MSExchange.org Monthly Newsletter of November 2007 Sponsored by: LiveOffice

Welcome to the MSExchange.org newsletter by Henrik Walther, Exchange MVP, MCA: Messaging (Exchange Ranger) Apprentice, MCTS/MCITP Exchange 2007, MCSE 2003 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. Benefits of using Windows Server 2008 with your Exchange 2007 Servers

Welcome to the November 2007 edition of the MSExchange.org newsletter!

Last month we talked about the considerations revolving around upgrading to Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1). This month I want to explain some of the benefits of using Windows Server 2008 servers with your Exchange Server 2007 servers. As you now know, with Exchange Server 2007 SP1 (which is just around the corner), Exchange Server 2007 will both support Windows 2003 Server and Windows Server 2008 as the base operating system (OS) for each Exchange 2007 server role (you can even mix Exchange 2007 servers running Windows 2003 Server and Windows Server 2008). Bear in mind though, that the Server Core version of Windows Server 2008 isn't supported by Exchange Server 2007, although running Exchange Server 2007 on this version could have been a lot of fun for PowerShell gurus. :-)

Okay, so how will I benefit from using Windows Server 2008 as the base OS in my Exchange Server 2007 messaging environment? There are several reasons why you would consider using this OS over Windows Server 2003, of course depending on your topology, requirements and needs.

• IPv6 Support
  By default both Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) are enabled in Windows Server 2008 and yes Exchange Server 2007 SP1 supports both IPv4 and IPv6. When IPv6 is enabled and configured on the Exchange 2007 servers in your messaging environment, they will use IPv6 to communicate with each other (even though IPv4 is enabled as well as IPv6 has precedence). But there is one limitation though, and that is the network interface card (NIC) on each Exchange 2007 server running on Windows Server 2008 must have an IPv4 address as well. For more details about IPv6 support in Exchange Server 2007 SP1, see the following link: IPv6 Support in Exchange 2007 SP1.
• Improved Fail-over Clusters (CCR & SCC)
  Because Exchange Server 2007 SP1 can be installed on Windows Server 2008, this also means that the Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) and Single Copy Cluster (SCC) technologies in Exchange Server 2007 can take advantage of the heavily improved fail-over cluster (formerly known as Server Cluster) component in Windows Server 2008. The Windows Server 2008 fail-over cluster component makes it even simpler to deploy CCR and SCC clusters and enhances the stability of the fail-over cluster solution as well as making it more secure than in previous versions of Window Server. For a comprehensive list of fail-over cluster improvements in Windows Server 2008, see the following link: Failover Clustering with Windows Server 2008.
• Real Geographically Dispersed Clusters (GeoClusters)
  As many of you know a combination of Exchange Server 2007 RTM and Windows Server 2003 didn't offer us a real GeoCluster solution, since the network interface for each network on each node had to be connected to the same subnet. This meant you had to use a stretched subnet if you wanted to locate the active and passive nodes on separate physical locations. With Exchange Server 2007 SP1 installed on Windows Server 2008, each node can now reside on different subnets, but bear in mind that all nodes still have to be part of the same Active Directory site. For additional information, see the following link: New High Availability Features in Exchange 2007 SP1.
• DHCP assigned IP Addresses (IPv4)
  With an Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Clustered Mailbox Server (CMS) installed on Windows Server 2008, it's supported to configure the nodes to obtain IPv4 addresses from a DHCP server. Note though that IPv6 addresses cannot be assigned via DHCP. Read more here: Planning for Cluster Continuous Replication.
• Configure Log Shipping (seeding) to occur over specific network
  Although not a feature specific to Exchange 2007 SP1 installed on Windows Server 2008, I thought it was worth mentioning that Exchange Server 2007 SP1 also allows you to specify that log shipping (seeding) in a CCR cluster should occur over at specific network and not via the public network, which is the case in Exchange Server 2007 RTM. Read more here: Planning for Cluster Continuous Replication.
• Windows Server 2008 Quorum Models
  Windows Server 2008 introduces new quorum models so that you can choose a quorum model that suits your fail-over cluster solution better. For example its recommend to use a Node Majority model when you have an odd number of nodes in your fail-over cluster and Node and Disk Majority when you have an even number. In addition it's recommended to use a Node and File Share Majority model, when you plan to deploy a CCR-based fail-over cluster. For additional information about the new quorum models, see the following link: New High Availability Features in Exchange 2007 SP1.
• Improved Client Access Server Performance
  When Exchange Server 2007 SP1 is installed on top of Windows Server 2008; it means the Client Access Server (CAS) role is based on IIS 7.0. This means that you will experience even better performance than with previous Windows Server versions. Especially performance related to Outlook Anywhere (formerly known as RPC over HTTP(S)) has been dramatically improved.

As you can see from the above list, most of the benefits of installing Exchange Server 2007 on Windows Server 2008 are related to high availability, but for many of you it would make just as much sense to run Exchange Server 2007 on top of Windows 2003 Server.

Note:
Windows Server 2008 will not RTM before February 2008.

Until Exchange Server 2007 SP1 RTMs (which is very soon now!), you might want to spend some quality time reading the final version of the Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Release Notes. The document is packed with goodies:

Exchange 2007 SP1 Release Notes

Cheers,
Henrik Walther

Note:
Should you have any ideas for content in future editions of the MSExchange.org newsletter, you are 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:

• Migrating from Domino to Exchange 2007 (Part 6)
• Configuring Exchange Server 2007 Web Services URLs
• Installing Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008
• Shared Hosting with Exchange 2007 (Part 3)
• Securing an Exchange 2007 Client Access Server using a 3rd party SAN Certificate
• Migrating from Domino to Exchange 2007 (Part 5)
• Configuring file-level antivirus software in Exchange Server 2007
• Exchange Server 2007 Edge Server Backup and Cloning
• Exchange 2007 SP1 Mailbox Management Features - Part 1: Importing and Exporting Mailbox data to and from PST files

4. KB Articles of the Month

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

• The W3wp.exe process uses almost 100 percent of CPU resources when you synchronize large e-mail messages in Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2
• List of fixes that are included in the Web releases of the Exchange Server 2003 Notes Tools suite, versions 2.7 through 2.14
• The MOM server reports error 2003 when monitoring Exchange Server 2003-based front-end servers that have security update MS07-040 applied
• Display names that contain DBCS characters in the To box and in the Cc box are corrupted when you access a mailbox on an Exchange 2003 server
• It takes a long time for Outlook Web Access clients to receive a response from a front-end server in an Exchange 2003 environment
• The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service stops unexpectedly for several minutes when you restart a computer that is running Exchange Server 2003
• A user has an e-mail address of @domain.com instead of @domain.com when you create multiple users in Exchange 2003

5. Exchange Webcasts

Momentum Webcast: Protecting Your HP Storage and Microsoft Exchange Server Solution from Disasters (Level 200)
Thursday, November 08, 2007 9:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Rich Bruklis, Product Manager, HP
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032351246&CountryCode=US

6. MSExchange Links of the Month

• Finally GoDaddy offers SAN (UCC) Certificates
• December MMMUG meeting
• Exchange Server 2007 Design and Architecture at Microsoft TWP Published
• Planning, Deploying, and Managing Unified Messaging with Exchange Server 2007
• History Is Made by Those Who Show Up
• Service Pack 1 Highlights
• Exchange Server 2007 Component Architecture
• GalSync Agent for pure Exchange 2007 environments
• Save on GFI's Email Security, Anti Spam and Faxing Solutions in Q4, 2007
• Exchange Server 2007 Deployment Checklists
• Update Rollup 5 for Exchange 2007 Released

7. Ask Henrik Walther a question

QUESTION: Hi Henrik, thanks for the great info!

One question, is there a best practice on which order roles are installed when implemented on separate servers?

Thanks in advance!

Robert

ANSWER: Hi Robert,

The following order is recommended when installing Exchange 2007 server roles on separate boxes:

• CAS
• Hub
• Mailbox
• UM

QUESTION: Dear Henrik,

I was reading through your articles on msexchange.org and came across your email. Please I need your help, we have exchange 2007 and Server 2003 installed recently.

My problem is this: How can I integrate exchange in Active Directory because each time I create an account I need to login again to exchange to create the mailbox?

Thanks a lot
Brahim

ANSWER: Hi Brahim,

With Exchange 2007 the Exchange Product group moved away from creating mail and mailbox-enabled accounts, distribution groups etc. via the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, you must instead do this via the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell.

For more information on this topic, I recommend you checkout the following blog post on the MS Exchange Team blog:
Exchange Server 2007 and 2000/2003 systems management co-existence

Cheers,
Henrik