Architecting an Enterprise-Level Exchange Server 2013 Environment (part 3) - Designing Exchange Server Infrastructure

4. Designing Exchange Server Infrastructure

After AD DS and the physical OS has been chosen and deployed, the Exchange Server infrastructure can be set up and optimized for the specific needs of the organization. With these needs in mind, you can do several things to optimize an Exchange Server 2013 setup, as detailed in the following sections.

Determining the Exchange Server Version

When installing Exchange Server, the choice of Exchange Server version needs to be made. As with Windows Server, there are two versions of Exchange Server, Standard and Enterprise. The Standard Edition enables all Exchange Server 2013 functionality except that it does not allow for more than five mailbox databases on a server.

Determining Exchange Server Database Layout

As previously mentioned, the Enterprise Edition of Exchange Server enables the concept of multiple databases, up to a maximum of 100 per server. This enables a greater amount of design freedom and gives administrators more flexibility. This type of flexibility is even more important when designing infrastructures that include multiple copies of a single database.

Outlining Exchange Server Recovery Options

Deploying Exchange Server requires considerable thought about backup and recovery solutions. Because Exchange Server is a live, active database, special considerations need to be taken into account when designing the backup strategy for email.

Microsoft designed Exchange Server 2013 to use the backup application programming interfaces (APIs) from Windows Server 2008. These APIs support the Volume Shadow Copy Service, which enables Exchange Server databases to be backed up through creation of a “shadow copy” of the entire disk at the beginning of the backup. The shadow copy is then used for the backup, so that the production disk is not affected.

Considering Exchange Server Antivirus and Antispam Design

Viruses are a major problem for all organizations today. Email is especially vulnerable because it is typically unauthenticated and insecure. Consequently, design of an Exchange Server implementation should include consideration for antivirus options.

Spam, unsolicited email, has become another major headache for most organizations. In response to this, Exchange Server 2013 has some built-in antispam functionality that enables email messages to contain a spam rating. This helps determine which emails are legitimate, and can be used by third-party antispam products as well.

Microsoft’s anti-malware, antispam, and antivirus engine, previously known as Forefront Protection for Exchange, has now been included natively in Exchange Server, and can be turned on or off as needed.

Monitoring Exchange Server

Email services are required in many organizations. The expectations of uptime and reliability are increasing, and end users are beginning to expect email to be as available as phone service. Therefore, the ability to monitor Exchange Server events, alerts, and performance data is optimal.

Exchange Server 2013 is an organism with multiple components, each busy processing tasks, writing to event logs, and running optimization routines. You can monitor Exchange Server using one of several methods, the most optimal being System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2012. SCOM 2012 is essentially a monitoring, alerting, and reporting product that gathers event information and performance data and generates reports about Microsoft servers. An Exchange Server–specific management pack for SCOM contains hundreds of prepackaged counters and events for Exchange Server 2013. Use of the management pack is ideal in midsize and larger environments to proactively monitor Exchange Server.

Although close monitoring of multiple Exchange servers is best supported through the use of SCOM, this might not be the most ideal approach for smaller organizations because SCOM is geared toward medium and large organizations. Exchange Server monitoring for small organizations can be accomplished through old-fashioned approaches, such as manual reviews of event log information, performance counters using perfmon, and simple Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) utilities to monitor uptime.

5. Integrating Client Access into Exchange Server 2013 Design

Although the Exchange server is a powerful systems component, it is only half the equation for an email platform. The client systems compose the other half, and are a necessary ingredient that should be carefully determined in advance.

Outlining Client Access Methods

Great effort has been put into optimizing and streamlining the client access approaches available in Exchange Server 2013. Not only have traditional approaches such as the Outlook client been enhanced, but support for nontraditional access with POP3 and IMAP clients is also available. The following options exist for client access with Exchange Server 2013:

• Outlook MAPI—Traditional MAPI access remains but is available only over Outlook Anywhere (see its description later in this list), which enables Outlook clients to communicate through any CAS server, not just a specific client access array. Outlook versions that support access to Exchange Server 2013 servers are limited to the 2007, 2010, and 2013 versions of Outlook.

• Outlook Web App (OWA)—The Outlook Web App (OWA) client is now nearly indistinguishable from the full Outlook client, and includes new features such as offline access support.

• ActiveSync—ActiveSync provides for synchronized access to email from a handheld device, such as a Pocket PC, Windows Mobile, iPhone, or other ActiveSync enabled device. It allows for real-time send and receive functionality to and from the handheld through the use of push technology.

• Outlook Anywhere—Outlook Anywhere (previously known as RPC over HTTP) is a method by which a full Outlook client can dynamically send and receive messages directly from an Exchange server over a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) web connection. This allows for virtual private network (VPN)–free access to Exchange Server data, over a secured HTTPS connection.

• Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3)—POP3 is a legacy protocol that is supported in Exchange Server 2013. POP3 enables simple retrieval of mail data via applications that use the POP3 protocol. Mail messages, however, cannot be sent with POP3 and must use the SMTP engine in Exchange Server. By default, POP3 is not turned on and must be explicitly activated.

• Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)—Legacy Interactive Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) access to Exchange Server is also available, which can enable an Exchange server to be accessed via IMAP applications, such as some UNIX mail clients. As with the POP3 protocol, IMAP support must be explicitly turned on.

Each organization will have individual needs that determine which client or set of clients will be supported. In general, the full Outlook client offers the richest messaging experience with Exchange Server 2013, but many of the other access mechanisms, such as Outlook Web App, are also valid. The important design consideration is identifying what will be supported, and then enabling support for that client or protocol. Any methods that will not be supported should be disabled or left turned off for security reasons.