Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Editions | Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Administrators Pocket Consultant Second Edition

Several editions of Exchange Server 2007 are available, including Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition and Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition. The various server editions support the same core features and administration tools, which means you can use the techniques discussed throughout this book, regardless of which Exchange Server 2007 edition you are using. For reference, the specific feature differences between Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition are as follows:

Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition Designed to provide essential messaging services for small to medium-sized organizations and branch office locations. This server edition supports up to 10 storage groups (with one of the storage groups, called the Recovery Storage group, reserved for database recovery operations) and a maximum of five databases per storage group. Each database is limited to a maximum size of 16 GB. In addition, Windows clustering is not supported, and neither advanced compliance capabilities or unified messaging features are included.
Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition Designed to provide essential messaging services for organizations with increased availability, reliability, and manage-ability needs. This server edition supports up to 50 storage groups (with one of the storage groups, called the Recovery Storage group, reserved for database recovery operations). Although a maximum of five databases per storage group is allowed, you can create only 50 databases in total on a particular server. Each database is limited to a maximum size of 16 terabytes (TB) - limited only by hardware. Windows clustering is fully supported, and both advanced compliance capabilities and unified messaging features are included.

Note

Throughout this book, I refer to Exchange Server in different ways, and each has a different meaning. Typically, I refer to the software product as Exchange Server. If you see this term, you can take it to mean Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. When necessary, I use Exchange Server 2007 to draw attention to the fact that I am discussing a feature that's new or has changed in the most recent version of the product. Each of these terms means essentially the same thing. If I refer to a previous version of Exchange Server, I always do so specifically, such as Exchange Server 2003. Finally, I often use the term Exchange server (note the lowercase s in server) to refer to an actual server computer, as in "There are eight Exchange servers in this routing group."

A client accessing an Exchange server requires a Client Access License (CAL). With either Exchange Server edition, the client can use a Standard CAL or an Enterprise CAL. The Enterprise CAL allows for the use of unified messaging, advanced compliance capabilities, and antivirus/antispam protection.

Exchange Server 2007 runs on multiple editions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 as long as you have installed at least Release 2 or Service Pack 1. To install Exchange Server 2007, the system partition and all disk partitions used by Exchange must be formatted using (NTFS file system) NTFS. Additional preinstallation requirements are as follows:

The domain controller with the Schema Master role must be running at least Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1).
All domains in the Active Directory forest where Exchange Server 2007 will be installed, or in which recipients will be hosted, must have the domain functional level set to Windows 2000 Server native or higher.
For forest-to-forest delegation and free/busy availability selection across forests, you must establish a trust between the forests that have Exchange Server installed, and the minimum forest functional level for these forests must be Windows Server 2003.

Note

Using Active Directory with Exchange Server 2007 is covered in more detail in the "Exchange Server and Active Directory" section of this chapter and the "Integrating Exchange Server Roles with Active Directory" section of Chapter 2.

Exchange Server 2007 requires Microsoft Management Console 3.0 or later, Microsoft. NET Framework 2.0 or later, and the Windows PowerShell for Exchange Management Shell. The Exchange Management Shell is a new task-based command-line shell for system administration. If you want to manage Exchange Server 2007 from a workstation, you'll need to install Windows PowerShell for Exchange Management Shell and the Exchange Server 2007 management tools.

Exchange Server 2007 uses the Windows Installer and has a fully integrated installation process. This means you can configure Exchange Server 2007 using Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel, much like you can any other application you install on the operating system. The installation can be performed remotely from a command shell as well as locally.

Chapter 2, "Deploying Exchange Server 2007," provides detailed instructions for installing Exchange Server 2007. With an initial installation, Windows Installer will first check the system configuration to determine the status of required services and components, which includes checking the Active Directory configuration and the availability of components, such as IIS (Internet Information Server), as well as operating system service packs, installation permissions for the default install path, memory, and hardware.

After checking the system configuration, the Installer allows you to select the roles to install. Whether you use the Standard or Enterprise Edition, you have similar options. You can:

Install an internal messaging server by selecting the individual server roles to install and combining the Mailbox role, Client Access role, Hub Transport role, and Unified Messaging role as required for your environment. In many cases, you'll want an internal Exchange server to also be configured as a domain controller with a global catalog.

Note
For details on how the various server roles are used, see Chapter 2. Chapter 2 also provides guidelines for sizing and positioning the various server roles.
Install a Messaging server in a perimeter zone outside the organization's main network by selecting only the Edge Transport role. Edge Transport servers are not members of the Active Directory forest and are not configured on domain controllers.
Install a clustered Mailbox server by selecting the Active Clustered Mailbox role or Passive Clustered Mailbox role, as appropriate.
Install the management tools.
Specify the path for the Exchange Server installation files.
Specify the path for the Exchange Server installation.

If you want to change the configuration after installation, access Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel, select the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 entry, and then click Change to start Exchange Server 2007 Setup in maintenance mode. In Setup, click Next. You can then change the configuration of the Exchange Server installation.

Exchange Server 2007 includes the following antispam and antivirus capabilities:

Connection filtering Allows administrators to configure IP Block lists and IP Allow lists, as well as providers who can supply these lists.

Content filtering Uses intelligent message filtering to scan message content and identify spam. Spam can be automatically deleted, quarantined, or filed as junk e-mail.

Tip

Using the Exchange Server management tools, administrators can manage messages sent to the quarantine mailbox and take appropriate actions, such as deleting messages, flagging them as false positives, or allowing them to be delivered as junk e-mail. Messages delivered as junk e-mail are converted to plain text to strip out any potential viruses they might contain.

IP Reputation Service Provides Exchange Server 2007 customers with exclusive access to an IP Block list provided by Microsoft.
Outlook Junk E-mail Filter list aggregation Allows the junk e-mail filter lists of individual Outlook users to be propagated to Exchange servers.
Recipient filtering Allows administrators to replicate recipient data from the enterprise to the server running the Edge Transport role. This server can then perform recipient lookups on incoming messages and block messages that are for nonexistent users.
Sender ID verification Verifies that incoming e-mail messages are from the

Internet domain from which they claim to come. Exchange verifies the sender ID by examining the sender's IP address and comparing it to the related security record on the sender's public domain name system (DNS) server.
Sender reputation scoring Helps to determine the relative trustworthiness of unknown senders through sender ID verification and by examining message content and sender behavior history. A sender can then be added temporarily to the Blocked Senders list.

Although these antivirus and antispam features are fairly extensive, they are not comprehensive in scope. For comprehensive antivirus protection, you'll need to install Forefront Security For Exchange Server. Forefront Security for Exchange Server helps protect Exchange servers from viruses, worms, and other malware using multiple antivirus scan engines and file filtering capabilities. Forefront Security provides distributed protection for Exchange servers with the Mailbox server, Hub Transport server, and Edge Transport server roles. Although you can install Forefront Security on Exchange servers with these roles to gain substantial antivirus protection, you do not need to install Forefront Security on Exchange servers with only the Client Access Server or Unified Messaging Server role.

You can use the Forefront Security Setup program to install the administrator console, the server components, or both on a local or remote computer. When prompted for an installation location during setup, choose Local Installation to install on a local Computer or choose Remote Installation to install on a remote computer, and then click Next. Then choose "Server – Admin Console And Scanner Components" as the type of installation to install the Forefront Security server components on an Exchange server. Or choose "Client – Admin Console Only" to install only the administrator console on the computer. For clustered Exchange servers, you must perform a local installation of Forefront Security on each node in the cluster, starting with the primary active node.

Forefront Security has two operating modes:

Secure mode This is the default mode. In this mode, messages and attachments delivered from the quarantine mailbox are rescanned for viruses and filter matches.
Compatibility mode This mode allows messages matching filter criteria to be redelivered. In this mode, messages and attachments delivered from the quarantine mailbox are rescanned for viruses but are not rescanned for filter matches.

You can set the operating mode during installation and change it at any time using the administrator console.