Exchange Server has been around for some time now, giving third−party application providers time to
develop an exciting range of add−on products. These include sophisticated products that enhance Exchange in such areas as document management, work flow, system backup, system management, faxing, security, virus control, wireless access, and application development.
At various places in this book, I'll discuss these third−party applications. In Chapters 7 and 8, I talk about Exchange Server 2003−specific backup products. In Chapter 18, 'Exchange Server System Security,' I focus on apps for controlling those pesky viruses right inside Exchange Server. The Appendix contains a fairly exhaustive list of third−party apps for Exchange Server.
Summary
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, when considered with its predecessor, Exchange 2000 Server, represents a significant upgrade over Exchange 5.5, and contains features that position it as the premier messaging package for this age of electronic messaging. If you're new to Exchange, this book will provide the background and instructions you will need to install, configure, and manage Exchange Server 2003. Even experienced Exchange 2000 and 5.5 administrators will need to digest the information in this book to become proficient with Exchange Server 2003.
For starters, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 is closely tied to Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003. It won't run on Windows NT Server. Nonetheless, it is capable of messaging with a variety of legacy systems, as well as systems from other vendors.
Outlook 2003, Exchange's native e−mail client, provides a large variety of features for sending, receiving, and organizing mail messages using mailboxes and user−created mailbox folders, as well as public and personal folders, and rules for automatically sorting and classifying e−mail. Furthermore, its e−mail functions are only part of the picture. Scheduling and contact management are big parts of Exchange Server 2003's features, but perhaps most impressive is its capability of dynamically linking documents that are sent as e−mail
attachments. Outlook can also import documents as objects into e−mail messages from other applications, while maintaining the formatting and editing features of the original application. If all that isn't enough, you can use Exchange Server's APIs to build custom applications using a range of programming languages. Exchange Server 2003 is the most secure Exchange release yet. It scales both vertically and horizontally to grow with the needs of your enterprise, and like Windows Server 2003, it's based on an object−oriented model.
Now that you've gotten a taste of the features and functions of Exchange Server 2003, it's time to learn about its constant companion, Windows Server 2003. Read on to learn about this subject in Chapter 2.
Chapter 2: Windows Server 2003 and Exchange
Server 2003
Overview
Both Windows 2000 Server and Exchange 2000 Server were major steps forward for Microsoft. As I mentioned in Chapter 1, 'Introducing Exchange Server 2003,' both Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003 are evolutionary products. Each is a modest, but significant, update of its 2000 version.
Active Directory and the new Windows 2000 security system alone brought Windows 2000 Server products into parity with products such as Novell's NetWare, which, along with Banyan's Vines, brought network−wide directory services to PC−based systems a number of years ago. Also new to Windows 2000 Server was the extensive use of standard Internet protocols. The Domain Name System (DNS) ceased to be an add−on seemingly fastened to the Windows NT operating system with duct tape and rubber bands. With Windows 2000, it became the basis for both internal and external host name resolution. And the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), first used by Microsoft in Exchange Server 5.5, became an integral part of Windows 2000's Active Directory system. With Windows 2000, the Internet's Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) and the Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP) became essential parts of the Windows operating system. Windows Server 2003 inherited all of the above and more from Windows 2000. Windows 2003 brings improvements to Active Directory, stronger overall application security support, enhanced disk storage reliability and availability, support for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), and a number of smaller changes that make Windows 2003 a better operating system.
Exchange 2000 Server also included significant improvements over Exchange Server 5.5. However, Exchange 2000 was much more an evolutionary than revolutionary product. Some of the most significant Exchange Server 5.5 features, such as Exchange directory services, a model for Active Directory, were no longer available in Exchange 2000, having been extensively updated and integrated into the Windows 2000 Server line. Furthermore, a major portion of Exchange Server 5.5 management functionality was integrated into Windows Server 2000. This was a good move because it became easier to parcel out electronic messaging management functions to different people or groups. On the negative side, Exchange Server 5.5's
all−in−one−place Administrator program was replaced by a seemingly dizzying array of disparate Windows 2000 management tools, officially called Microsoft Management Console snap−ins.
With some improvement, the features of Exchange 2000 Server were carried forward into Exchange 2003. Exchange 2003 features enhanced security, more secure and easier to use Internet browser access to Exchange mailboxes, better protection against e−mail−borne viruses, wireless access to Exchange Server, and easier migration from Exchange 5.5 and 2000.
One of my goals in writing this book is to facilitate your entry into the new and sometimes daunting world of Windows 2003/Exchange 2003. These two are especially daunting if you are still working with NT and Exchange 5.5. As the last few paragraphs indicate, I certainly have my work cut out for me.
You might be tempted to bypass this chapter because it seems to concentrate extensively on comparisons between Windows Server 2003 and Windows NT Server 4, as well as comparisons between Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 5.5. 'After all,' you might say, 'I'm new to both Windows Server 2003 and
Exchange Server 2003. What do I need with all this comparison stuff?' My advice? Read this chapter. It contains a great deal of introductory information about both Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server
products, but it also will provide a strong base for the chapters to come. Try it! You'll like it! I promise. Featured in this chapter: