MSExchange.org Monthly Newsletter of April 2007 Sponsored by: EqualLogic

Welcome to the MSExchange.org newsletter by Henrik Walther, Exchange MVP, Exchange 2007 MCTS, MCSE Messaging/Security. Each month we will bring you interesting and helpful information on Exchange Server. We want to know what all *you* are interested in hearing about. Please send your suggestions for future newsletter content to: henrik@msexchange.org

1. Outlook 2007 Performance Issues Finally Resolved

Hello everyone and welcome to the April 2007 edition of the MSExchange.org newsletter! I hope all of you had a great Easter

In the previous newsletter I quickly went through some of the new features and improvements that we can expect to see in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1. Guess what? The first beta version of Exchange 2007 SP1 was released to MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers last week! Bear in mind though that only the x64 version can be downloaded from the MSDN site, but both the x86 and x64 versions can be downloaded from the TechNet site. I've already tested many of the features in the service pack intensively, and by the time you read this newsletter, my first Exchange 2007 SP1 article, which uncovers the new Public Folder Management console, should already have been published here on MSExchange.org.

The download file for the x64 version is a whopping 734MB! What? I hear some of you scream. Yes that's correct, but the reason behind this craziness is that the SP1 updates have been rolled directly into the bits of the original Exchange 2007 RTM version, so you can both upgrade an existing Exchange 2007 RTM installation or perform a clean installation of Exchange 2007 SP1 (that is install Exchange 2007 SP1 in the same manner you would perform an installation of Exchange 2007 RTM). For more information about Exchange 2007 SP1 beta and how you install it, see the Exchange 2007 SP1 Release Notes.

Other noticeable things that have happened in the Exchange 2007 update arena lately is that a hotfix for Outlook 2007, which resolved the performance issue you experienced with large PST or OST files, has finally been RTWed. This hotfix can be downloaded here. Additionally, the first update rollup for Exchange 2007 has RTWed. This update can be downloaded here. The issues fixed are listed in this MS KB article.

That's all for this time! Should you have any ideas for content in future editions of the MSExchange.org newsletter, you're more than welcome to shoot me an e-mail at Henrik@msexchange.org.

2. Order Henrik Walther's Exchange Server 2007 book

3. MSExchange.org Learning Zone Articles of Interest

We have a great group of articles in the Learning Zone that will help you get a handle on your most difficult configuration issues. Here are just a few of the newer and more interesting articles:

• Managing Public Folders with Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Beta
• Exchange Server 2007 Email Routing, Part 2 - Exchange Server Configuration
• Troubleshooting Mailbox Manager Policy Application
• Installing Exchange 2007 into a Small Business Server 2003 Domain Part 2 - Organizing Exchange and your Network
• Securing SMTP Message Flow between different Exchange Server 2007 organizations
• Backing Up Exchange Databases via the Passive Node in an Exchange Server 2007 CCR Cluster
• Moving an Exchange Server 2007 Database between Mailbox Servers
• Auditing Mailbox Access Using Exchange System Manager and Event Viewer
• Disk Performance Testing with Jetstress 2007

4. KB Articles of the Month

Here are some interesting and useful MSExchange related articles posted by Microsoft in the last month:

• A response from a meeting request recipient is processed as a new attendee when the meeting request recipient cannot be resolved to an Active Directory contact
• A snapshot copy backup of a storage group fails and Event IDs are logged in the Application log in Exchange Server 2003
• You cannot see the SMTP addresses of external contacts in an e-mail message in Outlook Web Access
• The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service does not start successfully on an Exchange 2003 server
• E-mail messages that are tracked in Exchange System Manager display an incorrect tracked time
• Web services such as Exchange ActiveSync or Outlook Web Access unexpectedly stop working after an automatic hotfix installation
• The To field of a message in the Sent Items folder displays question marks for Japanese display names, for Chinese display names, or for Cyrillic display names
• Error message when you use a Windows Mobile 5.0-based device to synchronize messages with a mailbox on an Exchange 2003 server: "0x86000108"
• A deleted SMTP domain remains in the metabase after you restart an Exchange 2003 server
• The parsing of the "From:" header or of the "body From" header does not function as expected on an Exchange 2003 server
• The Inetinfo.exe process may unexpectedly stop responding on Exchange Server front-end servers when you run the IMAP service in Exchange Server 2003
• The DirSync process is not completed, and a document is not imported into Active Directory in Exchange 2003
• The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service encounters virtual memory fragment issues on an Exchange 2003 server
• The performance counters of the MSExchangeNMC object do not work on the server that is running Exchange Server when you use Exchange Server 2003 Connector for Lotus Notes
• The IsAlive check fails, and the Exchange 2003 cluster server fails over when you use an Outlook client to try to access the free/busy folder
• The Accept button, the Decline button, the Tentative button, and the Propose New Time button are unavailable in an Outlook meeting request
• Non-delivery report (NDR) messages are not sent to original users after an administrator clicks "Delete (with NDR)" in Exchange Server 2003 Connector for Lotus Notes
• The Exchange Server 2003 Migration Wizard for Lotus Notes crashes with an access violation when the wizard processes a Lotus Notes e-mail message
• A memory leak occurs on an Exchange 2003 server, and the server becomes unresponsive after it runs for several days
• Lotus Notes DocLinks in e-mail messages are replaced with bitmap icons in Exchange 2003
• Microsoft Exchange 2007 Information Store may fail to start after reboot

5. Tip of the Month

You want to be an Exchange 2007 Management Shell guru but are primarily a GUI admin, and therefore have a steep learning curve in front of you? Fear not. This is where Quest's PowerGUI tool comes into the picture. PowerGUI is a freeware tool with an extensible graphical administrative console for managing systems based on Windows PowerShell. These include Windows OS (XP, 2003, Vista), Exchange 2007, Operations Manager 2007 and other new systems from Microsoft. The tool allows you to use the rich capabilities of Windows PowerShell in a familiar and intuitive GUI console.

You can read more about PowerGUI as well as download the tool and available snap-ins here. There's even a demo which shows you just how efficient this tool is. Check out the demo here.

6. MSExchange Links of the Month

• Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007 Released
• Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration v4 Released
• Outlook 2007 Performance Issues Fix Released
• Exchange Server 2007 SP1 BETA Released to Subscribers
• Managing Transport in Exchange Server 2007
• What Administrators Will Want to Know about Exchange 2007 Features for Information Workers
• Using the Exchange Management Shell for Bulk Recipient Management
• Customizing the look of OWA 2007
• Look how easy setup is for Exchange Server 2007
• SAN Certificates and ISA Server 2006/
• Release Notes for Exchange Server 2007 SP1

7. Ask Henrik Walther a question

QUESTION: I'm of the understanding that since an Edge Transport server (which I know should be deployed in the perimeter network) uses a local ADAM store to replicate configuration and recipient data with the Active Directory domain on the internal network, using the EdgeSync service, this also means that the Edge Transport server cannot be a domain-member server, but must be a stand-alone box?

ANSWER: Although it's generally recommended to deploy an Edge Transport server as a stand-alone box, this isn't correct. Let's imagine we have a perimeter network consisting of 10 Edge Transport servers. Because these 10 Edge Transport servers in most situations should be configured identically, it would make sense to add all of them to an Active Directory forest dedicated to the perimeter network. This way it's much easier to apply the same security settings, etc, to the servers. Actually Microsoft's own IT group, which currently has 6 Edge Transport servers deployed in the perimeter network, uses this approach.

But with the above said, you should never add the Edge Transport servers to the Active Directory domain on the internal network.