MSExchange.org Monthly Newsletter of May 2007 Sponsored by: GFI Software

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. The New Exchange Server 2007 Certification Track

Welcome to the May 2007 edition of the MSExchange.org newsletter! In this newsletter I wanted to give you an insight into what's going on in the Exchange Server 2007 certifications arena.

Back in November 2005, Microsoft Learning introduced a new generation of Microsoft certifications that are more specific and targeted to reflect the detail of what you do and to prove your expertise to those who need to know. The new certification program consists of three series and four credentials; the new generation of Microsoft certifications provides a simpler and more targeted framework for IT managers to validate core technical skills, professional skills, and architectural skills. It also provides professionals in the IT industry with a more relevant, flexible, and cost-effective way to showcase their skills.

In the following you can see a framework of the new generation certification program:

Figure 1: Framework of the New Generation Certification Program

As you can see the new certification program framework consists of three different skill sets; core technical skills, professional skills, and business IT skills.

The Technology Series certifications enable professionals to target specific technologies and distinguish themselves by demonstrating in-depth knowledge and expertise in the broad range of specialized technologies. Microsoft Technology Specialists are consistently capable of implementing, building, troubleshooting, and debugging a particular Microsoft technology.

The Professional Series credentials validate a comprehensive set of skills required to be successful on the job. These skills include design, project management, operations management, and planning, and they are contextual to the job role. By validating a more comprehensive set of skills, these credentials give candidates and their hiring managers a reliable indicator of on-the-job performance.

The Microsoft Certified Architect Program identifies top industry experts in IT architecture. These prestigious professionals have a minimum of 10 years of advanced IT industry experience, have three or more years of experience as a practicing architect, possess strong technical and managerial skills, and form an elite community. Unlike other industry certifications, this credential was built and is granted by the architect community. Candidates must pass a rigorous review by the Review Board, which consists of previously certified peer architects.

One of the first product certification paths that were changed to match this new certification program was the Exchange Server product. Well let me be honest and say you still can become an MCSE: Messaging certified on Exchange 2003, but in order to be certified in Exchange Server 2007, you now have to take three completely new exams. The first one is the 70-236: Exchange Server 2007, Configuring exam, which when passed will give you the title of Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Configuration or in short MCTS: Exchange 2007 Configuration (note that the 70-236 also counts as an elective in your quest for the MCSE: Messaging credentials). The second is the 70-237: Designing Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 exam, which is one of the exams that must be passed in order to become a Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Messaging Administrator. The last one is the 70-238: Deploying Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 exam, which isn't live yet, but will be on June 28, 2007.

Note:
Both the 70-237 and the 70-238 are design exams.

As you can see, back on the framework diagram, you also have the option of becoming a Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA), which when talking about Exchange Server, is called Microsoft Certified Architect: Messaging (MCA: Messaging). There are currently 78 certified messaging architects worldwide, and should you be interested you can read much more about this program here.

For additional information about the Exchange Server 2007 certifications, I can recommend you check this live meeting and then of course the Microsoft learning portal.

Until next time, happy studying ;)

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:

• Mobile Messaging with Exchange Server 2007 - Part 2: Managing Mobile Devices
• Managing Exchange Server 2007 using a Windows XP workstation
• Exchange 2003 System Mailboxes
• Exchange 2007 Anti Spam Migration Tool
• Exchange 2007 Messaging Records Management (Part 1)
• Mobile Messaging with Exchange Server 2007 - Part 1: New Device Features and Improvements
• Understanding Transport Agents (Part 1)
• Exchange 2007 Message Queues

4. KB Articles of the Month

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

• Appointments are not displayed correctly in Outlook Mobile Access
• How to use the IPsec.vbs program to export an SMTP relay list from a computer that is running Exchange Server 2003
• A changed reminder time is not updated on a mobile device even when you successfully perform a resynchronization in Exchange Server 2003
• Event ID 459 is logged, and the following error message may be logged after you perform an online backup of an Exchange Server store: "HRESEBACKUPTRUNCATELOGS() failed with HRESULT: 0xc7ff1004"
• How to use the IPsec.vbs program to export an SMTP relay list from a computer that is running Exchange Server 2003
• MS07-026: Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange could allow remote code execution
• Users receive a "The page cannot be displayed" error message, and "Connections_refused" entries are logged in the Httperr.log file on a server that is running Windows Server 2003, Exchange 2003, and IIS 6.0
• You cannot install Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 on a Windows Small Business Server 2003-based computer that has the Exchange Server Intelligent Message Filter v2 installed

5. Tip of the Month

There's been a lot of requests for step by step guides on how you can set up shared hosting in Exchange Server 2007, the good thing is Lyle Epstein (AKA GoldenDog in the MSExchange.org forums) has written a comprehensive guide on how you do exactly that. The guide can be found here and should you have any questions to Lyle after reading it, you can post them in the Exchange Server 2007 forums here on MSExchange.org.

Great work Lyle! :)

6. MSExchange Links of the Month

A comprehensive anti-spam and antivirus solution at Microsoft

http://technet.microsoft.com/library/bb430746

Exchange security documentation: What's new and who's who

http://technet.microsoft.com/library/bb430747

Configuring Permissions in Exchange Server 2007

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90671

Operations Management and Monitoring of an Exchange Server 2007 Organization

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90697

Managing Mailbox Features in Exchange Server 2007

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90672

Management Interfaces in Exchange Server 2007

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90698

Technical Architecture of Exchange Server 2007

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90699

Exchange Server 2007 Planning

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90700

Are you struggling to choose the best high availability solution for your Exchange 2007 organization?

http://technet.microsoft.com/library/bb310754

TechNet Magazine: Explore new mobile messaging capabilities with Exchange 2007

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/05/mobility/default.aspx

Generating Active Directory accounts by using the mailbox information in the mailbox database in Exchange 2007

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/05/18/439276.aspx

Quick-Start Guide to Configuring POP3 and IMAP4 in Exchange 2007

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/05/16/439093.aspx

Resource scheduling in Exchange Server 2007

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/05/14/438944.aspx

Exchange 2007 setup logs and how to use them to troubleshoot setup

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/05/07/438433.aspx

How Transport Selects Certificates for TLS

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/05/03/438266.aspx

Exchange 2007 Autodiscover and certificates

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/04/30/438249.aspx

7. Ask Henrik Walther a question

I have - since my three part article series on the new cluster continuous replication (CCR) feature included in Exchange Server 2007 - gotten a lot of questions revolving around the recommendations I made when it comes to the amount of storage groups in such a setup. These recommendations were perfectly valid during the Exchange Server 2007 beta 2 days, but today it's recommended you create as many storage groups as you want to (of course not more than the maximum amount supported, which is 50), as long as you have configured the servers according to the recommendations in the Exchange Server 2007 documentation.

Since I became aware of several consultants around the world who have used my article series on CCR as the basis for their CCR design documents, I thought it was a good idea to remove this recommendation although the article series was written back in the beta 2 days.