Lesson 3: Exchange Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 Protocols and Services Integration


In addition to being designed to integrate with Active Directory, Exchange Server 2003 is designed to integrate with services provided by the Windows server operating systems. Exchange Server 2003 can be installed on computers running Windows 2000 Server, but to take advantage of all of the new functionality, you must use Windows Server 2003. Because Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 include messaging transport capabilities such as Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP), Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP), and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Exchange Server 2003 uses these Windows services rather than duplicating the services with its own. This is in contrast to Exchange Server 5.5 (and earlier versions), which used Internet Information Services (IIS) for Outlook Web Access (OWA) and newsgroup access, but not for much else.

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After this lesson, you will be able to

  • Understand how Exchange Server 2003 uses the features of IIS 6

Estimated lesson time: 15 minutes

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Exchange Server 2003 and IIS 6

IIS is included with Windows operating systems for servers and provides some core services for Exchange Server 2003. Windows Server 2003 includes Internet Information Services (IIS) 6. This new version of IIS introduces Worker Process Isolation Mode, which offers greater reliability and security to Web servers. Worker Process Isolation Mode ensures that all of the authentication, authorization, Web application processes, and Internet Server Application Programming Interface (ISAPI) extensions that are associated with a particular application are isolated from all other applications. When you install Exchange Server 2003 on a computer running Windows Server 2003, the Exchange Server 2003 Setup program automatically sets IIS 6 to Worker Process Isolation Mode. Setup also enables certain ISAPI extensions. By default, during Windows Server 2003 installation, ISAPI extensions are not allowed to load. This is different from previous versions of Windows and IIS, which were less secure in their default configurations. Exchange Server 2003 requires certain ISAPI extensions, however, for features such as OWA, WebDAV, and Exchange Web Forms. Exchange Server 2003 Setup enables and configures the required ISAPI extensions, with no intervention required.

The integration of Exchange Server 2003 with IIS services includes the following:

  • SMTP

  • NNTP

  • World Wide Web Service

The SMTP Service

Unlike Exchange Server 5.5 and earlier versions, Exchange Server 2003 does not provide its own SMTP services. Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 include a core SMTP service with IIS 5 and 6, respectively, and Exchange Server 2003 relies on this service to provide e-mail services. Exchange simply extends the built-in SMTP service to provide the necessary additional functionality.

Windows Server 2003 also includes a Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) service, which is listed in the Windows Components Wizard as Email Services. This service is not used by Exchange Server 2003 and should not be installed if you are deploying Exchange Server 2003, which includes more robust POP3 support as well as Internet Message Access Protocol 4 (IMAP4) support.

There are a number of new enhancements in the Exchange Server 2003 SMTP service, with the most exciting for network administrators being native support for Real-Time Blacklists (RBLs) and improved antivirus support. Fighting spam and viruses is a time-consuming process for administrators, and the enhanced functionality eases the administrative burden.

The NNTP Service

Exchange Server 2003 also relies on the IIS built-in NNTP service. The NNTP service provides user access to newsgroups either internally or on the Internet. Access to newsgroups is made available through Exchange Server 2003 public folders, with security configured through the Exchange Server 2003 organization. The NNTP service is also useful for sharing public folders between organizations. Exchange Server 2003 does not modify or extend the IIS NNTP service, as it does the SMTP service.

The World Wide Web Service

OWA integrates into IIS and doesn't even have to be installed on the same server as Exchange Server 2003. Because of the integration, services can be installed almost anywhere within Active Directory, providing flexibility and a very scalable messaging solution. OWA provides client access to an Exchange mailbox through a Web browser. The HTTP protocol, which is part of the World Wide Web Service, is the transport used for OWA functionality.

Users running Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or later can take advantage of a number of new enhancements to OWA. A common complaint with previous versions of OWA was regarding the lack of basic Outlook features, such as spell checker, support for mail rules, support for digital signatures, marking messages as read/unread, and public folder support. These features have been included with the Exchange Server 2003 version of OWA. Some features, such as digital signatures, specifically require Internet Explorer 6 SP1 or greater, but most features work with Internet Explorer 5, as well. There is still a basic version of OWA that can be used by other Web browsers.

A new feature exclusive to Exchange Server 2003 running on Windows Server 2003 is the ability to use Outlook 2003 to connect to Exchange Server 2003 servers using the HTTP protocol. This is known as "RPC over HTTP." In previous versions of Exchange Server and IIS, if a remote user needed to connect to a corporate Exchange server using the Outlook client rather than OWA, they would have to establish a virtual private network (VPN) connection first. This was because the communication between the client and server took place only over remote procedure call (RPC). Another requirement for client computers to use RPC over HTTP is that they must be running Windows XP Professional SP1 or later.

Lesson Review

The following questions are intended to reinforce key information presented in this lesson. If you are unable to answer a question, review the lesson materials and then try the question again. You can find answers to the questions in the "Questions and Answers" section at the end of this chapter.

  1. You are the Exchange administrator for Contoso, Ltd. You are planning the deployment of Exchange Server 2003 into your Windows Server 2003 Active Directory domain. The IT director questions you about the effect that Exchange Server 2003 will have on IIS security, concerned that installing Exchange Server 2003 will cause IIS to be less secure. How do you address his concerns?

  2. Which of the following Windows Server 2003 services is not used by Exchange Server 2003 to support the messaging infrastructure?

    1. SMTP

    2. POP3

    3. World Wide Web Service

    4. NNTP

Lesson Summary

  • Exchange Server 2003 leverages several Windows Server 2003 protocols and services rather than duplicating them.

  • The new Worker Process Isolation Mode feature of IIS 6 provides better security and reliability by isolating an application's authentication, processes, and extensions.

  • Outlook Web Access (OWA) has been greatly enhanced when used with Internet Explorer 6 SP1 or later, providing much of the functionality previously found only in the Outlook client.




MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-284(c) Implementing and Managing Microsoft Exchange Server 2003)
MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-284): Implementing and Managing MicrosoftВ® Exchange Server 2003 (Pro-Certification)
ISBN: 0735618992
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 221

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