1 . Understanding the Prerequisites for Exchange Server 2007
Before installing Exchange Server 2007, it is
important to get acquainted with the prerequisites as many of these
prerequisites outline best practices. As such, you should take the time
to review the prerequisites before implementation to ensure success.
The Importance of .NET Framework 2.0 in Exchange Server 2007
The .NET Framework is a Microsoft Windows
component that allows the ability to build, deploy, and run Web Services
and other applications. Currently, .NET Framework 2.0 is the latest
version. Exchange Server 2007 requires Microsoft .NET Framework, version
2.0, to be installed prior
to implementation. The .NET Framework 2.0 code can be downloaded from
the Microsoft website or it is included as an optional download via
Windows Update or Microsoft Update. For those running the latest
operating systems such as Windows Server 2003 R2, .NET Framework 2.0 is
one of the optional components available by default.
Managing Exchange Server 2007 with the Microsoft Management Console 3.0
The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) was
originally released back in 1996 with the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack.
This was the first time Microsoft released a consistent and integrated
management tool that aimed at standardizing the way administrators
conducted administrative and operational tasks on Microsoft software.
Since 1996, Microsoft has been updating and improving its management
console and releasing new versions. Currently, version 3.0 is the latest
version of the Microsoft Management Console.
Some of these new features include an action
pane, which resides on the right side of the console, that allows
administrators to easily conduct tasks and a redesigned Add or Remove
snap-in that makes it easier to add or remove components into the
console.
Exchange Server 2007 requires the Microsoft Management Console 3.0 to be installed prior to the implementation of Exchange.
Scripting Exchange Server 2007 with the Exchange Management Shell
The Exchange Management Shell (EMS) is a new,
powerful, and flexible command-line interface that allows administrators
the potential to script Exchange Server 2007 tasks, such as automation,
batching, and reporting.
Exchange Server 2007 requires the Exchange Management Shell to be installed prior to the implementation of Exchange.
Running Exchange Server 2007 on Windows Server 2003 Operating System
Exchange Server 2007 is designed to run on
servers running the Windows Server 2003 operating systems. The minimum
prerequisite required to install Exchange Server 2007 is Windows Server
2003 with at least Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003 R2, Standard or
Enterprise x64-bit Editions. Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and
Windows Server 2003 R2 work to enhance security, increase reliability,
and simplify administration for Windows Server 2003.
Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 as a Critical Component for Exchange Server 2007
Like earlier versions of Exchange, components
such as Internet Information Services 6.0 (IIS) and ASP remain critical
components. Because of their importance, they are prerequisites for the
installation and function of Exchange Server 2007.
The
following IIS components (ASP.NET and World Wide Web Service) must be
installed prior to installing Exchange Server 2007. SMTP and Network
News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) are no longer required as it was in
Exchange Server 2000 or Exchange Server 2003.
Exchange Server 2007 Hardware Requirements
Microsoft maintains a list of minimum hardware
requirements to install Exchange Server 2007. Microsoft recommends the
following minimum hardware requirements, which are listed in Table 1.
Table 1. Minimum Hardware Requirements
| Hardware | Minimum Requirements |
|---|
| Processor | Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel EM64T) or AMD Opteron or AMD Athlon 64 processor, which supports AMD64 platform
|
| Memory | |
| Disk space | |
Note
These hardware requirements from Microsoft are
the bare minimum and should not be used in best-practice scenarios. In
addition, hardware requirements can change because of features and
functionality required by the company, for example, the implementation
of Unified Messaging voice mail services or clustering on an Exchange
2007 server can require more memory.
Exchange Server 2007 Now Requires 64-bit Architecture
Microsoft Exchange has been a 32-bit application
running in many organizations since its inception. The 32-bit
architecture could handle the needs of organizations in the past; today,
however, organizations have more demanding messaging requirements than
before, such as higher productivity, high availability, increased mail
traffic, continuous replication synchronization with wireless devices,
access via the Web, and much more. To address these growing needs,
Microsoft will only deliver an x64-bit edition of Exchange Server 2007;
therefore, Exchange can access more processor and memory ensuring higher
performance gains, larger volumes of messages, increased email message
size, increased size of attachments, more users per server, and,
finally, more connected mail clients, such as Outlook Web Access (OWA),
remote procedure calls (RPC), and ActiveSync.
Many organizations and administrators were
originally upset with this decision; however, as x64-bit systems have
become standard server models shipped by most of the major hardware
vendors, the availability and similar cost of x64-bit systems relative
to 32-bit machines as well as the functionality and scalability benefits
of x64-bit has made the migration to x64-bit a significant benefit for
organizations.
In any case, since Microsoft has standardized on
a minimum x64-bit configuration for Exchange 2007, going forward
organizations will require 64-bit hardware to support Exchange Server
2007. An x64-bit edition of the Windows operating system is also
necessary.
Note
If a company is purchasing new
hardware for Exchange 2000 or 2003, it is beneficial to take forward
compatibility into consideration. Companies should purchase x64-bit
servers now so that it is possible to reuse these servers when moving
toward Exchange Server 2007 in the future. In the interim, the 32-bit
versions of Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003 would be
installed. Companies should contact their hardware vendor to verify
compatibility before making purchases.
2. Understanding Active Directory Requirements for Exchange Server 2007
An Active Directory (AD) infrastructure running
on Windows Server 2003 needs to be deployed before an organization can
implement Exchange Server 2007. Exchange depends on the AD services,
including domain name system (DNS) to successfully function. This
integrated relationship between Exchange and AD means the design of AD
can have an enormous impact on the success of Exchange. Mistakes made in
the planning portion of AD and Exchange can prove to be costly and
difficult to correct later.
If AD is already deployed, it is important that
the team designing the Exchange infrastructure have a solid
understanding of the AD environment as their knowledge of AD can
influence the success of the Exchange implementation. Organizations with
an AD infrastructure already in place need to evaluate how Exchange can
fit into their existing environment. If AD has not been deployed, the
organization or team designing Exchange needs to plan their
implementation while keeping in mind their future Exchange installation.
Some of the AD factors that should be considered when deploying Exchange Server 2007 include the following:
Global catalog server placement
AD Sites and Services
Domain and forest functional levels
Flexible Single Master Operations role placement
Permissions needed to install Exchange
Bandwidth and latency
The Importance of Global Catalog Servers in Exchange Server 2007
Similar to Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange
Server 2003, Exchange Server 2007 requires a global catalog server to
function. The global catalog maintains an index of the AD database for
objects within its domain and stores partial copies of data for all
other domains within a forest. Exchange queries a global catalog to
resolve email addresses for users within the organization. Therefore,
failure to contact a global catalog causes emails to bounce as the
recipient’s name does not resolve.
The Importance of Active Directory Sites and Services in Exchange Server 2007
Unlike the previous versions of Exchange,
Exchange Server 2007 no longer utilizes a separate routing topology for
transporting email throughout the organization. Exchange Server 2007 is
AD site aware and leverages AD Sites and Services topology for routing
email between Exchange server roles and does away with Exchange routing
groups and routing group connectors.
Because Exchange Server 2007 does away with
Exchange routing groups and routing group connectors, it is important
that the implementation of AD Site and Services is set up correctly
within the infrastructure. In addition, the use of AD sites increases
efficiency during new server discovery and configuration as this process
is now automated.
Understanding Domain and Forest Functional Levels Relative to Exchange Server 2007
Domain and forest functional levels provide a
way to enable specific new functionality for an AD domain and forest. In
addition, the functional levels also allow for interoperability with
legacy domain controllers such as Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000
Server.
Windows Server 2003 supports three forest functional levels:
Windows
2000 forest functional level supports domain controllers running
Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 Server, and Windows Server 2003. Windows
Server 2003 Interim forest functional level is a special functional
level used to support domain environments that will be upgraded from
Windows NT 4.0. Finally, Windows Server 2003 forest functional level
enables all the new forestwide features of Windows Server 2003 and no
longer supports down-level domain controllers.
Similar to the forest concepts, Windows Server
2003 domains can operate in four different domain modes. Each functional
domain level permits for a different set of domain controllers to
coexist. Windows Server 2003 AD supports four domain functional levels:
Windows 2000 Mixed Domain
Windows 2000 Native
Windows Server 2003 Interim
Windows Server 2003 Native
The Windows 2000 Mixed Domain functional level
allows Windows Server 2003 domain controllers to interoperate with other
domain controllers running Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Server,
and Windows NT 4.0. The Windows 2000 Native domain functionality allows
domain controllers running Windows Server 2003 to interact with domain
controllers running Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 Server. The
Windows Server 2003 Interim domain functional level supports only domain
controllers running Windows Server 2003 and Windows NT 4.0. Finally,
when there are no longer any Windows 2000 Server or Windows NT 4.0
domain controllers, the functional level can be switched to Windows 2003
Native mode.
Note
To install Exchange Server 2007, the Windows
Server 2003 Active Directory domain functional level must be Windows
2000 Server Native or higher for all domains in the Active Directory
forest where Exchange will exist.
Using Flexible Single Master Operations Roles
Active Directory uses a multimaster replication
scheme for replicating directory information between domain controllers.
Certain domain and enterprisewide operations are not well suited for a
multimaster model. Some services are better suited to a single master
operation to prevent the introduction of conflicts while an Operations
Master is offline. These services are referred to as Operations Master
or Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) roles. These roles are
either forest- or domainwide. The forestwide roles include Schema Master
and Domain Naming Master, whereas the domainwide roles include RID
Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Master.
Best practices for FSMO role placement when
designing an Active Directory environment include the following: In a
multidomain model, the Schema Master and Domain Naming Master
should be placed on the same domain controller in the root or
placeholder domain. This server can also host the global catalog
service. For the domain-based FSMO roles, the PDC Emulator and RID
Master should reside on the same server and the Infrastructure Master
should be distributed on a separate domain controller. The
Infrastructure Master should never be placed on a domain controller that
is also configured as a global catalog server. Keeping all FMSO roles
on one server is an option for smaller, single-domain environments, but
provides a single point of failure for key AD components.
The placement of FSMO roles does not have a
direct impact on Exchange Server 2007; however, Exchange does require
the domain controller that is the Schema Master to have Windows Server
2003 Service Pack 1 installed.
Permissions Considerations for Exchange Server 2007
Roles provide a consistent, yet flexible model
for security administration. Roles are similar to the groups used in
Exchange Server 2003. Permissions are applied to the role, and then
members are added to the role. Any member of the role inherits the
permissions that are permitted by that role.
The use of roles simplifies the administrative
work related to security. Additional roles can be created based on job
function, application, or any other logical group of users. With roles,
it is not necessary for an administrator to apply security to each
individual or AD object. Any required changes to permissions for the
role can be made to the role security and the members of the role will
receive those changes.
Exchange Server 2007 has the following four types of roles:
Exchange Organization Administrators
Exchange Recipient Administrators
Exchange Server Administrators
Exchange View-Only Administrators
Table 2 lists these Exchange Server roles and their related high-level permissions.
Table 2. Exchange Server Roles and Permissions
| Role | Permission |
|---|
| Exchange Organization Administrators | Full Control to the Exchange Server organization, including all Exchange properties |
| Exchange Recipient Administrators | Modify Recipient Objects, such as AD users, contacts, groups, DLs, and public folders |
| Exchange Server Administrators | Full Control on local Exchange server, but not the organization, and View Only permissions on the Exchange organization |
| Exchange View-Only Administrators | Read Only Access on the full Exchange organization and domain controllers that have Exchange tools installed |
Note
Members
of the Exchange Organization Administrators role should be controlled
very tightly, similar to domain administrators in AD. Only a limited
amount of administrators who fully understand Exchange Server should be
placed in this group.
