Andy,

This has been covered a number of times..... If you running 2008 the hardware surly has to be x64, yes Enterprise Vault is x86 however soon it will be going to x64.

Now lets take a look at the different of Editions of 2008:

Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise R2
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter R2
Windows Server 2008 Foundation R2
Windows Web Server 2008 R2
Windows HPC Server 2008 R2

So that's 6 R2s, times that by 2 for x86 and x64 that's 12, now they will need to support 2008 native, that's 24, also SP1, that's 36, then SP2 that's 48.....

So are you suggesting that Symantec support 48 different versions of 2008?  I don't think so mate, the testing of that would take longer than it took to write the release.

i don't really think they test it on every platform. after all, the different platforms are essentially the same with some hardware limits. (ram, cpu) on the editions (standard, enterprise, datacenter).
web edition is not supported for ev by ms itself.

i think the main reason is that R2 is 64-bit only anyways.

Wayne thanks for your reply, although I disagree in the number of versions that Symantec would have to test, as they have made no distinction between Standard\Enterprise\Datacentre from Windows 2003 onwards.

The fact remains that deployment scanner, or the product installation binaries, fail to detect an unsupported configuration and allows the installation to continue. Thats pretty poor in my view and renders the utility not fit for purpose as it doesnt check all EV pre-requisites.

I wonder how you have managed to attain/maintain trusted adviser status given your tone and attitude towards my question at the end of your reply.  As it happens I have searched (took me a while but got there in the end), and have made comment on the issues as I see them. 

Best Regards

Andy

Andy,

I am so sorry I offended you...........  You are right its not tested against the different (3 additions) however this is tested

Windows Storage Server 2008
Windows Server 2008
Windows Small
Business Server

So its 4 apposed to 6.  5*4"2 so that's a total of 40 different 2008 environment's that they would need to test against, this excludes 2003 and 2000.

Does your Hardware not support x64? or what is the reason that you want to run a x86 OS?

Oh, BTW not only testing check this out.

An answer from a senior person in Symantec Product Management team and his response was as follows:

"Our customer base via RPM and surveys told us that if they would jump to Win 2008 the majority ( well over 90%)  would also go to new hardware and be running the 64 bit version. Customers that would want 32 bit would stay for the most part on the server they had Win 2003.

Hence we put the effort from a support perspective in Win 2008 64 bit as you can appreciate the effort to test the whole of the product on a platform like windows server is a massive exercise."

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/ev-...
https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/ev-...
https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/tip...

Hi Andy,

From my view I do agree totally that Deployment Scanner should review the platform version. After all, I know in some other parts of the product Enterprise Vault will actually warn you that it is not a supported Operating System.

I will mention this to Symantec and see what feedback I can get.

Wayne,

Apology Accepted!!

I did find that comment from the Symantec senior chap as well. What makes this even more irritating is its probably the same chap who I confronted at EMC world earlier this year, about EV not being 64 bit yet.

Talk about being careful what you wish for.....

For what its worth, yes the HW is 64bit, but has a 32bit OS as I knew (or thought I did!!) that the app is still 32 bit. The original design was to install Windows 2003 but when I saw Windows 2008 in the install guide this changed. That'll teach to read the fine print in future!!! I'm almost certain that I saw an old version of the compatibility guide which listed Windows 2008 32bit, but can I find it.......

Looks like another trip down south to reinstall the OS.

;(

Andy,

It will run fine on x86 its just not stated in the guide as its not tested on that, between you and I there is no chance of something that works in WoW not working on native x86.

Saying that there will be a big plus by upgrading you OS from x86 to x64 wit mem and all that.  Also, in the future if/when Enterprise Vault becomes x64 there will be no need for you to reinstall your OS ;) think of it that way...

We nearly have x64 mapi 2010, nearly have x64 indexing 2 versions time ;) so yea go with the flow, and save you the hasel in the future.

Wayne,

Agree totally. Whether it runs or not, isnt the issue. If my customer rings up Symantec  with an issue, and they say we're on Windows 2008 32bit, Symantec would most likely decline the support, as this isnt on the matrix.  

Hi Andy,

Deployment Scanner OS reporting Windows 2008 32 bit has now been bugged in an ETrack, so I hope will be resolved in the future. Won't help you now I know, but at least may help someone else.