70-284 mcse guide to microsoft exchange server 2003

1. 70-284 MCSE Guide to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Administration Chapter Seven Configuring and Managing Exchange Server

Understand how and why additional administrative groups should be created

Understand how and why additional routing groups should be created

Describe front-end and back-end server configurations

Describe how to manage virtual servers and virtual directories

Organizations usually need additional servers

Greater volume of users may be hosted

Dedicated servers perform specific tasks

Load-balance processing across servers

Two perspectives for organizing servers

Connectivity

Administrative

HTTP virtual servers

Grant access and transfer files to client work stations

Are administered using Internet Services Manager

Administrative groups

Define admin topology for an Exchange organization

Based on geography, department, division, or function

Assigning administrative permissions

Is simplified by using administrative groups

Objects created or moved into an admin group object inherit its permissions

Four objects may be created in administrative group

Policies, Routing Groups, Public Folder Trees, Servers

Three administrative models organize admin groups

Centralized, Decentralized, Mixed

Centralized administrative model:

One group has full control over the Exchange servers

Routing group need not reflect administrative topology

Decentralized administrative model:

Each location has a team of Exchange administrators

Groups are based on geographical or departmental needs

Groups can contain policies, servers, public folder trees, and other objects specific to the group

Issues migrating from Exchange Server 5.5 at multiple sites:

Forces use of decentralized administrative model

Exchange 5.5 sites are created as separate admin groups

Mixed administrative model:

Restricts certain administrative functions

Does not create specialization for every function

Create admin groups by function, not department

Combines specialized admin functions and geographical factors into one model

Time Required:10 to 20 minutes

Objective:Create an additional administrative group

Description:Create an additional administrative group for your organization. By default when you install your first Exchange 2003 server, a default administrative group called First Administrative Group is created.

Exchange Server 2003 has two modes of operation

Mixed mode: pre-Exchange 2000 Servers are supported

Native mode: only Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange Server 2003 are supported

Mixed: the default operation mode for Exchange Server 2003

Mixed mode accommodates Exchange Server 5.5

Exchange 5.5 limits Exchange Server 2003

Each admin group has only one functional routing group

Mailboxes cannot be moved between servers in different administrative groups

Some System Manager commands do not apply to Exchange Server 5.5

You cannot edit directory object properties in Active Directory

InetOrgPerson and query-based distribution groups are not available

Native mode operation

Exchange Server 2003 is not subject to mixed mode limitations

Using Exchange Server 2003 you can:

Enable routing group support

Create additional routing groups as necessary

Native mode drawback:

It cannot work with Exchange Server 5.5 or lower versions

Routing group: physical collection of servers

The links between routing groups are assumed to be slow or unreliable

Connectors join routing groups over slow WAN links

Costs may be implemented on connectors

Costs enable you to channel physical path

Target server handles message communication within a routing group

Bridgehead server handles message communication among routing groups

Bridgehead server is designated in each routing group

Routing group connector is used by the bridgehead server to join routing groups

Exchange System Manager is used to create separate routing groups

Factors for deciding whether to set up a routing group:

Persistent connectivity

Common Active Directory forest

Relatively high bandwidth

Place servers prone to failure in separate routing groups

Place a global catalog server in each routing group

Five reasons for dividing Exchange Server 5.5 into multiple routing groups:

Minimum requirements outlined are not met

Messaging path must be altered to multiple hops

Messages must be queued and sent by schedule

Bandwidth between servers is less than 16 Kbps

Routing client connections to specific public folder replicas

Objective:Create an additional routing group using Exchange System Manager

Description:Create an additional routing group within your organization. Routing groups help you to control mail flow and public folder referrals. Within a routing group, all servers communicate and transfer messages directly to one another.

Objective:Install an Exchange Server 2003 server into a second administrative and second routing group.

Description:With administrative groups already preconfigured, you are prompted during the installation of any new servers as to which administrative group and routing group you want to install the server into

Front-end/back-end configuration

Tasks are distributed between front-end/back-end servers

Front-end server duties accept requests from clients

Proxies requests to appropriate back-end server

Recommended topology for the following:

Multiple server organizations

Users of Microsoft Outlook Web Access, POP, IMAP, or Outlook 2003 (using RPC over HTTP)

Front-end server specially configured

No configuration option to designate back-end server

Three advantages of front-end/back-end topology:

Single namespace across organization

User need not know name of server hosting mailbox (accessed with Web, POP, or IMAP interface)

Ability to balance load across servers

Front-end server handles SSL encryption/decryption

Encryption/decryption offloaded from back-end servers

Ability to use firewalls to protect back-end

Front-end provides additional layer behind firewall

Front-end hides back-end configuration

Front-end authenticates mailbox/public folder requests

Front-end proxies client requests to back-end

Front-end/back-end configuration with a firewall

Complex due to communication with Active Directory

Exchange Server uses DSAccess to detect directory servers

DSAccess uses LDAPs and RPCs

RPCs require many open ports on the firewall

High number of open ports introduces security issues

Front-end/back-end configuration without a firewall:

Helps maintain a single namespace for e-mail servers

Scalable using Outlook Web Access, POP, IMAP

Using IMAP or POP access:

Client sends log-on request with mailbox name

Front-end determines location of user's mailbox

Front-end proxies request to back-end

User is authenticated

Back-end sends results of log-on to front-end

Front-end presents results to user

Objective:Configure a front-end server to act as a POP server for the Exchange Server 2003 organization

Description:Configure the newly installed server that was created in the previous activity as a front-end server for POP access to the organization. This server will accept POP connections and proxy the requests to the back-end server on behalf of the client to retrieve information from the mailbox.

SMTP protocol should be configured on the front-end

SMTP is used by IMAP and POP clients for outgoing communication

Using Outlook Web Access:

HTTP client requests are sent to the front-end server

Front-end server uses Active Directory to isolate back-end server

Front-end server forwards request to back-end server

HTTP host header remains unchanged

Exchange Server 2003 improvements for front-end/back-end configuration:

Kerberos authentication

RPC over HTTP: encapsulate RPC within HTTP

Forms-based authentication

IIS: Internet Information Services

Provides transport services to access folders/mailboxes

Uses Internet protocol (HTTP, POP, or IMAP)

Exchange integrates with Windows 2000/2003 IIS

Exchange stores configuration in IIS metabase

Directory Service Metabase Synchronization (DS2MB)

Part of Exchange System Attendant

Replicates configuration changes made in Active Directory to the metabase

Overrides changes made directly to the IIS metabase

Each HTTP virtual server is represented as a Web site

Default Web site represents default HTTP server

Five important HTTP virtual server directories:

Exadmin: Web-based administration of the HTTP virtual server

Exchange: used to access mailboxes

ExchWeb: provides calendaring, address book, other functions

OMA: directory to which Outlook Mobile Access users connect to access Exchange data

Public: used to access the default public folders tree

Objective:Create an additional HTTP virtual server to host an additional domain

Description:Create an additional HTTP virtual server that will be configured to host an additional SMTP domain in three stages. A fourth stage will test the new virtual server.

Objective:Create an additional HTTP virtual directory to host an additional domain

Description:Create an additional HTTP virtual directory that will be configured to host an additional SMTP domain in two stages

Objective:Walk through the steps outlining how to configure connection settings for your HTTP virtual server

Description:Walk through the steps for how you could configure the connection limits and connection timeout values for your SMTP virtual server

Objective:Walk through the steps outlining how to start and stop an HTTP virtual server and the World Wide Web publishing service

Description:Walk through the steps that you can take to stop and start HTTP virtual servers within your Exchange Server 2003 organization as well as the World Wide Web publishing service

Administrative groups define admin topology

Admin groups are based on geography, department, division, function

Three approaches to administrative group design: centralized, decentralized, mixed

Admin group operation is based on Exchange Server 2003 mode (native or mixed)

Routing group: collection of servers with high-bandwidth connectivity

Routing groups are determined by physical topology

Connectors join routing groups over slow WAN links

Exchange Server 2003 perceives a single routing group (default)

Front-end/back-end configuration distributes tasks

Front-end server receives client requests

Front-end servers proxy requests to back-end

Front-end servers may or may not fall behind a firewall

IIS virtual servers provide transport services

Multiple virtual servers require one SSL certificate for each domain name

HTTP virtual servers run under World Wide Web Publishing Service

70-284 mcse guide to microsoft exchange server 2003

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