• Exchange Server 2007 Local Continuous Replication (LCR)
• 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. Exchange Server 2007 Local Continuous Replication (LCR)

Welcome to the May edition of the MSExchange.org newsletter. In this edition I thought I would share some information about the new Local Continuous Replication (LCR) feature included in Exchange Server 2007.

The new LCR feature makes it possible to create and maintain an exact copy of a storage group on an Exchange 2007 Server to a specified location, which typically would be another server or SAN (perhaps even an attached USB drive!). When the LCR copy has been created its currency is maintained through so called change propagation. This change propagation works by copying the production storage group transaction log files to the location of the LCR storage group, where the transaction log files then are replayed into the database(s).

The goal of the new LCR feature is to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) for Exchange Server 2007, and I must say it does so in several areas. It reduces the recovery time used in disaster recovery situations as you can switch to the LCR copy in a few seconds should a production database crash or perhaps because you're going to do some maintenance on one or more production databases. We all know that the costs associated with backups, restores etc. has grown considerably over the last couple of years, especially with messaging servers, but since you, when using the LCR feature, always have an exact copy of a production storage group, it reduces the number of regular backups you need to perform. You should not drop your Exchange backups completely but you could, without any worry, change your Exchange backup schedule from daily to weekly.

Before finishing off with the column for this month's newsletter, I also wanted to mention that Exchange Server 2007 also have another new feature known as the Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR). This is similar to LCR but works with cluster setups instead. I will talk more about this feature in next month's newsletter.

That was 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:

• Load Balancing Exchange Front-End Servers
• Explaining the Exchange 2007 Toolbox
• JetStress Is Your Friend
• Exchange 2003 Mobile Messaging Part 3 - Installing, Administering, and Using the Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync Web Administration tool
• Implementing Captcha Validation with OWA 2003 and Forms-Based Authentication

4. KB Articles of the Month

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

• Event 8197 is repeatedly logged in the Application log on a server that is running Exchange Server 2003 or Exchange 2000 Server
• The Exchange Information Store service stops responding when you perform a search on an IMAP mailbox in Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2
• Error message when you try to expand the Public Folders node in Exchange System Manager if you are running Exchange Server 2003 SP2 on a Windows 2000-based computer: "The operation failed because of an HTTP error 405"
• The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service stops responding after you enable Sybari Antigen for Microsoft Exchange in Exchange Server 2003
• Users see outdated information or no data when users try to view free/busy information for a mailbox that is in a native-mode Exchange Server 2003 organization
• Delivery of e-mail messages is delayed unexpectedly in Exchange Server 2003 SP2
• You receive an error message when you try to perform any editing tasks, or you must click to enable the compose frame in Outlook Web Access
• A PROPPATCH request to update the security descriptor of the public folder appears to succeed, but the update is unsuccessful in Exchange Server 2003
• An Outlook 2003 client cannot connect to the server after a mailbox is moved from Exchange 2000 Server to Exchange Server 2003

5. Tip of the Month

Did you know that the MS Exchange Team blog also known as the You Had Me At EHLO blog had a serious facelift this month? Other than having a much nicer look, the blog now includes a video section, where the MS Exchange team will post videos (or blogcasts if you will) on a regular basis. The videos are relatively short (approximately 10-16 minutes in length) and will contain everything from interviews (similar to those we know from Channel9), howto's etc.

It's also worth noting the blog now has a separate Links page.

6. MSExchange Links of the Month

Welcome to the Exchange Watercooler:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/articles/watercooler.mspx

Microsoft Outlook Web Access 2007 - new features in Beta 1:
http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2006/05/12/427674.aspx

Setting Folder Permissions in Outlook - what really happens?:
http://blogs.technet.com/exchange/archive/2006/05/01/426936.aspx

Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange Server 2003 SRS:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/insider/srs.mspx

Exchange Transactions and the Exchange Database Overview:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/insider/transdb.mspx

Installing Exchange Server 2003 on Windows Server 2003 Local Quorum Cluster:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/insider/installquorum.mspx

Overview of Exchange Server Backup Methods:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/insider/backupmethods.mspx

Troubleshooting Failure to Publish Exchange Management Pack Data for Mailbox Monitoring:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/insider/tb_managementpack.mspx

7. Ask Henrik Walther a question

QUESTION: Hi Henrik,

I bought your book, and I really appreciate it.

I have two questions about using SCW (which didn't exist at the time your book was published) on an Exchange 2003 server:

1. Do you have an article/how-to or template to safely guide a network administrator to secure a Front-End Exchange 2003 server (OWA, OMA, RPC/HTTPS), using Microsoft's SCW tool?

2. Is it recommended to also run SCW on the Back-end Server?

Regards,
Steven Lacroix

ANSWER: Hi Steven,

Great to hear from one of the readers of my book :)

You're right, Windows 2003 SP1 hadn't been release back then, but I can recommend you to use below MS white paper to help you harden your Exchange Servers properly.

Microsoft TechNet: Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Security Hardening Guide:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/library/exsecure.mspx

Hope this helps!

Henrik