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

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

Save With an Online Exchange Server

Get through lean times by watching your business expenses like a dieter tracking calories. Is the cost of your ISP bandwidth and IT support worth hosting your own Exchange Server? Many businesses can save money with an offsite, hosted Exchange Server.

Self-hosting, up-front fees sting the hardest. Let's first figure you'd buy Small Business Server Standard for about $1,000 and a middle-weight server for about $1,500. That'd get you support for five users at an initial cost of about $2,500. Additional user licenses run $77 each. So for a business of about 20, you'd pay more than $3,500 to get started, and you'd likely pay more for help from an IT consultant.

A hosted Exchange Server eliminates these initial costs and ongoing IT maintenance fees. In this situation, hardware, software, and user licenses are billed monthly. Depending on the host and service, expect to pay about $10 a month per user.

Based on this rough 20-person business example, you'd be even with the up-front, $3,500 cost of self-hosting after about 18 months. But that still doesn't factor in your specific, ongoing ISP and IT bills, which could double this figure. And you'll eventually have to pay for hardware and software upgrades, too.

A hosted Exchange Server makes even more sense when you further scrutinize employee needs. Does everyone need the full features of an Exchange account, or can some employees get by with a simpler POP setup?

Source: pcworld.com

Exchange Server 2010 beta by Microsoft

Microsoft has unveiled the public beta of Exchange Server 2010, with the final release slated for year's end.

Among the new features, Exchange Server 2010 will allow users to opt-out of group email threads they're not interested in, and offer a voice-to-text transcription feature allowing voice messages to be stored in the inbox.

Elsewhere, Microsoft's making a big noise over privacy and Exchange Server 2010 will now offer MailTips - a series of configurable warnings that will alert users before they send out mail to large groups, people with their out-of-office switched on and those not on "trusted" organisation lists.

It will also feature to three Gmail innovations: Mail Googles which requires the user to complete a difficult sum before sending an email; Undo Send, which holds the email for ten seconds in case the user immediately regrets pressing the send button and wants to stop it going out. Outlook will also now present mail in threads, a feature pioneered by Gmail.

From: pcpro

Download Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Beta

Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Beta is available for download via TechNet and MSDN. Both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Exchange Server 2007 SP1 beta can be accessed through TechNet. At this point in time, MSDN users may be experiencing problems with the x86 version of Exchange Server 2007 SP1 beta.

Microsoft has made the Release Notes for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 since March. The notes will provide comprehensive guidance through the new features that SP1 will bring to the table but also on how to install the service pack, the issues that customers are most likely to face and the adjacent workarounds.

The release of the first beta for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 was announced since back in February by representatives of the Microsoft Exchange Team. It appears that the Redmond Company is right on track with the development of the first service pack. According to Microsoft, Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 will be made available in the second half of 2007.

"As far as hardware requirements are concerned, SP1 will not change the existing Exchange 2007 RTM system requirements. Regarding the operating system, SP1 for Exchange 2007 will require Windows Server 2003 SP2. This will be a hard dependency for installation, so the operating system must be upgraded to Windows Server 2003 SP2 before you upgrade the Exchange 2007 RTM installation to Exchange 2007 SP1, or before installing a fresh build of Exchange 2007 SP1," Ed Banti, Technical Product Manager on the Exchange Server marketing team, revealed.

Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Exchange-Server-2007-Service-Pack-1-Beta-Available-for-Download-51698.shtml

Next version of Outlook Web Access to actually support popular browsers

Microsoft announced on Thursday that the next version of the Exchange server, Exchange 14, will have a few useful new features including, finally, full support for browsers other than Internet Explorer.

A Microsoft demo video shows full Web access to the Exchange e-mail server from Firefox running on Vista, and Safari on OS X. The Web access product is now called Outlook Live. University users of Microsoft's free hosted e-mail service (Exchange Labs) will get the beta of the service shortly. It appears that corporate users, who know of Web access to Exchange servers as Outlook Web Access, will get it when their companies upgrade to the Exchange 14 platform. Exchange 14 is expected either late in 2009 or in 2010.

Outlook Live will also give users a threaded conversation view, useful for tracking e-mails that get more than a few replies. And the online app will integrate IM (as Gmail does), although it will likely only connect to users of Microsoft instant messaging servers.

Since corporations are generally very conservative in their upgrade plans for electronic mail platforms, business users (like my CNET co-workers) should not expect access to Exchange 14 until, at the earliest, several months after the release of the product. Until then, users who want full-featured access from a Web browser to their Exchange e-mail servers are advised to keep a copy of Internet Explorer handy on their desktop.

Source:http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10163423-2.html

Five dos & Don't for Exchange Server 2007

5 must-dos:-

• Read, read, read. Everything... but especially what is found on the Microsoft Exchange Team blog.
• Look up various MVP sites for Exchange. These folks post information for free regarding their personal experiences. It's a key.
• Nothing beats experience. Work through the how-tos in my book to ensure you have more than head knowledge.
• Try and attend at least one Exchange oriented conference each year. Tech Ed is a good one, TechMentor, Windows Connections, TEC. I speak at most of these and I love attending sessions and learning from other Exchange gurus.
• Teach someone else. You never learn a subject so thoroughly as when you have to teach it to others.

5 don'ts:-

• Don't install the wrong version of Server when working with high availability options. If clustering services are involved, you need the enterprise version of the Server.
• Don't install just an Exchange server. You need to see how the client side will work. Install an OS with Outlook 2003 and 2007 to really make sure you know what is going on in the user world. Don't forget to play with Outlook Web Access too.
• Don't forget to learn how to set up your true incoming and outgoing SMTP connections. Typically in a learning environment you don't worry about that because you aren't working with a live server, but it is a must if you plan on putting a real server out on the Net. DNS records and so forth... it's all important.
• If you're working with Unified Messaging, don't forget to bring in a telephony expert. Most likely, you won't fully understand the configuration for the back end without help.
• Don't think you can rely completely on the GUI. Exchange has a few PowerShell-only configuration options. Get reacquainted with the command-line, my friend. It's not disappearing and any Exchange guru worth his title these days is a command-line lover.

Source: http://www.itworld.com/unified-communications/62208/five-must-dos-exchange-server-2007-and-5-donts?page=0%2C1

Microsoft plans critical patches for IE, Exchange

Microsoft Corp. today said it will deliver four security updates on Tuesday, two of them pegged "critical," and will finally issue a patch for SQL Server that it's been working on since last April.

The four updates detailed in the advance notice published today will quash bugs in Internet Explorer 7 (IE7); its Exchange mail server software; the Visio application that's part of the Office lineup; and SQL Server. The IE and Exchange vulnerabilities will be labeled critical, the company's highest threat ranking, while the SQL Server and Visio bugs will be marked as "important," one step lower.

That bug is notable for several reasons. When Micosoft confirmed the vulnerability in a Dec. 22 advisory, it noted that exploit code had been published. Several days later, the company admitted that it first received a report on the bug from Bernhard Mueller of SEC Consult Security, a Vienna-based security consulting company, in April 2008.

"Three of these are all equally important, at least with the information we have today," Storms said about the IE, Exchange and SQL Server patches. "It all depends on an enterprise's infrastructure."

Companies are always sensitive to Exchange fixes, Storms continued, so the critical fix set for Exchange Server 2007, 2003 and 2000 will be parsed carefully. "Messaging is so important to the enterprise," Storms said, "that they'll want to spend a little extra time making sure the patch works." One plus, he said, is a "Does not require restart" note by Microsoft in today's bulletin.

"That could mean it's not necessarily a giant hole, or that we're just going to get lucky," said Storms. Because they won't have to restart their Exchange servers, IT administrators should be able to deploy the patch more quickly, he said.

"The IE vulnerability has to be something unique to IE7," wagered Storms. According to Microsoft, the critical vulnerability affects only that version of the browser, not IE6 or IE5.01, the latter edition specific to Windows 2000, and the oldest browser that the company still supports with security updates. Storms hesitated to guess what IE7-only issue might be patched. "It could be any number of things," he said. "Could be scripting or the antiphishing filter."

Microsoft's advance notice reported that the IE7 bug will be rated critical for both Windows XP and Windows Vista, but only "moderate" on Server 2003 and Server 2008.

Microsoft will release February's four updates at approximately 1 p.m. EST Tuesday.

Source: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127438

Gaps found in Microsoft Exchange API documentation

Zarafa Chief Executive Brian Joseph--having ported, as he put it, "all the Exchange features to the Linux platform with full MAPI, said there are significant gaps in the Microsoft documentation released to date. Zarafa makes an e-mail server that is compatible with Outlook

Speaking to ZDNet UK at the CeBIT conference, Joseph said Microsoft's start is not promising: "This could definitely make life easier for developers, but we have spotted over 200 undocumented exceptions, including one that allows you to create recurring calendar appointments in Exchange. It was in the documentation for Exchange 2000, but they forgot to document it for Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007."

Zarafa produces the eponymous e-mail server that runs on Linux and is used by enterprises such as car-rental company Sixt, which recently migrated its entire e-mail server infrastructure to Zarafa. Zarafa uses the MAPI open standard to communicate to e-mail clients such as Outlook. While Microsoft Exchange uses MAPI too, it also uses a large number of proprietary APIs that let the Outlook client perform actions such as creating recurring calendar appointments on the Exchange server.

"I am very positive about unconditional publication of APIs," said Joseph, "but only time will tell if this is justified, given Microsoft's history. I think hundreds of thousands of developers around the world are very interested in full publication with regular updates, but the devil is in the detail; for policy makers, these gaps in the Exchange documentation should put another light on the value of Microsoft's announcement."

Zimbra Vice President John Robb agreed that Microsoft's announcement is a good move, but again expressed reservations. His company produces the Zimbra Collaboration Suite, which also runs on Linux platforms and servers. The Zimbra Collaboration suite runs 11 million mailboxes through the commercial version of its product and many more through the open-source version.

"The MAPI protocol is open anyway, so that doesn't affect us directly," Robb said, "but we are concerned that Microsoft has not announced which APIs have patent conditions, nor what those conditions are. We're anxiously awaiting details."

Source: http://news.cnet.com/Gaps-found-in-Microsoft-Exchange-API-documentation/2100-7344_3-6233802.html?tag=nw.3

Microsoft Exchange Server and PowerShell: Debate Continues

When Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 was released a little over two years ago, one of the biggest drawbacks in the minds of many admins was its reliance on Windows PowerShell. In fact, some of our readers were quite vocal and angry over this situation. The release of Exchange 2007 SP1 added more functionality to the GUI, Exchange Management Console (EMC), but certain tasks can still only be performed through Exchange Management Shell (EMS).

Last week, KC Lemson posted the first public information about Exchange 14 on the Microsoft Exchange Team Blog and invited people to reply with what features they're most interested in hearing about in the new version. I suppose it should be no surprise that at least part of the reader dialog that followed centered on this issue of PowerShell.

A commenter named Thomas wrote:

"I applaud the efforts to make more management tasks doable via the GUI instead of just in powershell. Exchange 2007 RTM was severely lacking in that respect with even common tasks like Send On Behalf permissions requiring long power shell commands. In small/medium organization's IT depts. we need to be Jack of All Trades (and masters of none) since 2 or 3 man IT depts. don't have the manpower to specialize in Exchange Management and memorize the long powershell commands."

Taking up the other side of the argument, Hal Rottenberg said:

"If you value your time, then you should be learning PowerShell, regardless of whether you work with Exchange or not. As they say, if you repeat it, script it."

I for one am a big fan of automation. I use Word 2007 just about constantly, and while I like the Ribbon interface, I still use macros with keyboard shortcuts for any functions I use frequently. Yes, it takes a few extra minutes to set those things up, but the benefits in the long run are worth it. Likewise, it seems like scripting common Exchange tasks with PowerShell would be well worth the time investment.

With the release of Exchange 14 looming, and its expected continued use of PowerShell through EMS, I'm wondering how Exchange Server admins are feeling about their management options now. I'd love to hear your stories: If you prefer to work through the GUI, what ways have you discovered to work around limitations in Exchange 2007? Or maybe you were resistant at first but have come to embrace the control EMS gives you. If you're using Exchange Server 2007, you can't avoid PowerShell

Source: http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/101326/microsoft-exchange-server-and-powershell-the-debate-continues.html

Entourage to Exchange Web Services (EWS) Open to Public

Microsoft Tuesday launched a public beta for software that ties Mac users more closely to Exchange mail servers, making good on a promise the company announced earlier this month.

A beta of the Entourage to Exchange Web Services (EWS) client software is now open to the public, said Mike Tedesco, a senior product manager for the company's Mac development group. Previously, the beta had been tested by a handful of corporations running Exchange server and Office 2008 for Mac.

EWS allows the Exchange server itself do most of the heavy lifting, as opposed to WebDAV, which left the bulk of the work up to the client. This results in as much as a 2x speed increase. Also, the improved compatibility means that tasks, notes, and categories are now synced with the server, names can be resolved from the Global Address List over standard HTTP connections (no more VPN!), and improved Autodiscover keeps account settings synced with your Exchange server.

With the beta, Microsoft is moving away from the WebDAV protocol it's used for the last five years to connect Entourage, the e-mail client included in the Mac version of Office, to Exchange, the popular enterprise mail server software. Rather than rely on Web DAV, the beta supports Exchange's native connectivity protocol through an API, putting Entourage on a more equal footing with Microsoft's Windows-based Outlook e-mailer when it comes to synchronizing with Exchange.

Apple licensed Microsoft's ActiveSync technology last March to give iPhone users a way to grab business e-mail from Exchange servers.

The beta also adds some new functionality to Entourage, said Tedesco, including synchronizing tasks, notes and categories in the e-mail program with Exchange.

Users interested in trying the beta of Entourage to Exchange Web Services can apply on the Microsoft Connect site, said Tedesco, but must be running Office 2008 for Mac as well as Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1 with Update Rollup 4, or later.

Source: http://www.techworld.com.au/article/273747/microsoft_unveils_mac--exchange_sync_beta

Microsoft Exchange Server Implementation & configuration

Because of the complexity of Microsoft Exchange Server management and administration, many companies want to consolidate thousands of Exchange users on one server. As a deployment grows, its increasing number of servers can make administrative tasks such as adding, moving, and deleting users extremely time-consuming for Exchange administrators.
Administrators must use a combination of applications to administer and manage the Exchange environment, which makes administration of large implementations more difficult. Future versions of Exchange Server will simplify some of these management and administrative tasks and will enable administrators to perform all Exchange administrative tasks through one application. However, for now, Exchange Server's diversity of tasks and tools leads many companies to want to consolidate as many users as possible on each Exchange Server machine.

Microsoft has been using the Security Development Life cycle (SDL) across its product lines for several years now, and we've seen an across-the-board improvement in product security as a result. As a security practitioner, this situation makes me happy indeed, but as an Exchange Server administrator, I want functional improvements to the product as well. Given that Microsoft is already actively working on the next version of Exchange, I wanted to set down a few things I'd like to see in the Exchange Server of the future.

Keep in mind that for every feature we get, there are other features that don't make the cut. Even with the company's massive resources behind them, Microsoft's developers have constraints that prevent them from adding every desired feature while still meeting their schedules and deadlines. That said, here are a few items from my wish list for the next Exchange release.

Let's start with a relatively easy one: The next version of Exchange should include full support for Outlook Web Access' premium mode in Firefox and Safari. Multiple-browser support is an important check box for the education market (where you're likely to find more people using non-Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers), but it's also something that I would expect to see from the company that pioneered the commercial use of Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) in Web applications--not to mention that Microsoft Office Communicator Web Access and all of IBM's Lotus products already fully support these browsers.

How about certificates? Microsoft Exchange Server has a Certificate Wizard that helps you get the right set of machine names and subject alternative names in your certificate requests. Now that the OCS and Exchange product lines are part of the same business unit within Microsoft, perhaps the two teams could collaborate to produce a single certificate tool that collects all the necessary parameters for certificate requests? Network security and Exchange administrators everywhere would greatly appreciate and benefit from such a feature.

I've heard many requests for running Exchange services on Windows Server Core, the bare bones install option with Windows Server 2008; the obstacle here is that the current version of Windows Power Shell won't run on Server Core. The Windows or Power Shell teams might address this problem on their own; personally, I'd rather they spent their engineering efforts on giving us complete support for running Exchange under Hyper-V.

Source:http://www.earticlesonline.com/Article/Microsoft-Exchange-implementation---configuration/363816

Microsoft Launches Online Exchange, SharePoint

Microsoft on Monday officially launched hosted versions of Exchange and SharePoint, two of its biggest on-premise cash cows, and continued to drive home the message that channel partners have nothing to fear from Microsoft's plan to move all its enterprise apps to the cloud.

Exchange Online and SharePoint Online are part of Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), which also includes Live Meeting and Office Communications Server, although the latter is still in beta and won't be available until next spring.

At a launch event in San Francisco, Stephen Elop, president of the Microsoft Business Division, said companies can reap cost savings of between 10 and 50 percent by moving to Microsoft-hosted SharePoint and Exchange services.

In July at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference, some solution providers were upset by the commission structure for BPOS as well as by Microsoft's revelation that it would take over control of billing customers.

Exchange Online is priced at $10 per user/month, SharePoint Online per user/month is $7.25. Office Communications Server Online will be $2.50 per user/month, and LiveMeeting will be $4.50 per user/month. Microsoft will offer these services in one-year automatically renewing agreements.

At the Monday launch event, Elop insisted that Microsoft has maintained "a deliberate dependence" on its partner ecosystem by offering VARs the chance to develop recurring revenue streams.

To illustrate what Elop described as the "absolutely overwhelming" channel response to Exchange and SharePoint Online, Microsoft had several partners on hand to discuss deployment scenarios. These case studies helped underscore Microsoft's mantra that VARs can adapt their business models by focusing on value-added migration and customization services.

"The whole world is changing. It requires change, but it's representative of what's going on in the market today," said Elop.

Adam Smith, director of marketing at Phase 2 International, a Honolulu, Hawaii-based solution provider, says in the current economic environment, his customers are finding it easier to pay a monthly subscription as opposed to a major one-time capital expenditure.

Smith admits that the Microsoft's WPC announcement was initially ominous for Microsoft hosting partners, but said the practical realities of deploying on-premise Microsoft apps quickly dissolved those fears.

"We've never had a customer who was satisfied with an out-of-the-box, Microsoft application," Smith said. "Every customer, without exception, has required some level of support, training, integration, or customization."

Source: crn.com

How To: Recreate OWA Virtual Directory - Exchange 2007

How To: Recreate OWA Virtual Directory - Exchange 2007. So many times I heard that OWA doesn’t work on Exchange 2007 server. There would be many reason behind it, like permission configuration, missing files, not able to load properly, .net errors etc…

There are different solutions base on various reasons but no one works then you may try by recreating OWA virtual directory which is giving problem.

Check and note the settings of directory in EMC before recreating it, like InternalURL, ExternalURL, Forms-Based Authentication settings ect..

Procedure:

• First step is to identify the directory which is giving the problem.

You can use Get-OwaVirtualDirectory to get the list of virtual directories.

• Now let’s say I have problem while accessing owa directory. Remove it with below command.

Remove-OwaVirtualDirectory “owa (Default Web Site)”

• Now create it again with below command.

New-OwaVirtualDirectory -OwaVersion “Exchange2007″ -Name “owa (Default Web Site)”

Note: if you are recreating other than owa directory which are legacy Exchange directories then you need to use “Exchange2003or2000″ in OWAVersion switch instead of “Exchange2007″

• Now configure the “owa” virtual directory settings like InternalURL, ExternalURL, Forms-Based Authentications etc… & check the OWA by logging with some test users.

Source: exchangeshare.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/how-to-recreate-owa-virtual-directory-exchange-2007

Google Android Adds Microsoft Exchange Support

When Google, HTC, and T-Mobile unveiled the first Android-powered handset in September, many mobile professionals were disappointed with the lack of Microsoft Exchange support. At the time, officials from T-Mobile and Google said that could easily be remedied by a third-party developer.

With this in mind, Wrike and Intermedia have rolled out a free Android application that will enable users to sync their G1s Exchange servers.

The app, ContactsSync, doesn't offer full Exchange syncing, but it does let G1 users load their contacts onto the phone. Changes made on the phone won't be made to your server-based contacts, but the developers said that should change in the future.

The developers also plan full calendar syncing, but e-mail syncing is not in the cards.

"Users can access their e-mail from Exchange using IMAP, so we don't have plans to sync e-mail," Wrike's Valerie Sinitskaya told gadget blog Gizmodo.

Once the application is downloaded onto the handset, setup can be completed by entering your e-mail address and password for the Exchange e-mail account. There is also an advance setup that enables the user to change or manually configure the Exchange Web Services address.

The ContactsSync application can be downloaded here, and it should eventually be in the Android Market.

The G1 will officially launch Wednesday, and users can expect multiple applications to pop up addressing the lack of Exchange support. A full syncing app may not appear in the Android Market until content developers are allowed to sell apps, but it may show up earlier at Handango.

Via:informationweek.com/news/internet/google/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211300019

Difference between MS Exchange Server 2003 and MS Exchange Server 2007

Exchange Server 2003(v6.5)(currently at Service Pack 2) can be run on Windows 2000 Server (only if Service Pack 4 is first installed) and 32-bit Windows Server 2003, although some new features only work with the latter.

Like Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003 has many compatibility modes to allow users to slowly migrate to the new system. This is useful in large companies with distributed Exchange Server environments who cannot afford the downtime and expense that comes with a complete migration.One of the new features in Exchange Server 2003 is enhanced disaster recovery which allows administrators to bring the server online quicker. This is done by allowing the server to send and receive mail while the message stores are being recovered from backup.

Exchange Server 2007 was released in late 2006 to business customers as part of Microsoft’s roll-out wave of new products. It includes new clustering options, 64-bit support for greater scalability, voice mail integration, better search and support for Web services, better filtering options, and a new Outlook Web Access interface. Exchange 2007 also dropped support for Exchange 5.50 migrations, routing groups, admin groups, Outlook Mobile Access, X.400, and some API interfaces, amongst other features.

Key improvements of MCSE 2003. The principal enhancements, as outlined by Microsoft, are

• Protection: anti-spam, antivirus, compliance, clustering with data replication, improved security and encryption
• Improved Information Worker Access: improved calendaring, unified messaging, improved mobility, improved web access
• Improved IT Experience: 64-bit performance & scalability, command-line shell & simplified GUI, improved deployment, role separation, simplified routing
• Exchange Management Shell: a new command-line shell and scripting language for system administration (based on Windows PowerShell). Shell users can perform every task that can be performed in the Exchange Server graphical user interface plus additional tasks, and can program often-used or complex tasks into scripts that can be saved, shared, and re-used. The Exchange Management Shell has over 375 unique commands to manage features of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.
• Unified Messaging” that lets users receive voice mail, e-mail, and faxes in their mailboxes, and lets them access their mailboxes from cell phones and other wireless devices. Voice commands can be given to control and listen to e-mail over the phone (and also send some basic messages, like “I’ll be late”)
• Removed the database maximum size limit. Database size is now limited by hardware capability and the window for backups and maintenance.
• Increased the maximum number of storage groups and mail databases per server, to 5 each for Standard Edition (from 1 each in Exchange Server 2003 Standard), and to 50 each for Enterprise

Source:/blog.test4actual.com/?p=407

Avoid the Top Ten Microsoft Exchange Migration Headaches

Organizations are taking a serious look at Microsoft exchange Server 2007, which sits on the Microsoft Unified Communications platform. Despite its enterprise e-mail, shared calendars, contacts and voicemail integration with e-mail, some administrators are reluctant to adopt the technology, for fear of a lengthy and expensive migration process. But migrating email and data doesn’t have to be such an arduous task. Read on for our tips about how to avoid the most common Exchange migration headaches.

Headache #1: Cost

IT directors can anticipate the following costs when planning an Exchange 2007 implementation: software licenses for Exchange 2007 and any third-party vendor tools; any new equipment to support the migrated platform, including servers, networking equipment and power appliances.

Licensing and equipment costs need not be prohibitive. Prior to launching a migration project, check your license agreements, as you may already own an independent software license for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 or it may be a part of the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement your organization already has in place.

Even with Exchange 2007’s requirement for 64-bit servers, equipment costs may be less then you budgeted. You may be surprised to learn that most of your organization’s current e-mail environment is already running on 64-bit hardware and that you can reuse it if you are careful to select an appropriate migration approach. If you do find that you require new hardware, consider a scalable solution that will make the most of your investment, such as a blade system.

Headache #2: Lack of Time and Resources

When your team is already buried eyeball deep in current projects and responsibilities, the prospect of undertaking a migration project can seem overwhelming. Tasks that will require IT staff time include: assessing current infrastructure; creating the technical architecture plan; preparing a proof of concept or pilot project for testing purposes and evaluating the results; writing a plan for product deployment; provisioning users and settings; and executing the migration while ensuring user functionality. Each of these tasks is equally important and complicated. But with the right third party tool for your migration project, none are impossible. Talk with the support team for the tool you have chosen and map out a migration plan of attack.

Headache #3: Lack of Experience

It’s a good idea to send any staff members that will be handling the migration to training prior to the project. Microsoft holds a number of on-campus sessions throughout the year that are worthwhile.

If sending staff long distances to training sessions isn’t in your budget for this year, there is an alternative: Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) courses were designed to help your staff understand the platform. MOC offers courses, workshops, clinics and seminars at Microsoft IT Academies located in cities around the world. So find one that’s close to you, and it’s a cost effective way for your team to learn the fundamentals about the Exchange 2007 platform.

Headache #4: Business Continuity Options

Researching and selecting which business continuity or disaster recovery options to implement with Exchange 2007 can be difficult.

You should first ignore the technical requirements and capabilities for each method and instead focus on your organization’s functional requirements and recovery situations. Only after you’ve defined your company’s uptime and recovery conditions should you compare these to the options that Exchange Server 2007 offers.

Pay attention to monetary requirements as you work through this process — you may need to cut your requirements if they exceed your budget or ask for a funding increase.

Headache #5: Downtime and Missed Messages

One of the biggest worries when migrating a mail system is downtime and missed e-mails. Proper planning is important to ensure there is no major or unexpected interruptions when redirecting internet e-mail flow and migrating user mailboxes.

If your organization communicates with customers and partners on a regular basis, you may want to consider upgrading or replacing internet facing servers early in the migration process. Inserting one or more Exchange 2007 Hub Transport or Edge servers into your internet e-mail flow is easy to do and helps guarantee that internet mail will be routed to Exchange once the mailboxes are migrated. Depending on your environment, it’s a good idea to learn about external DNS configuration and the forwarding logic of your gateway provider prior to this step.

Headache #6: Establishing Coexistence

The duration of a migration project is wholly dependent upon the size of the organization — it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a year to complete. Users need to be able to message one another and schedule appointments at all times, even while some accounts are on Exchange Server 2007 and others are still residing on the source messaging environment. All employees should see the same global address list, migrated or not.

Everyone should be able to continue work in the shared workspace; changes made to public folders should be visible to any user, regardless of whether he/she is located on the source or the target system. The two messaging environments must coexist effectively.
Coexistence requires synchronization in three key areas: directory, public folder and calendar. The two systems need to be exact copies throughout the migration project. Synchronization should be two-way so that whenever end users update one environment, the change is replicated in the other.

Third-party vendor tools can help with this part of the migration. Look for a product that can synchronize all Active Directory and Exchange data, such as public folders, calendar information and mailbox information.

Headache #7: Migrating from non-Exchange Platforms

Not all organizations are running previous Exchange platforms – some are working with non-Microsoft messaging systems, such as Novell GroupWise orIBM Lotus Notes. Migrations from these platforms to Exchange 2007 are challenging, but not impossible.
Some of the major differences between Exchange and other messaging platforms that can pose a problem are:

• Exchange 2007 uses Active Directory for its user directory; other manufacturers implement their own directories. Maintaining contact information, settings and user profiles are major issues to be taken into account.
• The certificate and encryption services that guarantee communication between users and external contacts are applied differently in alternate messaging platforms.
• Group policies and security models for login and management are different.

There are many solutions in the market that manage migrations from non-Microsoft platforms to Exchange 2007. Companies such as Transend andQuest Software all offer migration products that work with multiple messaging systems. The most important thing to look for in a migration tool is coexistence for migrated and non-migrated users, and a product that guarantees no lost data or downtime. Additional handy features include the ability to automate processes, handle parallel migrations and move archives. Reducing costs and saving staff time are nice functionalities as well.

Headache #8: Storage and Regulatory Compliance

It is critical to evaluate your current environment. Growing organizations often don’t have the mailbox storage quotas or e-mail retention policies needed to maintain database performance. Prior to the migration, assess your current processor, memory and storage use. Talk to legal or human resources to minimize any legal risk and remain compliant with all applicable regulations if you find that mailbox sizes are out of control.

Archiving e-mail before migrating is the best way to reduce the overall volume of e-mail data that needs to be migrated, which can end up saving your organization time and money. Besides lessening storage requirements in the new environment, archiving before you migrate reduces the risk of losing messaging data.

Headache #9: Public Folders

Information stored in public folders will also need to be migrated to the new Exchange environment. The Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 has a new graphical interface for public folder migration and management that helps you easily push the public folder hierarchy from one server to others in the organization.

Rather than migrate all public folders to Exchange 2007, some organizations have decided to move them to SharePoint. Look for a tool that offers automated migration (both individual or on a bulk basis), scheduled migration, content synchronization, permission mapping and multiple migration job handling.

Headache #10: Third-Party Product Integration

Many times through the course of this article, we have suggested using a third-party tool to assist your migration project – modern messaging systems are almost never deployed without one. Third-party integration usually includes one or more of the following: backup agents, antivirus software, message archiving and fax integration. Check with your vendors for versions of their software that support Exchange 2007, as well as guidance for migrating their software.

Test the new versions of software to guarantee that it has the same functionality and that it can run parallel with the old version. If the product has an Outlook component, confirm that it can run with your new version of Outlook.

Source:hdvoice.tmcnet.com

Exchange Topology Discovery in Exchange 2003

To enable Exchange Topology Discovery, we must first enable Agent Proxy and then configure overrides.
1. Enable Agent Proxy configuration on all managed Exchange servers. In the Administration pane, under Administration, Device Management, Agent Managed, right-click on each Exchange server, select Properties, then the Security and check the box Allow this agent to act as a proxy and discover managed objects on other computers. This step will also make exchange cluster instances to appear in the Agentless Managed section.

2.In the Authoring pane of the Operations Console, click Object Discoveries. In the Object Discoveries pane, right-click Exchange 2003 Topology Discovery, point to Overrides, point to Override the Object Discovery, and then click For a specific object of type: Exchange 2003 Role . Select the desired server running Exchange Server 2003 from Matching objects (do it for both), and then click OK . In the Override Properties dialog box, select Override for the Enabled parameter, and then select True from the Override Setting drop-down list. Select the Management Pack to save the override in, and then click OK.
The previous procedures will enable topology view of your Exchange Organization.
More on Microsoft Exchange Server Support>>
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As Windows Server 2008 adoption becomes more widespread many of my clients are asking me about the Windows Server Backup tool and the differences between it and old school NT Backup. The most obvious is that it's a simple backup tool and not at all application aware. In other words when you set it to backup an Exchange server it won't know to truncate logs or create a restorable backup of an Exchange database. According to a recent post by the Microsoft Exchange team this is by design.

Right after we shipped Service Pack 1, we started hearing from customers who were upset with the fact that they cannot take Exchange-aware online backups with Windows Server Backup. These customers had enjoyed the integration of Exchange and Windows Backup (NT Backup) for many years, and for many versions of Exchange and Windows. We also saw quite a but of discussion activity on this issue in various Exchange communities (this blog, internal discussion groups, MVP and MCT communities, etc.).

They also added they are planning to release a VSS-based plug-in for Server Backup that will be Exchange aware. Al thought most enterprises choose a more robust backup solution like Microsoft DPM or Veritas/Symantec, many SMB customers are used to the local NTBackup paradigm and see no reason to change. I think this move by MSFT is a smart one and I applaud their effort to respond quickly to a perceived deficiency in their flagship Server product.