Several editions of Exchange Server 2013 are available,
including Exchange Server 2013 Standard and Exchange Server 2013
Enterprise. The various server editions support the same core features
and administration tools. For reference, the specific feature differences
between Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition are as follows:
-
Exchange Server 2013 Standard
. Designed to provide essential messaging services for
small to medium organizations and branch office locations. This server
edition supports up to five databases.
-
Exchange Server 2013 Enterprise
. Designed
to provide essential messaging services for organizations with
increased availability, reliability, and manageability needs. When you
are running Cumulative Update 2 or later, this server edition supports
up to 100 databases (including all active databases and copies of
databases) on a particular server.
Real World
Microsoft provides a single binary for x64 systems, and the same
binary file is used for both the Standard and Enterprise editions. The
license key provided during installation is what determines which
edition is established.
You can use a valid product key to upgrade from a trial edition to
the Standard edition or the Enterprise edition of Exchange Server 2013
without having to reinstall. Using a valid product key, you can also
upgrade from the Standard to the Enterprise edition. You can also
relicense an Exchange server by entering a new product key for the
installed edition, which is useful if you accidentally used the same
product key on multiple servers and want to correct the mistake.
There are several caveats. When you change the product key on a
Mailbox server, you must restart the Microsoft Exchange Information
Store service to apply the change. Additionally, you cannot use product
keys to downgrade editions. To downgrade editions, you must uninstall
Exchange Server and then reinstall it.
You can install Exchange Server 2013 on servers running full-server
installations of Windows Server 2008 R2 as well as on a full-server
installation of Windows Server 2012 RTM or R2. You cannot install
Exchange 2013 on servers running server core or minimal server
interface. With Windows Server 2008 R2, you must reinstall the server
using the full installation option. With Windows Server 2012 RTM or R2,
you must convert the server core or minimal server interface
installation to a full installation by running the following command
from an elevated PowerShell prompt:
Install-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra, Server-Gui-Shell -Restart
The specific editions supported are as follows:
-
Windows Server 2012 RTM or R2 Standard or Datacenter
-
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
-
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
-
Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter RTM or later
A
client accessing an Exchange server requires a Client Access License
(CAL). With either Exchange Server edition, the client can use a
Standard CAL, an Enterprise CAL, or both. The Standard CAL allows for
the use of email, shared calendaring, contacts, task management,
Microsoft Outlook Web App, and Exchange ActiveSync. The Enterprise CAL
allows for the use of unified messaging, advanced mobile management,
data loss prevention, and custom retention policies. An Enterprise CAL
is sold as an add-on to the Standard CAL. A client must have one
Standard CAL and one Enterprise CAL add-on to make full use of all
Exchange Server features.
Beyond the editions and CALs, Exchange Server 2013 has several
variants. Microsoft offers on-premises and online implementations of
Exchange Server. An on-premises Exchange Server is one that you install
in your organization. An online Exchange Server is delivered as a
subscription service from Microsoft. In Exchange Server 2013, you can
manage both on-premises and online implementations of Exchange Server
using the same management tools. These implementations can be separate
from each other or you can configure a hybrid installation that allows
single sign-on and easy movement of mailboxes and database between
on-premises and online implementations.
As a prerequisite for installing any server running any on-premises
version of Exchange Server 2013, Active Directory must be at Windows
Server 2003 forest functionality mode or higher. Additionally, the
schema master for the Active Directory forest along with at least one
global catalog server in each Active Directory site and at least one
domain controller in each Active Directory site must be running one of
the following operating systems:
-
Windows Server 2012 RTM or R2 Standard or Datacenter
-
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise
-
Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter RTM or later
-
Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise (32-bit or 64-bit)
-
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter RTM or later
-
Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later (32-bit or 64-bit)
-
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with SP2 or later (32-bit or 64-bit)
Additionally, Exchange Server 2013 supports IPv6 only when IPv4 is
also installed. When you deploy IPv6, Exchange servers can send data to
and receive data from devices, clients, and servers that use IPv6
addresses. Although you can disable IPv4 so that only IPv6 is enabled,
Exchange still requires that IPv4 be installed. Further, the domain
should be configured to use multiple-label DNS names, such as
cpandl.com or adatum.local, rather than single-label DNS names, such as
cpandl or adatum. However, single label names can be used.
You
install Exchange 2013 using Exchange Setup. Exchange 2013 requires
Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.5 and Windows Management Framework
3.0, which are included with Windows Server 2012 RTM or R2 (but not
included with Windows Server 2008 R2).
Other requirements depend on whether you are installing a Mailbox server or a Client Access server:
If you don’t install these additional components prior to running
Exchange Setup, the Readiness Checks will fail and links to these
resources will be provided. If this happens, you can use the links
provided to obtain and install the components and then simply tap or
click Retry to have Setup perform the readiness checks again. Once
these checks pass, you’ll be able to continue with the installation.
Exchange 2013 has a new set of management tools, including Exchange
Admin Center, Exchange Management Shell, and Exchange Toolbox. When you
install a Mailbox server or a Client Access server, the management
tools are installed automatically. You can use Exchange Setup to
install the management tools on domain-joined computers running 64-bit
editions of Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8 or later as well.
Although there are no prerequisites for Windows 8 or later, there
are several prerequisites for Windows 7. Windows 7 computers must have
Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.5 and Windows Management Framework
3.0 installed. You also must enable IIS 6 management compatibility by
adding the IIS 6 Management Console, which is a feature that can be
enabled using Control Panel. In Control Panel, select Program and then
select Turn Windows Features On Or Off. In the Windows Features dialog
box, under Internet Information Services, Web Management Tools, IIS 6
Management Compatibility, select IIS 6 Management Console, and then tap
or click OK.
Exchange Server 2013 uses the Windows Installer (the Installer) and
has a fully integrated installation process. This means you can
configure Exchange Server 2013 much like you can any other application
you install on the operating system. The installation can be performed
from a command prompt as well.
You
install Exchange 2013 only on domain-joined computers. Whether you use
the Standard or Enterprise edition, you have similar options. You can
install an internal messaging server by selecting the individual server
roles to install and combining the Mailbox role and Client Access role
as required for your environment. Generally, you will not want an
internal Exchange server to also be configured as a domain controller
with a global catalog.
When you start an
installation, Setup checks the system configuration to determine the
local time zone, the operating system, the logged-on user, and the
status of the registry keys related to Exchange Server 2013.
Installation will fail if you are trying to run Setup on an operating
system that isn’t supported or if a required service pack is missing.
You’ll also run into problems if you start Setup without using elevated
administrator privileges.
After checking the system configuration, Setup allows you to check
for updates to the installation process, provided the server has a
connection to the Internet. Setup then checks available space on the
%SystemDrive% to ensure a temporary folder under
%SystemDrive%\Windows\Temp\ExchangeSetup can be used during the
installation process. About 1.3 GB of space is needed for the working
files.
When done copying its work files to the temporary folder, Setup
tries to connect to a domain controller and validate the state of
Active Directory. If Setup cannot find a domain controller or
encounters other errors when validating Active Directory, the
installation process will fail and you’ll see related errors during the
readiness checks.
Important
By default, Setup chooses a domain controller in the local domain
and site. In order to determine the domain information and contact a
domain controller, the computer on which you are installing Exchange
2013 must be domain joined and have properly configured TCP/IP
settings, and DNS name resolution must be properly configured in your
organization. Because Active Directory site configuration also is
important for installing Exchange 2013 and setting up an Exchange
organization, ensure Active Directory sites and subnets are properly
configured prior to installing Exchange 2013.
Once connected to a domain controller, Setup selects a global
catalog server to work with and then looks for an Exchange
Configuration container within Active Directory. Setup next determines
the organization-level operations that need to be performed, which can
include initializing Active Directory, updating Active Directory
schema, establishing or updating the Exchange organization
configuration, and updating the domain configuration.
As you continue through Setup, you’ll be able to select the server
roles to install, the install location, and more. With the exception of
the working files, which are copied to the temporary folder, no changes
are made until the server passes the readiness checks. Normally, even
when problems are encountered, Setup will continue all the way to the
readiness checks. As part of the readiness checks, Setup checks for
required components, such as those listed previously.
Other required components include Windows Features that Setup will
install automatically if they aren’t already installed. These features
include Desktop Experience, many components of IIS, Windows Identity
Foundation, and the administrative tools for clustering. Although you
can manually install these features, it’s a long list, and Setup will
do the work for you if you let it.
Exchange 2013 includes the following anti-spam capabilities:
-
Sender filtering
. Allows
administrators to maintain a list of senders who are blocked from
sending messages to the organization. Administrators can block
individual senders by email address. Administrators also can block all
senders from domains and subdomains.
-
Recipient filtering
. Allows administrators to block message delivery to
nonexistent recipients, distribution lists for internal users only, and
mailboxes for internal use only. Exchange performs recipient lookups on
incoming messages and block messages, which prevents certain types of
attacks and malicious attempts at information discovery.
-
Sender ID verification
. Verifies that incoming email messages are from the
Internet domain from which they claim to come. Exchange verifies the
sender ID by examining the sender’s IP address and comparing it to the
related security record on the sender’s public DNS server.
-
Content filtering
. Uses intelligent message filtering to scan message
content and identify spam. Spam can be automatically deleted,
quarantined, or filed as junk email.
Tip
Using the Exchange Server management tools, administrators can
manage messages sent to the quarantine mailbox and take appropriate
actions, such as deleting messages, flagging them as false positives,
or allowing them to be delivered as junk email. Messages delivered as
junk email are converted to plain text to strip out any potential
viruses they might contain.
-
Sender reputation scoring
. Helps to determine the relative trustworthiness of
unknown senders through sender ID verification and by examining message
content and sender behavior history. A sender can then be added
temporarily to the Blocked Senders list.
The way you use these features will depend on the configuration of
your Exchange organization. If you’ve deployed legacy Edge Transport
servers, you enable and configure these features on your Edge Transport
servers. Otherwise, you enable and configure these features on your
Mailbox servers.
Exchange 2013 also has anti-malware capabilities, which are enabled
by default. Malware scanning is performed on all messages at the server
level, as messages are sent or received. When users open and read
messages in their mailboxes, the messages they see have already been
scanned. Exchange Server checks for updates to malware definitions
every hour. Exchange downloads the malware engines and definitions
using a TCP connection over port 80 from the Internet.
Tip
Normally, you’ll manually perform the first download of the
anti-malware engine and definition updates prior to placing a server
into production so you can verify that the initial process was
successful and then configure default anti-malware policy prior to
users having access to a server.
Although these anti-spam and anti-malware features are
extensive, they are not comprehensive. For comprehensive protection,
you can pair these features with a cloud-based service, such as
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection. By combining the built-in
anti-spam and anti-malware features with a cloud-based protection
service you can set up substantial, layered protection. Additionally,
if you use a third-party anti-malware solution for Exchange 2013, you
can disable the built-in anti-malware filtering.
