1. Managing Exchange Server 2007 Remotely
Because
Exchange Server 2007 sits on top of Microsoft Windows Server 2003,
there are several inherent options for remotely managing your Exchange
environment. This can allow you to reduce costs by allowing
administrators to manage systems from remote locations, rather than
having the need to physically sit in front of each system.
Commonly used remote management tools include the following:
Microsoft Management Console—
Otherwise known as the MMC, this console provides a unified interface
for most graphical management utilities provided by Microsoft. The
latest revision of the Microsoft Management Console, MMC 3.0, has
improved functionality for snap-ins that were created specifically to
interact with it. The Exchange Management Console is such a snap-in. It
was designed specifically to take advantage of the MMC 3.0
infrastructure.
Remote Desktop for Administration—
Formerly known as Terminal Services in Remote Administration mode,
Remote Desktop for Administration allows administrators to access the
desktop of any computer running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and
administer the server as if they were logged on to the system locally.
However, it is important to note, Remote Administration is NOT
“application serving,” meaning that certain applications might require
special installation scripts or environment management to perform
properly in a remote session. These are provided when you use Terminal
Services through a terminal server, but are not available for Remote
Desktop for Administration. In short, although Remote Desktop for
Administration is an adequate substitute for Terminal Services under
most circumstances, it is not a complete replacement.
Telnet—
Although not the strongest or flashiest of tools, Telnet still comes in
handy for administrators who want to test basic SMTP connectivity on
Exchange servers. To determine if a server is responding to SMTP
requests, enter the following command from a command prompt:
telnet servername portnumber <enter>, where servername is either the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or the IP address of the server you are connecting to, and portnumber is the port the server is using for SMTP messages. For example, by typing:
telnet server1 25 <enter>, you would be contacting the server named server1
on port 25. If the command works properly, and the server is responding
to SMTP requests, you should receive a response that reads something
like:
220 server1 Microsoft ESMTP Mail Service ready at ...
Although
several versions of SMTP servers are in existence, and you might
receive different responses from the server in question, the important
part is that you receive the 220 response with the name of the server
and the version of SMTP.
2. Exchange Server 2007 and 2000/2003 Co-existence
Exchange
Server 2007 can be installed into an existing Exchange 2000/2003
organization. This method of introduction will generally be done as one
step in the migration process.
Once
Exchange 2007 has been introduced into the 2000/2003 environment, the
organization is considered to be in a state of coexistence known as
“interop” mode (short for interoperability). The environment will
remain in this mode as long as any Exchange Server 2000/2003 server
remains.
While the organization is in
interop mode, there are some management best practices to keep in mind.
These are detailed in the following section.
Managing Mailboxes
Exchange
Server 2007 mailbox management is accomplished through the Exchange
Management Console and the Exchange Management Shell. On the other
hand, Exchange 2000/2003 is managed through the Active Directory Users
and Computers (ADUC) snap-in for Exchange. When an organization is in a
state of coexistence, both management tools will be present and
necessary for particular tasks.
To determine which tool to use for which task, refer to the following list:
Exchange
2007 mailboxes must be managed with Exchange 2007 management console or
shell only. While it is physically possible to manage an Exchange 2007
mailbox with the Exchange 2000/2003 tools, any Exchange 2007 mailboxes
managed from the ADUC will not have full functionality.
Exchange
2000/2003 mailboxes can be edited or deleted using the Exchange 2007
tools, but they cannot be created by Exchange 2007 tools.
Exchange 2000/2003 mailboxes can be created, edited, or deleted with Exchange 2000/2003 tools.
The
Exchange 2007 move mailbox utility can be used to move both Exchange
2000/2003 and Exchange 2007 mailboxes (in either direction); however,
the Exchange 2000/2003 move mailbox utility cannot be used to move
mailboxes to or from Exchange 2007 mailbox server.
Managing Recipients
Unlike
mailboxes, recipient objects (including contacts, groups, and so on)
are not tied to a specific version of Exchange. These objects can be
successfully managed using either Exchange 2007 or Exchange 2000/2003
tools.
That being said, Exchange 2007
tools have knowledge of the full set of Exchange 2007 properties and
validation rules, so consistent use of the Exchange 2007 tools is
recommended for recipient management.
The one exception to this rule is Dynamic Distribution Groups (DDGs). When created in Exchange 2007, these groups store their RecipientFilter
in an OPATH format. When created in Exchange 2000/2003, the filter is
stored as LDAP. This difference makes these edits incompatible.
If a Dynamic Distribution Group was created in Exchange 2007, it should only be managed with Exchange 2007 tools.
Global Objects
Global
configuration objects (Address Lists, Email Address Policies, Offline
Address Books, and so on) are shared between the Exchange 2007 and
Exchange 2000/2003 environments.
The general rule for these objects is
If
created in Exchange 2000/2003, they can only be fully managed by
Exchange 2000/2003 tools until they are upgraded to an Exchange 2007
version.
If created in Exchange 2007 or upgraded to an Exchange 2007 version, they can only be edited by Exchange 2007 tools.
Unlike
some of the other objects mentioned, objects of this type that are
created in, or upgraded to, Exchange 2007 will be actively blocked by
the Exchange 2000/2003 System Manager.
Miscellaneous Objects
Other best practices to keep in mind include the following:
Exchange
2000/2003 Recipient Update Service—Never configure an Exchange 2007
server to act as the “Exchange Server” for a Recipient Update Service
(RUS). Doing so will break the RUS.
Exchange
2003 Administrative and Routing Groups—These objects can be managed
using Exchange 2003 tools only, as they are not visible utilizing
Exchange 2007 tools.
