1.1 Exchange 2000 design goals

Chapter 1 - Introduction
Monitoring and Managing Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
by Mike Daugherty
Digital Press 2001

Exchange 2000 is a major change from previous releases of Microsoft Exchange Server. As with a major new release of any product, this version of Exchange includes an abundance of new features and functions. However, Exchange 2000 is much more than new features and functions; it is a major technology refresh. Exchange 2000 is even more tightly integrated into the underlying operating system than its predecessors. The basic architecture has been redesigned with many previous architectural components disappearing and new ones emerging to play key roles. These architectural changes allow for more flexibility and provide the platform for future growth of the product. These changes greatly influence the design principles used for deploying Exchange, and also influence the day-to-day management of any Exchange messaging system.

It would probably be fair to characterize the typical Exchange 5.5 environment as a reasonably large 1,000 to 100,000user organization with users in multiple locations. Exchange 2000 continues to focus on this type of environment. However, Microsoft has increased its focus to target two new types of customers: departments at the low end of the user population range and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) at the high end of the user population range.

To satisfy the needs of these new types of customers, Microsoft has implemented architectural and functionality changes to improve scalability, reliability, and availability. Microsoft has improved Exchanges use of clustering technology with a goal of achieving the type of high availability (typically 99.999%) required by ISPs.

Exchange 2000 also has improved access and integration with Internet Information Server, greatly increasing Exchanges support for Internet protocols and standards. For the most part, Microsoft has chosen to not focus on proprietary mechanisms. Instead, most new functionality has been implemented with Internet protocols such as HTTP and SMTP/MIME. These changes are largely to prepare the way for Exchange 2000 to become the next generation web and application server.

New functionality includes tools to support unified messaging, including streaming media, and multimedia form factors. While Exchange 2000 does not provide full-featured unified messaging, it provides the underlying functionality and interfaces to allow third-party developers to deliver unified messaging.

Exchange 2000 also includes new functionality such as chat, online meetings, and instant messaging. Instant messaging is similar to the services provided by many ISPs allowing interactive, real-time dialog between different users.