Troubleshooting Exchange Server 2003 Installation A few reasons for an Exchange Server 2003 installation failing are listed here: The permissions being used for the installation are incorrect: To install Exchange Server 2003, the following permissions are needed: To initially run ForestPrep in a forest to update/extend the Active Directory schema – Member of the Schema Admins group and Enterprise Admins group. To run ForestPrep in a forest after the initial instance – Exchange Administrator permissions at the Exchange organization level. To run DomainPrep to prepare for Exchange Server 2003 installation Read More

Understanding Exchange Server 2003 Data Storage Exchange Server 2003 uses the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) database structure to store data. Data can be stored separately for messages and for transactions: Messages are stored in.edb and .stm database files. Database files also contain a number of other components, including: Rules Folders Attachments Indexes Transactions are stored in transaction log files. A message that is created is first written to log files before it is written to the database files. From the log files, the transactions are sequentially written to a numbered Read More

Preparing for Migration to Exchange Server 2003 For number of services running in existing Exchange 2000 environments, you first have to move these services to other servers, and then remove the services so that the upgrade to Exchange Server 2003 can occur. The services listed here have to be removed before migrating to Exchange Server 2003: Instant Messaging Service (IMS) Key Management Service Microsoft Chat Service Microsoft Exchange Connector for Lotus cc:Mail Microsoft Mail Connector In addition to the removing the above mentioned services, the following requirements have to be Read More

Understanding the Different Messaging Systems With shared-file messaging systems, directories and files typically reside on a file server. The structure of directories and files at the centralized file server location are commonly called post offices. The post office is the mail store for many users. Users have to access a mail box in the post office in order to access email messaging. When a user sends a message, the message or written data is stored in the directories of the post office. The recipient of the message next identifies the Read More

Monitoring Exchange Server 2003 Server Daily To ensure that your Exchange Server 2003 environment is operating and operating optimally, you have to monitor your Exchange Server 2003 server services daily. You have to monitor performance, and recognize and eliminate bottlenecks if you want to have a system that is optimized. You can use System Monitor, Task Monitor, Network Monitor, Event Viewer, and Performance Logs And Alerts to monitor the system. You can use System Monitor and Performance Logs And Alerts to create baselines, identify bottlenecks, determine performance trends, and test Read More

Preparing for Exchange Server 2003 Installation Before you can install Exchange Server 2003 you have to perform the activities discussed in this section of the Article. The following Windows services must be installed and enabled: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) service World Wide Web service Microsoft ASP.NETMicrosoft .NET Framework You can use the Services applet to verify that these services are installed and running. You have to extend the Active Directory schema so that the necessary Exchange 2003 classes and attributes are added. To Read More

Management Tools for Administering Exchange Server 2003 The Active Directory Users and Computers Management Console The Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in is extended to support the management of mailbox configurations and settings. The Active Directory Users and Computers management console is the central tool used for creating and managing user account and computer account objects and configuration settings in Windows domains. Users can apply different permissions to different Exchange server objects. Permissions can be assigned at the Exchange organization level and at the Administrative Group level: Exchange Full Administrator Read More

Understanding Digital Signatures You can through digital signatures secure an Exchange Server 2003 messaging system. Digital signatures are used to verify the identities of the senders of data messages. With Exchange Server 2003, a digital signature can be attached to an e-mail message to ensure that the sender of the message is actually who he/she claims to be. If the content of the e-mail message is modified as the message is being transported, the signature becomes invalid. Hashing algorithms provide data authentication and non-repudiation. A hashing algorithm is a complex Read More

Differences between Exchange 5.5 and Exchange Server 2003 Environments Exchange version 5.5 worked well in smaller organizations. Exchange 5.5 deployments typically consisted of Exchange servers being at each remote location, and with no more than thirty users. The main Exchange 5.5 design limitations are summarized here: The degree of stability offered by Exchange 5.5 is open to discussion. Exchange 5.5 stability was typically realized through the following means: Keeping public folders and message routing isolated from the mail-message services. Keeping the size of the Databases small. With Exchange 5.5, designs Read More

New features in Outlook Web Access (OWA) 2003 Outlook Web Access (OWA) is used to send and receive e-mail through the Web. Outlook Web Access 2003 includes different levels of feature availability or user modes. Some OWA 2003 features are only available in premium mode. The different OWA 2003 user modes are: Premium mode – Premium Client Version: All OWA 2003 features and enhancements are accessible when using premium mode. The downside to using premium mode is that it uses more bandwidth resources than basic mode. Basic mode – Basic Read More