Windows Server Security 2008 Support Services

This post provides Windows Server 2008 Security Guide. This guide provides instructions and recommendations to help strengthen the security of computers running Windows Server® 2008 that are members of an Active Directory® domain.

In addition to the guidance that the Windows Server 2008 Security Guide prescribes, this Solution Accelerator provides tools, step-by-step procedures, recommendations, and processes that significantly streamline the deployment process. This guide not only provides you with effective security setting guidance. It also provides you with a reproducible method that you can use to apply the guidance to both test and production environments.

The key tool that this Solution Accelerator provides for you is the GPOAccelerator. The tool enables you to run a script that automatically creates all the Group Policy objects (GPOs) you need to apply this security guidance. The Windows Server 2008 Security Guide Settings workbook that accompanies this guide provides another resource that you can use to compare and evaluate the Group Policy settings.

Microsoft engineering teams, consultants, support engineers, partners, and customers have reviewed and approved this prescriptive guidance to make it:
• Proven. Based on field experience.
• Authoritative. Offers the best advice available.
• Accurate. Technically validated and tested.
• Actionable. Provides the steps to success.
• Relevant. Addresses real-world security concerns.

Microsoft has published security guides for Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 Server. This guide references significant security enhancements in Windows Server 2008. The guide was developed and tested with computers running Windows Server 2008 joined to a domain that uses Active Directory® Domain Services (AD°DS).

Exchange Server Support for Backups and Single Item Recovery

Naturally after understanding the features included in Exchange 2010, a logical follow up question is "Do I still need backups for single item recovery?" The answer depends on your backup requirements and your capacity planning.

Today many customers minimize the deleted item retention window, yet they maintain long backup retention time periods (from 14 days to several months to years).

Let's consider a customer that currently maintains backups for 90 days and only retains deleted items within Exchange for 5 days. This customer is performing backup restores on a weekly basis to recover deleted items for end users. If the customer moved to Exchange 2010 they could move that process into Exchange by simply increasing their mailboxes capacity for dumpster: This post Contain the exchange server support tips to make backups and single Item Recovery.

• Users send/receive 100 messages per work day and have an average message size of 50KB
• Single Item Recovery is enabled and the deleted retention window is configured to be 90 days
• 10% of items are edited
• Mailbox capacity calculations

o 5 work days * 100 emails = 500 emails / week
o For Purges:
+ 500 emails / week * 13 weeks = 6500 emails / retention period
+ 6500 emails * 50KB ? 318MB
o For Versions:
+ 500 emails / week * 13 weeks = 6500 emails / retention period
+ 6500 emails * .1 = 650 emails
+ 650 emails * 50KB ? 32MB
o Total Space Required per mailbox: 350MB

By increasing each mailbox's capacity by a minimum of 350MB, backups are no longer needed for single item recovery. Single item recovery can be maintained and performed within Exchange.

But let's not stop there. What if the requirement is that items must be recoverable for 1 year? Assuming the same assumptions used in the previous example with the exception that deleted item retention is now configured for 365 days, each mailbox needs an additional minimum 1.4GB of space.

Ultimately, if the storage subsystem is planned and designed appropriately and mailbox resiliency features are leveraged, traditional point-in-time backups can be relegated to a disaster recovery mechanism, if they are even needed at all.

How Managed Exchange Can Increase Your Business?

Managed Exchange can help your business by converting Microsoft Outlook from an email communication device into a critical work tool. Get Better access to critical and frequently used information, Book or reserve popular shared company resources and Coordinate your daily schedules through personal calendar tools by Managed Exchange.

Staff can access their email and Outlook work tools (mentioned above) through a number of web-enabled devices such as: Desktop PCs, laptops, PDAs with GPRS, WAP mobile phones with GPRS, Blackberry mobile devices with GPRS. Data is constantly synchronized and updated, so no matter how staffs access their work tools, they always have the most up-to-date information when online. It helps staff be more organized and get more out of their day.

Managed Exchange is ideal for any business whose staffs need to work together using frequently shared information and need to have flexible access to critical work tools such as email, contacts and calendar when they cannot make it into the office.

Service providers Managed Exchange Solution allows smaller businesses to leverage all of the functionality of Microsoft Exchange, without having to cover the associated capital and operating costs associated with running an Exchange Server in-house. Managed Exchange is also suitable for small businesses with limited IT resources because all service providers are able to manage the back-end for you.

Your Managed Exchange service can generally be activated within one business day. For larger, customized configurations, service provider will arrange with you a suitable timeframe for activation of your service. You can get protection from spam, viruses and malware before they reach your network. No software, hardware or user training required.

How To Resolve OST Synchronization Error

In Microsoft Outlook, an offline folder (.ost file) is a locally stored file that is synchronized with your mailbox contents stored on Microsoft Exchange Server. The folders empower you to access them even when the mail delivery or network service is not available. The file converts into a usable .pst file as the synchronization process succeeds. But there can be several synchronization errors, due to which your .ost file might become unusable. In such cases, you might need to restore its contents from a backup stored as a .pst file. If it is not feasible, you should use a third-party tool to Convert OST to PST.

For an instance, you use Microsoft Outlook 2002 or 2003 with an offline folder. You press F9 to synchronize your .ost file with your Exchange Server mailbox, but fail to do so and come across the below error message:

"The file .ost cannot be accessed because it has been configured for use with a different mailbox."

If you close the application and try to perform synchronization again, you receive the same error message.

The Reason:
As the error message suggests, this error is encountered if you are attempting to synchronize the mailbox with an .ost file that is configured to use a different server or e-mail account. This usually occurs if you perform these steps in order:

You synchronize your .ost file with the mailbox 2-You perform some changes in name of either e-mail server or mailbox in your email account profile.

Doing so makes the current .ost file unusable.

Best Possible Solution
Create a new email profile with the desired account settings and restore data using any of the below solution:

1. You can then include the .pst files maintained as a backup of previous .ost file.


2. You can also copy this information to a .pst file from your mailbox after changing the changed email settings back to the original state.


3. If applying the above solutions are not possible, Convert OST to a usable .pst file.

Convert OST to PST are powerful applications that are competent to convert an usable .ost file into a usable .pst file after any type of crash.

Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Desktop is an effective utility that converts an .ost file into a .pst file. It can Convert OST by maintaining data integrity. Designed to perform safe file conversion, this utility can restore all file objects including emails, notes, journals, tasks and more. It is compatible with Outlook 2003, 2002, 2000, 98 and 97.

Benefits of Small Business Server Exchange 2003

Microsoft small business server 2003 is designed for organizations with up to 50 computers who need high-level reliability and functionality but don't have the economy of scale that allows big corporations to sop up the cost and complexity of licensing best-of-breed enterprise software. SBS 2003 is a cost effective and simple way to form a solid foundation for an information network with enterprise-level security, connectivity, performance, and reliability.

Windows SBS 2003 will be available in standard and premium editions. The standard edition includes Microsoft SBS 2003 and window server 2003. Small business server 2000 included earlier versions of these products. The premium edition adds Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft Internet Security and Accelerations Server.

Advantages of Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 include:

• Windows 2003 server management and security tools deduct the cost and enhance the dependability of desktop computers by using centralized user policies, rights and configurations.


• SBS exchange 2003 enhances remote and mobile access by supporting a web client that offers a nearly full implementation of the familiar outlook interface, including calendaring and tools. It means that mobile workers can have complete, secure access to email from any internet-connected computer with a standard web browser.


• Windows SBS server 2003 maximizes server uptime and user availability by incorporating powerful fault tolerance aspects, including disk mirroring, cluster configurations, and distributed file system.


• SBS exchange 2003 uses active directory, providing a greatly simplified administration and security model. It makes exchange server monitoring very easy and also offers complete security. Security enhancements include improved safe and block lists and junk email filtering, public folder permission enhancements and attachment in MOOWA (Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access).


• ISA server features ideal support for protecting IIS servers behind the firewall, which have been the largest areas of hacker exploits for windows 2000 environments.

Microsoft Exchange Server Troubleshooting

The Windows Exchange Server software suite is developed and supported by Microsoft. Microsoft Exchange is used to download, manage and organize email, contact data and calendars on a server network. The Windows-based Exchange server is also often used for mobile data, such as email on a smartphone. Occasionally, errors may be encountered when working within the Exchange framework. Learn how to troubleshoot the Windows Exchange Server network to identify problems and restore your Exchange server's functionality.

You can troubleshoot the exchange server very easily and efficiently with the following given steps;

1. Restart the computer or mobile device with which you are trying to access the Microsoft Exchange server. Occasionally, the issue may be due to software or hardware problems that interrupt the data transfer between the device and the server. These issues can often be easily solved by shutting down the hardware and rebooting the operating system. On a computer, click the "Start" menu and select "Shutdown" or "Restart." On a mobile device, press and hold down the power button or consult the manufacturer's manual.


2. Launch Internet Explorer. Visit the Microsoft Exchange support website. See the Resources section below for a link. Read the list of "Top Issues" published on the top of the web page. This list catalogs all current issues and problems that may be experienced by Exchange users, as well as solutions to the errors. Also, check that all Exchange patches and upgrades have been installed on the server. If you are a businessperson trying to access your company's Exchange server, you typically would not have permission to install upgrades. Contact your company's IT department for assistance in keeping your Exchange products synced with the latest Microsoft Exchange upgrades.


3. Download the official "Microsoft Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant." This program is developed and hosted by Microsoft specifically to pinpoint critical problems on an Exchange server and guide you through fixing the problem. Visit the Microsoft Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant website and click the "Download" button. See the Resources section for a link.


4. Click "Save" in the dialog box that pops up in the Internet Explorer browser. Wait for the download to finish before closing the browser. Depending on the speed of your Internet connection, this may take several minutes.


5. Double-click the "Microsoft Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant" icon on your computer desktop to begin the automated installation process. An installation wizard will appear to guide you through the process. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.


6. Open the "Microsoft Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant" by clicking the "Start" menu and selecting the program from the pop-up menu. Run the Troubleshooting Assistant and wait for it to generate a report on the status of your Exchange server. The Assistant will scan both the local machine and the server to determine where any potential problems may exist. If it identifies a problem, the assistant will give you a report on how to successfully solve the problem and fix the issue.

If you still unable to resolve the issue, please login at http://www.iyogibusiness.com

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

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

Mimosa NearPoint for Microsoft Exchange Server 1.0

With an innovative approach to archiving Exchange data on the fly, Mimosa NearPoint for Microsoft Exchange Server 1.0 offers a robust solution for storing and maintaining corporate message data. Though you need some expertise and server capacity to set it up, once this solution is running, it largely succeeds at simplifying the lives of both administrators and end users.

We've all deleted or misplaced an important message in Exchange. Instead of having IT search through backup files, with NearPoint, users can search past messages (even deleted ones) using keywords and other criteria via the Quick Search option in Outlook. Matching results from the Mimosa archive are displayed, along with a message preview window, so you can find lost e-mails. An advanced search option presents more filter options and mimics Outlook's own search capabilities.

Better yet, NearPoint automatically moves user's e-mail attachments into its archive so that they are stored there instead of in user mailboxes. The admin tool let us define and tweak such rules with ease using criteria such as attachment size and message date. This ingenious approach essentially automates the all-too-common chore of users having to clean out mailboxes. We like the reporting available in the admin console, as well. There are about a half dozen reports here, including a useful size and usage report—a must to keep track of the growth and health of your Mimosa archive.

When it comes to installation, Mimosa ranks as one of the more challenging solutions that we've run up against. Setup requires a capable server (or two) with plenty of disk storage space. (One terabyte of disk space is recommended. RAID support is a virtual must for archiving.) Administrators will need to know their Exchange server infrastructure well and do capacity planning based on the number and size of user mailboxes.

Once Mimosa's MMC console is installed, it's exactly what busy IT administrators need to gain complete control over Exchange archiving. The console lets you perform both large and small tasks—like restoring an entire server, as well as individual mailboxes—with ease, along with support for scheduling jobs.

An additional potentially time-saving option in NearPoint allows designated "auditors" to search across multiple mailboxes to find relevant messages, which may be required for organizations meeting regulatory requirements or facing a legal discovery process. Behind the scenes, NearPoint admins can set policies for saving executive-level messages for a period of years, for example, to meet corporate standards. In accord with these policies, messages will be automatically saved or purged from the archive over time.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1922263,00.asp

How to Creating mail users in Exchange Server 2007

Mail users are actual accounts in your Active Directory, but their email does not reside within your Exchange environment; they use their own messaging system, Hotmail account, etc. This may sound a lot like a contact, but the difference is that a contact is an object that represents someone who neither has a mailbox in your Exchange environment nor an Active Directory account, whereas the mail user still has an Active Directory account.

To create a mail user in the Exchange Management Console, begin by navigating to the Mail User node under Recipient Configuration in the console tree. In the action pane, click the New Mail User link (Figure A) to start the New Mail User Wizard.



Navigate to the Mail User node:-



Beginning the New Mail User Wizard:-

Since you are creating a user within Active Directory, you first need to provide user account information on the User Information page of the wizard, as shown in Figure 3-35. Then, because the user will utilize an outside messaging system, you will need to provide his or her external email address, as shown in Figure 3-36.



Provide account information when creating a new mail user:-



Used For Referrence: http://searchexchange.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid43_gci1333150,00.html

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

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

Exchange Server 2007 SP1 review

When it released Exchange Server 2007 at the beginning of last year, Microsoft admitted to dropping a number of the expected features in order to meet its deadline. Some of these were new to the 2007 product, but others were already available in Exchange Server 2003, causing more than a little concern among customers looking to upgrade. It comes as no surprise, therefore, to find many of these features reinstated in Service Pack 1 (SP1) in a clear attempt to finally deliver the product that Microsoft originally promised.

Along with the usual performance enhancements and bug fixes, one of the new features is, naturally, support for Windows Server 2008, with SP1 required if you want to host Exchange Server 2007 on that platform. Otherwise you’ll need Windows Server 2003 with the SP2 update applied to run Exchange Server 2007 SP1. As before, the latest implementation is designed for 64-environments, although it can be deployed on 32-bit servers for unsupported testing and evaluation purposes.



Exchange Server 2007 SP1 fills in a lot of those gaps. For example, POP3/IMAP4 server settings can now be configured from the Exchange Management Console (EMC) just as before. Public folders can, similarly, be managed from the EMC again, along with user Send As permissions. With the original release, these options all had to be configured via the Exchange Management Shell (EMS), requiring programming skills that are not normally available in smaller companies. The Move Mailbox tool has also been enhanced in this release to allow import and export to personal folders.

The Outlook Web Access (OWA) Premium client in Exchange Server 2007 SP1 is yet another component to benefit from the return of lost functionality. This includes the ability to manage personal distribution lists from a browser, create and maintain custom rules, recover deleted items and select a monthly calendar view — all of which were dropped when Exchange 2007 was first launched. Support for S/MIME is similarly reinstated, but only when using IE 7.0; the list of attachments that can be converted to HTML in a message (WebReady Document Viewing) is also extended to include more of the Office 2007 formats. However, there are still document components that can’t be viewed this way.



Conclusion

The Exchange Server 2007 SP1 update can be downloaded free of charge. At 840MB it’s not small, but it can be used to install a fresh copy of Exchange as well as upgrade existing code. We found it straightforward to apply and would recommend anyone already on the new platform or installing Exchange for the first time to get hold of it. Upgrading from an earlier version of Exchange, however, can be problematic, and the support forums are full of customers who have experienced problems.

Careful planning and testing is, therefore, advisable even with this new and improved implementation. It's also still very much an enterprise solution, and there's no news yet about a small-business version of Exchange Server 2007.

Source:zdnet.co.uk/

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

HP surprises itself with virtual Exchange servers

As the volume leader in the x64 server racket, Hewlett-Packard was an early and enthusiastic supporter of VMware and its ESX Server hypervisor for virtualizing servers. But with HP (or rather, Compaq) having long ago established that systems management is one of the key control points in a customer account - and VMware wanting to get more into management tools - the potential for head butting is pretty high.

IT shops don't like head-butting any more than they like finger pointing when something goes wrong, of course, which is why HP was all lovey dovey as it made announcements this week at the VMworld 2008 show in Las Vegas.

HP owns the entire virtualization stack on its Itanium-based Integrity server line, so it doesn't have to partner. Said another way, VMware and Citrix Systems are not supporting Itanium processors with their respective ESX Server and XenServer hypervisors, leaving HP little choice but to create the Integrity Virtual Machine hypervisor from code buried inside HP-UX. Integrity VMs support HP-UX, Linux, Windows, and OpenVMS partitions on Integrity iron and are distinct from the vPar and nPar partitions that HP 9000 servers had.

In any event, HP says that its Insight Dynamics VSE systems management tool, which provisions and manages physical and virtual servers, can interact with and integrate with VMware's VirtualCenter tool, which manages the ESX Server hypervisor and its add-ons. The exact nature of this integration was not detailed, but what users of both sets of tools undoubtedly want is to have all the features of both with whatever interface they are used to seeing - and to be blissfully unaware that there are two tools at work.

With more companies wanting to virtualize Windows and Exchange Server setup to provide fault tolerance and disaster recovery, HP has launched the Virtual Exchange Infrastructure service to help customers plan and implement a virtualized Exchange Server 2007 email and groupware setup running atop VMware's Infrastructure suite of tools (which includes ESX Server for carving up VMs on the iron and management tools to care and feed them). HP says that it can show companies how to virtualize and consolidate their Exchange setups without interrupting day-to-day operations.

"It is somewhat surprising to me the number of people who are interested in this," explains Doug Strain, marketing manager for software in HP's Enterprise Storage and Servers group. "I assumed that our large customers would be more interested in doing bare metal Exchange Servers, and while it is still early days for virtualized Exchange, there is definitely a lot of interest."

One of the reasons why companies might be willing to virtualize big email and database workloads is because the x64 architecture now has hardware-assisted processor, memory, and I/O virtualization that allows VMs to be run without such a punishing performance penalty.

On the disaster recovery front, HP and VMware have integrated their respective tools so they work together on VMs. Specifically, VMware's Site Recovery Manager add-on for ESX Server now knows how to play nicely with HP's Continuous Access Replication software in its EVA midrange disk arrays, which replicates data between mirrored disk arrays. According to Strain, about 85 percent of the virtualized environments that HP has setup using ProLiant and BladeSystem X64 iron for customers uses some kind of shared storage (NAS, iSCSI, or Fibre Channel SAN), and most people probably assume it is all running on high-end XP arrays.

Not so. The midrange EVA arrays, which marry well with the two-socket servers that are for now the standard virtualization iron, are getting a lot more traction. And HP's low-end MSA arrays do not have the recovery and storage virtualization features that enable a DR setup.

Another key EVA feature now certified to deal with VMware VMs is Data Protector, which backs up software onto tape. Data Protector now waits for VMware's Consolidated Backup, which gathers all the copies of VMs into one place, before shoving archives out onto tape.

HP also said that its thin clients have been certified to be supported by VMware's Virtual Desktop Manager 2.1 software, a management program for virtualized PCs being fed from server instances to thin clients. HP announced a set of virtual desktop services to help customers figure out how to get rid of PCs and replace them with servers fronted by thin clients.

Source:theregister.co.uk/2008/09/19/hp_vmware_services/

IBM Follows Through on Data Protection for SMBs

Just three months since it acquired continuous data protection (CDP) startup FilesX, IBM has rebranded its solution as IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) FastBack and today began pushing its own version to market.

CDP, also known as continuous backup, has been growing in importance as a way for companies to better ensure their files are safeguarded. The process automates file backups each time a change is made, enabling offices to not only restore lost files, but also to reconstruct files as they appeared at any point in the past.

In particular, such offerings are lower-cost offerings aimed at helping small business support (SMBs) and remote locations -- which typically lack dedicated IT staff -- deal with mounting storage concerns.

"There is more data being distributed and companies want consistent data protection strategies," John Connor, product manager for TSM FastBack, told InternetNews.com.

Big Blue said the ease of managing FastBack's disk-based, block-level storage approach makes it suitable for small and remote offices that have little tech support.

"This eliminates issues with backup windows and provides near-instant recovery," Connor said.

FastBack, which IBM acquired earlier this year, also represents a second try on the technology, Lauren Whitehouse, an analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, told InternetNews.com.

IBM initially had attempted to tweak its TSM top-end product to create a data protection tool tailored for small to midsized firms, called TSM Express. But it wasn't a perfect approach, Whitehouse said.

"They scaled down the comprehensive offering but the TSM Express really didn't meet the need as it was still hefty to manage," she added. Instead, the new FastBack offering "is the next generation of that approach."

Still, for Big Blue, being able to swiftly integrate the product and assimilate it into its sales channel shows its proficiency at technology mergers, Whitehouse said.

"They have the formula for taking in technology they acquire and getting it rolled out in an impressive time frame," she added.

The new offering serves to build on IBM's storage flagship, the venerable Tivoli Storage Manager. IBM also said the new FastBack offering, which has been melded into TSM, complements its CDP software for laptops and desktops, IBM Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files.

Along with FastBack, IBM also introduced FastBack for Microsoft Exchange server and FastBack for Bare Machine Recovery, designed for system and server migrations. Together, the bundled components are sold as TSM FastBack Center.

While the suite is currently offered only for Windows platform, IBM has plans to develop additional versions, it said.

Source:internetnews.com/storage/article.php/3762211/IBM+Follows+Through+on+Data+Protection+for+SMBs.htm

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>>
Microsoft release Exchange Servers
Exchange Server 2003
Exchange server support

Exchange Server 2003

Exchange Server 2003 (v6.5) debuted on September 28, 2003. Exchange Server 2003 (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. Some features previously available in the Microsoft Mobile Information Server 2001/2002 products have been added to the core Exchange Server product, like Outlook Mobile Access and server-side ActiveSync, while the Mobile Information Server product itself has been dropped. Better anti-virus and anti-spam protection have also been added, both by providing built-in APIs that facilitate filtering software and built-in support for the basic methods of originating IP address, SPF ("Sender ID"), and DNSBL filtering which were standard on other open source and *nix-based mail servers. Also new is the ability to drop inbound e-mail before being fully processed, thus preventing delays in the message routing system. There are also improved message and mailbox management tools, which allow administrators to execute common chores more quickly. Others, such as Instant Messaging and Exchange Conferencing Server have been extracted completely in order to form separate products. Microsoft now appears to be positioning a combination of Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server, Live Meeting and SharePoint as its collaboration software of choice. Exchange Server is now to be simply e-mail and calendaring.
Source:wikipedia.org

Exchange server support

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.