• Overview of the Exchange "12" Server Roles
• Henrik Walther’s Exchange Server 2003 Security book -- Order Today!
• MSExchange.org Learning Zone Articles of Interest
• KB Articles of the Month
• Tip of the Month
• MSExchange Links of the Month
• Ask Henrik Walther a question

1. Overview of the Exchange "12" Server Roles

I'll begin this newsletter with a little introduction to the latest initiative on MSExchange.org. Finally, I have decided to start a blog here on MSExchange.org. There are several reasons behind this decision; some of you might be aware I've been blogging since 2002 (over at my Danish Exchange site - www.exchange-faq.dk), back when blogging still was a very new concept. But since Denmark isn't among the biggest countries in the world, I thought I would try to reach an even larger crowd by starting a blog in English here on MSExchange.org too.

The main purpose of this blog is to get even closer to all you readers of my articles; as well the Exchange admins who hang around on the message boards.

Alright enough blog talk, let's get started with the main topic of this month's newsletter, which is an overview of the different server roles included in the next version of Exchange server, code-named Exchange "12". Exchange "12" gives one the option to install precisely the components required by the organization. The roles can be installed across multiple servers, or you can install all of them on a single server. It all depends on you and your budget.

Exchange "12" is based on the following 5 server roles:

Bridgehead Server (BS)
The Bridgehead Server Role handles routing by using Active Directory (Routing groups have been cut from E12!), as well as applies policies to incoming and outgoing mail messages. The Bridgehead Server will be responsible for all internal mail flow (if a Gateway Server hasn't been deployed in your organization, the Bridgehead server will also be responsible for external mail flow). This server holds the Categorizer, meaning it will perform recipient and routing resolution as well as convert content for messages flowing through the organization. The Bridgehead server also provides the option of filtering spam messages etc; although it's recommended you deploy a gateway server in the DMZ and do the filtering there, before spam as well as malicious messages flow into your organization. As already mentioned, the Bridgehead Server also is capable of applying different message polices (address rewriting, mail flow control, disclaimers and journaling).

The Bridgehead Server is also known as the HUB Transport.

Client Access Server (CAS)
The Client Access Server Role replaces the front-end server role we are familiar with from Exchange 2000 and 2003. This server role enables mailbox access via RPC over HTTP(S), Outlook Web Access (OWA), IMAP4, POP3 as well as Exchange ActiveSync (EAS). Best practice will be to place this server role on your internal network and then publish it using an ISA Server (2006) located in the DMZ. The Client Access Server is also the server which holds the new auto discovery feature, which makes it much easier to configure Outlook profiles, as you publish the Exchange server on your internal DNS servers. You need to install this server role if you plan to provide mailbox access through other clients than the Outlook client.

Mailbox Server (MS)
As the name indicates, the Mailbox Server is the server holding mailbox and/or public folder databases, which contain the user mailboxes and/or public folders in the organization. This server role is therefore required on an Exchange server if you plan on hosting either mailboxes or public folders on it.

Other than that, this server role provides a much richer information worker experience, when it comes to calendaring, resource management, and offline address book downloads etc.

Unified Messaging Server (UM)
The Unified Messaging Server is probably the most exciting role in Exchange "12". This server role combines voice messaging, fax and e-mail into one inbox. As a completely new thing, the mailbox can, with the help of the Unified Messaging server, now be accessed via speech recognition from a phone. You can, among other things, via speech have new mail messages deleted or read, move or delete a meeting in your calendar and much more. For further information you might want to check out the February MSExchange.org newsletter.

Gateway Server (GS)
The Gateway Server role is also new in Exchange. This server role is to be deployed in the DMZ and will handle all inbound and outbound mail flow in your organization. The purpose of this server is to filter out all spam as well as malicious messages before they reach the Exchange server(s) on the internal network. The server will also be capable of encrypting and decrypting messages sent between trusted Exchange "12" organizations.

The Gateway Server is also known as the Edge Server.

That is all for this time. Should you have any ideas for content in future editions of the MSExchange.org newsletter or on my blog, you're more than welcome to shoot me an email at Henrik@msexchange.org.

2. Henrik Walther’s Exchange Server 2003 Security book - Order Today!

By Henrik Walther Are you among the persons who like the articles I write for MSExchange.org? Then this book is definitely for you. It provides you with step by step instructions on how you get your Exchange Server properly secured. The book covers topics such as how to: Secure OWA 2003 (including many real world tips and tricks) Configure and secure SMTP Setup protocol and client encryption Delegate and control permissions Combating spam and virus

Click here to Order your copy today

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:

• Fixing a Damaged or Incorrectly Configured OWA 2003 Installation
• Exchange 2003 and Windows Storage Server
• Exchange 12: The Monad-based Exchange Management Shell
• Configuring ISA Server 2004 as an Exchange Frontend Server in the DMZ (Part 1)
• Sending Email without a Client
• Understanding and using the External Associated Account in Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2003:
• Exchange System Manager and Domain Controller Selection

4. KB Articles of the Month

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

• Cannot book resources in Outlook Web Access
• Send as and Send on behalf permissions in Exchange 2000 Server and in Exchange Server 2003
• How to optimize memory usage in Exchange Server 2003
• How to exclude mailboxes from the Mailbox Manager process
• SMTP messages from Lotus Notes SMTPMTA to Exchange 2000 append @NotesDomain to the sender's address

5. Tip of the Month

If you have begun playing with the new Exchange Management Shell included in Exchange 12 BETA 1, perhaps after reading this article, you probably find it a bit difficult to remember all the new cmdlets, with which you can do all kinds of Exchange management tasks. Well learning takes practice, but you might find it a good idea to have a list of each cmdlet printed out for reference. As you probably know by now, you can type get-excommand and you'll get all the available cmdlets listed in the MSH shell. But in order to have them piped to let's say a .txt file or .doc file you could type get-excommand | out-file c:\excommand.txt or get-excommand | out-file c:\excommand.doc.

6. MSExchange Links of the Month

Jason Langridge (Mr. Mobile) has written a comprehensive 69 page long MS Whitepaper, which covers how to deploy mobile messaging in an Exchange 2003 SP2 organization. This is a "must read" if you're planning on using Windows Mobile 5.0 devices with the MSFP (AKU2) in your organization.

Deploying Mobile Messaging with the Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP) and Exchange 2003 SP2 Whitepaper:

http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonlan/archive/2006/03/17/553951.aspx

Microsoft TechNet: Tech Centers Go Global:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/articles/global.mspx

Microsoft TechNet: Online Resources for Exchange Server Optimization and Community:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/articles/online_resource.mspx

Exchange 12 Beta 1 Community Technology Preview:

http://blogs.technet.com/exchange/archive/2006/03/01/420941.aspx

How to choose server hardware for Exchange 2003 that can be effectively re-utilized for Exchange 12?:

http://blogs.technet.com/exchange/archive/2006/03/13/421914.aspx

Did you see the previous 4 Exchange "12" Webcasts that were transmitted in March? Guess what! Microsoft has scheduled two more in April!

TechNet Webcast: Improvements to Calendaring in Exchange "12" (Level 300)
Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
Paul Tischhauser, Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation
This webcast provides an in-depth look at the enhancements to calendaring in the next generation of Microsoft Exchange Server, code-named Exchange "12." We go into detail on improvements to resource scheduling, the new model for free/busy data, and how these features are implemented in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, formerly code-named Outlook "12", to provide a better end-user experience.

TechNet Webcast: Recipient Management, Permissions, and Policies in Exchange "12" (Level 300)
Tuesday, April 25, 2006 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
Brad Clark, Program Manager Lead, Microsoft Corporation
Learn how to create and manage most types of recipients using the management console and management shell in the next version of Microsoft Exchange Server, code-named Exchange "12," without Recipient Update Service (RUS) running in the background. See how a lower-level administrator can easily become a Recipient Manager without changing the access control list (ACL). This webcast also provides an overview of the Exchange "12" permissions model along with a primer on provisioning address lists, e-mail address policies (formerly recipient policies), unified messaging policies, e-mail life cycle policies, and mobile policies.

7. Ask Henrik Walther a question

QUESTION: I've waited eagerly to get my hands on a copy of Exchange 12 BETA 1. Finally I managed to download it via my MSDN subscription, but during installation I get a very annoying error message. When the setup wizard tries to install the Bridgehead Server role, I get the following error message:

The specified Language is not supported for DSN creation.

What on earth could cause this?

ANSWER: This is a known issue in Exchange 12 BETA 1. Exchange 12 BETA 1 only supports English and Japanese, so in order to fix this issue you'll need to set the regional settings in Windows 2003 Server to one of those two languages. When you have done so, you should be able to install the Bridgehead Server role too.