useful resource that I recommend is ISA Server 2006 Events Help, which you can download at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/isa/2006/downloads/events.mspx.
ISA Server MVP (Brazil)