Chapter 2: Microsoft Exchange Architecture

Overview

An architecture is the structure of something. When applied to a software product, an architecture is a description of the software components of the product, what they are, what they do, and how they relate to each other. In Exchange, examples of these components are the Information Store service that manages the databases of messages on a server and the System Attendant service that performs routine maintenance on a server. Part of what software components do is create and manage objects (i.e., resources) such as servers, mailboxes, public folders, and address books. How those objects are structured or organized is also part of software architecture.

There are many practical benefits to understanding the architecture of Microsoft Exchange. Such knowledge will aid a person in designing, installing, administering, and troubleshooting an Exchange system. For example, understanding component functionality will assist you in deciding what optional components, if any, to choose during an installation. Troubleshooting can frequently benefit from a good understanding of architecture; just understanding some error messages requires such knowledge. This chapter provides you with a good conceptual background of the topics covered in the remainder of the book.

In this chapter, we will address the following issues:

• The Windows Server 2003 Active Directory and its integration with Exchange Server 2003

• Information storage on an Exchange server

• Message flow in the Exchange environment