Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Ports used by Exchange Server

For purposes of configuring firewalls or for troubleshooting communications issues, it may be useful to know what TCP/UDP ports Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server are using. This article is also true for Exchange Server 2003 installations.

Protocol: LDAP

* Port (TCP/UDP): 389 (TCP)

Description: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), used by Active Directory, Active Directory Connector, and the Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 directory.

Protocol: LDAP/SSL

* Port (TCP/UDP): 636 (TCP)
* Description: LDAP over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). When SSL is enabled, LDAP data that is transmitted and received is encrypted.
* To enable SSL, you must install a Computer certificate on the domain controller or Exchange Server 5.5 computer.

Protocol: LDAP

* Port (TCP/UDP): 379 (TCP)
* Description: The Site Replication Service (SRS) uses TCP port 379.

Protocol: LDAP

* Port (TCP/UDP): 390 (TCP)
* Description: While not a standard LDAP port, TCP port 390 is the recommended alternate port to configure the Exchange Server 5.5 LDAP protocol when Exchange Server 5.5 is running on a Microsoft Windows 2000 Active Directory domain controller.

Protocol: LDAP

*Port (TCP/UDP): 3268 (TCP)
* Description: Global catalog. The Windows 2000 Active Directory global catalog (which is really a domain controller "role") listens on TCP port 3268. When you are troubleshooting issues that may be related to a global catalog, connect to port 3268 in LDP.

Protocol: LDAP/SSL

*Port (TCP/UDP): 3269 (TCP)
*Description: Global catalog over SSL. Applications that connect to TCP port 3269 of a global catalog server can transmit and receive SSL encrypted data. To configure a global catalog to support SSL, you must install a Computer certificate on the global catalog.

Protocol: IMAP4

*Port (TCP/UDP): 143 (TCP)
*Description: Internet Message Access Protocol version 4, may be used by "standards-based" clients such as Microsoft Outlook Express or Netscape Communicator to access the e-mail server. IMAP4 runs on top of the Microsoft Internet Information Service (IIS) Admin Service (Inetinfo.exe), and enables client access to the Exchange 2000 information store.

Protocol: IMAP4/SSL

*Port (TCP/UDP): 993 (TCP)
*Description: IMAP4 over SSL uses TCP port 993. Before an Exchange 2000 server supports IMAP4 (or any other protocol) over SSL, you must install a Computer certificate on the Exchange 2000 server.

Protocol: POP3

*Port (TCP/UDP): 110 (TCP)
*Description: Post Office Protocol version 3, enables "standards-based" clients such as Outlook Express or Netscape Communicator to access the e-mail server. As with IMAP4, POP3 runs on top of the IIS Admin Service, and enables client access to the Exchange 2000 information store.

Protocol: POP3/SSL

*Port (TCP/UDP): 995 (TCP)
*Description: POP3 over SSL. To enable POP3 over SSL, you must install a Computer certificate on the Exchange 2000 server.

Protocol: NNTP

*Port (TCP/UDP): 119 (TCP)
*Description: Network News Transport Protocol, sometimes called Usenet protocol, enables "standards-based" client access to public folders in the information store. As with IMAP4 and POP3, NNTP is dependent on the IIS Admin Service.

Protocol: NNTP/SSL

Port (TCP/UDP): 563 (TCP)

Description: NNTP over SSL. To enable NNTP over SSL, you must install a Computer certificate on the Exchange 2000 Server.

Protocol: HTTP

*Port (TCP/UDP): 80 (TCP)
*Description: Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol is the protocol used primarily by Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA), but also enables some administrative actions in Exchange System Manager. HTTP is implemented through the World Wide Web Publishing Service (W3Svc), and runs on top of the IIS Admin Service.

Protocol: HTTP/SSL

*Port (TCP/UDP): 443 (TCP)
*Description: HTTP over SSL. To enable HTTP over SSL, you must install a Computer certificate on the Exchange 2000 server.

Protocol: SMTP

*Port (TCP/UDP): 25 (TCP)
*Description: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, is the foundation for all e-mail transport in Exchange 2000. The SMTP Service (SMTPSvc) runs on top of the IIS Admin Service. Unlike IMAP4, POP3, NNTP, and HTTP, SMTP in Exchange 2000 does not use a separate port for secure communication (SSL), but rather, employs an "in-band security sub-system" called Transport Layer Security (TLS).

Protocol: SMTP/SSL

*Port (TCP/UDP): 465 (TCP)
*Description: SMTP over SSL. TCP port 465 is reserved by common industry practice for secure SMTP communication using the SSL protocol. However, unlike IMAP4, POP3, NNTP, and HTTP, SMTP in Exchange 2000 does not use a separate port for secure communication (SSL), but rather, employs an "in-band security sub-system" called Transport Layer Security (TLS). To enable TLS to work on Exchange 2000, you must install a Computer certificate on the Exchange 2000 server.

Protocol: SMTP/LSA

*Port (TCP/UDP): 691 (TCP)
*Description: The Microsoft Exchange Routing Engine (also known as RESvc) listens for routing link state information on TCP port 691. Exchange 2000 uses routing link state information to route messages and the routing table is constantly updated. The Link State Algorithm (LSA) propagates outing status information between Exchange 2000 servers. This algorithm is based on the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol from networking technology, and transfers link state information between routing groups by using the X-LSA-2 command verb over SMTP and by using a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection to port 691 in a routing group.

Protocol: RVP

*Port (TCP/UDP): 80 (TCP)
*Description: RVP is the foundation for Instant Messaging in Exchange 2000. While RVP communication begins with TCP port 80, the server quickly sets up a new connection to the client on an ephemeral TCP port above 1024. Because this port is not known in advance, issues exist when you enable Instant Messaging through a firewall.

Protocol: IRC/IRCX

*Port (TCP/UDP): 6667 (TCP)
*Description: Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is the chat protocol. IRCX is the extended version offered by Microsoft. While TCP port 6667 is the most common port for IRC, TCP port 7000 is also very frequently used.

Protocol: IRC/SSL

*Port (TCP/UDP): 994 (TCP)
*Description: IRC (or Chat) over SSL. IRC or IRCX over SSL is not supported in Exchange 2000.

Full info here

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Microsoft Outlook Voice Access for Exchange Server 2007 by Apptix

Apptix, provider of hosted Microsoft Exchange email, Microsoft SharePoint collaboration services, and hosted VoIP phone service for small and medium businesses (SMBs), has announced the launch of Voice Access for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

The new service enables Apptix hosted Exchange Server 2007 customers to remotely access and interact with their email, calendar, contacts, or voicemail using any phone -land line or mobile via touchtone or voice commands.

Also, Apptix customers can easily get access to their Outlook calendars via a mobile phone or landline with this latest announcement. They can use voice prompts to reschedule or alert other participants that a meeting is delayed or that its scheduled time has changed and can also reply to emails by attaching a voicemail message to a distribution list in their Outlook Contact list.

Officials at Apptix said the power of advanced text-to-speech technology together with a hands free device, make it possible to solve many safety and legal concerns while continuing to provide on-the-go business professional with a solution for their needs.

"From email and attached documents to calendar and contact information, Outlook has become a central repository for employees' critical information," said Rick Rumbarger, Vice President of Product for Apptix.

Source: hosted-voip.tmcnet.com

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Exchange Server 2010 Adds New Features to Outlook Mobile

Source: pocketnow.com

Here's a run down of the features: Exchange Server 2010 ActiveSync features

Block/Allow/Quarantine list: You can setup a single list to block/allow mobile devices as needed. You can also quarantine devices such as new untested devices, etc.

Over the Air Update Mode: You can now push new Outlook Mobile updates/new versions to Windows Mobile 6.1 and above. This is really nice since you no longer have to wait for a new Windows Mobile OS version to obtain a new version of Outlook Mobile.

SMS Sync: The ability to send SMS text messages through Exchange and EAS is used to sync SMS message with user’s mobile device.

Benefits of SMS sync:

•User can use OWA, Outlook, and Outlook Mobile to respond
•SMS messages are backed up on the server
•Recipients can respond to messages
•User can switch “screens” while still seeing all their messages

IMAP/POP3 service discovery: You can now autodiscover/autoconfigure the IMAP/POP3 settings from your mobile device by just specifying your email address.

Outlook Mobile features

Conversation View

Reply state: You can now see which emails you have replied to or forwarded.

Conversation actions: You can now ignore threads, move always threads to folders, etc from your mobile device. Ignore thread may become quite a popular feature.

Nickname cache: Very nice that your nicknames follow you now. Especially useful for external recipients you email often.

Voice Card: You no longer have to download the voicemail attached like before (right). You just hit play and hear the VM. The other feature that I really like is the ability to see a transcription of the voice mail in the body of the message. Very useful for meetings, noisy airports, where you can’t play the VM.

Get Free/Busy: It is awesome since you can now at a quick glance from your phone see the Free/busy info vs. breaking out the laptop, etc.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Meeting Workspaces in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

When planning meetings, Microsoft Exchange Server and Outlook allow organizers to compare attendees' calendars and send out meeting invitations. Exchange 2007 also allows users to reserve conference rooms when sending out meeting invitations. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 lets you go one step further. MOSS 2007 can augment Outlook's meeting planning capabilities by creating meeting workspaces.

What is a Meeting Workspace?

A Meeting Workspace serves as a way to prepare for a meeting and a way to report the meeting's outcome once it's done. For example, suppose that you wanted to hold a meeting to discuss your organization's latest press release. You would probably want to make sure that everyone attending the meeting had a copy of the press release. Instead of manually distributing hard copies of the release in the meeting, you could include it in the Meeting Workspace. This way, all meeting attendees have access to the press release ahead of time.

Note: A Meeting Workspace isn't a forum for holding a meeting. The actual meeting will take place in person, over the phone or through an online collaboration forum such as Microsoft LiveMeeting. The Meeting Workspace does not take the place of the meeting's venue.

The anatomy of a Meeting Workspace

What a Meeting Workspace looks like varies, depending on which template is used to create it. Figure 1 shows a basic Meeting Workspace that is made of four elements: Objectives, Agenda, Attendees and a Document library.

Source: searchexchange.techtarget.com

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

How to setup Exchange on iPhone 2.0 Beta 3

Apple made a couple of changes to the Exchange configuration interface on iPhone 2.0 Beta 3. You can no longer enter a host name. When you begin configuring your Exchange account, you're asked to type in your Email, Username, Password and Description. It looks easy enough right? Wrong. If you're like me, you'll enter your email address, your user name, password and an account description. For example, my email address is vincent@iphonebuzz.com, username is vincent_iphonebuzz.com, and vincent exch for description and changeme for the password. If that's all you did, then you're in for a long wait. Make sure you have the server information handy because you'll need it. For the sake of this example, my email server info is webmail.iphonebuzz.com and DOMAIN is IPHONEBUZZ.

setup Exchange on iPhone

The system is trying to work up some magic to set up your account but based on the information provided, it just doesn't know what to do. You're going to end up one unhappy customer unless you know exactly how to enter the info correctly. Using my previous account information, here's the correct way to enter the information so that your iPhone can understand.

exchange server, setup exchange server

* Email: vincent@iphonebuzz.com should be entered as vincent.webmail.iphonebuzz.com
* Username: DOMAIN\username = IPHONEBUZZ\vincent_iphonebuzz.com
* Password: changeme
* Description: Vincent Exch
As soon as you click NEXT, a second field called Server miraculously appears (see image above). You will NEVER see this field if you INCORRECTLY enter info in the initial four fields. Instead, you will get "Verifying Exchange account information" message with the spinning progress icon and it never connects. Next, enter your Server info. In my case, my server is webmail.iphonebuzz.com. Click SAVE to continue. You should then see the same info in the screenshot below. Click Sync and you're good to go. Make sure to take NOTE that all data in your Contacts and Calendars will be erased when you first synchronize Exchange.

Source: http://www.iphonebuzz.com/how-to-setup-exchange-on-iphone-2-beta-3-152196.php

Friday, June 12, 2009

Google targets Microsoft Exchange Server

Search giant Google has kept its enterprise productivity offering - Google Apps - relatively low key until now. But a new plug-in designed to seduce businesses away from Microsoft Exchange Server as their communications back-end.

The clever bit is Google's acknowledgement that many people are just too used to the Outlook user interface to shift wholesale onto Gmail and its future derivatives. So it has created a plug-in called Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook that lets you use Outlook to connect to Google Apps instead of Exchange Server.

This is an intriguing new twist to the Google, Microsoft battle. Just as Microsoft makes its move on Google's home turf with a new search engine, Google ripostes with an attack at the productivity market currently dominated by Microsoft Office. Fun!

Here's a video clip from Google explaining how it all works:



Full view here: http://channel.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=18815

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Is SAN storage supported in Microsoft Exchange Server 2010?

In every Exchange 2010 document, you see direct attached storage (DAS) as the storage medium for Exchange 2010. This is for a number of reasons: The I/O requirements of Exchange 2010 are 10 percent of what they were for Exchange 2003, 30 percent of what they were for Exchange 2007. This means the I/O benefits of a SAN are typically no longer required. The single copy cluster model in Exchange 2007, which required the database to be on shared storage, is no longer supported in Exchange 2010. The only high availability configuration requires every node to have its own copy of the database. DAS is typically much less expensive to purchase than SAN storage.

That's not to say you can't use a SAN for the storage of mailbox data. SANs still have advantages over DAS in terms of Higher disk utilization (when you have dedicated storage on each box a higher percentage is left empty). Central point for backup and generally faster backup/restore technologies. Single point of management.

If you already have a SAN or want to consolidate storage, then you can certainly use a SAN for the storage of Exchange 2010 databases. However, the key item is to make sure you'd don't have any single point of failure. You shouldn't have each Exchange server in a Database Availability Group (DAG) storing its replica of the database on the same SAN, as this makes the SAN a single point of failure.

Look at the messaging for Exchange 2010. Ideally, you should use DAGs with at least three copies of every database. That is a lot more storage and a lot more mail servers, and these servers will all be running enterprise editions of Windows and Exchange, which isn't cheap. The use of DAS over SAN helps offset the cost of additional hardware and licenses.

Many organizations may use the SAN for storage of one copy of the data and then DAS or another SAN for other copies. You can mix DAS and SAN.

Source

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Exchange Server 2010 - New Features to Outlook Mobile

If you're tied to a corporate Exchange account, you may want to push for Exchange 2010 when it gets released into the wild by Microsoft. The new features adds some notable enhancements, including threaded email messages, which offers conversation view grouping by sender, similar to GMail and threaded SMS currently available on Windows Mobile 6.1. There is also voicemail transcription if your voicemail is connected to Exchange, which will transcribe your voicemail into true "visual voicemail."

Here's a run down of the features:

Exchange Server 2010 ActiveSync features

Block/Allow/Quarantine list: You can setup a single list to block/allow mobile devices as needed. You can also quarantine devices such as new untested devices, etc.

Over the Air Update Mode: You can now push new Outlook Mobile updates/new versions to Windows Mobile 6.1 and above. This is really nice since you no longer have to wait for a new Windows Mobile OS version to obtain a new version of Outlook Mobile.

SMS Sync: The ability to send SMS text messages through Exchange and EAS is used to sync SMS message with user’s mobile device.

Benefits of SMS sync:

•User can use OWA, Outlook, and Outlook Mobile to respond
•SMS messages are backed up on the server
•Recipients can respond to messages
•User can switch “screens” while still seeing all their messages

IMAP/POP3 service discovery: You can now autodiscover/autoconfigure the IMAP/POP3 settings from your mobile device by just specifying your email address.

Outlook Mobile features

Conversation View

Reply state: You can now see which emails you have replied to or forwarded.

Conversation actions: You can now ignore threads, move always threads to folders, etc from your mobile device. Ignore thread may become quite a popular feature.

Nickname cache: Very nice that your nicknames follow you now. Especially useful for external recipients you email often.

Voice Card: You no longer have to download the voicemail attached like before (right). You just hit play and hear the VM. The other feature that I really like is the ability to see a transcription of the voice mail in the body of the message. Very useful for meetings, noisy airports, where you can’t play the VM.

Get Free/Busy: It is awesome since you can now at a quick glance from your phone see the Free/busy info vs. breaking out the laptop, etc.

Source: http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=7500