Exchange Admin Activities

Installing, Configuring Exchange 2007 Edge Server (Part 2)   In Installing, Configuring Exchange 2007 Edge Server (Part 1) we started the installation of an Exchange 2007 Edge server at the DMZ. So far we installed the Exchange Edge role on a standalone Windows 2003 server. The server is still not connected to the rest of the Exchange organization running internally. Indeed we could employ Edge as the perimeter server even if we were not running Exchange internally. As is, Edge only requires port 25 communications and the configuration of send/receive connectors, to act as a relay to any SMTP server. However, quite obviously, Edge also includes special support for running together with an internal Exchange 2007 organization. This functionality is provided by the EdgeSync service. Running on an internal Hub transport server, EdgeSync pushes information to the Edge server. The following is some of the information transferred; more details are available from the article EdgeSy...

Installing, Configuring Exchange 2007 Edge Server (Part 1) Despite the success in conquering internal corporate networks, earlier Exchange versions failed to replicate the same success at the DMZ. One reason for this was the Exchange server installation requirements that included IIS and Active Directory. These are often considered too cumbersome for hosts running internet facing services. Splitting functionality into distinct roles, allowed Exchange 2007 to provide the first DMZ friendly solution. The Edge server role was thus born, an SMTP transport where email hygiene applications filter emails before allowing entry and exit to/from the internal network. Today we walk through the installation of an Exchange Edge server. We also configure this to connect to the Exchange servers running internally. Network Layout We start our walk with a look at the network layout. A typical DMZ is shown below. Internet originating email is received by the Edge server. If accepted this is rel...

Upgrading from Exchange 2003 to 2010 Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 brings a new set of great technologies. No surprise many are excited and looking forward to plan and deploy this new messaging infrastructure. Today we cover the basic steps that should be performed in organizations currently running Exchange 2003. Prerequisites Prerequisites that must be met before we start the deployment: Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later, Global Catalog servers in each site where Exchange Servers are located and Windows Server 2003 forest functional level. Exchange 2003 Organization must be in native mode, with Exchange 2003 SP2 installed In place upgrade is not supported, thus new hardware should be installed for the Exchange 2010 Servers. Hardware requirements may be found at the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996719.aspx Operating Systems supported are Windows Server 2008 SP2 64-bit and Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit Standard or Enterprise. Please note that...

Introduction In part 2 of this multi-part article, I showed you how to create and configure the virtual services required for the Exchange 2010 protocols/services as well as how you went about and changed the external and internal URLs for each respectively. In this part 3, I will show you how to enable SSL offloading so that SSL sessions are terminated on the HLB solution instead of on the Exchange 2010 CAS servers in the CAS array. Why enable SSL Offloading? There are several benefits of enabling SSL offloading when using a hardware load balancer (HLB). When you enable SSL offloading you terminate the incoming SSL connections on the HLB instead of on the CAS servers. By doing so you move the SSL workload (encryption and decryption tasks) which are CPU intensive from the CAS servers to the HLB device(s). With CAS servers getting more and more responsibility with the introduction of new features such as MailTips, Move Request Service (MRS) and because it now also is the endpoint...