Chapter 7: Installing Exchange with Security in Mind

Overview

The beginning is the most important part of the work.

”Plato, The Republic

Microsoft Exchange is complex enough to require its own installation procedures; these procedures are significantly different than the typical launch and go process that most administrators use for application installation. Knowing how the installation is going to work, what permissions are required, and what the resulting configuration will look like helps you prepare for and execute installations confidently. Even if you ve already installed Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, you might find this chapter useful as a guide to the permissions required to do various things within Exchange and Active Directory.

Before you try to install Exchange, there are a number of prerequisite steps that must be completed. The most important is that you must have implemented a solid Microsoft Windows infrastructure because Exchange Server 2003 depends on the Windows platform for so many critical functions. You should also have planned how you re going to migrate user accounts to Active Directory, purchased appropriately sized servers, and so forth. You ll also have to prepare the domain and forest so that the schema changes, security groups, and permissions that Exchange requires are properly applied to the correct locations.

For the rest of this chapter, I assume that you understand the Windows prerequisites on which Exchange depends, and that you have it set up correctly. If not, refer to the Additional Reading section at the end of the chapter for some useful general Exchange and Windows references.

Tip  

Even if you ve already installed Exchange, skip to Applying the Finishing Touches to pick up some security measures you might not have applied yet.