14. Improving Performance Through Batch Moves and Processing
For
Exchange Server 2013 and the movement of mailboxes, whether it is
between servers or in a migration scenario from on-premise to the
cloud, Exchange Server 2013 leverages batch move processes. Exchange
Server 2013 provides the movement of multiple mailboxes in large
batches. In addition, email notifications can be generated during the
move process providing updates on move status, success, and failures.
Exchange
Server 2013 also provides automatic prioritization and automatic retry
of batch moves so that during the batch move process, a block of
mailboxes can be prioritized for moves, and if any mailbox fails to
move, an automatic retry is initiated. In addition, primary and archive
mailboxes can be moved together or separately; in previous versions of
Exchange, the movement of primary and archive mailboxes could not be
queued together, creating a challenge in moving mailboxes when the user
and all of his data was not automatically moved at the same time.
These
improvements are not obvious to many administrators until the
administrator is in the middle of a transition and has a lot of
mailboxes and a lot of users waiting for their mail to be moved. This
is a great improvement in Exchange Server 2013 that helps in the
overall operation of Exchange.
15. Understanding Mail Flow in Exchange Server 2013
Exchange Server 2013 has three
server roles, the Edge Transport server, the Client Access server, and
the Mailbox server. While Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2010
had two additional roles (Hub Transport server role and Unified
Messaging role), this consolidation in Exchange Server 2013 actually
improves Exchange operational efficiencies. You might think that
spreading out the roles would be faster and more efficient; however,
the end effect was that having too many roles caused a lot of
communications traffic between the roles to process information, and it
made administration management significantly more difficult.
How Messages Get to Exchange from the Internet
To
follow the flow of messages in an Exchange Server 2013 environment with
all of the various server roles, the following flow occurs:
1. An incoming message from the Internet first goes to the Edge Transport server.
2.
The Edge Transport server performs first-level recipient validation as
well as spam and virus filtering. The message is then passed on to the
Exchange Server 2013 Mailbox server.
3.
The Mailbox server is running the Hub Transport service that performs
compliance content assessment and then looks at the internal routing
for messages and either keeps the messages if the message is destined
to a mailbox stored on the server, or forwards the message to another
Mailbox server running the Hub Transport service where the mailbox for
the message is destined.
4. The Mailbox server places the incoming message into the user’s mailbox and notifies the user that a message has arrived.
5.
The user launches Outlook, OWA, a mobile device, or another client
system and connects to the Client Access server. The Client Access
server confirms the destination point of the user’s mailbox and
provides the user access to his or her mailbox data.
6.
In parallel, if a voice mail message comes in for a user, the Unified
Messaging service that is running on the Exchange Mailbox server
processes the incoming voice message, and then takes the message and
places the voice message into the user’s mailbox residing on the
Mailbox server for the recipient.
How Messages Route Within an Internal Exchange Environment
Internal
messages are routed through Exchange in a similar manner. The process
for a mail user to send a message to another mail user in the
organization or to the Internet is as follows:
1.
A message is created by a user in Outlook, on his or her mobile device,
on OWA, or in other client message systems where the user is connected
to the Client Access server.
2.
The message is stored on the user’s Mailbox server as an Outbox message
and once sent, a copy is stored in the user’s Sent Items folder on the
Mailbox server.
3.
The Mailbox server then sends the message to a Hub Transport service
that is running on the Mailbox server; the Hub Transport service
performs compliance content assessment and then looks at the internal
routing for messages and either keeps the message if the destination
mailbox resides on the server, or forwards the message to another Hub
Transport service running on another Mailbox server.
4.
For internal messages, the Mailbox server places the incoming message
into the user’s mailbox and notifies the user that a message has
arrived.
5. The
message recipient launches Outlook, OWA, his or her mobile device, or
another client system and connects to the Client Access server. The
Client Access server confirms the destination point of the user’s
mailbox and provides the user access to his or her mailbox data.
16. Understanding the Importance of Active Directory for an Exchange Server 2013 Environment
Unlike
earlier versions of Exchange (like Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange
Server 2003) that leveraged Active Directory but still had separate
components specific to routing of messages or separate administration
roles, Exchange Server 2013 does not rely on many of the
Exchange-specific functions and instead relies primarily on Active
Directory as the source for configuration information. With Exchange
Server 2013, the directory provides the sole source for users,
administrative roles, sites, server locations, and security functions.
With this reliance on Active Directory, an Exchange Server 2013
environment needs to have a very reliable and properly configured
Active Directory.
The Role of the Directory in an Exchange Server 2013 Environment
The
directory in Active Directory is leveraged by Exchange Server 2013 to
not only act as the lookup point for users’ email addresses and contact
information, but to also act as an authoritative directory to validate
users within the organization. When messages come in from the Internet,
rather than being processed for spam and virus filtering, a message is
first checked to see if the recipient even exists in the environment.
If the recipient is not in Active Directory, the message is quarantined
or deleted completely, eliminating the task of processing messages for
nonexistent recipients that could take up to 60%, 70%, and even 80% of
a server’s processing time if the messages were processed instead of
quickly disregarded.
Active Directory
works in conjunction with Active Directory Application Mode, or ADAM,
using a tool called EdgeSync on an Exchange Server 2013 Edge Transport
server to move a portion of Active Directory to the edge in an
encrypted, secure manner. In addition, Active Directory is leveraged by
the Hub Transport service on the Mailbox servers to process rules for
compliance and regulatory content assessment. Using Active Directory
user, group, organizational unit, site, domain, and forest level rules,
content can be assessed and filtered at the Hub Transport service level.
The Role of Domain Name System (DNS) for Internal and External Message Routing
Exchange
Server 2013 no longer maintains a separate message routing table nor
does it provide a lookup table for servers within an Exchange
environment. Rather, Exchange Server 2013 simply uses DNS to determine
name resolution and to identify servers and destination points from
which to communicate. Unlike previous versions of Exchange that could
still communicate using NetBIOS naming and Windows Internet Naming
Service (WINS), Exchange Server 2013 solely depends on DNS. With the
dependence on DNS in Exchange message transport and communications, it
is extremely important that DNS is configured properly.
The Role of Sites in Exchange Server 2013
Exchange
Server 2013 no longer has separate routing rules like routing groups
found in Exchange Server 2003 for information on proper routing of
messages within an Exchange environment. Rather, Exchange Server 2013
uses Active Directory Sites and Services to determine how to route
messages and to determine the most efficient route to transport
messages within an organization. With the dependence on Active
Directory Sites and Services in Exchange message transport and routing,
it is extremely important that Active Directory Sites and Services be
configured properly.
17. Installing and Transitioning to Exchange Server 2013
With
an overview on what Exchange is and what is new in Exchange Server
2013, organizations usually turn to understanding how to plan,
implement, or transition to Exchange Server 2013 and how to administer, manage, and support the environment on an ongoing basis.
Installing Exchange Server 2013 from Scratch
Some
organizations choose to install Exchange Server 2013 from scratch. This
might occur for an organization that is new to email, or at least new
to Exchange. This is common for an organization that had a different
email platform, such as Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise, or a
sendmail/POP3/IMAP messaging system. Other times organizations
implement Exchange from scratch is when an organization undergoes a
major merger and consolidation and is better off creating the new
environment from scratch rather than trying to consolidate or modify an
existing environment. Note that after installing Exchange Server 2013
from scratch, you will not be able to install earlier versions of
Exchange into the organization.
Transitioning to Exchange Server 2013
As
opposed to a migration, which means moving between two separate
Exchange forests or from a different email system to Exchange, a
transition is an upgrade from an earlier version of Exchange within the
same Active Directory forest.
For an
organization that has an existing Exchange environment, the
organization would likely transition to Exchange Server 2013. The
Exchange transition path is pretty limited. You cannot transition
directly from Exchange Server 2003 or earlier directly into Exchange
Server 2013. The only supported migrations from Microsoft are
transitions from Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2010 to
Exchange Server 2013. Furthermore, there is no support to perform an
in-place upgrade of any Exchange server to Exchange Server 2013.
So
because of this limited support, the process of transitioning to
Exchange Server 2013 is drastically simplified. There are specific
tips, tricks, and best practices created in transitioning from Exchange
Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2010 to Exchange Server 2013 that help
an organization more reliably and more effectively perform its
transition.
18. Managing and Administering Exchange Server 2013
After
an Exchange Server 2013 environment has been properly designed and
implemented, the administrators of the organization need to be able to
jump in and begin managing and administering the messaging environment.
Because Exchange Server 2013 is more than just email message boxes and calendars, there is more to manage and administer.
With
Exchange Server 2013, a handful of ongoing management and maintenance
tasks have proven to be important in keeping the Exchange environment
operational.
Monitoring Exchange Using System Center 2012 Operations Manager (SCOM)
Part
of any best practice in network systems management is to monitor
servers and services to ensure that the system is operating properly,
and to provide proactive alerts if something is no longer operating.
