Finding Help

As an administrator, you sometimes have problems that you cannot solve by yourself. In these circumstances, knowing where to go for help can save your day. Many sources of information about Exchange Server 2003 are available.

Product Documentation

The product documentation for Exchange Server 2003 is actually quite good. (Many administrators have never even looked at the product documentation, primarily because they have grown accustomed to shoddy documentation in other products.) This documentation is available from the Help menu of Exchange System Manager.

Microsoft TechNet

Each month, Microsoft publishes a collection of information and tools called TechNet. TechNet is a CD-ROM subscription that delivers current information about the evaluation, deployment, and support of all Microsoft products. It consists of nearly 300,000 pages of information, including the full text of all Microsoft resource kits and the entire Microsoft Knowledge Base. Each month, subscribers also receive other CD-ROMs that include useful items, such as all published service packs for all Microsoft products; server and client utilities; and Microsoft Seminar Online.

TechNet is now also published in an extended version, TechNet Plus, that includes Microsoft software currently in beta testing. Much of the content of TechNet, as well as ordering information for the CD-ROM subscription, is available online at http://www.microsoft.com/technet. Further support mechanisms include contacting the local Microsoft office or using Microsoft Support through http://support.microsoft.com.

Internet Newsgroups

Newsgroups offer the chance to interact with other administrators and to get opinions and ideas about your specific problems. Many newsgroups are available on the Internet. Microsoft maintains a public Usenet server that hosts hundreds of newsgroups on many Microsoft products. The address of this server is msnews.microsoft.com. You can also view them on the Web at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/community/newsgroups/default.asp.

Following are a few of the Exchange-specific newsgroups available on this server:

• microsoft.public.exchange.admin

• microsoft.public.exchange.clients

• microsoft.public.exchange.clustering

• microsoft.public.exchange.connectivity

• microsoft.public.exchange.design

• microsoft.public.exchange.development

• microsoft.public.exchange.misc

• microsoft.public.exchange.setup

Hundreds of people, including Microsoft personnel and Exchange most valuable professionals (MVPs), read and post to these newsgroups daily. These newsgroups are also replicated by many other Usenet servers and might be available through your own Internet service provider’s news server.