Clearing Up Some Confusion

We mentioned earlier that Exchange has certainly been hyped a lot during the design and beta testing process. This has generated a lot of buzz in the information technology (IT) industry, but this buzz has also generated a lot of confusion and some misinformation. We want to take this opportunity to clear up some of this confusion by answering some of the more common questions that have generated misconceptions about Exchange 2007.

• Do I have to have three or four separate servers to run each of the server roles? A single server can host all four primary server roles (Mailbox, Client Access, Hub Transport, and Unified Messaging) except in the case of clustered mailbox servers. The Client Access, Hub Transport, and Unified Messaging server roles cannot be on the clustered mailbox server. The Edge Transport role must be installed on a separate server. The active clustered mailbox and passive clustered mailbox server roles must be on separate servers.

• Is there a 32-bit version of Exchange? Yes, there is an evaluation, testing, and lab version of Exchange 2007 that is a 32-bit version. This version must not be used in production.

• Is Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange included with Exchange 2007? Forefront Security for Exchange (formerly known as Sybari Antigen) is included with Exchange 2007 if you have purchased Exchange Enterprise Client Access Licenses (CALs).

• Is the Edge Transport server required? No, Edge Transport servers are not required. You can use any third-party message hygiene system in your perimeter network or you can direct inbound and outbound mail through your hub transport servers or both.

• Is Exchange 2007 using a SQL database for mailboxes and public folders? Although there has been debate for years about using SQL Server for the Exchange databases, Exchange 2007 uses the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE), also known as the JET database engine.

• Is Exchange Management Shell knowledge required? Do I have to learn scripting? Most common administrative tasks can be performed through the Exchange Management Console graphical interface. Command-line management and scripting for Exchange 2007 has been greatly improved through the use of the Exchange Management Shell. Many tasks are simplified or more powerful through the Exchange Management Shell, but it is not necessary to learn scripting in order to start working with Exchange 2007. We strongly encourage you to get know many of the powerful features of the EMS as you get comfortable with Exchange 2007. A number of advanced administration tasks do not have a graphical user interface option.

• What is happening with public folders? The use of public folders with Exchange 2007 is still available and supported, but their use is being deemphasized as newer collaborative technologies such as websites and portals have become commonplace. We urge you to examine your public folder applications with an eye toward migrating them to systems such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

• Is there still 32KB a limitation on folder rules? For power users, the 32KB limit on the size of rules for a folder was a serious annoyance. This limit is no longer a constraint for Outlook 2007 users whose mailbox is on an Exchange 2007 mailbox server.

• Is local continuous replication (LCR) and clustered continuous replication (CCR) the same as mailbox replication? LCR and CCR do not replicate individual mailboxes but rather an entire mailbox database. The administrator selects an entire storage group (which must contain only a single database); Exchange replicates the data to a backup copy of the mailbox database by copying the transaction logs as they are filled.

• Do I need to use every Exchange 2007 server role to have a functional Exchange 2007 system? In order to build a completely functional Exchange 2007 system, you need the Mailbox, Hub Transport, and Client Access server roles. These can all reside on the same physical server.

• Can I run 32-bit applications with the 64-bit version of Exchange 2007? Most 32-bit Windows applications will generally run on Windows 2003 x64, but applications that integrate with Exchange (such as message hygiene or backup applications) should be 64-bit.