Windows 2003 is packaged as four separate editions: Standard • Enterprise • Datacenter • Web •
The Enterprise and Datacenter editions of Windows Server 2003 are available in 64−bit versions, which run on Intel Itanium−based computers.
As I mentioned earlier, I'll use the term Windows Server 2003 when I refer to the server products collectively. I'll refer to the specific edition of Windows 2003 when necessary for clarity. Let's take a look at the various flavors of Windows 2003.
Standard Edition
Windows Server 2003 fully supports Active Directory and Windows 2003 security. It can run on computers with one to four processors and up to 4GB of RAM. Microsoft recommends using Windows Server 2003 to support file and print sharing, small databases, moderate throughput World Wide Web services, and the group (nonenterprise) mail services available in the standard edition of Exchange Server 2003.
Enterprise Edition
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition is the middle−level product in the Windows Server 2003 line. It runs on machines with up to eight processors and up to 32GB of RAM (up to 64GB in the 64−bit version).
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition supports server clustering. With server clustering, you can build multi−computer redundant systems, where the cluster can continue operating even if one computer or more fails.
Datacenter Edition
Windows 2003 Datacenter Server is the steamroller of Windows Server 2003 products. It's the monster server for the highest−demand applications. It can run on computers with up to 64 processors and the 64−bit version supports up to 512GB of RAM. Wow! It also supports up to 8−node server clustering.
Microsoft recommends Datacenter Server for really heavy−duty database and Internet applications. It's also the place to run Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition if you've got lots of users.
Microsoft also suggests that you use Datacenter Server to consolidate existing Windows NT or 2000 domains. Windows Server 2003 allows for much larger domains in terms of resources and users than either Windows NT or Windows 2000. Microsoft encourages new adopters of its Windows Server 2003 products to think in terms of big domains−really big domains−and it strongly advises that those converting from NT 4 or Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003 should consolidate domains. In many cases, Microsoft argues, all you really need with Windows Server 2003 is one overarching domain.
Web Edition
The Web Edition of Windows Server 2003 is designed to support, you guessed it, Web−based applications. It's really not a home for non−Web apps. So we really don't need to spend any more time talking about it.
Note You might be wondering what happened to Windows 2003 Professional, the desktop version of Windows 2003. As of this writing, a Professional version is not expected. Rather, Windows XP Professional will serve as Microsoft's desktop product until it's time for a new desktop release. Then, who knows what the new version might be named?
Now we're ready to take a look at Exchange Server 2003.
Exchange Server 2003 Features
Well, we're finally in Exchange Server 2003 territory. You'll find that the time we've given to Windows Server 2003 was far from wasted. Let's jump right into the similarities and differences between Exchange Server 5.5 and Exchange Server 2003. Then we'll take a look at the two products in the Exchange 2003 line: Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition and Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition.
Unlike the section on what's new in Windows Server 2003, I'm going to mix the new and the old in one section. This should cut down on some frustration, especially if you're an Exchange Server 5.5 user, because so much of what's old is hidden behind a set of new doors. If I don't open those doors in addition to showing them to you, and instead make you wait for a section on what's not changed in Exchange Server 2003, you're going to hate me by the end of the chapter!
Note As with Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 Server, Exchange Server 2003 relies heavily on Exchange 2000 Server. Most of what I talk about in this section came to us in Exchange 2000 Server. Again, as with my discussion of Windows Server 2003 and Windows NT Server 4, I'll use the term Exchange Server 2003 to cover Exchange 2000 and 2003 and Exchange 5.5. I'll make no distinction between 2000 or 2003 as the source of a feature, unless 2003 brings something new to the table when compared with Exchange 2000.
In many ways, Exchange Server 2003 is new for what has been removed rather than for what has been added. Exchange 5.5 directory services have been replaced by Windows Server 2003 Active Directory services. Exchange Server 5.5 sites have been replaced by routing groups. These changes have led to a number of changes in the user interfaces that you use to manage Exchange Server 2003. Much of what previously was managed in Exchange Server 5.5's Administrator program is now managed either in Active Directory
interfaces or in Windows Server 2003−based Microsoft Management Console snap−ins designed specifically for Exchange Server 2003.
If you're looking for really new stuff in Exchange Server 2003, you'll have to turn to things such as storage groups. So let's take a look at what's new, by this definition, in Exchange Server 2003.