Exchange Server 2003 FAQs
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Q1: What is Exchange Server 2003?

More businesses use Exchange for e-mail-based collaboration than any other product.

Exchange 2003 enables information workers to gain access to critical business communications almost whenever and wherever they need to and is designed to deliver greater security, availability, and reliability. Exchange 2003 sets a new benchmark for low total cost of ownership (TCO) by helping your information technology (IT) staff to do more with less through improved management tools.

Q2: Who will benefit from the advances in 'Exchange Server 2003?

Information Workers and IT Mangers will experience the following benefits…

INFORMATION WORKERS:
1) Optimized experience with Outlook 2003

2) OWA feels more like Outlook

3) More options for mobile access and synchronization


IT MANAGERS
1) Next wave of server consolidation

2) Security

3) Availability and Manageability

4) Server integration

5) Easy upgrades

Q3: BENEFIT #1 for Information Workers: Optimized experience with Outlook 2003

The new Outlook 2003 user interface makes it faster and easier for information workers to optimize their e-mail messages. Enhancements in the way this new version and Outlook work together dramatically improve the performance of Outlook over low or fluctuating bandwidth conditions. Checking e-mail messages in a hotel room over a dial-up connection will feel much more like working in the office. Adding Windows Server 2003 enables Outlook 2003 to connect to Exchange without a virtual private network (VPN) when outside the corporate firewall.

Q4: BENEFIT #2 for Information Workers: OWA feels more like Outlook

Information workers rely on Outlook Web Access (OWA) to reach their personal business information from any computer connected to the Internet. With Titanium, OWA will feature the same new interface as Outlook 2003, providing users with a consistent experience whether they are connecting from their desktop computers or a kiosk at an airport. In addition to improvements in the areas of security and performance, OWA supports more Outlook functionality, including checking spelling, task management, and protection against junk e-mail messages.

Q5: BENEFIT #3 for Information Workers: More options for mobile access and synchronization.

Mobile users will be able to gain access to their information from a greatly expanded set of mobile devices, thanks to support for iMode, cHTML, and WAP 2.0 micro-browsers. In addition, the new version will include a new set of services that use Short Message Service (SMS) to alert always-on mobile devices, such as the T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition, when new information arrives in the Inbox and is available for synchronization.

Q6: BENEFIT #1 for IT Managers: Next wave of server consolidation.

Exchange 2000 enabled an initial wave of server consolidation through more intelligent use of server and storage resources. Titanium initiates a second wave of server consolidation based on:

1) MS Windows® .NET 2003 services that support Volume Shadow Copy service:
-Instantaneous backup and restore removes one of the practical limits to the number of users supported on a single server—the time it takes to back up the mail storage.
-Volume Shadow Copy service enables online backup of Exchange Storage Groups, so there's no need to take systems offline.

2) Faster and more reliable synchronization:
The client-to-server communication protocol has been rewritten and optimized for an impressive gain in efficiency. These efficiency gains help to deliver faster and consistent client performance without the expense of equipping remote offices with additional servers to run Exchange.

3) Outlook 2003 cache mode:
Because Outlook 2003 operates primarily on its own cached copy of a user's mailbox, fewer requests are made to the server, reducing the server load per user and enabling more users to be supported per server.

Q7: BENEFIT #2 for IT Managers: Security

A number of important improvements have been made to increase the security of the Exchange system across several different fronts.

1) Default settings for all system variables are selected to maximize system security.

2) OWA now uses cookie authentication and connection time-out processes to help eliminate the likelihood of security breaches through unattended browsers. Additionally, OWA supports sending e-mail messages by using the S/MIME security protocol.

3) VSAPI, the virus-scanning API, has been improved to give administrators more deployment options. New junk e-mail message protection capabilities, including support for connection filtering based on real-time blacklists, inbound recipient filtering, and beacon-blocking provide greater protection from unsolicited messages. In addition, VSAPI doesn't just run on mail servers—antivirus software can now run on Exchange gateway and bridgehead servers as well.

4) Support for Internet Protocol security (IPSec) for securing front-end and back-end servers.

5) By adding Windows Server 2003, remote procedure calls (RPC) over HTTPS tunneling securely connect Outlook 2003 clients with Titanium without the need for a VPN.

Q8: BENEFIT #3 for IT Managers: Availability and Manageability.

Exchange Server 2003 will support up to eight-node clustering when running on Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, helping to ensure outstanding availability.

Q9: BENEFIT #4 for IT Managers: Server integration.

This new version will include the Exchange Management Pack for Microsoft Operations Manager. In combination with Microsoft Operations Manager and the instrumentation built into Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003, the Management Pack automates system monitoring. Together, these components enable better delivery against service level agreements while lowering costs.

Q10: BENEFIT #5 for IT Managers: Easy upgrades.

New tools for moving from Microsoft Windows NT® and Exchange Server 5.5 to Windows .NET 2003 Server and Exchange 2003 include Active Directory® directory service validation tools and schema rollback tools.

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