1. Get-ActivesyncDeviceStatistics -mailbox raji.subramanian@domain.com
2. Get-CASMailbox | where {$_.HasActiveSyncDevicePartnership} | select Name
3. Get-CASMailbox -Filter {HasActiveSyncDevicePartnership -eq $true} | Select Name
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tarpitting in Exchange 2007
Tarpitting is the practice of slowing the transmission of e-mail messages sent in bulk as a means of thwarting spammers. The intent is to maintain a high quality of service for legitimate users while making the sending process impractical for spammers, who -- because of low response rates -- must be able to send vast volumes of messages quickly and inexpensively. The delay is insignificant for typical recipient lists, and administrators can grant exemptions to people with valid reasons to send messages to a large number of recipients.
There are a number of approaches to tarpitting. One method is to insert small delays (sometimes called sleeps) after a certain number of recipients in a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) session. For example, the first 20 messages in a session might be sent without delay and then a few seconds' delay added for each recipient in the list beyond that number. If a spam mailing list contains 10,000 recipients and a delay of even two seconds is applied for each recipient after the twentieth, the total delay incurred is over five and a half hours.
Tarpitting is closely related to the concept of the teergrube (German for tar pit), a server that is intentionally configured to be slow, generally as a means of trapping address harvester programs.
There are a number of approaches to tarpitting. One method is to insert small delays (sometimes called sleeps) after a certain number of recipients in a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) session. For example, the first 20 messages in a session might be sent without delay and then a few seconds' delay added for each recipient in the list beyond that number. If a spam mailing list contains 10,000 recipients and a delay of even two seconds is applied for each recipient after the twentieth, the total delay incurred is over five and a half hours.
Tarpitting is closely related to the concept of the teergrube (German for tar pit), a server that is intentionally configured to be slow, generally as a means of trapping address harvester programs.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Types of Exchange 2007 Queues
Exchange 2007 uses the following types of queues:
Submission Queue: The submission queue is used by the categorizer to temporarily store all messages pending further action by the Transport agents - messages that should be resolved, routed and processed. Each transport server has one submission queue; all messages that enter the transport server go to the submission queue for processing. Messages that are in the submission queue cannot be in any other queues at the same time.
Mailbox Delivery Queue: The mailbox delivery queue holds messages that are being delivered to a mailbox server by using encrypted Exchange RPC. Only Hub Transport servers have mailbox delivery queues. They temporarily store messages that are being routed to the destination mailbox on a remote mailbox server in the same organization as the Hub Transport server.
Remote Delivery Queue: Hub Transport servers and Edge Transport servers can have remote delivery queues; they hold messages temporarily while they are routed to remote destinations using SMTP. These remote destinations can be an external domain, SMTP connector, or a destination which is outside the scope of the Active Directory site in which the Hub Transport server is located.
Poison Message Queue: The poison message queue holds any messages that are considered to be problematic after there has been a server failure. All messages in this queue are suspended and can be deleted manually. Each transport server has one poison message queue.
Unreachable Queue: The unreachable queue holds messages that cannot be routed to the intended destination. Each transport server has one unreachable queue.
Submission Queue: The submission queue is used by the categorizer to temporarily store all messages pending further action by the Transport agents - messages that should be resolved, routed and processed. Each transport server has one submission queue; all messages that enter the transport server go to the submission queue for processing. Messages that are in the submission queue cannot be in any other queues at the same time.
Mailbox Delivery Queue: The mailbox delivery queue holds messages that are being delivered to a mailbox server by using encrypted Exchange RPC. Only Hub Transport servers have mailbox delivery queues. They temporarily store messages that are being routed to the destination mailbox on a remote mailbox server in the same organization as the Hub Transport server.
Remote Delivery Queue: Hub Transport servers and Edge Transport servers can have remote delivery queues; they hold messages temporarily while they are routed to remote destinations using SMTP. These remote destinations can be an external domain, SMTP connector, or a destination which is outside the scope of the Active Directory site in which the Hub Transport server is located.
Poison Message Queue: The poison message queue holds any messages that are considered to be problematic after there has been a server failure. All messages in this queue are suspended and can be deleted manually. Each transport server has one poison message queue.
Unreachable Queue: The unreachable queue holds messages that cannot be routed to the intended destination. Each transport server has one unreachable queue.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Exchange server 2007 Services.
This article explains the different type of services, its description. Since exchange 2007 has so many new features, changes and different mailing architecture when compared to earlier exchange versions. We know that exchange server 2007 has five different server roles which has its specific services. In this article, I am going to concentrate only on the exchange specific services, though there are many dependent services like WWW, RPC, WMI and etc.
Common Services on all Server roles:
The below services are present in all five server roles,
1. Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Topology Service: This is the core exchange services which communicate with AD often. This service uses DSACCESS component for accessing the active directory. Since, AD tightly integrated with Exchange, all server roles will have this service up running.
2. Microsoft Exchange Monitoring Service: This service is responsible for collecting all kind of diagnostic logs from the exchange application.
Services in Mailbox server role:
1. Microsoft Exchange information store: This is the service related to core exchange databases. It is the main services in the Mailbox server role and this is services is not dependent to other exchange services.
2. Microsoft Exchange Mail Submission: This service maintains the mail queue for transferring mails from mailbox server to hub transport server. Used to notify a Hub Transport server located in the Mailbox server's Active Directory site that messages are ready for retrieval from a sender's outbox. This service is also responsible for relaying and other tasks like Transport rules, Message Records Management etc.
3. Microsoft Exchange mailbox assistants: Provides functionality for Calendar Attendant, Resource Booking Attendant, Out of Office Assistant, and Managed Folder Mailbox Assistant.
4. Microsoft Exchange Replication Service: This service responsible for the replication of database information in the LCR and SCR cluster environment. This does the log shipping/seeding b/w the cluster peers.
5. Microsoft Exchange Search Indexer: This service is responsible for indexing the mail content in the database which in turn helps in improving the faster access/searching of the mail contents.
6. Microsoft Exchange Service Host: Configures the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services (IIS), and registry data for Valid Ports, NSPI Interface Protocol Sequences, and Allow Anonymous for Outlook Anywhere. It basically acts as a host for holding exchange related services like IIS.
7. Microsoft Exchange System Attendant: This service is responsible for following components. It provides maintaining, monitoring and directory lookup services functionality.
• DSAccess (DSAccess.dll) – Provides Exchange Active Directory Access
• DSProxy (DSProxy.dll) – Provides Directory Service Lookup for older Outlook clients
• Server Monitor Component - Monitoring server resources
• Mailbox Manager Component - Managing mailboxes
• Metabase update service - Replicating settings from Active Directory to the IIS metabase
• System Attendant Component - Verifies computer account configuration
8. Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search: Provides message tracking and transport log searching. It is basically used for querying of transport log remotely.
9. Microsoft Search (Exchange): Provides full-text indexing of mailbox data content. This is a Microsoft Exchange-customized version of Microsoft Search.
Services in CAS Servers:
1. Microsoft Exchange File Distribution: Used to distribute offline address book and custom Unified Messaging prompts.
2. Microsoft Exchange IMAP4: Responsible for Internet Message Access Protocol IMAP4 Clients connections.
3. Microsoft Exchange POP3: Responsible for Post Office Protocol POP3 Client connections.
4. Microsoft Exchange Service Host: Configures the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services (IIS), and registry data for Valid Ports, NSPI Interface Protocol Sequences, and Allow Anonymous for Outlook Anywhere. It basically acts as a host for holding exchange related services like IIS.
Services in Hub transport Servers:
1. Microsoft Exchange Anti-Spam Update: Used to automatically download anti-spam filter updates from Microsoft Update.
2. Microsoft Exchange Edgesync: Connects to ADAM instance on subscribed Edge Transport servers over secure Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) channel to synchronize data between a Hub Transport server and an Edge Transport server.
3. Microsoft Exchange Transport: This is the new SMTP service in exchange 2007, which don’t rely on Windows server SMTP services as like in previous version of the exchange. It is the core transport stacks which process the routing of messages.
4. Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search: Provides message tracking and transport log searching. It is basically used for querying of transport log remotely.
Services in Edge Transport Servers:
1. Microsoft Exchange ADAM: Connects to ADAM instance on subscribed Edge Transport servers over secure Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) channel to synchronize data between a Hub Transport server and an Edge Transport server.
2. Microsoft Exchange Anti-Spam Update: Used to automatically download anti-spam filter updates from Microsoft Update.
3. Microsoft Exchange Credential Service: Monitors credential changes in ADAM and installs the changes on the Edge Transport server.
4. Microsoft Exchange Transport: This is the new SMTP service in exchange 2007, which don’t rely on Windows server SMTP services as like in previous version of the exchange. It is the core transport stacks which process the routing of messages.
5. Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search: Provides message tracking and transport log searching. It is basically used for querying of transport log remotely.
Services in Unified Messaging Servers:
1. Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging: Provides Unified Messaging features, such as the storing of inbound faxes and voice mail messages in a user's mailbox, and access to that mailbox via Outlook Voice Access.
2. Microsoft Exchange Speech Engine: Provides speech processing services for Unified Messaging.
Common Services on all Server roles:
The below services are present in all five server roles,
1. Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Topology Service: This is the core exchange services which communicate with AD often. This service uses DSACCESS component for accessing the active directory. Since, AD tightly integrated with Exchange, all server roles will have this service up running.
2. Microsoft Exchange Monitoring Service: This service is responsible for collecting all kind of diagnostic logs from the exchange application.
Services in Mailbox server role:
1. Microsoft Exchange information store: This is the service related to core exchange databases. It is the main services in the Mailbox server role and this is services is not dependent to other exchange services.
2. Microsoft Exchange Mail Submission: This service maintains the mail queue for transferring mails from mailbox server to hub transport server. Used to notify a Hub Transport server located in the Mailbox server's Active Directory site that messages are ready for retrieval from a sender's outbox. This service is also responsible for relaying and other tasks like Transport rules, Message Records Management etc.
3. Microsoft Exchange mailbox assistants: Provides functionality for Calendar Attendant, Resource Booking Attendant, Out of Office Assistant, and Managed Folder Mailbox Assistant.
4. Microsoft Exchange Replication Service: This service responsible for the replication of database information in the LCR and SCR cluster environment. This does the log shipping/seeding b/w the cluster peers.
5. Microsoft Exchange Search Indexer: This service is responsible for indexing the mail content in the database which in turn helps in improving the faster access/searching of the mail contents.
6. Microsoft Exchange Service Host: Configures the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services (IIS), and registry data for Valid Ports, NSPI Interface Protocol Sequences, and Allow Anonymous for Outlook Anywhere. It basically acts as a host for holding exchange related services like IIS.
7. Microsoft Exchange System Attendant: This service is responsible for following components. It provides maintaining, monitoring and directory lookup services functionality.
• DSAccess (DSAccess.dll) – Provides Exchange Active Directory Access
• DSProxy (DSProxy.dll) – Provides Directory Service Lookup for older Outlook clients
• Server Monitor Component - Monitoring server resources
• Mailbox Manager Component - Managing mailboxes
• Metabase update service - Replicating settings from Active Directory to the IIS metabase
• System Attendant Component - Verifies computer account configuration
8. Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search: Provides message tracking and transport log searching. It is basically used for querying of transport log remotely.
9. Microsoft Search (Exchange): Provides full-text indexing of mailbox data content. This is a Microsoft Exchange-customized version of Microsoft Search.
Services in CAS Servers:
1. Microsoft Exchange File Distribution: Used to distribute offline address book and custom Unified Messaging prompts.
2. Microsoft Exchange IMAP4: Responsible for Internet Message Access Protocol IMAP4 Clients connections.
3. Microsoft Exchange POP3: Responsible for Post Office Protocol POP3 Client connections.
4. Microsoft Exchange Service Host: Configures the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services (IIS), and registry data for Valid Ports, NSPI Interface Protocol Sequences, and Allow Anonymous for Outlook Anywhere. It basically acts as a host for holding exchange related services like IIS.
Services in Hub transport Servers:
1. Microsoft Exchange Anti-Spam Update: Used to automatically download anti-spam filter updates from Microsoft Update.
2. Microsoft Exchange Edgesync: Connects to ADAM instance on subscribed Edge Transport servers over secure Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) channel to synchronize data between a Hub Transport server and an Edge Transport server.
3. Microsoft Exchange Transport: This is the new SMTP service in exchange 2007, which don’t rely on Windows server SMTP services as like in previous version of the exchange. It is the core transport stacks which process the routing of messages.
4. Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search: Provides message tracking and transport log searching. It is basically used for querying of transport log remotely.
Services in Edge Transport Servers:
1. Microsoft Exchange ADAM: Connects to ADAM instance on subscribed Edge Transport servers over secure Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) channel to synchronize data between a Hub Transport server and an Edge Transport server.
2. Microsoft Exchange Anti-Spam Update: Used to automatically download anti-spam filter updates from Microsoft Update.
3. Microsoft Exchange Credential Service: Monitors credential changes in ADAM and installs the changes on the Edge Transport server.
4. Microsoft Exchange Transport: This is the new SMTP service in exchange 2007, which don’t rely on Windows server SMTP services as like in previous version of the exchange. It is the core transport stacks which process the routing of messages.
5. Microsoft Exchange Transport Log Search: Provides message tracking and transport log searching. It is basically used for querying of transport log remotely.
Services in Unified Messaging Servers:
1. Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging: Provides Unified Messaging features, such as the storing of inbound faxes and voice mail messages in a user's mailbox, and access to that mailbox via Outlook Voice Access.
2. Microsoft Exchange Speech Engine: Provides speech processing services for Unified Messaging.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Understanding DSProxy, DSReferral, DSAccess and the Categorizer:
We already aware that both AD and Exchange are highly integrated, the relationship b/w AD and exchange is more complex and often misunderstood.
Exchange server uses two services – Dsproxy and Dsaccess – to access the GC Global Catalog.
Dsproxy is an exchange specific service, whereas Dsaccess is a Windows service in turn used by the exchange server.
Dsproxy:
1. In general, Outlook 2000 clients and above can access the GC directly, but the old outlook client doesn’t.
2. To address the above lack of access, exchange server provides a proxy service called Dsproxy, acts as an intermediary b/w client and the GC.
3. Dsproxy works as a facilitator to allow outlook clients to access information within the AD through the Name Service Provider Interface (NSPI).
Dsreferral:
1. Since the dsproxy helps outlook client to reach the GC directly. Dsreferral also enhance or work to facilitate dsproxy.
2. Dsreferaal is used especially when exchange server not running on GC server. In such cases, DS Referral has the capability to update the Outlook 2000 client's MAPI profile with an appropriate GC server.
Dsaccess:
1. In general, the exchange server shares the GC functionality with the other AD services, It is important to reduce the impact of exchange server queries on GC. Dsaccess become solution for this.
2. Dsaccess implement a cache that stores recently accessed information for a configurable length of time. This cache reduces the number of direct query on GC drastically.
Role of the Categorizer:
The SMTP Categorizer is a component of Exchange that is used to submit mail messages to the proper destination. When a mail message is sent, the Categorizer queries the DSAccess component to locate an Active Directory server list, which is then directly queried for information that can be used to deliver the message. Problems with the Categorizer are often the cause of DNS or AD lookup issues. When troubleshooting mail-flow problems, please use message tracking in Exchange Server 2007 to find the course of a message. If the message stops at the Categorizer, it is often wise to start troubleshooting the issue from a directory access perspective.
Exchange server uses two services – Dsproxy and Dsaccess – to access the GC Global Catalog.
Dsproxy is an exchange specific service, whereas Dsaccess is a Windows service in turn used by the exchange server.
Dsproxy:
1. In general, Outlook 2000 clients and above can access the GC directly, but the old outlook client doesn’t.
2. To address the above lack of access, exchange server provides a proxy service called Dsproxy, acts as an intermediary b/w client and the GC.
3. Dsproxy works as a facilitator to allow outlook clients to access information within the AD through the Name Service Provider Interface (NSPI).
Dsreferral:
1. Since the dsproxy helps outlook client to reach the GC directly. Dsreferral also enhance or work to facilitate dsproxy.
2. Dsreferaal is used especially when exchange server not running on GC server. In such cases, DS Referral has the capability to update the Outlook 2000 client's MAPI profile with an appropriate GC server.
Dsaccess:
1. In general, the exchange server shares the GC functionality with the other AD services, It is important to reduce the impact of exchange server queries on GC. Dsaccess become solution for this.
2. Dsaccess implement a cache that stores recently accessed information for a configurable length of time. This cache reduces the number of direct query on GC drastically.
Role of the Categorizer:
The SMTP Categorizer is a component of Exchange that is used to submit mail messages to the proper destination. When a mail message is sent, the Categorizer queries the DSAccess component to locate an Active Directory server list, which is then directly queried for information that can be used to deliver the message. Problems with the Categorizer are often the cause of DNS or AD lookup issues. When troubleshooting mail-flow problems, please use message tracking in Exchange Server 2007 to find the course of a message. If the message stops at the Categorizer, it is often wise to start troubleshooting the issue from a directory access perspective.
Installation of Exchange 2007 SP2 on Windows Server 2008
Step 1: Preparation of Schema
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /Prepareschema
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
No server roles will be installed
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Organization Checks .........................COMPLETED
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Extending Active Directory schema
Progress .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
Step 2: Preparation of Active Directory
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /PrepareAD
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
No server roles will be installed
Exchange organization name is required for this mode. To specify an organizatio
n name, use the /OrganizationName parameter.
Exchange Server setup encountered an error.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /PrepareAd /organization:test
is not a valid command line option. To list the available c
ommand line parameters, type Setup /?
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /preparead /organizationname:test
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
No server roles will be installed
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Organization Checks .........................COMPLETED
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Organization Preparation .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
Step 3: Preparation of Domain
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /help
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Setup Help
Please type one of the below options for detailed help on each subject:
Setup.com /help:Install - Installing Exchange Server roles.
Setup.com /help:Uninstall - Uninstalling Exchange Server roles.
Setup.com /help:Upgrade - Upgrading Exchange Server roles.
Setup.com /help:RecoverServer - Recovering an existing Exchange Server.
Setup.com /help:PrepareTopology - Preparing your topology for Exchange.
Setup.com /help:Cluster - Installing Exchange on Clusters.
Setup.com /help:Delegation - Delegated server installations.
Setup.com /help:UmLanguagePacks - Adding/removing UM language packs.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /help:preparetopology
Prepare Topology Usage:
Setup.com /PrepareAD [/DomainController:]
Setup.com /PrepareSchema [/DomainController:]
Setup.com /PrepareDomain [/DomainController:]
Setup.com /PrepareDomain: [/DomainController:]
Setup.com /PrepareAllDomains [/DomainController:]
Setup.com /PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions [/DomainController:]
Setup.com /PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions: [/DomainController:]
--Prepare Topology Required Parameters--
/PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions, /pl
Prepares the permissions in a legacy forest.
Use this parameter only if you have Exchange 2000 or 2003 servers in your organization.
/PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions:, /pl:
Prepares the permissions for the specified domain.
/PrepareAD, /p
Prepares the Active Directory forest for the Exchange installation.
This will perform all the operations listed below in the local domain.
/PrepareSchema, /ps
Prepares the Active Directory Schema for the Exchange installation.
/PrepareDomain, /pd
Prepares the local domain for the Exchange installation.
/PrepareDomain:, /pd:
Prepares the specified domain for the Exchange installation.
/PrepareAllDomains, /pad
Prepares all domains in the forest for the Exchange
installation.
--Prepare Topology Optional Parameters--
[/DomainController, /dc]
Specifies the domain controller that setup will use to read
and write to Active Directory. Netbios or FQDN format can be used.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /preparedomain:wipro.com
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
No server roles will be installed
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Organization Checks ......................... FAILED
Setup encountered a problem while validating the state of Active Directory:
Could not find any Domain Controller in domain wipro.com.
The Exchange Server Setup operation did not complete. For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com and enter the Error ID.
Exchange Server setup encountered an error.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /preparedomain:wipro.com
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
No server roles will be installed
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Organization Checks .........................COMPLETED
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Prepare Domain Progress .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
Step 5: Installation of Roles in Exchange 07
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /mode:install /roles:h
Setup cannot continue while another setup is in progress. Please exit any runnin
g Exchange 2007 setup and try again.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /mode:install /roles:h
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
The following server roles will be installed
Management Tools
Hub Transport Role
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Hub Transport Role Checks .........................COMPLETED
The 32-bit version of Exchange Server 2007 is not supported for production use.
'SCLRejectEnabled' Setting will be reset after Hub Transport role is installed.
If you wish to turn off SCL rating in your environment, please re-run 'Set-Cont
entFilterConfig -SCLRejectEnabled:$false' from Exchange Management Shell after t
his installation.
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Copying Exchange files .........................COMPLETED
Exchange Management Tools .........................COMPLETED
Hub Transport Server Role .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
Setup has made changes to operating system settings that require a reboot to take effect. Please reboot this server prior to placing it into production.
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\administrator.WIPRO>cd..
C:\Users>cd..
C:\>cd Users
C:\Users>cd Administrator
C:\Users\Administrator>cd Desktop
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop>cd "New Folder"
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /mode:install /roles:clientaccess /noselfsignedcertificates
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
The following server roles will be installed
Client Access Role
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Client Access Role Checks .........................COMPLETED
The 32-bit version of Exchange Server 2007 is not supported for production use.
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Copying Exchange files .........................COMPLETED
Client Access server role .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /mode:install /roles:mailbox
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
The following server roles will be installed
Mailbox Role
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Mailbox Role Checks .........................COMPLETED
The 32-bit version of Exchange Server 2007 is not supported for production use.
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Copying Exchange files .........................COMPLETED
Mailbox Server Role .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
Setup has made changes to operating system settings that require a reboot to take effect. Please reboot this server prior to placing it into production.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /Prepareschema
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
No server roles will be installed
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Organization Checks .........................COMPLETED
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Extending Active Directory schema
Progress .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
Step 2: Preparation of Active Directory
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /PrepareAD
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
No server roles will be installed
Exchange organization name is required for this mode. To specify an organizatio
n name, use the /OrganizationName parameter.
Exchange Server setup encountered an error.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /PrepareAd /organization:test
is not a valid command line option. To list the available c
ommand line parameters, type Setup /?
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /preparead /organizationname:test
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
No server roles will be installed
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Organization Checks .........................COMPLETED
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Organization Preparation .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
Step 3: Preparation of Domain
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /help
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Setup Help
Please type one of the below options for detailed help on each subject:
Setup.com /help:Install - Installing Exchange Server roles.
Setup.com /help:Uninstall - Uninstalling Exchange Server roles.
Setup.com /help:Upgrade - Upgrading Exchange Server roles.
Setup.com /help:RecoverServer - Recovering an existing Exchange Server.
Setup.com /help:PrepareTopology - Preparing your topology for Exchange.
Setup.com /help:Cluster - Installing Exchange on Clusters.
Setup.com /help:Delegation - Delegated server installations.
Setup.com /help:UmLanguagePacks - Adding/removing UM language packs.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /help:preparetopology
Prepare Topology Usage:
Setup.com /PrepareAD [/DomainController:
Setup.com /PrepareSchema [/DomainController:
Setup.com /PrepareDomain [/DomainController:
Setup.com /PrepareDomain:
Setup.com /PrepareAllDomains [/DomainController:
Setup.com /PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions [/DomainController:
Setup.com /PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions:
--Prepare Topology Required Parameters--
/PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions, /pl
Prepares the permissions in a legacy forest.
Use this parameter only if you have Exchange 2000 or 2003 servers in your organization.
/PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions:
Prepares the permissions for the specified domain.
/PrepareAD, /p
Prepares the Active Directory forest for the Exchange installation.
This will perform all the operations listed below in the local domain.
/PrepareSchema, /ps
Prepares the Active Directory Schema for the Exchange installation.
/PrepareDomain, /pd
Prepares the local domain for the Exchange installation.
/PrepareDomain:
Prepares the specified domain for the Exchange installation.
/PrepareAllDomains, /pad
Prepares all domains in the forest for the Exchange
installation.
--Prepare Topology Optional Parameters--
[/DomainController, /dc]
Specifies the domain controller that setup will use to read
and write to Active Directory. Netbios or FQDN format can be used.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /preparedomain:wipro.com
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
No server roles will be installed
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Organization Checks ......................... FAILED
Setup encountered a problem while validating the state of Active Directory:
Could not find any Domain Controller in domain wipro.com.
The Exchange Server Setup operation did not complete. For more information, visit http://support.microsoft.com and enter the Error ID.
Exchange Server setup encountered an error.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /preparedomain:wipro.com
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
No server roles will be installed
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Organization Checks .........................COMPLETED
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Prepare Domain Progress .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
Step 5: Installation of Roles in Exchange 07
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /mode:install /roles:h
Setup cannot continue while another setup is in progress. Please exit any runnin
g Exchange 2007 setup and try again.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /mode:install /roles:h
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
The following server roles will be installed
Management Tools
Hub Transport Role
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Hub Transport Role Checks .........................COMPLETED
The 32-bit version of Exchange Server 2007 is not supported for production use.
'SCLRejectEnabled' Setting will be reset after Hub Transport role is installed.
If you wish to turn off SCL rating in your environment, please re-run 'Set-Cont
entFilterConfig -SCLRejectEnabled:$false' from Exchange Management Shell after t
his installation.
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Copying Exchange files .........................COMPLETED
Exchange Management Tools .........................COMPLETED
Hub Transport Server Role .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
Setup has made changes to operating system settings that require a reboot to take effect. Please reboot this server prior to placing it into production.
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\administrator.WIPRO>cd..
C:\Users>cd..
C:\>cd Users
C:\Users>cd Administrator
C:\Users\Administrator>cd Desktop
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop>cd "New Folder"
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /mode:install /roles:clientaccess /noselfsignedcertificates
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
The following server roles will be installed
Client Access Role
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Client Access Role Checks .........................COMPLETED
The 32-bit version of Exchange Server 2007 is not supported for production use.
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Copying Exchange files .........................COMPLETED
Client Access server role .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\New Folder>setup.com /mode:install /roles:mailbox
Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unattended Setup
Preparing Exchange Setup
The following server roles will be installed
Mailbox Role
Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check
Mailbox Role Checks .........................COMPLETED
The 32-bit version of Exchange Server 2007 is not supported for production use.
Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server
Copying Exchange files .........................COMPLETED
Mailbox Server Role .........................COMPLETED
The Microsoft Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
Setup has made changes to operating system settings that require a reboot to take effect. Please reboot this server prior to placing it into production.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
How public folder referrals have changed in Exchange 2007
Exchange 2007 change in the elimination of a couple of well-known key concepts in prior versions: Administrative Groups and Routing Groups. The elimination of the routing group, and consequently the routing group connector, changes the way that public folder referrals are handled in Exchange 2007.
Previously, the public folder server would call into the routing engine to gather routing cost information, and use this information to control content referrals and pick servers for backfill requests. Now, the server connects directly to Active Directory to get the inter-site costs among all the public folder servers.
There's no way to indicate on an AD site connector that you don't want public folder referrals to happen. No longer can you check a checkbox and stop PF referrals from happening from one corner of your company to another. But don't panic! The server still implements a method to ensure client referrals don't end up going to the wrong end of the planet. The server has the notion of other servers which are "too expensive" to accept referrals. As of this writing, that "too expensive" threshold is 500. Yes, that really needs to be configurable, and we will examine doing that in a future release.
We still have the feature where you can specify a specific cost list for a single server. Instead of calling into AD, we'll simply read this cost list and use whatever data it provides. Unlisted servers implicitly have an "infinite" cost, so this provides a simple method for disallowing referrals from a specific server to a set of other servers.
This new source of cost information also controls the backfill picker. Previously, the code always queried for cost information once (an hour) and cached it. This cached info was used to prepare client referrals and to pick servers to ask for backfill. Now that we're querying AD instead of the routing engine, all users of that cost information benefit from the new source and all can see the same information.
It's important to note that Exchange 2007 exclusively uses the AD site connector cost information, while pre-Exchange 2007 exclusively uses the data from the routing group connectors. Since all Exchange 2007 servers appear to be in a single routing group from pre-Exchange 2007's point of view, without some additional configuration you may experience truly bizarre referrals for users whose default public folder database is on a pre-Exchange 2007 server, but all the replicas live solely on Exchange 2007 servers. In this specific case, the pre-Exchange 2007 server will perceive all the Exchange 2007 servers as having the same cost (because they're all in the same routing group). Clients will get referrals all over the place. To prevent this from happening, you should set all default PFDBs for all mailbox DBs to point to Exchange 2007 as soon as you've replicated content to any Exchange 2007 servers.
NOTE: If you have Exchange 2003 users that use OWA, you should not point the Exchange 2003 mailbox database to an Exchange 2007 public folder database, until you move all users that need OWA public folder access to Exchange 2007.
Previously, the public folder server would call into the routing engine to gather routing cost information, and use this information to control content referrals and pick servers for backfill requests. Now, the server connects directly to Active Directory to get the inter-site costs among all the public folder servers.
There's no way to indicate on an AD site connector that you don't want public folder referrals to happen. No longer can you check a checkbox and stop PF referrals from happening from one corner of your company to another. But don't panic! The server still implements a method to ensure client referrals don't end up going to the wrong end of the planet. The server has the notion of other servers which are "too expensive" to accept referrals. As of this writing, that "too expensive" threshold is 500. Yes, that really needs to be configurable, and we will examine doing that in a future release.
We still have the feature where you can specify a specific cost list for a single server. Instead of calling into AD, we'll simply read this cost list and use whatever data it provides. Unlisted servers implicitly have an "infinite" cost, so this provides a simple method for disallowing referrals from a specific server to a set of other servers.
This new source of cost information also controls the backfill picker. Previously, the code always queried for cost information once (an hour) and cached it. This cached info was used to prepare client referrals and to pick servers to ask for backfill. Now that we're querying AD instead of the routing engine, all users of that cost information benefit from the new source and all can see the same information.
It's important to note that Exchange 2007 exclusively uses the AD site connector cost information, while pre-Exchange 2007 exclusively uses the data from the routing group connectors. Since all Exchange 2007 servers appear to be in a single routing group from pre-Exchange 2007's point of view, without some additional configuration you may experience truly bizarre referrals for users whose default public folder database is on a pre-Exchange 2007 server, but all the replicas live solely on Exchange 2007 servers. In this specific case, the pre-Exchange 2007 server will perceive all the Exchange 2007 servers as having the same cost (because they're all in the same routing group). Clients will get referrals all over the place. To prevent this from happening, you should set all default PFDBs for all mailbox DBs to point to Exchange 2007 as soon as you've replicated content to any Exchange 2007 servers.
NOTE: If you have Exchange 2003 users that use OWA, you should not point the Exchange 2003 mailbox database to an Exchange 2007 public folder database, until you move all users that need OWA public folder access to Exchange 2007.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Moving from free-busy information to Availability service
The Public Folder database is created in Exchange 2007 so that you can replicate any Public Folder data stored on your legacy Exchange servers to Exchange 2007. Even though you don’t use Public Folders to store data in your environment, there’s one other reason why you might want to keep the Public Folder database mounted on your Exchange 2007 Server.
As some of you may already know, Exchange 2007 no longer uses a Public Folder (or more specifically a System Folder named SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY in your Public Folder hierarchy) to store free/busy information for the mailbox users in the organization. Instead free/busy information is stored directly in each user’s mailbox, and retrieved using a new web-based service called the Availability service.
The advantage of this new approach is that there no longer are any 15 minute delays when free/busy time for a user is updated. Instead the update will happen instantly. So why would I want to keep the Public Folder database on my Exchange 2007 server, if free/busy information is retrieved using this new method? Well if you still have legacy Outlook clients (that is Outlook 2003 and earlier versions) running in your organization, these clients still need to use Public Folder method to retrieve free/busy information, since only Outlook 2007 supports the new Availability service.
As some of you may already know, Exchange 2007 no longer uses a Public Folder (or more specifically a System Folder named SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY in your Public Folder hierarchy) to store free/busy information for the mailbox users in the organization. Instead free/busy information is stored directly in each user’s mailbox, and retrieved using a new web-based service called the Availability service.
The advantage of this new approach is that there no longer are any 15 minute delays when free/busy time for a user is updated. Instead the update will happen instantly. So why would I want to keep the Public Folder database on my Exchange 2007 server, if free/busy information is retrieved using this new method? Well if you still have legacy Outlook clients (that is Outlook 2003 and earlier versions) running in your organization, these clients still need to use Public Folder method to retrieve free/busy information, since only Outlook 2007 supports the new Availability service.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Outlook Web Access and Exchange 2007, 2003 and 2000 coexistence
To get started, let me take you on a trip down memory lane to dark ages of computing and e-mail. Journey with me to the years 2000 and 2003, when Exchange was a much different product. In Exchange 2003 and 2000, there were two server configurations: front-end (FE) and back-end (BE). From OWA's point of view, the FE server was little more than a proxy. It accepted requests and forwarded them to the BE server. The BE handled all the business logic and rendered the UI. If you looked at the IIS metabase on an FE or BE server, you'd see three virtual directories normally associated with OWA:
/exchange: handles mailbox access requests for OWA and WebDAV
/public: handles requests for public folders
/exchweb: contains resource files used by OWA and WebDAV
If you accessed /exchange on an FE server, you would be prompted to enter your credentials and then proxied to /exchange on the BE server, which would serve up OWA.
Fast forward to 2007, where we made a great leap forward with Exchange. We did away with the FE and BE roles in favour of the CAS and Mailbox roles. The key difference between CAS and FE is that CAS contains the business logic and renders the OWA UI. This presented us with a challenge: how do we allow Exchange 2007 CAS servers to coexist with Exchange 2007 Mailbox and Exchange 2003/2000 Mailbox servers? The solution depends on how the server is configured.
First things first, though:
• If you intend to keep E2007 and E2003/2000 servers running side by side, we recommend that you keep the E2007 CAS and E2007 Mailbox servers on separate machines. If you want to combine CAS and Mailbox on a single server while still maintaining E2003/2000 servers, you will need to expose two URLs. One goes to the E2007 server (e.g., https://e2007.contoso.com/owa), while the other goes to the E2003/2000 servers (e.g., https://e2003.contoso.com/exchange).
• We don't support putting an Exchange 2003/2000 FE server in front of an Exchange 2007 Mailbox server. OWA 2007 also doesn't support Exchange 2007 public folders yet. Look for it in an Exchange 2007 Service Pack. In addition, you should replace all your E2003/2000 FE servers with E2007 CAS servers before moving your mailboxes to E2007 (see this page in Exchange 2007 documentation). Note that a CAS will require more powerful hardware than an FE server, so account for that in your planning (see this blog post for details).
If you look at IIS on CAS-only, Mailbox-only, and CAS+Mailbox servers, you'll see that they look very similar:
CAS-only /owa /exchange /public /exchweb
Mailbox-only /exchange /public
CAS+Mailbox - /owa /exchange /public /exchweb
Looks, in this case, are deceiving. /owa, which handles OWA 2007 business logic and UI rendering, is the only one that behaves the same wherever it appears. The remaining virtual directories, affectionately dubbed "legacy virtual directories", handle Exchange 2003/2000 and WebDAV requests. They work differently based on which server roles are installed.
By reserving /owa for OWA 2007, we made the Exchange 2007 legacy virtual directories analogous to Exchange 2003/2000 virtual directories. From the legacy virtual directory point of view, the CAS role acts like an Exchange 2003/2000 FE server. That is, it takes requests and proxies them to a BE server. The logic for this is in exprox.dll, which is applied as a scriptmap on the legacy virtual directories. Exprox doesn't do anything beyond proxy requests from the CAS to the Exchange 2007/2003/2000 Mailbox server.
All the intelligence for handling legacy requests lives in davex.dll, which is the scriptmap on the Mailbox server's legacy virtual directories. Davex contains logic for handling DAV requests, redirecting Exchange 2007 mailbox users to /owa, and serving up the Exchange 2003/2000 OWA experience. It is important to understand that exprox only directs traffic to davex on a mailbox server. Davex figures out what the right or the best server to use is.
There are two important caveats when working with davex:
1. Davex responds to both DAV and OWA requests. If you are pointing your browser to a URL, such as https://mail.company.com/exchange, and davex responds to it, it is treating it as an OWA request.
2. Davex will redirect a request based on the internal (intranet) name of the server. This means that users on the internet may receive a DNS error because the internal name of a server may not be the one that is exposed on the internet.
To understand how it all fits together, let's take a look at a few examples:
Example #1
1 Exchange 2007 CAS-only server
1 Exchange 2007 Mailbox-only server
All mailboxes are Exchange 2007
• Requests for /owa return the OWA 2007 experience
• Requests for /exchange: exprox proxies requests to /exchange on the Mailbox server, where davex redirects the user to /owa on the CAS
• Requests for /public: exprox proxies the user to /public on the Mailbox server. Davex then looks for an E2003 PF server but doesn't find one. It then returns an error message.
• Requests for /exchweb: exprox either proxies them to /exchange or /public on the Mailbox server, or does nothing with them (more on this later)
Example #2
1 Exchange 2007 CAS-only server
1 Exchange 2003 BE server
All mailboxes on the BE server
• Requests for /owa returns the following error since there are no Exchange 2007 mailboxes.
Outlook Web Access could not find a mailbox for DOMAIN\USER. If the problem continues, contact technical support for your organization and tell them the following: The mailbox may be stored on a Microsoft Exchange 2000 or Microsoft Exchange 2003 server, or the Active Directory user account was created recently and has not yet replicated to the Active Directory site where this Client Access server is hosted.
• Requests for /exchange on the CAS are proxied to /exchange on the BE server, which returns the OWA 2003 experience
• Requests for /public on the CAS are proxied to /public on the BE server, which returns the OWA 2003 PF experience
• Requests for /exchweb: exprox either proxies them to /exchange or /public on the Mailbox server, or does nothing with them
Example #3
1 Exchange 2007 CAS-only server
1 Exchange 2007 Mailbox-only server
1 Exchange 2003 BE server
Mailboxes on both Exchange 2007 and 2003 servers
If the your mailbox is on an E2007 server
• requests to /owa will return the OWA 2007 experience
• requests to /exchange on the CAS or Mailbox server will redirect the user to /owa. Authentication credentials transparently passed through.
• requests to /exchange on the BE will direct the user to the CAS, but the user may need to be authenticated again
• requests to /public will be directed to /public on the BE server
• requests to /exchweb will be directed to the BE server or return nothing
If your mailbox is on an E2003 server
• requests to /owa will yield the error message from Example 2
• requests to /exchange or /public on a CAS will be proxied by exprox to /exchange or /public on the BE server and yield the OWA 2003 experience
• requests to /exchange or /public on the BE server will yield the OWA 2003 experience
• requests to /exchweb will be directed to the BE server or return nothing
Example #4
1 Exchange 2007 CAS+Mailbox server
• requests for /owa yield the OWA 2007 experience
• requests for /exchange will be redirected by davex to /owa
• requests for /public will return an error since there are no E2003 PF servers
Example #5
1 Exchange 2007 CAS+Mailbox server
1 Exchange 2003 BE server
If your mailbox is on the E2007 server
• Requests to /owa will yield the OWA 2007 experience
• Requests to /exchange will redirect to /owa
• Requests to /public will likely yield an error because DAV will not redirect OWA requests to the E2003 PF server correctly.
If your mailbox is on the E2003 server
• Requests to /owa will yield the Example 2 error message
• Requests to /exchange redirect to the E2003 server and yield the OWA 2003 experience
o If accessing /exchange on the E2007 server, you will need to reauthenticate after being redirected to the E2003 server
• Requests to /public will likely yield an error because DAV will not redirect OWA requests to the E2003 PF server correctly.
/exchange: handles mailbox access requests for OWA and WebDAV
/public: handles requests for public folders
/exchweb: contains resource files used by OWA and WebDAV
If you accessed /exchange on an FE server, you would be prompted to enter your credentials and then proxied to /exchange on the BE server, which would serve up OWA.
Fast forward to 2007, where we made a great leap forward with Exchange. We did away with the FE and BE roles in favour of the CAS and Mailbox roles. The key difference between CAS and FE is that CAS contains the business logic and renders the OWA UI. This presented us with a challenge: how do we allow Exchange 2007 CAS servers to coexist with Exchange 2007 Mailbox and Exchange 2003/2000 Mailbox servers? The solution depends on how the server is configured.
First things first, though:
• If you intend to keep E2007 and E2003/2000 servers running side by side, we recommend that you keep the E2007 CAS and E2007 Mailbox servers on separate machines. If you want to combine CAS and Mailbox on a single server while still maintaining E2003/2000 servers, you will need to expose two URLs. One goes to the E2007 server (e.g., https://e2007.contoso.com/owa), while the other goes to the E2003/2000 servers (e.g., https://e2003.contoso.com/exchange).
• We don't support putting an Exchange 2003/2000 FE server in front of an Exchange 2007 Mailbox server. OWA 2007 also doesn't support Exchange 2007 public folders yet. Look for it in an Exchange 2007 Service Pack. In addition, you should replace all your E2003/2000 FE servers with E2007 CAS servers before moving your mailboxes to E2007 (see this page in Exchange 2007 documentation). Note that a CAS will require more powerful hardware than an FE server, so account for that in your planning (see this blog post for details).
If you look at IIS on CAS-only, Mailbox-only, and CAS+Mailbox servers, you'll see that they look very similar:
CAS-only /owa /exchange /public /exchweb
Mailbox-only /exchange /public
CAS+Mailbox - /owa /exchange /public /exchweb
Looks, in this case, are deceiving. /owa, which handles OWA 2007 business logic and UI rendering, is the only one that behaves the same wherever it appears. The remaining virtual directories, affectionately dubbed "legacy virtual directories", handle Exchange 2003/2000 and WebDAV requests. They work differently based on which server roles are installed.
By reserving /owa for OWA 2007, we made the Exchange 2007 legacy virtual directories analogous to Exchange 2003/2000 virtual directories. From the legacy virtual directory point of view, the CAS role acts like an Exchange 2003/2000 FE server. That is, it takes requests and proxies them to a BE server. The logic for this is in exprox.dll, which is applied as a scriptmap on the legacy virtual directories. Exprox doesn't do anything beyond proxy requests from the CAS to the Exchange 2007/2003/2000 Mailbox server.
All the intelligence for handling legacy requests lives in davex.dll, which is the scriptmap on the Mailbox server's legacy virtual directories. Davex contains logic for handling DAV requests, redirecting Exchange 2007 mailbox users to /owa, and serving up the Exchange 2003/2000 OWA experience. It is important to understand that exprox only directs traffic to davex on a mailbox server. Davex figures out what the right or the best server to use is.
There are two important caveats when working with davex:
1. Davex responds to both DAV and OWA requests. If you are pointing your browser to a URL, such as https://mail.company.com/exchange, and davex responds to it, it is treating it as an OWA request.
2. Davex will redirect a request based on the internal (intranet) name of the server. This means that users on the internet may receive a DNS error because the internal name of a server may not be the one that is exposed on the internet.
To understand how it all fits together, let's take a look at a few examples:
Example #1
1 Exchange 2007 CAS-only server
1 Exchange 2007 Mailbox-only server
All mailboxes are Exchange 2007
• Requests for /owa return the OWA 2007 experience
• Requests for /exchange: exprox proxies requests to /exchange on the Mailbox server, where davex redirects the user to /owa on the CAS
• Requests for /public: exprox proxies the user to /public on the Mailbox server. Davex then looks for an E2003 PF server but doesn't find one. It then returns an error message.
• Requests for /exchweb: exprox either proxies them to /exchange or /public on the Mailbox server, or does nothing with them (more on this later)
Example #2
1 Exchange 2007 CAS-only server
1 Exchange 2003 BE server
All mailboxes on the BE server
• Requests for /owa returns the following error since there are no Exchange 2007 mailboxes.
Outlook Web Access could not find a mailbox for DOMAIN\USER. If the problem continues, contact technical support for your organization and tell them the following: The mailbox may be stored on a Microsoft Exchange 2000 or Microsoft Exchange 2003 server, or the Active Directory user account was created recently and has not yet replicated to the Active Directory site where this Client Access server is hosted.
• Requests for /exchange on the CAS are proxied to /exchange on the BE server, which returns the OWA 2003 experience
• Requests for /public on the CAS are proxied to /public on the BE server, which returns the OWA 2003 PF experience
• Requests for /exchweb: exprox either proxies them to /exchange or /public on the Mailbox server, or does nothing with them
Example #3
1 Exchange 2007 CAS-only server
1 Exchange 2007 Mailbox-only server
1 Exchange 2003 BE server
Mailboxes on both Exchange 2007 and 2003 servers
If the your mailbox is on an E2007 server
• requests to /owa will return the OWA 2007 experience
• requests to /exchange on the CAS or Mailbox server will redirect the user to /owa. Authentication credentials transparently passed through.
• requests to /exchange on the BE will direct the user to the CAS, but the user may need to be authenticated again
• requests to /public will be directed to /public on the BE server
• requests to /exchweb will be directed to the BE server or return nothing
If your mailbox is on an E2003 server
• requests to /owa will yield the error message from Example 2
• requests to /exchange or /public on a CAS will be proxied by exprox to /exchange or /public on the BE server and yield the OWA 2003 experience
• requests to /exchange or /public on the BE server will yield the OWA 2003 experience
• requests to /exchweb will be directed to the BE server or return nothing
Example #4
1 Exchange 2007 CAS+Mailbox server
• requests for /owa yield the OWA 2007 experience
• requests for /exchange will be redirected by davex to /owa
• requests for /public will return an error since there are no E2003 PF servers
Example #5
1 Exchange 2007 CAS+Mailbox server
1 Exchange 2003 BE server
If your mailbox is on the E2007 server
• Requests to /owa will yield the OWA 2007 experience
• Requests to /exchange will redirect to /owa
• Requests to /public will likely yield an error because DAV will not redirect OWA requests to the E2003 PF server correctly.
If your mailbox is on the E2003 server
• Requests to /owa will yield the Example 2 error message
• Requests to /exchange redirect to the E2003 server and yield the OWA 2003 experience
o If accessing /exchange on the E2007 server, you will need to reauthenticate after being redirected to the E2003 server
• Requests to /public will likely yield an error because DAV will not redirect OWA requests to the E2003 PF server correctly.
Monday, October 5, 2009
How DSAccess service improves Exchange Server 2007 reliability
On my small network, DSAccess service chooses two domain controllers and one global catalog server to work with. However, on a larger network, the DSAccess service could choose up to 10 domain controllers and 10 global catalog servers. Why does Exchange 2007 need to work with so many Active Directory (AD) servers?
The answer has to do with stability. A server may occasionally fail, a router may go down or any number of other events can make an Exchange server temporarily inaccessible. By maintaining a list of multiple domain controllers and global catalog servers, Exchange can contact Active Directory in several ways if there is a problem contacting a server.
The DSAccess service is designed to perform specific tests every 15 minutes to make Exchange's Active Directory connectivity as reliable as possible. This makes Exchange aware of new domain controllers, changes to AD topology or even server failures and allows it to react accordingly.
The notion that Exchange can fall back on alternate domain controllers if one fails implies that some domain controllers are more important than others. Exchange designates one domain controller as the configuration domain controller. Exchange Server's configuration is written to this domain controller and then replicated to others.
Exchange is designed this way to prevent problems associated with replication latency. If contradictory configuration information was written to two different domain controllers, those controllers would begin replicating to other domain controllers. This would result in mass confusion. Designating a single domain controller to replicate Exchange configuration information solves this problem.
By default, the first domain controller that DSAccess is bound to during the initial dynamic detection process is designated as the configuration domain controller. You can designate a specific domain controller to act as the configuration controller, but I recommend allowing Exchange to choose which one to use. If you manually select a domain controller, Exchange won't automatically select a replacement configuration domain controller if the selected one fails.
If you're curious about which domain controller Exchange is using as a configuration domain controller, you can examine the Event Log entries. To do this, open the event logs and search for Event ID 2150.
The answer has to do with stability. A server may occasionally fail, a router may go down or any number of other events can make an Exchange server temporarily inaccessible. By maintaining a list of multiple domain controllers and global catalog servers, Exchange can contact Active Directory in several ways if there is a problem contacting a server.
The DSAccess service is designed to perform specific tests every 15 minutes to make Exchange's Active Directory connectivity as reliable as possible. This makes Exchange aware of new domain controllers, changes to AD topology or even server failures and allows it to react accordingly.
The notion that Exchange can fall back on alternate domain controllers if one fails implies that some domain controllers are more important than others. Exchange designates one domain controller as the configuration domain controller. Exchange Server's configuration is written to this domain controller and then replicated to others.
Exchange is designed this way to prevent problems associated with replication latency. If contradictory configuration information was written to two different domain controllers, those controllers would begin replicating to other domain controllers. This would result in mass confusion. Designating a single domain controller to replicate Exchange configuration information solves this problem.
By default, the first domain controller that DSAccess is bound to during the initial dynamic detection process is designated as the configuration domain controller. You can designate a specific domain controller to act as the configuration controller, but I recommend allowing Exchange to choose which one to use. If you manually select a domain controller, Exchange won't automatically select a replacement configuration domain controller if the selected one fails.
If you're curious about which domain controller Exchange is using as a configuration domain controller, you can examine the Event Log entries. To do this, open the event logs and search for Event ID 2150.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Use Exchange 2007 ActiveSync logs to track mobile device activity
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 doesn't offer a tool to specifically track the amount of data that users send and receive from their portable devices. However, it does log all ActiveSync transactions. Learn how you can export Exchange 2007 ActiveSync reports to comma-separated values (CSV) files via the Exchange Management Shell to analyze and determine mobile device activity, and estimate the costs associated with mobile messaging in your organization.
One problem with mobile messaging is that, unless your company has a wireless plan that offers unlimited data transmission, users can accumulate hefty wireless bills. As an Exchange Server administrator, you must track how much data each mobile device user sends and receives to budget for future growth. If you know, on average, how much data each mobile user requires, you can easily estimate the monthly cost of adding users.
Exchange Server 2007 logs all ActiveSync transactions that go through the server; and you can use various data-mining techniques to glean information from these logs. When looking at ActiveSync reports, it's important to understand information contained within them. Reports are created based on the Exchange server's perspective of data, rather than the users' perspective.
A new ActiveSync log is created on a daily basis; therefore, there is no master-log file that contains every transaction that has ever occurred. You need to analyze the data from day to day. As you extract the data, you can plug it into a SQL Server or Microsoft Access database to perform a more detailed analysis over time, rather than evaluating just a single day's data.
Unfortunately, there is no graphical user interface (GUI) mechanism that analyzes ActiveSync logs, so you will have to use the Exchange Management Shell to export the data. To do so, you will need to know the date that the desired data was collected, and the path to which you want to dump the extracted data. For example, suppose that you wanted to extract data that was collected on July 31, 2007, and move it to a folder called C:\Logs. In this situation, you would use the following command:
Export-ActiveSyncLog –FileName: 'C:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\W3SVC1\ex070731.log' –UseGMT:$true –OutputPath 'c: \Logs\'
This file name is based on the date chosen, which is entered in YYMMDD format. Exchange Server will then create six comma-separated values (CSV) files in the target directory. CSV files are text files that are designed to be imported into Microsoft Access or Excel.
The first CSV file that Exchange Server creates is Users.csv. This file logs user activity, and lets an administrator view these logs to pinpoint the heaviest users. The Users.csv file tracks items sent and items received for each user.
Keep in mind that ActiveSync reports are generated based on the server's perspective, so the Items sent column refers to the number of items that the server sent to the specified user; not the number of messages that the user sent. Likewise, the Items received column refers to the number of items that the server received from the user; not the number of messages that the user received.
User-Agents.csv is the second CSV file that Exchange Server 2007 creates. This file logs activity according to device type. The Users-Agents.csv file can be used to determine how many users employ each different type of wireless device, and how much traffic each device generates.
The next three CSV files that Exchange generates are Servers.csv, PolicyCompliance.csv and StatusCodes.csv.
• The Servers.csv file reports ActiveSync-related activity on a mailbox
server-by-mailbox server basis.
• The PolicyCompliance.csv file reports on how well various wireless devices comply with established ActiveSync mailbox policies.
• The StatusCodes.csv file contains various undocumented codes designed for use by Microsoft technical support staff.
The fourth file, Hourly.csv, compresses wireless activity into hour-by-hour chunks, and lets you identify when mobile users send and receive the most data. Some wireless providers offer different rates for peak hours vs. off-peak hours, so this hour-by-hour analysis can help you better predict charges that users incur.
One problem with mobile messaging is that, unless your company has a wireless plan that offers unlimited data transmission, users can accumulate hefty wireless bills. As an Exchange Server administrator, you must track how much data each mobile device user sends and receives to budget for future growth. If you know, on average, how much data each mobile user requires, you can easily estimate the monthly cost of adding users.
Exchange Server 2007 logs all ActiveSync transactions that go through the server; and you can use various data-mining techniques to glean information from these logs. When looking at ActiveSync reports, it's important to understand information contained within them. Reports are created based on the Exchange server's perspective of data, rather than the users' perspective.
A new ActiveSync log is created on a daily basis; therefore, there is no master-log file that contains every transaction that has ever occurred. You need to analyze the data from day to day. As you extract the data, you can plug it into a SQL Server or Microsoft Access database to perform a more detailed analysis over time, rather than evaluating just a single day's data.
Unfortunately, there is no graphical user interface (GUI) mechanism that analyzes ActiveSync logs, so you will have to use the Exchange Management Shell to export the data. To do so, you will need to know the date that the desired data was collected, and the path to which you want to dump the extracted data. For example, suppose that you wanted to extract data that was collected on July 31, 2007, and move it to a folder called C:\Logs. In this situation, you would use the following command:
Export-ActiveSyncLog –FileName: 'C:\Windows\System32\LogFiles\W3SVC1\ex070731.log' –UseGMT:$true –OutputPath 'c: \Logs\'
This file name is based on the date chosen, which is entered in YYMMDD format. Exchange Server will then create six comma-separated values (CSV) files in the target directory. CSV files are text files that are designed to be imported into Microsoft Access or Excel.
The first CSV file that Exchange Server creates is Users.csv. This file logs user activity, and lets an administrator view these logs to pinpoint the heaviest users. The Users.csv file tracks items sent and items received for each user.
Keep in mind that ActiveSync reports are generated based on the server's perspective, so the Items sent column refers to the number of items that the server sent to the specified user; not the number of messages that the user sent. Likewise, the Items received column refers to the number of items that the server received from the user; not the number of messages that the user received.
User-Agents.csv is the second CSV file that Exchange Server 2007 creates. This file logs activity according to device type. The Users-Agents.csv file can be used to determine how many users employ each different type of wireless device, and how much traffic each device generates.
The next three CSV files that Exchange generates are Servers.csv, PolicyCompliance.csv and StatusCodes.csv.
• The Servers.csv file reports ActiveSync-related activity on a mailbox
server-by-mailbox server basis.
• The PolicyCompliance.csv file reports on how well various wireless devices comply with established ActiveSync mailbox policies.
• The StatusCodes.csv file contains various undocumented codes designed for use by Microsoft technical support staff.
The fourth file, Hourly.csv, compresses wireless activity into hour-by-hour chunks, and lets you identify when mobile users send and receive the most data. Some wireless providers offer different rates for peak hours vs. off-peak hours, so this hour-by-hour analysis can help you better predict charges that users incur.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Exchange Server 2003 Interview Questions
1. What is Exchange Server?
Exchange Server is a Microsoft’s Messaging system, which provides Industry leading Email, calendaring and unified Messaging
2. Tell me a bit about the capabilities of Exchange Server.
1. Outlook Anywhere (OWA)
2. Mailbox can sync with Blackberry Device.
3. Calendar Sharing.
4. MAPI & POP3 Client support
3. What are the different Exchange 2003 versions?
· Exchange server 5.5
· Exchange Server 2000
· Exchange Server 2003
· Exchange Server 2007
· Exchange Server 2010
4. What are the differences between Exchange Sever 2003 Standard and Enterprise Editions?
Following are the difference between Exchange server 2003 Standard and Enterprise Edition.
Feature Standard Edition Enterprise Edition
Storage groups support 1 storage group 4 storage groups
Number of databases per storage group 2 databases 5 databases
Individual database size 16 gigabytes (GB) Maximum 16 terabytes, limited only by hardware
Exchange Clustering Not supported Supported
X.400 connector Not included Included
5. What are the main differences between Exchange 5.5 and Exchange 2000/2003?
· Exchange 2000 does not have its own directory or directory service; it uses Active Directory instead.
· Exchange 2000 uses native components of Windows 2000 (namely, IIS and its SMTP, NNTP, W3SVC and other components, Kerberos and others) for many core functions.
· SMTP is now a full peer to RPC, and is it the default transport protocol between Exchange 2000 servers.
· Exchange 2000 supports Active/Active clustering and was recently certified for Windows 2000 Datacenter.
· Exchange 2000 scales much higher.
· It boasts conferencing services and instant messaging.
6. What are the minimum hardware requirements for Exchange Server 2003?
· Processor – Pentium 133 MHz
· Operating System – Windows 2000 SP3
· Memory – 256 MB
· Disk Space – 200 MB for system files and 500 MB where Exchange Server installation.
· File System - NTFS
7. What are the steps involved in Exchange Server installation?
1. Prerequisites Installation – ASP .Net, IIS, SMTP, NNTP and WWW services Installation
2. Forest Preparation
3. Domain Preparation
4. Exchange Server 2003 Installation
8. Why not install Exchange on the same machine as a DC?
The main reason behind not to install Exchange Server is, when we used to restart the Exchange server for any reason it will take lot of time to shut down the Exchange Server services.
9. Which Services must be installed and running for Exchange Server installation?
Following are the services that should be installed before installing Exchange Server 2003
1. ASP .Net
2. Internet Information Service
3. SMTP
4. NNTP
5. WWW
10. What can you do and what will be the effect if ASP.NET service is not available while installing Exchange Server 2003?
ASP .Net files are important for authentication, delegation and securing the web publication. Before installing exchange Server 2003 ASP .Net should be installed
11. What are Exchange Server 2003 deployment tools?
The Exchange Server 2003 Deployment Tools are a compilation of old and new Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) support tools that you can use to prepare Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 and the Microsoft Active Directory directory service infrastructure for the installation of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.
· Installation and Upgrade Prerequisites
· Enabling Windows Services
· DCDiag Tool
· NetDiag Tool
· ForestPrep
· DomainPrep
12. What are the Windows versions supported by Exchange Server 2003?
1. Windows 2000 Service pack 3 ( Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Edition)
2. Windows 2003 Service pack 1 ( Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Edition)
13. In which domains domainprep must be run?
1. The Forest root Domain
2. All domain that will contain Exchange Server 2003
3. All Domain that will contain Exchange Mailbox enable objects.
14. What is ForestPrep?
Forest prep updates the schema and configuration partition in Active directory. Extend the schema to include Exchange server 2003 specific classes and attributes
To run the Forest Prep, Administrator should have Schema and Enterprise Admin permission over the Domain
15. What is DomainPrep?
Domain Prep prepares the Domain partion in Active Directory. Forest prep should be run only once in forest where Domain Prep should be run in following Servers.
1. The Forest root Domain
2. All domain that will contain Exchange Server 2003
3. All Domain that will contain Exchange Mailbox enable objects
16. Which two groups are created by DomainPrep?
The domain prep switch creates the groups and permissions required by exchange Server 2003. Two security groups created
1. Exchange Enterprise Servers – Domain Local group contains all Exchange Server in a forest
2. Exchange Domain Server – Global Group that contains all Exchange servers running in the Domain that you have selected.
17. What DomainPrep does?
Domain Prep Updates the Domain partition and Creates a Two New Security Groups for Exchange Server 2003
1. Exchange Enterprise Servers
2. Exchange Domain Servers
18. Which of the servers does the system that will host the first Exchange Server 2003 server in a forest need to be able to contact during installation?
19. How to run ForestPrep?
Go to the Command prompt and Type the following
D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /forestprep
Where D drive represents the CD drive.
Note: it will ask for the Administrator Account that has the required permission to run the Setup.
20. How to run DomainPrep?
Go to the Command prompt and Type the following
D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /domainprep - Where D drive represents the CD drive.
21. Which service pack is needed for Windows 2000 for installing Exchange Server 2003?
Windows 2000 service pack 3 in needed to install Exchange Server 2003
22. Which permissions are required to run ForestPrep?
Schema Administrator
Enterprise Administrator
Local Machine Administrator
23. Which permissions are required to run DomainPrep?
Domain Administrator and Local Machine Administrator
24. Which permissions are required to install Exchange server 2003 on the first server in a domain or on other systems within the domain?
The administrator Account should have the following permission to install the Exchange Server 2003
· Schema Administrator
· Enterprise Administrator
· Domain Administrator
· Local Machine Administrator
25. What is reason behind the error messages services not available while installing Exchange Server 2003 on a domain running at Windows Server 2003 functional level?
26. What is name of log file that Exchange Server 2003 setup creates during installation?
27. What is location of Exchange Server Setup Progress?
C:\Program Files\Exchangesvr
28. How unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003 works?
Unattended installations are useful for rapidly deploying subsequent Exchange Server 2003 installation into an existing organization.
The process of creating the file is essentially the same as the process for a manual setup selecting the component you want to install and the installation path, choosing whether to create a new organization or to join existing one; agreeing the license and so on.. Instead of doing manual installation the Exchange installation wizard writes the configuration file to .ini file. Specifically for use with the /unattendfile setup switch to start the installation.
29. When you can use the unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003?
1. Unattended Installation of Exchange Server 2003 is very useful when you are going to install Exchange Server remotely.
2. It’s also useful when you are deploying number of New Exchange Server in Existing Organization. We can save time deploying multiple servers by automating the Entire installation procedure
30. When you cannot use unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003?
An Active Directory Forest can support only a single Exchange Server 2003 organization, so an un attended.ini file that is used to create an organization cannot be used for subsequent installation.
31. What is the command to create an answer file for unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003?
D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /createunattend c:\unattend.ini
Where D represents the CD ROM drive that holds the Exchange Server and C drive represent the created unattended file for installation
32. What is the command to start the unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003?
D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /UnattendFile c:\unattend.ini
Where D represents the CD ROM drive that holds the Exchange Server and C drive represent the created unattended file for installation
33. When you can specify the User account that will receive the Exchange Full Administrator permission?
After installing the exchange Server 2003, we can able to specify the administrative permission for particular user. We can delegate administrative permission by right click the Exchange organization and select delegate Administration permission.
34. Which account must be use to perform first Exchange installation?
A new dedicated service account specifically for Exchange server installation has to be created in Active Directory and the following permission are to be assigned the newly created user.
· Schema Administrator
· Enterprise Administrator
· Domain Administrator
· Local Machine Administrator
35. Can Exchange 2000 servers run on Windows Server 2003?
No, the only version of Exchange server that will run on Windows server 2003 is Exchange Server 2003, you will need to upgrade your Exchange environment to Exchange Server 2003 prior to upgrading the Windows Server Operating System to Windows server 2003
1. Which services are not supported and hence, need to be removed from an Exchange 2000 Server before performing an upgrade to Exchange Server 2003?
Following are the Exchange Server 2000 functionality that isn’t supported by Exchange Server 2003
· Instance for Messaging Service
· Microsoft Chat Service
· Key management Service
· And connectors for Microsoft Mail and Lotus CC:Mail
Above Service has to uninstalled while upgrading from Exchange Server 2000 to Exchange Server 2003
2. While upgrading from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003 which servers must be upgraded first? Front-end server or back end server?
You must upgrade the front end servers prior to upgrading the corresponding back end server while upgrading from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003.
3. How to migrate from an old Exchange 2000 Server organization to a new Exchange Server 2003 organization?
Exchange Migration wizard is the process to Migrate Exchange 2000 organization to Exchange server 2003 organization. Similar to migrating Organization from Exchange 5.5
4. How to move users from Coexistence of Exchange 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003?
Active Directory Migration Tool and the Exchange Migration wizard will perform the complete moving of users from Coexistence of Exchange 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003
5. How to migrate from an old Exchange Server 5.5 organization to a new Exchange Server 2003 organization?
There is no in place upgrade, first we have to update Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000 and from there we have to migrate it to Server Exchange 2003. The existing users Source Domain has to be first migrated to the new target domain in another Active Directory forest. After that you can begin the Exchange 5.5 to Exchange server 2003. Exchange Migration wizard is the process to Migrate Exchange 5.5 organization to Exchange server 2003 organization.
6. Which messaging systems does the Exchange Server 2003 Migration Wizard support?
· Ms Mail for PC Networks
· CC:Mail
· Microsoft Exchange 5.5
· Lotus Notes
· Novel GroupWise 4.x
· Novel GroupWise 5.x
· Internet Directory (LDAP via ADSI)
· Internet Mail (IMAP4)
7. How can Exchange Server 2003 share calendars and address lists with Lotus Notes R4/R5?
If you the the answer, please help to Me publish
8. What are the requirements of Lotus Notes Connector?
If you the the answer, please help to Me publish
9. How can Exchange Server 2003 share calendar/address lists with Novell GroupWise?
The connectors for Lotus notes and Novel GroupWise only synchronize mailbox and user account data. You must use calendar connector in conjunction with the other connectors to synchronize calendar data.
10. What are the requirements for Novell Group Wise connector?
The following list is the configuration requirements needed on the Exchange Server side:
· Configure a working Novell GroupWise environment with API Gateway version 4.1 or later
· Configure a working Exchange Server 2003 connector server
· Make sure Exchange Server can resolve the name and access the Novell Netware server that is running API Gateway
· Enable Exchange Server to Novell Netware server connectivity by using Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW) or Novell NetWare Client for Windows. NDS authentication is needed to access NetWare Volumes (shares).
· Activate GroupWise address type on the Exchange Server 2003 recipient policy.
11. What are the tools to validate Exchange Server 5.5/Exchange Server 2003 coexistence?
· ADCConfigCheck – It checks that Exchange Server 5.5 directory config objects have been copied to Active Directory. Writes outputs to Exdeploy.log
· ConfigDSInteg – checks objects in AD to ensure that no problems have arisen since the last installation of ADC. Writes outputs to Exdeploy.log
· ReceipientDSInteg – checks all recipient objects in AD looking for problems. Recipient includes users, groups, contacts or public folders
· PrivFoldCheck – uses exchange 5.5 directory service/Information store consistent adjuster to ascertain the Information store and directory are in sync
12. What is DSScopeScan Tool Group?
DSScopeScan Tool Group used to find out information about the exchange server 5.5 organizations prior to setting up connection between exchange server 5.5 and new Exchange server 2003. Tool should be run with the account that has administrative permission.
13. Which tools are included in DSScopeScan Tool Group?
This includes four important tools
· DSconfigsum – reports the number of exchange server 5.5 sites and server per sites.
· DSObjectsum – reports the number of public folders. Distribution list and contact object
· Useraccount – exports the number of users in the exchange server 5.5 site and in the directory
· Vercheck – check if a server exists with exchange server 5.5 sp3.
14. Before upgrading from Exchange 2000 server to Exchange Server 2003 which service pack must be applied to Exchange 2000 server?
Before upgrading from Exchange server 2000 to Exchange Server 2003 update the windows 2000 server with SP3 or later. And also with Exchange 2003 server sp3 or later
15. How to upgrade from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange server 2003?
Exchange 5.5 cannot be upgraded in-place, you must first upgrade to Exchange 2000 server and then to Exchange Server 2003. Or install Exchange Server 2003 on a different server and move the Exchange server 5.5 resources to the new server.
16. What are the steps involved creating coexistence between Exchange Server 5.5 and Exchange Server 2003?
Install the Basic prerequisites like SMTP, NNTP and WWW services
· Start the Exchange Deployment tools wizard, select co existence with mixed mode Exchange 2000 and exchange server 5.5
· Select the option to install upgrade the first Exchange Server
· On the next deployment tools wizard, check all the steps are done and start the setup. On the setup installation perform the following option
· Install Exchange server 5.5 administrator
· Select the option to create a new organization or existing one.
· Finish the setup
17. Does Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise connectors supported on Exchange Server 2003 in a clustered configuration? What can be done?
If you the the answer, please help to Me publish
18. Which actions must be taken before the connection to the Lotus Notes/Domino server can be established?
If you the the answer, please help to Me publish
19. Which services must be configured to automatically start to start a Lotus Notes Connector?
To start a connector, you must enable the specific services that the connector relies on.
· Microsoft Exchange connectivity controller
· Microsoft Exchange connector for lotus notes
20. Which services must be configured to automatically start to start a Novell GroupWise Connector?
first a server running Exchange 2003 as a Bridge head server
And the following services are to be set to automatically start
· Microsoft Exchange connectivity controller
· Microsoft Exchange connector for lotus notes
21. Which steps are involved in removing a connector to install it on another Exchange Server 2003 computer?
First you need to stop the connector services
· Remove the connector
· Use the Active directory user and computers console to delete the contacts that the connector has imported in the directory
· You can reinstall lotus or Novel GroupWise connector
21. What is Active Directory Connector (ADC)?
ADC it’s a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service that allows for the replication of information from Active directory and a Microsoft Exchange 5.5 directory
22. What is Connection Agreement?
It is used by Active directory connector to control replication between Active directory and Exchange 5.5 directory. Connection agreements can be used to replicate from exchange 5.5 to Active directory and vice versa.
1. What types of permissions are configurable for Exchange?
· Exchange full admin – full control over the exchange organization including permission
· Exchange Admin – Manage everything within the organization except org permission.
· Exchange view only administrator – read only administrative access to Exchange organization
2. Which of the privileges does the Exchange Administrator role have?
This Role has the ability to administer all configuration details of the Exchange organization and ability to modify permission
3. What are the modes of Exchange Server 2003?
There are two modes in Exchange server 2003
1. Mixed Mode – If Exchange 5.5 exists and in future gain to have Exchange 5.5
2. Native Mode – if only Exchange server 2003 running in your organization
4. What are the benefits of running Exchange Server 2003 in native, rather than mixed mode?
There are lot of benefits which includes,
1. Greater flexibility for defining routing groups and Administrative \groups
2. Ability to move mailboxes
3. Configure both routing and administrative groups independent of each other
4. We can create query base distribution group
5. When Exchange Server 2003 Mixed mode is used?
By default exchange server in Mixed mode, we can have mixed mode in situation where Exchange server 5.5 situated in our Exchange organization. Mixed modes are used to have backward compatibility with Exchange server 5.5 and sites
6. When Exchange Server 2003 Native mode is used?
We can choose this option if No Exchange server 5.5 present in our Exchange organization and make sure that all the exchange servers are Exchange server 2000 and Exchange server 2003. Native mode allows administrative groups and Routing Groups to be configured independent of each other
7. Can you switch Exchange Organization from native mode to mixed mode?
Yes we can change Exchange organization from Mixed mode to Native mode and changing the mode form Mixed to Native is onetime, one way process and it cannot be reversed
8. How to switch Exchange Organization from mixed mode to native mode?
We can accomplish this by Exchange system Manager, by right clicking the Exchange organization name at the top of the window and click properties. On the New window click the change Mode option. This changed mode option will be unavailable if you are already in Native mode.
9. Which service needs to be restarted on all Exchange Server 2003 systems within the domain once you have switched to native mode?
If you Know the answer, please help to Me publish
10. What is Clustering?
It’s a technique for providing hardware and software redundancy for an application like exchange server 2003, with clustering you can ensure there is no single point of failure with your server hardware that would results in email services going offline. Clustering allows you to bring one node for maintenance by allowing other nodes to continue functioning.
11. What is Network Load balancing?
It is a resource (server-aware) clustering technology. Primary purpose to load balance by distributing the TCP/IP traffic among each server node in cluster. To client computers, the cluster is seen as a single resource and is address by a single IP
12. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Network Load Balancing?
Advantages
· No special hardware required
· Cluster can use different operating system
· Clusters are to be member of domain or perimeter
Disadvantages
· NLB uses heat beat to communicate between cluster, if a server goes offline. It sent 5 heart beats and if no response and if client if a client is requesting a request then it neglect the request
· Work only with TCP/IP. It will not consider network link protocol
13. What is Failover?
It’s related to cluster servers; it refers to the ability to of a backup server to immediate begin servicing requests if a primary server fails, without an interruption in servicing user request
14. When Failover occurs?
Failover occurs when a primary server fails to function, this fail back automatically process the service request to secondary servers which is already clustered.
15. What is Failback?
Fail back defines how failed over application services are moved back to original server node, once the node is back online
16. How Failback occurs?
By default, cluster groups that failover to another node do not automatically failback. In Failback policy we can configure the allow failback option to take place immediately or over a certain period
To make a failback occur, we have to create a failback policy to occur immediately or over a certain period
17. What are the different clustering options in Exchange 2003?
Exchange server 2003 supports two types of clustering option which is already supported by windows server 2003
1. Network Load balancing – server aware clustering technology , load balance by distributing the TCP/IP traffic among each server node in cluster. To client computers, the cluster is seen as a single resource and is address by a single IP
2. Cluster service – application or service aware clustering technology, provides continual application service availability through failover and failback
18. Name the exchange server 2003 clustering configuring option
Single node server cluster – can be configured with or without external cluster storage device. For this clusters without an external storage device, the local disk in configured as the clustered storage device
Single Quorum device server cluster – have two or more nodes and are configured so that every node is shared to one or more shared devices. Cluster configuration is stored in single cluster storage device, known as quorum device.
Majority node set server cluster – have two or more node and are may or may not be attached to one or more cluster storage devices. Cluster configuration data is stored on multiple disks across the cluster
19. Which service pack is required for installing Exchange Server 2003 Clustering on Windows 2000 Server?
Windows 2000 server SP4 is needed
20. Why SP4 is needed for Windows 2000 server for Exchange Clustering?
If you Know the answer, please help to Me publish
21. How many nodes are supported with Exchange Server 2003 clusters?
Exchange Server 2003 supports Two Node active/active clusters and up to eight-node active/passive clusters with at least one passive node
22. What are the hardware requirements for a cluster server configuration?
Network components
1. Each server node the cluster has two static IP address ( public or private) with one net bios name
2. The cluster itself has a primary static IP and NETBIOS Name
3. Each exchange virtual servers have a static IP and NETBIOS Name
Disk Components
1. Quorum Disk resource - maintains configuration data.
For Example: For a 4 Node cluster
Server hardware
· Four 1 gigahertz (GHz), 1 megabyte (MB) or 2 MB L2 cache processors
· 4 gigabytes (GB) of Error Correction Code (ECC) RAM
· Two 100 megabits per second (Mbps) or 1000 Mbps network interface cards
· RAID-1 array with two internal disks for the Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003 program files
· Two redundant 64-bit fiber Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) to connect to the Storage Area Network
Local area network hardware
· Two 100 Mbps or 1000 Mbps network switches (full duplex)
Storage Area Network hardware
· Redundant fiber switches
· 106 disk spindles (Ultra Wide SCSI) with spindle speeds of 10,000 RPM or greater
· 256 MB or more read/write cache memory
Storage groups and databases
· Three storage groups per Exchange Virtual Server
· Five databases per storage group
23. What is purpose of Exchange Server Clustering?
The purpose of Exchange Server Clustering is to prevent the Exchange server from going offline.
24. What is the version of Windows Server 2003 required for Exchange Server 2003 Clustering?
The cluster service requires windows server 2003 enterprise edition or windows server 2003 Datacenter edition. Up to eight node clusters are supported
25. What is Heartbeat?
Heart beat is a special type of network packet that is sent out to each server node participating in a cluster to determine the responsiveness of a node. Server nodes that do not respond to heart beat packets for a configurable period of time are marked a inactive
26. What are the different numbers of nodes with different type of operating system for Exchange Server 2003?
Windows server 2003 standard edition supports 4 nodes
Windows server 2003 enterprise edition or windows server 2003 Datacenter edition supports up to eight node clusters
27. What are the different cluster models?
Two types of cluster models are there
1. Active/Active – limited to two nodes and both the nodes are active at the same time, limited to 1900 concurrent client connection at a time
2. Active/Passive – supports more than two nodes and highly reliable. Recommended by Microsoft.
28. Which are the Cluster operations modes?
N-Node failover server pairs – applications are configured to failover only between two specified server pairs
N+I Hot-Standby Server – commonly referred to as active/passive mode, on two node cluster, one node process the client request and the second node monitors the first node. where N – Active node, I - Passive Node
Fail over Ring - Active/Active – all servers are active and process the client request, when one node fails the cluster, failover the cluster to another active node. Administrator has to define the failover
Random Failover – similar to failover ring, if a node fails the failover is randomly changed to active node. The Administrative burden of having a define failover is removed
29. What is teaming?
Teaming is the process included in clustering service, where multiple adapters are joined through software to function as a single unit, with a single MAC address and single IP address
30. Which settings must be configured for failover policies?
We can configure the number the times the node to failover (Threshold) during the period, which is defined in hours
31. Which settings must be configured for failback policies?
By default, cluster groups that failover to another node do not automatically failback. In Failback policy we can configure the allow failback option to take place immediately or over a certain period
25. How to access the RUS?
1. Start - System Manager
2. On the Start menu, point to Programs,
3. point to Microsoft Exchange, then click System Manager.
4. In the console tree, double-click Recipients.
5. In the console tree, right-click Recipient Update Services,
26. What is the default preconfigured schedule for RUS?
Always Run schedule is the preconfigured option for RUS
27. Which two different instances are created of the Recipient Update Service?
The following are the two instances created in Recipient Update service
1. Recipient Update Service (Enterprise Configuration)
2. Recipient Update Service (Active Directory Domain)
28. What is Recipient Update Service (Enterprise Configuration)?
The Enterprise recipient update service is responsible for updating Email address of the recipients objects located in configuration partition of the domain controller
29. What is Recipient Update Service (Active Directory Domain)?
The Domain Recipient Update Service is responsible for updating recipient objects located in the Active directory
30. What are the group types?
Two types of groups are the
· Security Group
· Distribution Group
31. What is Distribution Group?
A type of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory group that is used to define e-mail distribution lists. Distribution Group has no security context and cannot be used to grant permission to resources, but they are useful for grouping users that share a common purpose, such as all employees at a branch location
32. How Distribution groups differ from Security groups?
Distribution Group has no security context and cannot be used to grant permission to resources. But security groups can be used to assign permission on resources.
33. how to create a Distribution Group?
1. Click Start, Administrative Tools and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. The Active Directory Users and Computers management console opens.
3. Navigate to the Organizational Unit that should contain the new distribution group.
4. Click the Action menu and select New and then Group.
5. Specify the scope for the distribution group.
6. Select the Distribution group type.
7. In the Create In tab, specify the email address for the distribution group.
8. Enable the Create an Exchange Email address checkbox.
9. Change the alias name for the distribution group.
10. Specify the Administrative Group to which this distribution group should be associated.
11. Click Next and then click Finish
34. What is Security Group?
Security groups are the Microsoft windows Server 2003 Active Directory Group, with this group; we can assign permission on a resource.
35. Can Security groups be used to distribute messages?
Security Groups can be mail enabled and also used as a Distribution group to distribute messages
36. What is Query-based distribution group?
This group enables you to use a LDAP query to specify membership in a distribution group dynamically. This result is that membership is automatically determined by attributes of a user account, such as department, reducing the amount of administration required to manage distribution list
37. How to create a Query Based Distribution Group?
1. Open the Active Directory Users and Computers console.
2. Click the View menu and enable the Advanced Features option.
3. Navigate to and expand the Organizational Unit that should contain the query-based distribution group.
4. Click the Action menu and select New and then Query-Based Distribution Group.
5. Provide a name for the query-based distribution group
6. Click Change, and then select the domain and organizational unit. The filter will be applied to all users in the organizational unit.
7. Select the Users with Exchange Mailbox option.
8. Click Next and then click Finish.
36. What are the types of Group Scopes?
Following are the types of group scopes
· Local
· Global
· Universal
25. Can you restore Public folder store using recovery storage group?
Public folders cannot be restored with the use of a recovery storage group
26. How to restore a mailbox store?
We can restore a Mailbox store in 3 methods
Restoring Mailbox store by using Exchange System Manager
Make sure Mailbox deletion settings are already done.
Expand the Mailbox store go to the Mailboxes and run cleanup agent.
Right click the mailbox u want to recover and click reconnect
Restoring Mailbox store by recovery storage Group
The recovery storage group is a specialized storage group in Exchange 2003. After you restore a mailbox store to the recovery storage group, use the Exmerge.exe tool to move the recovered mailbox data from the recovery storage group to the regular storage group.
Restoring Mailbox store from backup to a recovery server
To recover a mailbox from backup, you must have a recovery server that has sufficient storage capacity to install Exchange Server 2003 and to restore the private information store database. This server can be on the same physical network as your production Exchange Server 2003 computer.
27. How to create a recovery storage group and add the database to restore?
Use the context menu of the server object to setup the recover storage group
Specify the transactional log and system path location
Add the database to be recovered to the recovery storage group by using the context menu of the recovery storage group
28. How to restore individual mailboxes and messages?
Recovering individual mailboxes
Individual mailbox can be restored with the help of mail box retention period enabled on the mailbox store. By default mailbox retention period is set to 30 days. And if a mailbox is deleted and if restoration is requested within 30 days retention period then you can recover and reconnect that mailbox without restoring the entire mailbox store
Recovering by Recover Server
If the retention period has expired you have to restore by creating a recover server. You need to perform the following tasks
1. Install recovery server in different active directory forest from the forest where original server is located
2. Install exchange server on a recovery server by using the same organization name
3. Recover the database to an administrative group in which legacy exchange Dn value matches the original server
4. Name the restore storage group and the restore logical database so that their name match the original storage group and logical database names
5. Create a .pst file and move all data that you need to recover in to the .pst file
6. Open the .pst file on the original server and move the data back to appropriate location
Recovering messages
Exchange server 2003 performs backup and restore in page level rather than in mailbox level, so you cannot easily restore individual messages in a mailbox from a backup.
You can allow users to retrieve messages from the delete items folder in outlook or OWA, to do so you have to set the keep deleted items for certain days in individual user account setting from the Active directory users and computers
Alternative you can create new mailbox policy using exchange system Manager. To recover deleted mails. User has to point to the deleted items folder and use the recover deleted items option from the tools menu in outlook or in OWA
29. what are the dynamic data’s that should be backup?
· Active Directory data
· System state data
· Exchange Server 2003 databases
· Exchange Server 2003 log files
· Cluster quorum data
· Microsoft certificate services data
· Site Replication Service (SRS) databases
30. what is Automated System Recovery?
The Automated System Recovery (ASR) feature is a new feature found in the Windows Backup utility. Automated System Recovery should be used to restore the system when all other disaster recovery tools are unavailable or do not work. ASR basically automates the procedure of saving and restoring system state information. In the event of all other recovery methods not being successful, you can use ASR to restore the operating system to a previous state so that you can start Windows Server 2003.
31. what is Exmerge.exe?
Once a database is restored to the Recovery Storage Group, the ExMerge utility (Exmerge.exe) can be used to move the mailbox data to the storage group. A Recovery Storage Group cannot be accessed by users because the group is disconnected. You can recover one mailbox or recover the entire database.
32. what is the process for using a Recovery Storage Group to restore mailbox data ?
1. Create and configure the Recovery Storage Group on the Exchange server
2. Restore the mailbox database to the Recovery Storage Group
3. Merge the mailbox data of the restored database to the original database
33. how to create Recovery Storage Group?
· Configure the Recovery Storage Group using the context menu of the server object.
· Set the transaction log location.
· Set the system path location.
· Add the database which you want to recover to the Recovery Storage Group
34. how to restore the Mailbox Database to the recovery Storage Group?
· You should use a backup and restore application to restore the mailbox database to the Recovery Storage Group.
· Choose the database and log files that should be restored.
· Specify the temporary file directory.
· Mount the store, once the restore has completed.
35. how to merge the Mailbox Database of the Restored database to the original Database?
· Start Exmerge.exe and then initiate the Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Merge Wizard.
· Using the various prompts of the Exchange Mailbox Merge Wizard, define the export method.
· You also have to specify the source and destination server.
· Specify the databases within the Recovery Storage Group for restoring.
· Specify a single mailbox to restore, or specify multiples mailboxes.
· Select the temporary folder
· After completing the Exchange Mailbox Merge Wizard, data is copied from the mailboxes in the recovery database and merged with the appropriate mailboxes of the original database.
36. How to restore an Exchange Server 2003 member server?
1. If you are able to access the hard disks of the problematic Exchange server, then you should copy the Exchange Server 2003 database files on the server to a different location.
2. Next, if necessary, replace all damaged hardware.
3. Proceed to install Windows 2003 on the server.
4. Restore the Windows backup set to restore the Windows 2003 system files and registry database, and the IIS metabase files.
5. Install all necessary service packs and software updates.
6. Install all applications on the server.
7. You can now run Exchange Server 2003 Setup in Disaster Recovery mode to install the Exchange applications and Exchange files. The configuration information of the original server that you recovered includes:
· Storage group names
· Mailbox store names
· Public folder store names
· Virtual server configuration
1. Verify that each component which existed on the damaged server is selected for Disaster Recovery.
2. Install Exchange Server 2003 to the same drive and directory.
3. Install any Exchange Server service packs and hot fixes.
4. Restore the Exchange Server 2003 databases.
16. What is the use of public store policy?
Storage limits and public folder replication settings can be configured through public store policy, through and individual public store, or through individual public folders
17. What is public folder referral?
When a user connects to a public folder store and the store does not contain the copy of the contentment the user is requesting exchange server 2003 automatically redirects the user to the server where the original content resides. This is known as Public folder referral. Usually the public folder referrals with takes place within the routing groups
18. what are the options to create Public Folders?
We can create Public folders from the following options
1. Outlook 2003
2. Outlook XP
3. Outlook 2000
4. Exchange System Manager
5. Windows Explorer
6. Internet clients
7. Web browser
19. what is the main advantage of using Public Folders ?
Messages can be sent to public folders by using an Active Directory stored e-mail address.
Users can obtain access to any public folder in the organization. With Exchange Server 2003, public folder referrals can be enabled between routing groups.
Full-text index searches can be performed on public folder contents.
Newsgroups can be made available to users
20. how to mail enable a public folder?
1. Open Exchange System Manager.
2. Expand the administrative group container.
3. Expand the Folders container
4. Expand the public folder tree.
Right-click the public folder that you want to mail-enable and select All Tasks and then Mail Enable from the shortcut menu
21. what are the benefits of replicating public folder?
· Fault tolerance and load balancing can occur between multiple servers.
· Replication can be scheduled.
· A public folder copy is accessible to each location for local access.
· Any newly created subfolders obtain the configuration settings of the parent folder after public folder replication is manually configured
1. What are the Exchange Server clients?
· Microsoft outlook
· Outlook web access
· Outlook Mobile Access
· RPC over HTTP
· POP3
· MAP4
2. What is a Forest and Domain functional level?
Domain functionality enables features that will affect the entire domain and that domain only. Four domain functional levels are available: Windows 2000 mixed (default), Windows 2000 native, Windows Server 2003 interim, and Windows Server 2003. By default, domains operate at the Windows 2000 mixed functional level
Forest functionality enables features across all the domains within your forest. Three forest functional levels are available: Windows 2000 (default), Windows Server 2003 interim, and Windows Server 2003. By default, forests operate at the Windows 2000 functional level. You can raise the forest functional level to Windows Server 2003.
3. What is cache mode in Outlook 2003?
When an Outlook account is configured to use Cached Exchange Mode, Outlook works from a local copy of a user’s Exchange mailbox stored in an Offline Folder file (OST file) on the user’s computer, along with the Offline Address Book (OAB). The cached mailbox and OAB are updated periodically from the Exchange server.
When a user starts Outlook for the first time with Cached Exchange Mode configured, Outlook creates a local copy of the user’s mailbox by creating an OST file (unless one already exists), synchronizing the OST with the user’s mailbox on the Exchange server, and creating an OAB. (If a user is already configured for offline use with an OST and an OAB, Outlook can typically download just the new information from the server, not the whole mailbox and OAB.)
4. What is IP address?
An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical identification and logical address that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol for communication between its nodes.
Two IP versions are currently in use, they are
IP version 4 – 32 bit addressing
IP version 6 – 128 bit addressing
5. What is MX record?
An MX record or Mail exchanger record is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS) specifying how Internet e-mail should be routed using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Each MX record contains a preference and a host name, so that the collection of MX records for a given domain name point to the servers that should receive e-mail for that domain, and their priority relative to each other.
6. What is Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)?
SMTP is a short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and it is used to transfer e-mail messages between computers. It is a text based protocol and in this, message text is specified along with the recipients of the message. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is a ‘push’ protocol and it cannot be used to ‘pull’ the messages from the server.
7. What is Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP)?
NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol) is the predominant protocol used by computer clients and servers for managing the notes posted on Usenet newsgroups. NNTP replaced the original Usenet protocol, UNIX-to-UNIX Copy Protocol (UUCP) some time ago. NNTP servers manage the global network of collected Usenet newsgroups and include the server at your Internet access provider. An NNTP client is included as part of a Netscape, Internet Explorer, Opera, or other Web browser or you may use a separate client program called a newsreader.
NNTP utilizes TCP port 119; NNTP with SSL utilizes TCP port 563.
8. What is Workgroup?
In workgroup, all the computers are peers; no computer has control over another computer
Each computer has a set of user accounts. To use any computer in the workgroup, you must have an account on that computer
All computers must be on the same local network or subnet
9. What is five nines availability?
99.999 availability – not sure on this
10. Which utility can you use to verify that port 25 is open on a remote SMTP server?
Telnet is the utility to verify the port 25
11. What are important Ports for firewall configuration?
1. SMTP - 25
2. DNS - 53
3. HTTP - 80
4. Kerberos - 88
5. NNTP - 119
12. What is MBSA?
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) 2.1 is an easy to use tool that helps small and medium businesses determine their security state in accordance with Microsoft security recommendations and offers specific remediation guidance. Improve your security management process by using MBSA to detect common administrative vulnerabilities and missing security updates on your computer systems.
13. To run MBSA your account must be a member of which group?
User account should me member of the administrator group on the targeted host
14. What is DMZ?
In computer networks, a DMZ (demilitarized zone) is a computer host or small network inserted as a “neutral zone” between a company’s private network and the outside public network. It prevents outside users from getting direct access to a server that has company data. (The term comes from the geographic buffer zone that was set up between North Korea and South Korea following the UN “police action” in the early 1950s.) A DMZ is an optional and more secure approach to a firewall and effectively acts as a proxy server as well.
15. What is ESEUTIL?
Eseutil is more powerful than Isinteg for repairing problems in the database. When using Eseutil:
· Dismount the stores you want to analyze. The Information Store must still be running.
· Common options with Eseutil include:
· /d to perform an offline defragmentation.
· /r to perform a database recovery.
· /g to check database integrity.
· /p to repair a database.
16. What size is each page of data in the database?
The pages are 4KB in size (for Exchange 2003) and include not only data but also a checksum and pointers to other page
AD uses a page size of 8 kb
17. What type of memory optimization changes could you do for Exchange 2003?
The server is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, has 1 GB or more of physical memory, to perform memory optimization we have to set the /3GB switch to the Boot.ini
18. Which parameters needs to added in boot.ini file if Your Exchange Server 2003 computer has more than 1 GB of RAM installed?
Add /3Gb switch to boot.ini
19. What is open relay?
An open relay (sometimes called an insecure relay or a third-party relay) is an SMTP e-mail server that allows third-party relay of e-mail messages. By processing mail that is neither for nor from a local user, an open relay makes it possible for an unscrupulous sender to route large volumes of spam. In effect, the owner of the server — who is typically unaware of the problem — donates network and computer resources to the sender’s purpose. In addition to the financial costs incurred when a spammer hijacks a server, an organization may also suffer system crashes, equipment damage, and loss of business.
20. What is Active Directory Schema?
The Microsoft Active Directory schema contains formal definitions of every object class that can be created in an Active Directory forest. The schema also contains formal definitions of every attribute that can exist in an Active Directory object. This section provides the reference for each schema object and provides a brief explanation of the attributes, classes, and other objects that comprise the Active Directory schema.
21. What is X 400 Connector?
X.400 connectors Although you can use X.400 connectors to connect routing groups, X.400 connectors are designed to connect servers running Exchange with other X.400 systems or to servers running Exchange Server 5.5 outside an Exchange organization. A server running Exchange Server 2003 can then send messages over this connector using the X.400 protocol.
22. What is a storage group?
Storage groups
An Exchange storage group is a logical container for Exchange databases and their associated system and transaction log files.
Storage groups are the basic unit for backing up and restoring data in Microsoft Exchange (although you can restore a single database). All databases in a storage group share a single backup schedule and a single set of transaction log files.
Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition supports up to 50 storage groups. Exchange 2007 Standard Edition supports up to five storage groups.
23. What are the advantages of implementing multiple Exchange databases (mailbox store & public folder store)?
1. You can place each database on a different physical disk, which will likely improve performance.
2. You can set database-level quota policies, so that by grouping users into different databases, you can assign different policies (e.g., mailbox quotas) to particular user groups.
3. By separating users into multiple databases, you minimize the scope of any database corruption.
4. In the event of a database restore, you must restore the data in only one database, which enables faster recoverability.
5. By dividing user accounts over multiple databases, you can prioritize the database-restoration order in the event of a total disaster. For example, if all managers are in one database, you could restore that database first. (Of course, when you put all managers in one database, if a database becomes corrupt, it’s bound to be that one!)
6. Multiple databases let you keep database size to a manageable level (typically less than 40GB
24. What is Volume Shadow Copy service?
The Volume Shadow Copy Service provides the backup infrastructure for the Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating systems, as well as a mechanism for creating consistent point-in-time copies of data known as shadow copies.
The Volume Shadow Copy Service has native support for creating consistent shadow copies across multiple volumes, regardless of the snapshot technology or application
25. How to enable Volume Shadow Copy service?
1. Open Windows Explorer or the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Disk Management snap-in, then right-click the drive.
2. Select Properties from the context menu.
3. Select the Shadow Copies tab.
4. Under “Select a volume,” select the volume for which you want to enable Shadow Copies.
5. Click Settings to configure VSS. (If you don’t configure the default settings, Windows 2003 will use a default configuration that creates a Shadow Copy on the selected drive at 07:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. every weekday).
6. In the displayed dialog box, configure the settings to tell Windows 2003 where you want VSS to store the Shadow Copies (you can specify only the drive–you can’t specify a folder) and the maximum amount of space to use for the Shadow Copies (at least 100MB), then click Schedule.
7. From the drop-down list in the Schedule dialog box, select a time to make a scheduled Shadow Copy. After you select a time, you can use the options in the dialog box to specify when VSS runs (i.e., the date and time). You can also click New to create a new schedule. For example, you might want to schedule the system to make a Volume Copy on Saturday at 7:00 a.m. and on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. Click OK after you finishes selecting the scheduling options.
8. Click OK to exit the main Settings dialog box.
26. What is the Size of Exchange log file?
5 MB for 2003 and 1 MB for 2007
27. For how many days deleted mailboxes are not permanently purged by default?
By default Exchange Server 2003 set to 30 days
Mail items deletion retention period is set to 7 days for Exchange server 2003 and 14 days for Exchange Server 2007
28. What is use of Full-text indexing?
Mailboxes are repositories for messages, documents, calendar items, and task lists for all the users in your organization. Exchange Server 2003 has the capacity to index the full text of all messages in any mailbox store. If you configure full-text indexing, users can quickly search for any word or phrase that occurs in the body of any item in their own mailbox.
29. What is Incremental Population?
An incremental population event causes only new and modified items to be indexed
30. What is Full Population?
A full population event causes all items in the public folder store to be indexed or re indexed, regardless of their current state of modification.
31. Which are the Exchange virtual servers?
Windows Exchange Servers use the word ‘Virtual’ in many contexts. To begin with, one physical machine can act as a server for several Virtual SMTP domains, for example ourcomp.com and mergecomp.net. Moreover, in addition to SMTP, one Exchange Server can also control Virtual servers for IMAP4, NNTP and POP3. From another point of view, you could interpret these Exchange Virtual servers as aliases for physical folders in Microsoft’s IIS.
In a completely different context, the term Virtual Server is used in clustering. The Outlook clients connect not to the individual Exchange 2003 nodes, but to a Virtual server with a virtual IP address.
32. Which virtual servers are operational by default?
In a default Exchange organization, only the HTTP and SMTP virtual servers are operational. You can opt to enable the POP3, NNTP, and IMAP4 virtual servers as needed
33. Which messaging protocols are supported by Exchange Server 2003?
· HTTP
· IMAP4
· NNTP
· POP3
· SMTP
34. How to create a new Virtual server?
In Exchange System Manager, expand the First Administrative Group, expand the Servers node, and then expand the Exchange server where you want to create a new HTTP virtual directory.
Expand the Protocols node, right-click the SMTP protocol, select New and then click SMTP Virtual Server.
In the Properties dialog box for the new SMTP virtual server, configure the settings for your new Exchange virtual directory.
35. How to limit the inbound connections to Virtual servers?
A virtual server can accept an unlimited number of inbound connections and is limited only by the resources of the computer where the virtual server is running. To prevent a computer from becoming overloaded, you can limit the number of connections that can be made to the virtual server at the same time. By default, Microsoft® Exchange does not limit the number of incoming connections.
1. Log on to the Exchange server where the virtual server is running using the Exchange administrator account that has local Administrator permissions and Exchange Full Administrator permissions.
2. In Exchange System Manager, expand Protocols, right-click the protocol for which you want to change connection limits, and then click Properties.
3. On the General tab, set the appropriate connection limits.
36. How to configure the SMTP Relay settings?
SMTP relay setting can be configure by navigating through Exchange System Manager>Servers>protocols>SMTP Virtual Server, go to the properties and select the relay option to configure which server is to relay the mails for the Exchange Organization
37. How to configure External DNS servers for external name resolution in Exchange Server 2003?
When you configure external DNS servers, you specify a different DNS server than the server that is configured in the TCP/IP properties of the computer running Exchange Server. This DNS server is used by SMTP to resolve external DNS names and deliver mail.
1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. In the console tree, expand Servers, expand, expand Protocols, and then expand SMTP.
3. Right-click, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Delivery tab, and then click Advanced. The Advanced Delivery dialog box appears.
5. In Advanced Delivery, click Configure. The Configure dialog box appears.
6. In Configure, click Add, type the IP address of the external DNS server that you want to use, and then click OK.
7. In Configure, under External DNS, verify that the IP address is correct, and then click OK twice to apply the settings.
Configure your DNS server to include forwarders to external (Internet) DNS servers. This setting allows your DNS server to receive a query for external names, forward the query to the remote server, and deliver the response to the requestor. To configure this setting, open the DNS console, right-click your DNS server, click Properties, click the Forwarders tab, and then configure forwarders to external DNS servers.
38. How to configure auditing in Exchange?
Auditing lets you track what’s happening with Exchange Server. You can use auditing to collect information related to information logons and logoffs, permission use, and much more. Any time an action that you’ve configured for auditing occurs, this action is written to the system’s security log. You can then access the security log from Event Viewer. You enable auditing in the domain through Group Policy
To enable Exchange auditing, follow these steps:
1. Start the Group Policy Management Console by clicking Start, All Programs, Administrative Tools, Group Policy Management. You can now navigate through the forest and domains in the organization to view individual Group Policy Objects.
2. To specifically audit users’ actions on Exchange Server, you should consider creating an organizational unit (OU) for Exchange servers and then define auditing policy for a Group Policy Object applied to the OU. After you’ve created the OU or if you have an existing OU for Exchange servers, right-click the related policy object, and then select Edit to open the policy object for editing in Group Policy Management Editor.
3. Access the Audit Policy node by working your way down through the console tree. Expand Computer Configuration, Policies, Windows Settings, Security Settings, and Local Policies. Then select Audit Policy.
4. You should now see the following auditing options:
· · Audit Account Logon Events Tracks user account authentication during logon. Account logon events are generated on the authenticating computer when a user is authenticated.
· · Audit Account Management Tracks account management by means of Active Directory Users And Computers. Events are generated any time user, computer, or group accounts are created, modified, or deleted.
· · Audit Directory Service Access Tracks access to Active Directory. Events are generated any time users or computers access the directory.
· · Audit Logon Events Tracks local logon events for a server or workstation.
· · Audit Object Access Tracks system resource usage for mailboxes, information stores, and other types of objects.
· · Audit Policy Change Tracks changes to user rights, auditing, and trust relationships.
· · Audit Privilege Use Tracks the use of user rights and privileges, such as the right to create mailboxes.
· · Audit Process Tracking Tracks system processes and the resources they use.
· · Audit System Events Tracks system startup, shutdown, and restart, as well as actions that affect system security or the security log.
5. To configure an auditing policy, double-click or right-click its entry, and then select Security. This opens a Properties dialog box for the policy. 6. Select the Define These Policy Settings check box, and then select the Success check box, the Failure check box, or both. Success logs successful events, such as successful logon attempts. Failure logs failed events, such as failed logon attempts. 7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to enable other auditing policies. The policy changes won’t be applied until the next time you start the Exchange server.
39. What is the purpose of Logging in Microsoft Exchange?
Microsoft® Exchange Server transaction logging is a robust disaster recovery mechanism that is designed to reliably restore an Exchange database to a consistent state after any sudden stop of the database. The logging mechanism is also used when restoring online backups.
Before changes are actually made to an Exchange database file, Exchange writes the changes to a transaction log file. After a change has been safely logged, it can then be written to the database file.
40. How to enable Logging?
Protocol Logging
If you want to troubleshoot mail system protocol issues then you should enable and configure protocol logging. Protocol logging provides information on the message commands that a user sends to an Exchange Server 2003 server
· Open Exchange System Manager.
· Expand the Administrative Groups node, the administrative group, the Servers node, Server Name, Protocols.
· Expand the SMTP folder.
· Right-click Default SMTP Virtual Server and then select Properties.
· The Default SMTP Virtual Server Properties dialog box opens.
· Select the Enable logging checkbox on the General tab.
· Choose either of the following logging format options available in the Active Log Format drop-down list:
§ Microsoft IIS Log File Format
§ NCSA Common Log File Format
§ ODBC Logging
§ W3C Extended Log File Format
· · Click Properties.
· · The Logging Properties dialog box opens.
· · In the New Log Schedule area of the General tab, choose either of the following options:
§ o Hourly
§ o Daily
§ o Weekly
§ o Monthly
§ o Unlimited File Size
§ o When File Size Reaches, and set the size setting.
· In the Log File Directory box of the General tab, set the log file location.
· If you have selected the W3C Extended Log File Format option, then you can click the advanced tab to configure the items which should be tracked.
· Click OK in the Logging Properties dialog box.
· Click OK in the Default SMTP Virtual Server Properties dialog box.
41. What are the log file formats are available with Logging?
You can configure the logging format that should be used for logging the information
· ASCII-based format
· Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) format
· The different ASCII format options which you can choose between are:
· Microsoft IIS log file format
· NCSA log file format
· W3C Extended log file format
For the ODBC format, you have to configure which ODBC database to use, and then configure the database to receive protocol logging information. You can use Access or SQL Server to create an ODBC database.
42. What is the location of log files for Logging?
By default logs are stored in C:WINNTSystem32LogFiles directory
43. How to enable Logging on HTTP virtual server?
· Open the IIS Manager console.
· Expand the Web Sites node.
· Right-click Default Web Site and then select Properties from the shortcut menu.
· Click the Web Site tab.
· Check the Enable Logging checkbox.
· Select the log file format from the Active Log Format drop-down list. The default format specified is W3C Extended Log File Format.
· Click Properties.
· The Logging Properties dialog box opens.
On the General tab, set the following:
o Specify when information should be saved to the log file.
o Specify the log file size.
o Specify the log file location.
· Click the Advanced tab if you have selected the W3C Extended Log File Format. This is where you can configure Extended Logging Options.
· Click OK in the Logging Properties dialog box.
· Click OK in the Default Web Site Properties dialog box.
44. What is OWA?
OWA is to access the mail via browser from outside the corporate network. The Outlook Web Access (OWA) client is now nearly indistinguishable from the full Outlook client. The one major component missing is offline capability, but nearly every other Outlook functionality is part of OWA.
45. What is Exchange Active sync?
ActiveSync provides for synchronized access to email from a handheld device, such as a Pocket PC or other Windows Mobile device. It allows for real-time send and receives functionality to and from the handheld, through the use of push technology.
46. What is Outlook Anywhere?
Outlook Anywhere (previously known as RPC over HTTP) is a method by which a full Outlook client can dynamically send and receive messages directly from an Exchange server over an HTTP or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) web connection. This allows for virtual private network (VPN)–free access to Exchange data, over a secured HTTPS connection.
47. What is POP3?
The Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) is a legacy protocol that is supported in Exchange 2007. POP3 enables simple retrieval of mail data via applications that use the POP3 protocol. Mail messages, however, cannot be sent with POP3 and must use the SMTP engine in Exchange. By default, POP3 is not turned on and must be explicitly activated.
48. What is IMAP4?
Legacy Interactive Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) access to Exchange is also available, which can enable an Exchange server to be accessed via IMAP applications, such as some UNIX mail clients. As with the POP3 protocol, IMAP support must be explicitly turned on.
49. What is an IPSec policy?
An IPSec policy is nothing more than a set of rules that govern when and how Windows 2000 uses the IPSec protocol. The IPSec policy interacts directly with the IPSec driver. The policy tells Windows such things as which data to secure and which security method to use.
50. What are the preconfigured IPSec policies Windows Server 2003 comes with?
1. Client (Respond Only) Policy
2. Secure server policy (Require Security) policy
3. Server (request security) policy
51. Explain the preconfigured IPSec policies?
The first policy on the list is the Client (Respond Only) policy. This policy is designed to be run on client machines that don’t normally need to worry about security. The policy is designed in such a way that the client will never initiate secure communications on its own. However, if a server requests that the client go into secure communications mode, the client will respond appropriately.
The next policy on the list is the Secure Server (Require Security) policy. This policy is only appropriate for servers that require all communications to be secure. Once this policy has been applied, the server will either send or accept insecure communications. Any client wanting to communicate with the server must use at least the minimum level of security described by the policy.
The final policy on the list is the Server (Request Security) policy. Contrary to the name, this policy can be used on both client and server PCs. This policy will use IPSec security for all outbound security. However, this policy will accept insecure inbound communications. If a client requests a secure session, the policy will allow the client to establish one.
52. What are the options for giving remote user access to Exchange?
1. Outlook web Access
2. POP3
3. IMAP4
4. Outlook Mobile Access
5. RPC over HTTP
53. What are the Exchange Server 2003 core services?
1. Exchange System Attendant
2. IIS admin Service
3. SMTP service
4. Exchange Information Store
5. Exchange Installable File System
54. What other services are associated with Exchange Server 2003?
Following are the important Exchange Services
1. MS Exchange Event – Monitors folders and files of Exchange 5.5
2. MS Exchange IMAP4 – provides IMAP4 services
3. MS Exchange Information Store – Manage Exchange Information store
4. MS Exchange Management – Exchange management using WMI
5. MS Exchange MTA Stack – provides X.400 service to connect Exchange 5.5
6. MS Exchange POP3 – provides POP3 Service
7. MS Exchange Routing Engine – provide topology and Routing Engine
8. MS Site Replication Service – Exchange 2003 co exist with Exchange 5.5
9. Exchange system Attendant – Provides monitoring, maintenance and AD lookup service
55. What is the default mailbox size in Exchange Server 2003?
For Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition value between 1 and 75 (the default is 18 GB).
For Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition value between 1 and 8000 (the default is 8000 GB). Click OK.
56. What is the maximum database size with Exchange Server 2003 standard edition?
16 GB if Exchange Server 2003 sp 1 is installed
75GB if it is upgraded to Server pack 2
57. What is ISINTEG, and where we have to use this?
Isinteg is a command-line tool that analyzes and makes some repairs to the Exchange databases. Use Isinteg for problems similar to the following:
· Users are continuously connecting to their mailboxes and keep getting disconnected.
· Users report corruption within their mailboxes.
Users report error messages that are associated with the database not being able to be mounted
58. What is the use of ESEUTIL?
Users report corruption within their mailboxes.
Users report error messages that are associated with the database not being able to be mounted
Eseutil is more powerful than Isinteg for repairing problems in the database
o Perform an offline defragmentation.
o Perform a database recovery.
o Check database integrity.
o Repair a database.
59. Where is Eseutil located?
Located in windows 2003 support tools
60. What are the different Eseutil modes and switches associated with them?
1. /d to perform an offline defragmentation.
2. /r to perform a database recovery.
3. /g to check database integrity.
4. /p to repair a database.
61. How much free disk space is needed for defragmenting a database with ESEUTIL?
Because defragmentation copies the files to a temporary file and then copies the compressed file back to the original file, the process needs a great deal of disk space to do this. To run defragmentation, you need about 110% of your file size available on your disk.
62. What is the command to run the Eseutil defragmentation on a specific database?
In Exchange System Manager, right-click the information store that you want to defragment, and then click Dismount Store.
At the command prompt, change to the ExchsrvrBin folder, and then type the eseutil /d command, a database switch, and any options that you want to use.
Use the following database switch to run Eseutil defragmentation on a specific database:
eseutil /d [options]
63. What need to be done before performing the defragmentation with Eseutil?
It is recommended that you always perform a backup of your data before running Eseutil
64. How to run Eseutil on a computer without Exchange Server?
Create a new folder on the computer that does not have Exchange Server 2003 installed.
Copy the Eseutil.exe, Ese.dll, Jcb.dll, Exosal.dll, and Exchmem.dll files from the Exchange Server 2003 computer’s Drive:ExchsrvrBin folder to the new folder that you created.
At a command prompt, change directory to the new folder.
Run the eseutil command from this folder against any databases that were copied from the Exchange Server 2003 computer.
65. Explain the Message flow in Exchange server 2003?
Message flow in Exchange 2003 is as follows:
· An SMTP host connects to the SMTP transport engine on port 25, or an Outlook client places a message for sending in the database, or an inbound message is received from the MTA.
· Regardless of the origin, the message is transferred to the advanced queuing engine. If the message comes from a remote SMTP host, the SMTP protocol engine transfers the message to the advanced queuing engine, whereas if the message comes from a MAPI client, such as Outlook, or from MTA, the store driver transfers it to the advanced queuing engine.
· The advanced queuing engine then uses the categorizer to process received messages. The categorizer tries to resolve the originator, resolve recipients, and enforce message restrictions. Received messages are placed in one of two queues: a local queue with messages for recipients residing on the server, and an outbound pre-routing queue.
· From the local queue, the message transfers to the store driver, which is part of the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service, and is placed in the destination mailbox.
· To transfer messages from the pre-routing queue, the advanced queuing engine uses the routing engine to determine where the SMTP service should send the message. The routing module passes the message to the queue manager that finally places the message in a link queue to be sent through the SMTP service. The name of the link queue corresponds to the name of the destination domain. From the outbound queue, messages are sent to the next routing hop by the SMTP service
66. What is WINROUTE?
WinRoute is an additional tool that shows the link state table for Exchange. Use WinRoute to query a server and view its table, routing groups, connectors, master, address spaces, and member servers
67. What is address rewrite in Exchange Server?
Exchange Address Rewrite is the process of rewriting e-mail addresses for all outgoing messages on a special SMTP virtual server (true for Exchange Server 2003). Exchange Address Rewrite is especially used in merger or acquisition scenarios where two Exchange organizations are to be merged into one but, until these two organizations are completely merged, every organization uses its own SMTP namespace while for all outgoing SMTP messages the new or unique SMTP address space is used.
68. What is S/MIME?
Secure Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extension (S/MIME) protects the integrity and confidentiality of e-mail messages. S/MIME protects the message itself, while other forms of protection, such as SSL, protect the transmission channel. S/MIME requires the use of certificates issued through a public key infrastructure (PKI)
69. Where S/MIME supportable?
S/MIME is supported by Outlook, Outlook Web Access, or POP3 or IMAP4 clients. Use the following process to use S/MIME for secure e-mail.
1. Obtain a certificate for each user.
2. Enable S/MIME in the e-mail client application.
Share and obtain public keys with other users. Users who will send you encrypted e-mail must have your public key. You must have the public key for all users to whom you will send encrypted or digitally signed e-mails
70. What is white space, and how can it be reclaimed?
White space is nothing but free space.
When the 16 GB database size limit is reached on the Standard version of Exchange and white space must be reclaimed in order to mount the database. If you are running Exchange Server 2003, then Service Pack 2 (SP2) should be installed to raise the limit to 75 GB
71. What is DS2MB?
Directory ServiceMetabase Synchronization process (DS2MB process), In short the DS2MB process overwrites new configuration information in the local metabase (the metabase is kind of a registry for IIS) with configuration information that was last set in Active Directory by using the Exchange System Manager snap-in.
DS2MB is short for Directory Service to Metabase and the purpose of this process is to transfer configuration information from Active Directory to the IIS Metabase. The configuration is stored in the IIS Metabase instead of the registry mainly for performance and scalability reasons. The DS2MB process is a one-way write from Active Directory to the IIS Metabase, which means that the Metabase never writes back to Active Directory.
72. What is MIME & MAPI?
MIME = Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions It defines non-ASCII message formats. It is a coding standard that defines the structure of E-Mails and other Internet messages. MIME is also used for declaration of content from other Internet protocols like HTTP, Desktop environments like KDE, Gnome or Mac OS X Aqua. The standard is defined in RFC 2045.
With MIME it is possible to exchange information about the type of messages (the content type) between the sender and the recipient of the message. MIME also defines the art of coding (Content-Transfer-Encoding).
MAPI = Messaging Application Programming Interface It’s the programming interface for email. It is a Microsoft Windows program interface that enables you to send e-mail from within a Windows application and attach the document you are working on to the e-mail note. Applications that take advantage of MAPI include word processors, spreadsheets, and graphics applications. MAPI-compatible applications typically include a Send Mail or Send in the File pulls down menu of the application. Selecting one of these sends a request to a MAPI server
73. What are virtual servers? When would you use more than one?
An SMTP virtual server is an instance of the SMTP service running on an Exchange server. It is bound to a particular IP address (or group of IP addresses) and port, usually the well-known TCP port 25.
Windows Exchange Servers use the word ‘Virtual’ in many contexts. To begin with, one physical machine can act as a server for several Virtual SMTP domains, for example ourcomp.com and mergecomp.net. Moreover, in addition to SMTP, one Exchange Server can also control Virtual servers for IMAP4, NNTP and POP3. From another point of view, you could interpret these Exchange Virtual servers as aliases for physical folders in Microsoft’s IIS.
In a completely different context, the term Virtual Server is used in clustering. The Outlook clients connect not to the individual Exchange 2003 nodes, but to a Virtual server with a virtual IP address.
74. What is a Smart Host? Where would you configure it?
Smart hosts are used to connect Exchange Server to an external (to the organization) messaging system. Typical use of a smart host involves relaying outbound SMTP email to a non-Exchange SMTP host in perimeter networks; or to an ISP or hosted service provider that may offer functionality like mail relaying and spam and virus scanning
A smart host is a common term for a server that accepts outbound mail and passes it on to the recipient.
A smart host is a type of mail relay server which allows an SMTP server to route e-mail to an intermediate mail server rather than directly to the recipient’s server. Often this smart host requires authentication from the sender to verify that the sender has privileges to have mail forwarded through the smart host. This is an important distinction from an open relay that will forward mail from the sender without authentication. Common authentication techniques inc Set Up Private Outbound DNS route mail to Outbound Services by setting up an external DNS server.
Select the start Menu – > Programs -> Microsoft Exchange -> System Manager
Expand the Top Level Servers – > your mail server -> Protocols -> SMTP
Right click the default SMTP server and select properties
75. Explain Exchange transaction logs?
5 MB for 2003 and 1 MB for 2007
Before changes are actually made to an Exchange database file, Exchange writes the changes to a transaction log file. After a change has been safely logged, it can then be written to the database file.
One of the most important components of Exchange server is the transaction logs. Exchange server was designed to write all transactions to these log files and commit the changes to the databases when the system allows. Users can send and receive messages without touching the database thanks to this write-ahead method of logging.
When a message is sent, the transaction is first recorded in the transaction logs. Until the transaction is committed to the Exchange database (EDB), the only existence of this data is in the system memory and the transaction logs. In the event of a crash, you lose the contents of the memory and all you are left with is the record in the transaction log. These transaction logs are crucial to the recovery of a failed Exchange server, whether it was a minor crash that required a reboot, or a more catastrophic failure requiring the deployment of your disaster recovery plans. The same goes for other transactions such as received messages, deleted items and messages moved to different folders
76. Explain Exchange transaction logs?
5 MB for 2003 and 1 MB for 2007
Before changes are actually made to an Exchange database file, Exchange writes the changes to a transaction log file. After a change has been safely logged, it can then be written to the database file.
One of the most important components of Exchange server is the transaction logs. Exchange server was designed to write all transactions to these log files and commit the changes to the databases when the system allows. Users can send and receive messages without touching the database thanks to this write-ahead method of logging.
When a message is sent, the transaction is first recorded in the transaction logs. Until the transaction is committed to the Exchange database (EDB), the only existence of this data is in the system memory and the transaction logs. In the event of a crash, you lose the contents of the memory and all you are left with is the record in the transaction log. These transaction logs are crucial to the recovery of a failed Exchange server, whether it was a minor crash that required a reboot, or a more catastrophic failure requiring the deployment of your disaster recovery plans. The same goes for other transactions such as received messages, deleted items and messages moved to different folders
77. Which services are disabled in Exchange Server 2003 by default?
NNTP service
Microsoft Exchange IMAP4 service
Microsoft Exchange POP3
78. Which services are needed to enable Exchange Server 2003 to perform message routing functions?
Microsoft Exchange Routing Engine
SMTP service
IIS Admin Service
79. Which services are needed to maintain interoperability with previous versions of Exchange?
Microsoft Exchange Event Service
Exchange MTA Stacks
Microsoft Exchange Site Replication Service
80. What are the services required to run exchange server 2003 Front End Server?
Microsoft Exchange Routing Engine; needed to enable Exchange to route messages.
IIS Admin Service; needed to enable Exchange routing functionality. The IIS Admin Service is dependent on the Microsoft Exchange Routing Engine.
IPSec services; these services are needed if you want to configure an IPSec filter on OWA servers. IPSec services provide security between clients and servers on TCP/IP networks.
World Wide Web Publishing Service; needed if you want clients to be able to access OWA or Outlook Mobile Access front-end servers
81. What is dumpster?
Dumpster is a storage location for the deleted items from mailbox database or Public folder Database. We can set the dumpster setting by keeping the retention period of Mailbox deletion settings to certain number of days
By default it is 18 MB in size and can keep record of deleted items for 7 days.
1. What is Administrative Group?
In Exchange 5.5, site concept is divided into two groups in Exchange 2003 named Administrative Groups and Routing Groups
Administrative Group are used to provide administrative tasks. Under administrative groups it contains servers, policies, routing groups and Public Folder trees. Three administrative models are present
· Centralized – adding all the exchange servers to the same administrative groups to have centralized administration
· De centralized – it’s for large organization, in this model it will have different administrative group in a forest
· Mixed - Combination of centralized and de centralized model.
2. What are Routing Groups?
Routing Groups are related to physical layout. It is like AD sites used to group servers that share reliable well connected bandwidth. Routing groups comes in to play when you have multiple physical locations
3. How Routing Groups works?
If you have routing groups implemented, you can have one routing group at the corporate office and a separate routing group at a remote office. The routing groups would be joined by a routing group connector.
That connector would designate one server in each routing group as a bridgehead server. (Exchange traffic flowing between routing groups can only be sent between bridgehead servers.)
Let’s say that an Exchange server in your main office has been updated, and that update needs to be replicated to 10 servers at a remote office. With routing groups set up, rather than sending 10 copies of the update across the WAN link, the server could send the update to the local bridgehead server. The local bridgehead would then send the update to the remote bridgehead server. The remote bridgehead server would distribute the update to the machines at the remote office.
4. What is Circular logging?
All transactions are first logged to the current log file E00.LOG. If it gets full it will be saved to a file of the log generation E00xxxxx.log. This process is called transaction log rollover. The way the current log file is rolled over depends on the logging mechanism used. Microsoft Exchange provides circular and sequential logging mechanisms.
Circular logging automatically overwrites transaction log files after the data they contain has been committed to the database. It reduces disk storage space requirements
5. What is the downside of Circular logging?
It prevents you from using differential or incremental backups, because they require the past transaction log files. In fact, because circular logging purges some transaction log files, you may not be able to recover to a point of failure by roll forward through the transaction log files—one or more may be missing. For this reason it is a good idea to disable circular logging on all Storage Groups
6. How Circular logging works?
Circular logging automatically overwrites transaction log files after the data they contain has been committed to the database. It reduces disk storage space requirements; however, if circular logging is enabled, you cannot perform incremental backups
7. How to enable Circular logging?
To enable circular logging, go to the Properties window of a Storage Group and choose the General tab.
Circular logging (disabled by default) uses transaction log technology but does not maintain previous transaction log files. Instead, it maintains a window of a few log files, then removes the existing log files and discards the previous transactions after the transactions in the transaction log files have been committed to the database.
8. Which service needs to be stop and restart to take effect of changes made
to circular logging?
Microsoft Exchange Information Store service has to be restarted, if we configure the circular logging option.
9. What is difference between Send on Behalf permission and Send As permission?
Send on Behalf permission - Send on Behalf Of” allows one user to be able to send emails on behalf of another. The message will show the recipient who the message was sent on behalf of and who actually sent the message.
Send As Permission - means user A will be able to access the mail box of user B and reply back to those mail. Even though user A has replied to the mail, the send address will display user b email.
10. Where does the expansion of mail sent to mail-enabled groups occur?
When you send a message to a mail-enabled group, the Exchange server sends a copy of the message to each mail-enabled user and contact in the group. The process of finding those mail-enabled group members is called expansion
The Global Catalog server obtains the names of the ultimate recipients from its copy of Active Directory, along with the requested email attributes. If the list includes any mail-enabled groups, the Global Catalog server expands the membership of each of those groups and repeats the process recursively until it has assembled a full list of all ultimate recipients in each of the nested groups. It returns this list to the Exchange server.
11. How can you prevent your users and groups from viewing the contents of a custom address list?
Go to the properties of the Custom Address list, point to security tab and select advanced button to open the advanced setting
Browse the users or group and set deny permission to open the Address list
12. How you can configure HTTP virtual server logging?
Logging is only available for SMTP and NNTP protocols. Use IIS to configure logging for HTTP
13. Can Exchange Servers move between administrative groups?
With Exchange Server 2003, servers can be moved between Routing groups, but we can’t move the servers between Administrative Groups.
14. How to enable the Administrative Group in native-mode Exchange Organization?
Click Start, All Programs, Microsoft Exchange, and then select Exchange System Manager.
Exchange System Manager opens next.
Right-click the Exchange organization and the select Properties from the shortcut menu When the Exchange organization Properties dialog box opens, select the Display routing groups checkbox on the General tab.
Click OK
15. How to delegate the control of Administrative Group to users?
1. Open the Exchange Systems Manager.
2. Navigate to the Administrative Group.
3. Click the Action menu and select Delegate Control options.
4. The Exchange Administration Delegation Wizard launches.
5. Click Next on the Welcome to the Exchange Administration Delegation Wizard screen.
6. Click Add.
7. Provide the details of the Active Directory user account or group that you are delegating control over the Administrative Group to.
8. Select the Exchange role which should be assigned. Click OK.
9. Click Next and then click Finish.
16. How many Exchange Organizations can exist per forest?
We can have only one Exchange Organization to exists per forest
17. How to access the Exchange Tasks?
Right click a user object from the Active Directory user and computer console. Exchange Tasks will be available
18. Which functions are provided by Exchange Tasks for a User?
we can.
· Move a mailbox
· Delete Mailbox
· Configure Exchange Features
· Remove Exchange Attributes
19. Which functions are provided by Exchange Tasks for a contact?
we can
· Delete Email Address
· Modify Exchange Attributes
20. Which options are added to the Mailbox-enabled User properties for Exchange?
· Exchange General
· Exchange Advanced
· Exchange Features
· Exchange E-Mail Address
21. Which functions are available with Exchange General Tab?
Explanation of Exchange General TAB
We can do the following options in this Exchange General TAB
Delivery Restriction – set maximum size of outgoing and incoming messages
Delivery option - set delegating privileges, set a forwarding address
Storage Limits – specify storage Limits for the mailbox enabled user
22. Which functions are available with Exchange Features Tab for a Mailbox-enabled User?
We can have enable or disable the following features respect to that of user permission, for example if a user is restricted to allow OWA you can disable the feature
Features we can enable/disable
· Mobile Features
· OWA
· POP3
· IMAP4
23. Which functions are available with Exchange Advanced Tab for a mailbox-enabled User?
We can do the following options
· Hide the user from global Address list
· We can set mailbox rights
· We can set custom attributes
24. Which functions are available with Exchange Advanced Tab for a Group?
We can do the following option
· New alias name
· Choose an expansion server
· Hide group from address list
· Send out of office message to originator
· Send delivery reports
25. What are the options for a group once Exchange Server is installed?
Exchange General
Exchange Features
Exchange E-Mail Address
26. Which functions are available with Exchange Tasks for a group?
We can
· Delete email address
· Hide membership
· Remove exchange attributes
27. How to configure the Send on Behalf permission?
1. Log onto the server running Exchange.
2. Run Active Directory Users and Computers.
3. Find the user’s account that you want to be able to send on behalf of, and open up the account properties.
4. Select the “Exchange General” tab.
5. Click [Delivery Options...]
6. Click [Add ...] and add the user (or users) that are to be granted permission to send on behalf of this account.
7. Click [OK] to close the “Delivery Options” dialog.
8. Click [OK] to close the account properties dialog..
28. What is the other way to configure Send on Behalf permission?
We can configure this option by using outlook 2003, to configure this
1. Start Outlook
2. Tools → Options, select the “Delegates” tab
3. Click on [Add ...]
4. Add the user or users that you want to grant the send-on-behalf-of permission to, then click [OK]
5. The next window will allow you to specify which permissions you are granting. To allow send-on-behalf-of, you need to grant permissions on the “Inbox” to either “Author” or “Editor”, then click [OK]
6. Click [OK] to close the “Options” dialog.
29. How to configure the Send as Permission?
1. Log onto the server running Exchange
2. Run Active Directory Users and Computers.
3. Under the “View” menu ensure that “Advanced Features” is ticked.
4. Find the user’s account that you want to be able to send as, and open up the account properties.
5. Select the “Security” tab.
6. Click [Add ...] (under “Group or user names”) and add the user (users or group) that is to be granted permission to send-as this account.
7. For each account added, highlight the account under “Group or user names” and in the “Permissions for …” window grant the account “Send As” permission.
8. Click [OK] to close the account properties dialog.
9. Send As Permission means user A will be able to access the mail box of user B and reply back to those mail. Even though user A has replied to the mail, the send address will display user b email.
31. How to configure a forwarding address?
1. Start the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.
2. Right-click the mail-enabled user, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Exchange General tab.
4. Click Delivery Options.
5. In the Forwarding Address section, click Forward to, and then click Modify.
6. Click the mail-enabled user or the mail-enabled contact. Then, click OK.
Note If you want e-mail to be delivered to the original mailbox as well as the forwarding address, select the Deliver messages to both forwarding address and mailbox check box.
7. To close Delivery Options and to close Properties, click OK two times.
32. How to configure the mailbox permissions?
We can assign the following permission to a mailbox
· Administrators group: Full Control
· Authenticated Users group: Read and Execute, List Folder Contents, and Read
· Creator Owner: None
· Server Operators group: Modify, Read and Execute, List Folder Contents,Read,Write
· System account: Full Control
To configure the mailbox permissions
1. In Active Directory Users and Computers, click Advanced Features on the View menu.
Note: This is not necessary on Exchange Server 2003 because of the fact that the Exchange Advanced tab is exposed by default.
2. Under Active Directory Users and Computers, click the account, click the Exchange Advanced tab, and then click Mailbox Rights.
3. The rights are displayed in the Permissions for account name dialog box.
This behavior occurs because the mailbox security descriptor is not read from the Active Directory account object until the user logs on or gets mail. The Recipient Update Service (RUS) does not stamp the inherited permissions when the mailbox is created. After the mailbox is created in the store, the store calculates inherited mailbox rights.
33. What is a Query-based distribution group?
A query-based distribution group works much like a standard distribution group. The difference being that the query-based Distribution Groups assign group membership based on LDAP queries. Query-based distribution groups are only supported when running in Exchange Server 2003 Native Mode. The main advantage of creating a query-based distribution group is that administrators can dynamically assign members to the group – you do not have to manually add/remove accounts from the query-based distribution group.
You can use the Filter option to define group membership for the query-based distribution group. Then, when new account objects are created, these objects too are added to the group when they defined as being mail-enabled in Active Directory.
1. The different Filter options for defining a query-based distribution group are listed here:
2. Users with Exchange Mailboxes
3. Users with External Mail Addresses
4. Mail-Enabled Groups
5. Contacts with External Email Addresses
6. Mail-Enabled Public Folders
7. Customer Filters
34. How to create a Query-based distribution group?
1. In Active Directory Users and Computers, in the console tree, right-click the container where you want to create the query-based distribution group, point to New, and then click Query-based Distribution Group.
2. In Query-based Distribution Group name, type a name for the query-based distribution group, and then click Next.
3. Under Apply filter to recipients in and below, verify that the parent container shown is the one that you want the query-based distribution group to be run against. If this is not the correct container, click Change to select another container.
4. Under Filter, select one of the following options:
To filter the query based on a set of predefined criteria, click Include in this query-based distribution group, and then select from the following criteria:
- Users with Exchange mailboxes
- Users with external e-mail addresses
- Groups that are mail-enabled
- Contacts with external e-mail addresses
- Public folders that are mail-enabled
5. To create your own criteria for the query, click Customize filter, and then click Customize
6. Click Next to see a summary of the query-based distribution group that you are about to create.
7. Click Finish to create the query-based distribution group.
35. What is Expansion server?
Expansion servers route messages that are sent to a single distribution list or group for each of the recipient objects in that list or group. When a user sends a message to a group, the Exchange server that is acting as the expansion server expands the group to its individual members. This expansion permits members of the distribution list or group to receive the message. An expansion server also resolves the names of all recipients in the distribution list or group, and then determines the most efficient path for routing the message.
36. How to configure an expansion server for a mail-enabled group?
In Active Directory Users and Computers, right-click the distribution group and then click Properties.
Click the Exchange Advanced tab, and look in the value under Expansion server.
We can configure expansion server here
37. How to move the database of a store?
1. Start Exchange System Manager.
2. Open the administrative group that contains the database that you want to change.
3. Under Storage Group, right-click the mailbox store or the public folder store that you want to change, and then click Properties
4. Click the Database tab.
5. Next to the database that you want to change, click Browse, and then specify a new drive or folder location for the files.
6. Click Yes to dismount the database automatically and move the location.
7. When you finish moving the databases, remount the databases manually.
38. What is mail relay?
The first mechanism to be used against attacks is a mail relay. A mail relay is basically just a simple mail server that accepts e-mails, filters it according to pre-defined criteria and then delivers them to another server. Your mail relay will only allow mails that are destined to user in your SMTP domain to be relayed to the internal server. A mail relay could also filter out viruses and junk e-mail if you install the right software package for it.
You would definitely want one of those so that your Exchange server will not be directly connected to the Internet for inbound connections. A mail relay is typically placed in a DMZ, which a dedicated network, protected by a Firewall and separated from both the internal LAN and the Internet. This allows the Firewall administrator to determine who is trying to get into the mail relay and what is passing from the mail relay to the internal LAN
1. Name some Exchange Server 2003 clients
· Outlook 2000/2003
· Outlook Web Access.
· Outlook Mobile Access.
· RPC over Http/Https.
2. What is Outlook Web Access (OWA)?
Outlook Web Access 2003 (known as OWA 2003) allows you to gain access to your messages, calendars, contacts, tasks and public folders from any computer with internet access. OWA 2003 has many added features which allow for improved performance, better security and a fresh new look.
3. How to access OWA?
Open your browser and type in the following address:
https://DomainName/exchange
4. How OWA works?
1. The client issues a HTTP request using browser using URL.
2. The DNS resolves the request and forward to the IIS server.
3. The HTTP request flows across the network to the IIS server.
4. Exchange registers itself with IIS as a valid application, so when a request is received byHTTP client IIS redirect the request to application. Davex.dll is an ISAPI extension thatincludes the functions necessary to communicate with the Store. Exchange also registersDavex.dll with IIS as the component to handle all incoming requests for the Exchange application.
5. Davex.dll checks the request and contacts the Store through the epoxy inter process communication channel. Communication goes to the HTTP epoxy stub. Eproxy does notuse RPC.
6. The HTTP epoxy stub communicates with Store using exoledb.dll to get the necessary information from the Store.
7. After getting information from Store the reverse path is followed and client gets itsmailbox on browser.
5. What are the limitations of OWA?
· We can’t access offline address list
· A lot of attachments have to be saved to the local drive first, in order to be able to open them.
· Adding recipients when sending an E-mail is a pain.
· You cannot work offline.
6. What is RPC over HTTP?
The RPC over HTTP protocol allows your full Outlook 2003 MAPI clients to connect to Exchange 2003 Servers using HTTP/HTTPS. This solves the problem remote Outlook 2003 users have when located behind restrictive firewalls.
By using RPC over HTTP, users no longer have to use a virtual private network (VPN) connection to connect to Exchange mailboxes. Users who are running Outlook 2003 on client computers can connect to an Exchange server in a corporate environment from the Internet. The Windows RPC over HTTP feature enables an RPC client such as Outlook 2003 to establish connections across the Internet by tunneling the RPC traffic over HTTP.
7. What are the requirements to use RPC over HTTP?
Server Requirement
RPC over HTTP/S requires Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003. RPC over HTTP/S also requires Windows Server 2003 in a Global Catalog role.
Client Requirement
The client computer must be running Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later.
The client computer must be running Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.
8. What is the procedure to configure RPC over HTTP?
Verify that your server computer and your client computer meet the requirements to use RPC over HTTP/S.
· Configure Exchange to use RPC over HTTP/S.
· Configure the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services.
· Configure the RPC proxy server to use specific ports.
· Configure your client computers to use RPC over HTTP/S
9. Why you must create an additional Outlook profile for RPC over HTTP connections?
For users to use RPC over HTTP from their client computer, they must create an outlook profile that uses the required RPC over HTTP settings. These settings enable SSL communication with Basic Authentication, which is required when using RPC over HTTP
10. How to prepare an Exchange Server 2003 computer to support RPC over HTTP?
Configure Exchange to use RPC over HTTPS.
Configure the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services.
Configure the RPC proxy server to use specific ports.
11. What is Exchange recipient?
In Exchange, the term recipient refers to an Active Directory object that is mailbox-enabled or mail-enabled. Mailbox-enabled recipients can send, receive, and store messages. Mail-enabled recipients can only receive messages.
12. What are the types of Exchange recipient objects?
1. Mailbox-enabled recipients
2. Mail-enabled
3. Contacts
4. Resource mailbox
13. What is a mailbox-enabled object?
Users can log on to networks and access domain resources. Users can be added to groups and appear in the global address list (GAL).
Mailbox-enabled users can send and receive messages and store messages on their Exchange server.
14. What is mail-enabled object?
Mail-enabled users can receive messages at an external e-mail address only. They cannot send or store messages on Exchange.
15. What is Encryption?
Encryption refers to algorithmic schemes that encode plain text into non-readable form or cyphertext, providing privacy. The receiver of the encrypted text uses a “key” to decrypt the message, returning it to its original plain text form. The key is the trigger mechanism to the algorithm.
16. What is the purpose of Digital Signatures?
Digital signatures are used to digitally sign the messages and encrypt them. Digital signatures provide authentication, non repudiation and data integrity. Encryption keeps message contents confidential
17. How to verify that S/MIME is supported by mailbox store so that users are able to store encrypted or digitally signed messages?
1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click Administrative Groups,
3. Click Administrative Group,
4. Click Servers, click servername,
5. Click Storage Group,
6. Right click either the Mailbox Store or the Public Folder Store, and then click Properties.
7. On the properties page, verify that the Clients support S/MIME signatures check box is selected.
18. What is the use of Key Recovery Agent?
We need to enable a Key Recovery Agent. A Key Recovery Agent is a highly trusted person which is responsible for recovering lost or damaged archived certificates for users.
We must issue a Key Recovery Agent certificate for this user. To do this:
1. Start the Windows 2003 CA console
2. Issue a new template named Key Recovery Agent
3. Request this certificate for the user who becomes the Key Recovery Agent
4. Manually Issue the Key Recovery Agent Certificate at the CA
19. How to configure Outlook to enable Digital Signatures and Encryption?
Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office, and then click Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.
Click Tools, and then click Options.
Click on the Security tab and click Settings.
Outlook populates the Change Security Settings dialog box with default information. Click OK to accept the defaults.
20. What are the components of PKI?
Certification Authorities - Provide services that authenticate the identity of individuals, computers, and other entities in a network. This encompasses both root certification authorities and subordinate authorities.
Certificate Directory - Saves certificate requests and issued and revoked certificates and certificate requests.
Key Recovery Server - Saves encrypted private keys in the certificate database for recovery after loss.
21. Name a few 3rd party CAs ?
1. VeriSign
2. GeoTrust
3. Global Sign
4. Digicert
5. Digi-sign
1. What are the tools to monitor Exchange Server 2003?
Following are the Tools to Monitor Exchange Server 2003
· Event Viewer – Exchange Specific events are logged in application logs
· Performance Monitor - view real-time Exchange server statistics
· Exchange System Manager – enable Protocol logging for virtual server instance
· Message Tracking center – view the message flow
· Monitoring and status tool – monitor servers and connectors
· Message queue viewer – view messages waiting to be delivered
· MBSA – analyze security settings
2. What is the tool to diagnose queue problems?
Queue viewer is the Tool to diagnose queue problems. The queue viewer shows the protocol, queue state, and the number of messages in the queue.
3. Where is Queue viewer located?
Queue viewer located at the Server container, following figure shows the diagram
Error! Unknown switch argument.
4. What are the types of logs provided in the Event Viewer?
· Application Log - events logged by applications or programs
· System Log - events logged by the Windows operating system components
· Security log - security events such as valid and invalid logon attempts
· Directory Service log - Server directory service logs events
· File replication service log – logs replication of files
· DNS Server service log - events related to the Domain Name System (DNS) Server service
5. What are the types of Events?
· Error - significant problem, such as loss of data or loss of functionality
· Warning - not necessarily significant, but may indicate a possible future problem
· Information - event that describes the successful operation of an application, driver, or service
· Success Audit - audited security access attempt that succeeds
· Failure Audit - audited security access attempt that fails
6. What are the types of events for Security log?
The Security log can record security events such as valid and invalid logon attempts as well as events related to resource use, such as creating, opening, or deleting files. An administrator can specify what events are recorded in the Security log.
7. Where are Exchange Monitors located?
Following figure shows the location of Exchange Monitor
Error! Unknown switch argument.
8. Which additional items can be added for monitoring in Exchange Monitors?
We can configure Notifications and also we can see the status of the exchange servers that are running by using the Monitoring and status tool
9. Where is Exchange Notification located?
Exchange Notifications are located at Monitoring and Status tool on the Tools container in Exchange System Manager
10. What are the types of notifications?
Two types of Notification we can configure, they are
· E-Mail Notification
· Script Notification
Error! Unknown switch argument.
11. What is Exchange Diagnostics logging?
Enable diagnostic logging for a server in Exchange System Manager to send Exchange event information to the Event Viewer.
· Enable diagnostic logging to log events related to authentication, connections, and client actions.
· When troubleshooting, activate the category specific to the problem at a medium or maximum level.
· Use Event Viewer to view the logged information.
Disable logging when not needed to improve performance and reduce the amount of information sent to the Event Viewer
12. How to configure the Exchange Diagnostics logging?
1. Open Exchange System Manager.
2. Locate the Exchange server that you want to configure.
3. Right click the Exchange server and select Properties from the shortcut menu.
4. Click the Diagnostics Logging tab.
5. In the Services area of the tab, click service.
6. Select the appropriate entry in the Category area of the tab.
Error! Unknown switch argument.
13. What are the four levels of logging available in Exchange Diagnostics Logging?
· None - only critical events and error events are recorded.
· Minimum - one entry is logged for each key task performed by the service.
· Medium- for each action needed to execute a task, entries are logged.
· Maximum - entries are logged for each line of code. The Maximum logging level should be enabled only when you need comprehensive debugging information. This is due to the impact this logging level has on server performance.
14. Where is System Monitor located?
System Monitor: The System Monitor utility is the main tool for monitoring system performance. System Monitor can track various processes on your Windows system in real time. The utility uses a graphical display that you can use to view current, or log data. You can determine resource usage by monitoring trends. System Monitor can be displayed in a graph, histogram, or report format. System Monitor uses objects, counters and instances to monitor the system.
Located in Performance Monitor on Administrative Tools container
15. What are the Useful Memory Counters to Monitor in System Monitor?
· Pages/sec
· Page faults/sec
· Page inputs/sec
· Page outputs/sec
· Write copies/sec
16. What are the Useful Processor Counters to Monitor in System Monitor?
· Process total
· Process Interrupt
· %Idle Time
· % user Time
17. What are Performance logs and alerts?
Performance Logs and Alerts: By using the Performance Logs And Alerts tool included in the Performance console, you can track the performance of the server by creating counter logs, trace logs, and defining alerts.
· Counter Logs: Counter logs collect data on the selected counters once a predefined interval has passed. A few features of counter logs are listed below:
· Collect performance data on the activities of system services.
· Collect performance data on hardware usage.
· Manually log data.
· Trace Logs: Trace logs differ to counter logs in that trace logs monitors data constantly and then records performance data when a specific event occurs. The collected data is written to a trace log file.
· Alerts: You can configure alerts to be generated when a predefined counter reaches, exceeds or falls beneath a defined threshold or value. When you configure alerts, you can specify that the following actions occur when an alert condition is met:
18. What is the use of Nslookup?
NSLookup is to Query a DNS domain name server to lookup and find IP address information of computers in the internet, like MX record details
19. What is the command to locate a SMTP server for a particular domain or to determine if the MX records have been configured properly in DNS
To verify this use the below commands
NSLOOKUP
Set q =MX
20. How to identify if the problem is with smart host or exchange server?
Smart host are used to relay the mails outside of your exchange organization, if any problem in sending mails outside and we can send mails within the organization then there is problem with smart host.
21. What could be the problem if incoming mail queue is becoming unmanageably large?
A large number of SMTP queues may indicate that there is either a denial of service attack, a lot of spam that is leaving the server, or an Internet connection that may be down.
22. What are the counters to diagnose whether a global catalog server is the cause of a lengthening incoming mail queue?
MSExchangeDSAccess Processes is the counters to diagnose whether a global catalog server is the cause of a lengthening incoming mail queue
23. What is command to run dcdiag from another member server to check domain controller diagnosis?
Dcdiag /test:DNS /s:TargetDCName /v /f:LogFileName
24. Which tests are performed by dcdiag?
DNS: Checks the health of Domain Name System (DNS) settings for the enterprise.
CheckSecurityError: Locates security errors or errors that might be related to security problems, and performs initial diagnosis of the problems.
25. What is ISinteg ?
Isinteg is a command-line tool that analyzes and makes some repairs to the Exchange databases. Use Isinteg for problems similar to the following:
· Users are continuously connecting to their mailboxes and keep getting disconnected.
· Users report corruption within their mailboxes.
Users report error messages that are associated with the database not being able to be mounted.
26. What is ESutil ?
Eseutil is more powerful than Isinteg for repairing problems in the database. When using Eseutil:
· Dismount the stores you want to analyze. The Information Store must still be running.
· Common options with Eseutil include:
· /d to perform an offline defragmentation.
· /r to perform a database recovery.
· /g to check database integrity.
· /p to repair a database.
27. What is the use of Ping?
You can use the Ping command to perform several useful Internet network diagnostic tests, such as the following
Access - You can use Ping to see if you can reach another computer
Distance & Time - You can use the Ping command to determine how long it takes to bounce a packet off of another site, which tells you it’s Internet distance in network terms
Domain IP Address - You can use the Ping command to probe either a domain name or an IP address. If you ping a domain name, it helpfully displays the corresponding IP address in the response.
28. What is the use of Tracert?
Trace route command determine how packets are travel between your computer and the destination. Trace provides a quick response
29. What is the use of Pathping?
Path PING it’s same as that of trace route which determine how packets travel between your computer and the destination. Path ping provides a more detailed and reliable analysis of network performance.
30. What is the use of Telnet?
Telnet is a program to let you login to another computer on the Internet in order to use typed commands
31. Which tests are performed by netdiag?
Gathers static network information and tests the network driver, protocol driver, send/receive capability, and well-known target accessibility.
Can be used by network administrators in conjunction with the Scheduler Service, to generate reports at regularly scheduled intervals
32. Which switch is used with netdiag to display only errors and warnings?
To run the tool, you must
· Open a command prompt, change to the folder containing the extracted files and run the tool from there.
· All these diagnostic tools run from a command prompt,
· you can’t just double-click them.
Netdiag /q – show the quiet output (error and warnings only)
33. How to install the Network Monitor tool?
To install the Windows version of Network Monitor,
1. Open the Control Panel and select the Add / Remove Programs option. Next, click the Add / Remove Windows Components button to launch the Windows Components wizard.
2. Scroll through the list of components until you locate the Management and Monitoring Tools option.
3. Select the Management and Monitoring Tools option and click the Details button.
4. Select the Network Monitor Tools option and click Next.
5. Windows will now begin the installation process.
6. You may be prompted to insert your Windows installation CD.
7. Click Finish to complete the installation process.
34. What is the use of Network Monitor?
It allows you to monitor any machine on your network and to determine which users are consuming the most bandwidth. You can also use the SMS version of Network Monitor to determine which protocols are using the most bandwidth on the network, locate network routers, and resolve device names into MAC addresses.
Ability to capture, edit, and retransmit a packet. This functionality is used by hackers when performing a replay attack.
35. What is DcDiag?
DCDiag command-line tool analyzes the state of domain controllers in a forest or enterprise and reports any problems to assist in troubleshooting
36. What is NetDiag?
This is a command-line diagnostic tool helps to isolate networking and connectivity problems by performing a series of tests to determine the state of your network client. These tests and the key network status information they expose give network administrators and support personnel a more direct means of identifying and isolating network problems. Moreover, because this tool does not require parameters or switches to be specified, support personnel and network administrators can focus on analyzing the output rather than on training users how to use the tool.
1. What is Front-end Server?
A Front-End server is a Microsoft Exchange server 2003 configuration where servers are used for authentication and fault tolerance.
2. What is Back-end Server?
A Back-End server is a Microsoft Exchange server 2003 configuration where servers are used to hold the users data. There is no special configuration to designate a server as a Backend server.
3. What are the advantages of Front End and Backend architecture?
1. Unified Name Space can have single name space for multiple exchange servers
2. Reduced over head for SSL
3. Firewall – place the Back-end behind the firewall and allow only traffic from frontend
4. How to increase security of the communications between your front- and back-end Exchange servers?
We can increase the security of communication between your frontend and Back-end Exchange Server by placing the Backend behind the firewall and allow only traffic from Front End
5. Which services must be disabled to increase the security of front-end servers?
Recipient Update services, offline address lists, the mailbox management service, and the free busy services are not supported on front end server
6. Which server can be used in place of a front-end server?
ISA server can be used in place of a Front End Server
7. Which is the best clustering Technology for frontend and backend server?
Front-end best work with Network load balancing and Backend best works with the cluster services
8. How to configure Exchange Server 2003 to run as a front end server?
In the Exchange server, remove the Recipient update service and default offline Address list. On the server container right click the server which you want to designate as a Front end server and go to properties and designate the server by selecting this is a front end server. Click ok and finish
9. Does Exchange Server 2003 front-end server support Exchange 2000 back-end server?
Yes, Exchange Server 2003 front-end server support Exchange 2000 back-end server
10. Does Exchange 2000 front-end server support an Exchange Server 2003 back-end server?
Exchange 2000 Server can be used only as a back-end server in a front-end and back-end configuration. However, Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server can be used as a front-end server or a back-end server in a front-end and back-end configuration
11. What all ports are required by front-end server to communicate with back-end servers?
· 443 for HTTPS
· 993 for SSL-enabled IMAP
· 995 for SSL-enabled POP
· 25 for SMTP (including TLS)
12. What are the steps involved in troubleshooting front-end and back-end servers?
1. Make sure that all the appropriate services are started on the front-end and back-end servers. This includes the relevant Exchange services in addition to the World Wide Web Publishing service and SMTP service,
2. If you have a perimeter network, make sure that the appropriate ports are opened
3. Ensure that the front-end server can successfully connect to the global catalog servers and DNS server.
4. If you cannot connect to the back-end server from the front-end server using the hostname with any protocol, try to use the IP address. If this works, verify that you can connect to the DNS server the front-end server is using. Also verify that the name to IP mapping is correct in DNS.
5. If the front-end server is configured with the list of domain controllers and global catalog servers in the registry, verify that the front-end can reach each of those servers exactly as specified in the registry entry.
6. Make sure that the combination of IP address and host header is unique for each virtual server.
7. If you have a load balancing solution for the front-end servers, make sure that the shared IP can be reached from client computers.
8. Administration: If you want to use Exchange System Manager, ensure that the System Attendant service is running. Also recall that you cannot use the Internet Services Manager after deleting the stores on the front-end server.
9. If users complain that the state of read and unread messages in public folders fluctuates, consider the following:
· Was a back-end public folder server added or removed?
· Is authentication enabled on the front-end?
· Are any back-ends that host the folder down?
13. Which port is used by front-end server to communicate with back-end server?
All communication between the Front-end and Back-end server are TCP port 80, regardless of the port used for communication between the client computer and the front end server
14. What needs to be created on Exchange front-end server for SMTP access to the Exchange organization?
SMTP must be available on the front-end server to allow POP and IMAP clients to submit e-mail messages. You can install SMTP on the front-end server or set up a separate SMTP server. To install SMTP on the front-end server, configure SMTP for internal and external domains
Mail for Internal Domains
For the front-end server to accept mail that is inbound from the Internet, the front-end server needs to know the domains for which it should accept mail. Adding recipient policies for each of your domains tells all servers in the Exchange organization to accept mail for those domains. Additionally, you must enable anonymous access for other SMTP servers on the Internet to successfully route mail to your organization (this is the default setting).
Error! Unknown switch argument.Mail for External Domains
In the default configuration, any SMTP mail that is submitted to your server and addressed to external domains is denied. This occurs because relaying is turned off for all anonymous access (however, authenticated users can still send e-mail to any external domain). Users who try to anonymously submit e-mail to external domains receive an error, such as “550 5.7.1 Unable to relay for suzan@adatum.com.” The clients must be configured to use SMTP authentication.
15. What are the important Services that should run on Frontend server?
It depends on the services that we want the frontend server to function
· WWW
· POP3
· Exchange system attend
· Exchange Information store
· IMAP4
16. What is Smart Host?
A Smart host is a common term for a server that accepts outbound mail and passes it on to a recipient
Smart host are used to connect Exchange Server to an external messaging system. Typical use of a smart host involves relaying outbound SMTP email to a Non-Exchange SMTP host in perimeter networks, or to ISP or hosted service that may offer functionality like mail relaying and spam and virus scanning
17. What are the considerations for deploying front end and backend server?
· Do not cluster Frontend servers
· One front-end server is reasonable for every four back-end servers. However, this number is provided only as a suggested ratio and starting point
· Load balancing is suitable for front end servers
· Encrypt the communication between Frontend and Backend by IPSec
Exchange Server is a Microsoft’s Messaging system, which provides Industry leading Email, calendaring and unified Messaging
2. Tell me a bit about the capabilities of Exchange Server.
1. Outlook Anywhere (OWA)
2. Mailbox can sync with Blackberry Device.
3. Calendar Sharing.
4. MAPI & POP3 Client support
3. What are the different Exchange 2003 versions?
· Exchange server 5.5
· Exchange Server 2000
· Exchange Server 2003
· Exchange Server 2007
· Exchange Server 2010
4. What are the differences between Exchange Sever 2003 Standard and Enterprise Editions?
Following are the difference between Exchange server 2003 Standard and Enterprise Edition.
Feature Standard Edition Enterprise Edition
Storage groups support 1 storage group 4 storage groups
Number of databases per storage group 2 databases 5 databases
Individual database size 16 gigabytes (GB) Maximum 16 terabytes, limited only by hardware
Exchange Clustering Not supported Supported
X.400 connector Not included Included
5. What are the main differences between Exchange 5.5 and Exchange 2000/2003?
· Exchange 2000 does not have its own directory or directory service; it uses Active Directory instead.
· Exchange 2000 uses native components of Windows 2000 (namely, IIS and its SMTP, NNTP, W3SVC and other components, Kerberos and others) for many core functions.
· SMTP is now a full peer to RPC, and is it the default transport protocol between Exchange 2000 servers.
· Exchange 2000 supports Active/Active clustering and was recently certified for Windows 2000 Datacenter.
· Exchange 2000 scales much higher.
· It boasts conferencing services and instant messaging.
6. What are the minimum hardware requirements for Exchange Server 2003?
· Processor – Pentium 133 MHz
· Operating System – Windows 2000 SP3
· Memory – 256 MB
· Disk Space – 200 MB for system files and 500 MB where Exchange Server installation.
· File System - NTFS
7. What are the steps involved in Exchange Server installation?
1. Prerequisites Installation – ASP .Net, IIS, SMTP, NNTP and WWW services Installation
2. Forest Preparation
3. Domain Preparation
4. Exchange Server 2003 Installation
8. Why not install Exchange on the same machine as a DC?
The main reason behind not to install Exchange Server is, when we used to restart the Exchange server for any reason it will take lot of time to shut down the Exchange Server services.
9. Which Services must be installed and running for Exchange Server installation?
Following are the services that should be installed before installing Exchange Server 2003
1. ASP .Net
2. Internet Information Service
3. SMTP
4. NNTP
5. WWW
10. What can you do and what will be the effect if ASP.NET service is not available while installing Exchange Server 2003?
ASP .Net files are important for authentication, delegation and securing the web publication. Before installing exchange Server 2003 ASP .Net should be installed
11. What are Exchange Server 2003 deployment tools?
The Exchange Server 2003 Deployment Tools are a compilation of old and new Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) support tools that you can use to prepare Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 and the Microsoft Active Directory directory service infrastructure for the installation of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.
· Installation and Upgrade Prerequisites
· Enabling Windows Services
· DCDiag Tool
· NetDiag Tool
· ForestPrep
· DomainPrep
12. What are the Windows versions supported by Exchange Server 2003?
1. Windows 2000 Service pack 3 ( Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Edition)
2. Windows 2003 Service pack 1 ( Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Edition)
13. In which domains domainprep must be run?
1. The Forest root Domain
2. All domain that will contain Exchange Server 2003
3. All Domain that will contain Exchange Mailbox enable objects.
14. What is ForestPrep?
Forest prep updates the schema and configuration partition in Active directory. Extend the schema to include Exchange server 2003 specific classes and attributes
To run the Forest Prep, Administrator should have Schema and Enterprise Admin permission over the Domain
15. What is DomainPrep?
Domain Prep prepares the Domain partion in Active Directory. Forest prep should be run only once in forest where Domain Prep should be run in following Servers.
1. The Forest root Domain
2. All domain that will contain Exchange Server 2003
3. All Domain that will contain Exchange Mailbox enable objects
16. Which two groups are created by DomainPrep?
The domain prep switch creates the groups and permissions required by exchange Server 2003. Two security groups created
1. Exchange Enterprise Servers – Domain Local group contains all Exchange Server in a forest
2. Exchange Domain Server – Global Group that contains all Exchange servers running in the Domain that you have selected.
17. What DomainPrep does?
Domain Prep Updates the Domain partition and Creates a Two New Security Groups for Exchange Server 2003
1. Exchange Enterprise Servers
2. Exchange Domain Servers
18. Which of the servers does the system that will host the first Exchange Server 2003 server in a forest need to be able to contact during installation?
19. How to run ForestPrep?
Go to the Command prompt and Type the following
D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /forestprep
Where D drive represents the CD drive.
Note: it will ask for the Administrator Account that has the required permission to run the Setup.
20. How to run DomainPrep?
Go to the Command prompt and Type the following
D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /domainprep - Where D drive represents the CD drive.
21. Which service pack is needed for Windows 2000 for installing Exchange Server 2003?
Windows 2000 service pack 3 in needed to install Exchange Server 2003
22. Which permissions are required to run ForestPrep?
Schema Administrator
Enterprise Administrator
Local Machine Administrator
23. Which permissions are required to run DomainPrep?
Domain Administrator and Local Machine Administrator
24. Which permissions are required to install Exchange server 2003 on the first server in a domain or on other systems within the domain?
The administrator Account should have the following permission to install the Exchange Server 2003
· Schema Administrator
· Enterprise Administrator
· Domain Administrator
· Local Machine Administrator
25. What is reason behind the error messages services not available while installing Exchange Server 2003 on a domain running at Windows Server 2003 functional level?
26. What is name of log file that Exchange Server 2003 setup creates during installation?
27. What is location of Exchange Server Setup Progress?
C:\Program Files\Exchangesvr
28. How unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003 works?
Unattended installations are useful for rapidly deploying subsequent Exchange Server 2003 installation into an existing organization.
The process of creating the file is essentially the same as the process for a manual setup selecting the component you want to install and the installation path, choosing whether to create a new organization or to join existing one; agreeing the license and so on.. Instead of doing manual installation the Exchange installation wizard writes the configuration file to .ini file. Specifically for use with the /unattendfile setup switch to start the installation.
29. When you can use the unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003?
1. Unattended Installation of Exchange Server 2003 is very useful when you are going to install Exchange Server remotely.
2. It’s also useful when you are deploying number of New Exchange Server in Existing Organization. We can save time deploying multiple servers by automating the Entire installation procedure
30. When you cannot use unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003?
An Active Directory Forest can support only a single Exchange Server 2003 organization, so an un attended.ini file that is used to create an organization cannot be used for subsequent installation.
31. What is the command to create an answer file for unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003?
D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /createunattend c:\unattend.ini
Where D represents the CD ROM drive that holds the Exchange Server and C drive represent the created unattended file for installation
32. What is the command to start the unattended installation of Exchange Server 2003?
D:\setup\i386\setup.exe /UnattendFile c:\unattend.ini
Where D represents the CD ROM drive that holds the Exchange Server and C drive represent the created unattended file for installation
33. When you can specify the User account that will receive the Exchange Full Administrator permission?
After installing the exchange Server 2003, we can able to specify the administrative permission for particular user. We can delegate administrative permission by right click the Exchange organization and select delegate Administration permission.
34. Which account must be use to perform first Exchange installation?
A new dedicated service account specifically for Exchange server installation has to be created in Active Directory and the following permission are to be assigned the newly created user.
· Schema Administrator
· Enterprise Administrator
· Domain Administrator
· Local Machine Administrator
35. Can Exchange 2000 servers run on Windows Server 2003?
No, the only version of Exchange server that will run on Windows server 2003 is Exchange Server 2003, you will need to upgrade your Exchange environment to Exchange Server 2003 prior to upgrading the Windows Server Operating System to Windows server 2003
1. Which services are not supported and hence, need to be removed from an Exchange 2000 Server before performing an upgrade to Exchange Server 2003?
Following are the Exchange Server 2000 functionality that isn’t supported by Exchange Server 2003
· Instance for Messaging Service
· Microsoft Chat Service
· Key management Service
· And connectors for Microsoft Mail and Lotus CC:Mail
Above Service has to uninstalled while upgrading from Exchange Server 2000 to Exchange Server 2003
2. While upgrading from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003 which servers must be upgraded first? Front-end server or back end server?
You must upgrade the front end servers prior to upgrading the corresponding back end server while upgrading from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003.
3. How to migrate from an old Exchange 2000 Server organization to a new Exchange Server 2003 organization?
Exchange Migration wizard is the process to Migrate Exchange 2000 organization to Exchange server 2003 organization. Similar to migrating Organization from Exchange 5.5
4. How to move users from Coexistence of Exchange 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003?
Active Directory Migration Tool and the Exchange Migration wizard will perform the complete moving of users from Coexistence of Exchange 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003
5. How to migrate from an old Exchange Server 5.5 organization to a new Exchange Server 2003 organization?
There is no in place upgrade, first we have to update Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000 and from there we have to migrate it to Server Exchange 2003. The existing users Source Domain has to be first migrated to the new target domain in another Active Directory forest. After that you can begin the Exchange 5.5 to Exchange server 2003. Exchange Migration wizard is the process to Migrate Exchange 5.5 organization to Exchange server 2003 organization.
6. Which messaging systems does the Exchange Server 2003 Migration Wizard support?
· Ms Mail for PC Networks
· CC:Mail
· Microsoft Exchange 5.5
· Lotus Notes
· Novel GroupWise 4.x
· Novel GroupWise 5.x
· Internet Directory (LDAP via ADSI)
· Internet Mail (IMAP4)
7. How can Exchange Server 2003 share calendars and address lists with Lotus Notes R4/R5?
If you the the answer, please help to Me publish
8. What are the requirements of Lotus Notes Connector?
If you the the answer, please help to Me publish
9. How can Exchange Server 2003 share calendar/address lists with Novell GroupWise?
The connectors for Lotus notes and Novel GroupWise only synchronize mailbox and user account data. You must use calendar connector in conjunction with the other connectors to synchronize calendar data.
10. What are the requirements for Novell Group Wise connector?
The following list is the configuration requirements needed on the Exchange Server side:
· Configure a working Novell GroupWise environment with API Gateway version 4.1 or later
· Configure a working Exchange Server 2003 connector server
· Make sure Exchange Server can resolve the name and access the Novell Netware server that is running API Gateway
· Enable Exchange Server to Novell Netware server connectivity by using Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW) or Novell NetWare Client for Windows. NDS authentication is needed to access NetWare Volumes (shares).
· Activate GroupWise address type on the Exchange Server 2003 recipient policy.
11. What are the tools to validate Exchange Server 5.5/Exchange Server 2003 coexistence?
· ADCConfigCheck – It checks that Exchange Server 5.5 directory config objects have been copied to Active Directory. Writes outputs to Exdeploy.log
· ConfigDSInteg – checks objects in AD to ensure that no problems have arisen since the last installation of ADC. Writes outputs to Exdeploy.log
· ReceipientDSInteg – checks all recipient objects in AD looking for problems. Recipient includes users, groups, contacts or public folders
· PrivFoldCheck – uses exchange 5.5 directory service/Information store consistent adjuster to ascertain the Information store and directory are in sync
12. What is DSScopeScan Tool Group?
DSScopeScan Tool Group used to find out information about the exchange server 5.5 organizations prior to setting up connection between exchange server 5.5 and new Exchange server 2003. Tool should be run with the account that has administrative permission.
13. Which tools are included in DSScopeScan Tool Group?
This includes four important tools
· DSconfigsum – reports the number of exchange server 5.5 sites and server per sites.
· DSObjectsum – reports the number of public folders. Distribution list and contact object
· Useraccount – exports the number of users in the exchange server 5.5 site and in the directory
· Vercheck – check if a server exists with exchange server 5.5 sp3.
14. Before upgrading from Exchange 2000 server to Exchange Server 2003 which service pack must be applied to Exchange 2000 server?
Before upgrading from Exchange server 2000 to Exchange Server 2003 update the windows 2000 server with SP3 or later. And also with Exchange 2003 server sp3 or later
15. How to upgrade from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange server 2003?
Exchange 5.5 cannot be upgraded in-place, you must first upgrade to Exchange 2000 server and then to Exchange Server 2003. Or install Exchange Server 2003 on a different server and move the Exchange server 5.5 resources to the new server.
16. What are the steps involved creating coexistence between Exchange Server 5.5 and Exchange Server 2003?
Install the Basic prerequisites like SMTP, NNTP and WWW services
· Start the Exchange Deployment tools wizard, select co existence with mixed mode Exchange 2000 and exchange server 5.5
· Select the option to install upgrade the first Exchange Server
· On the next deployment tools wizard, check all the steps are done and start the setup. On the setup installation perform the following option
· Install Exchange server 5.5 administrator
· Select the option to create a new organization or existing one.
· Finish the setup
17. Does Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise connectors supported on Exchange Server 2003 in a clustered configuration? What can be done?
If you the the answer, please help to Me publish
18. Which actions must be taken before the connection to the Lotus Notes/Domino server can be established?
If you the the answer, please help to Me publish
19. Which services must be configured to automatically start to start a Lotus Notes Connector?
To start a connector, you must enable the specific services that the connector relies on.
· Microsoft Exchange connectivity controller
· Microsoft Exchange connector for lotus notes
20. Which services must be configured to automatically start to start a Novell GroupWise Connector?
first a server running Exchange 2003 as a Bridge head server
And the following services are to be set to automatically start
· Microsoft Exchange connectivity controller
· Microsoft Exchange connector for lotus notes
21. Which steps are involved in removing a connector to install it on another Exchange Server 2003 computer?
First you need to stop the connector services
· Remove the connector
· Use the Active directory user and computers console to delete the contacts that the connector has imported in the directory
· You can reinstall lotus or Novel GroupWise connector
21. What is Active Directory Connector (ADC)?
ADC it’s a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service that allows for the replication of information from Active directory and a Microsoft Exchange 5.5 directory
22. What is Connection Agreement?
It is used by Active directory connector to control replication between Active directory and Exchange 5.5 directory. Connection agreements can be used to replicate from exchange 5.5 to Active directory and vice versa.
1. What types of permissions are configurable for Exchange?
· Exchange full admin – full control over the exchange organization including permission
· Exchange Admin – Manage everything within the organization except org permission.
· Exchange view only administrator – read only administrative access to Exchange organization
2. Which of the privileges does the Exchange Administrator role have?
This Role has the ability to administer all configuration details of the Exchange organization and ability to modify permission
3. What are the modes of Exchange Server 2003?
There are two modes in Exchange server 2003
1. Mixed Mode – If Exchange 5.5 exists and in future gain to have Exchange 5.5
2. Native Mode – if only Exchange server 2003 running in your organization
4. What are the benefits of running Exchange Server 2003 in native, rather than mixed mode?
There are lot of benefits which includes,
1. Greater flexibility for defining routing groups and Administrative \groups
2. Ability to move mailboxes
3. Configure both routing and administrative groups independent of each other
4. We can create query base distribution group
5. When Exchange Server 2003 Mixed mode is used?
By default exchange server in Mixed mode, we can have mixed mode in situation where Exchange server 5.5 situated in our Exchange organization. Mixed modes are used to have backward compatibility with Exchange server 5.5 and sites
6. When Exchange Server 2003 Native mode is used?
We can choose this option if No Exchange server 5.5 present in our Exchange organization and make sure that all the exchange servers are Exchange server 2000 and Exchange server 2003. Native mode allows administrative groups and Routing Groups to be configured independent of each other
7. Can you switch Exchange Organization from native mode to mixed mode?
Yes we can change Exchange organization from Mixed mode to Native mode and changing the mode form Mixed to Native is onetime, one way process and it cannot be reversed
8. How to switch Exchange Organization from mixed mode to native mode?
We can accomplish this by Exchange system Manager, by right clicking the Exchange organization name at the top of the window and click properties. On the New window click the change Mode option. This changed mode option will be unavailable if you are already in Native mode.
9. Which service needs to be restarted on all Exchange Server 2003 systems within the domain once you have switched to native mode?
If you Know the answer, please help to Me publish
10. What is Clustering?
It’s a technique for providing hardware and software redundancy for an application like exchange server 2003, with clustering you can ensure there is no single point of failure with your server hardware that would results in email services going offline. Clustering allows you to bring one node for maintenance by allowing other nodes to continue functioning.
11. What is Network Load balancing?
It is a resource (server-aware) clustering technology. Primary purpose to load balance by distributing the TCP/IP traffic among each server node in cluster. To client computers, the cluster is seen as a single resource and is address by a single IP
12. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Network Load Balancing?
Advantages
· No special hardware required
· Cluster can use different operating system
· Clusters are to be member of domain or perimeter
Disadvantages
· NLB uses heat beat to communicate between cluster, if a server goes offline. It sent 5 heart beats and if no response and if client if a client is requesting a request then it neglect the request
· Work only with TCP/IP. It will not consider network link protocol
13. What is Failover?
It’s related to cluster servers; it refers to the ability to of a backup server to immediate begin servicing requests if a primary server fails, without an interruption in servicing user request
14. When Failover occurs?
Failover occurs when a primary server fails to function, this fail back automatically process the service request to secondary servers which is already clustered.
15. What is Failback?
Fail back defines how failed over application services are moved back to original server node, once the node is back online
16. How Failback occurs?
By default, cluster groups that failover to another node do not automatically failback. In Failback policy we can configure the allow failback option to take place immediately or over a certain period
To make a failback occur, we have to create a failback policy to occur immediately or over a certain period
17. What are the different clustering options in Exchange 2003?
Exchange server 2003 supports two types of clustering option which is already supported by windows server 2003
1. Network Load balancing – server aware clustering technology , load balance by distributing the TCP/IP traffic among each server node in cluster. To client computers, the cluster is seen as a single resource and is address by a single IP
2. Cluster service – application or service aware clustering technology, provides continual application service availability through failover and failback
18. Name the exchange server 2003 clustering configuring option
Single node server cluster – can be configured with or without external cluster storage device. For this clusters without an external storage device, the local disk in configured as the clustered storage device
Single Quorum device server cluster – have two or more nodes and are configured so that every node is shared to one or more shared devices. Cluster configuration is stored in single cluster storage device, known as quorum device.
Majority node set server cluster – have two or more node and are may or may not be attached to one or more cluster storage devices. Cluster configuration data is stored on multiple disks across the cluster
19. Which service pack is required for installing Exchange Server 2003 Clustering on Windows 2000 Server?
Windows 2000 server SP4 is needed
20. Why SP4 is needed for Windows 2000 server for Exchange Clustering?
If you Know the answer, please help to Me publish
21. How many nodes are supported with Exchange Server 2003 clusters?
Exchange Server 2003 supports Two Node active/active clusters and up to eight-node active/passive clusters with at least one passive node
22. What are the hardware requirements for a cluster server configuration?
Network components
1. Each server node the cluster has two static IP address ( public or private) with one net bios name
2. The cluster itself has a primary static IP and NETBIOS Name
3. Each exchange virtual servers have a static IP and NETBIOS Name
Disk Components
1. Quorum Disk resource - maintains configuration data.
For Example: For a 4 Node cluster
Server hardware
· Four 1 gigahertz (GHz), 1 megabyte (MB) or 2 MB L2 cache processors
· 4 gigabytes (GB) of Error Correction Code (ECC) RAM
· Two 100 megabits per second (Mbps) or 1000 Mbps network interface cards
· RAID-1 array with two internal disks for the Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003 program files
· Two redundant 64-bit fiber Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) to connect to the Storage Area Network
Local area network hardware
· Two 100 Mbps or 1000 Mbps network switches (full duplex)
Storage Area Network hardware
· Redundant fiber switches
· 106 disk spindles (Ultra Wide SCSI) with spindle speeds of 10,000 RPM or greater
· 256 MB or more read/write cache memory
Storage groups and databases
· Three storage groups per Exchange Virtual Server
· Five databases per storage group
23. What is purpose of Exchange Server Clustering?
The purpose of Exchange Server Clustering is to prevent the Exchange server from going offline.
24. What is the version of Windows Server 2003 required for Exchange Server 2003 Clustering?
The cluster service requires windows server 2003 enterprise edition or windows server 2003 Datacenter edition. Up to eight node clusters are supported
25. What is Heartbeat?
Heart beat is a special type of network packet that is sent out to each server node participating in a cluster to determine the responsiveness of a node. Server nodes that do not respond to heart beat packets for a configurable period of time are marked a inactive
26. What are the different numbers of nodes with different type of operating system for Exchange Server 2003?
Windows server 2003 standard edition supports 4 nodes
Windows server 2003 enterprise edition or windows server 2003 Datacenter edition supports up to eight node clusters
27. What are the different cluster models?
Two types of cluster models are there
1. Active/Active – limited to two nodes and both the nodes are active at the same time, limited to 1900 concurrent client connection at a time
2. Active/Passive – supports more than two nodes and highly reliable. Recommended by Microsoft.
28. Which are the Cluster operations modes?
N-Node failover server pairs – applications are configured to failover only between two specified server pairs
N+I Hot-Standby Server – commonly referred to as active/passive mode, on two node cluster, one node process the client request and the second node monitors the first node. where N – Active node, I - Passive Node
Fail over Ring - Active/Active – all servers are active and process the client request, when one node fails the cluster, failover the cluster to another active node. Administrator has to define the failover
Random Failover – similar to failover ring, if a node fails the failover is randomly changed to active node. The Administrative burden of having a define failover is removed
29. What is teaming?
Teaming is the process included in clustering service, where multiple adapters are joined through software to function as a single unit, with a single MAC address and single IP address
30. Which settings must be configured for failover policies?
We can configure the number the times the node to failover (Threshold) during the period, which is defined in hours
31. Which settings must be configured for failback policies?
By default, cluster groups that failover to another node do not automatically failback. In Failback policy we can configure the allow failback option to take place immediately or over a certain period
25. How to access the RUS?
1. Start - System Manager
2. On the Start menu, point to Programs,
3. point to Microsoft Exchange, then click System Manager.
4. In the console tree, double-click Recipients.
5. In the console tree, right-click Recipient Update Services,
26. What is the default preconfigured schedule for RUS?
Always Run schedule is the preconfigured option for RUS
27. Which two different instances are created of the Recipient Update Service?
The following are the two instances created in Recipient Update service
1. Recipient Update Service (Enterprise Configuration)
2. Recipient Update Service (Active Directory Domain)
28. What is Recipient Update Service (Enterprise Configuration)?
The Enterprise recipient update service is responsible for updating Email address of the recipients objects located in configuration partition of the domain controller
29. What is Recipient Update Service (Active Directory Domain)?
The Domain Recipient Update Service is responsible for updating recipient objects located in the Active directory
30. What are the group types?
Two types of groups are the
· Security Group
· Distribution Group
31. What is Distribution Group?
A type of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory group that is used to define e-mail distribution lists. Distribution Group has no security context and cannot be used to grant permission to resources, but they are useful for grouping users that share a common purpose, such as all employees at a branch location
32. How Distribution groups differ from Security groups?
Distribution Group has no security context and cannot be used to grant permission to resources. But security groups can be used to assign permission on resources.
33. how to create a Distribution Group?
1. Click Start, Administrative Tools and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. The Active Directory Users and Computers management console opens.
3. Navigate to the Organizational Unit that should contain the new distribution group.
4. Click the Action menu and select New and then Group.
5. Specify the scope for the distribution group.
6. Select the Distribution group type.
7. In the Create In tab, specify the email address for the distribution group.
8. Enable the Create an Exchange Email address checkbox.
9. Change the alias name for the distribution group.
10. Specify the Administrative Group to which this distribution group should be associated.
11. Click Next and then click Finish
34. What is Security Group?
Security groups are the Microsoft windows Server 2003 Active Directory Group, with this group; we can assign permission on a resource.
35. Can Security groups be used to distribute messages?
Security Groups can be mail enabled and also used as a Distribution group to distribute messages
36. What is Query-based distribution group?
This group enables you to use a LDAP query to specify membership in a distribution group dynamically. This result is that membership is automatically determined by attributes of a user account, such as department, reducing the amount of administration required to manage distribution list
37. How to create a Query Based Distribution Group?
1. Open the Active Directory Users and Computers console.
2. Click the View menu and enable the Advanced Features option.
3. Navigate to and expand the Organizational Unit that should contain the query-based distribution group.
4. Click the Action menu and select New and then Query-Based Distribution Group.
5. Provide a name for the query-based distribution group
6. Click Change, and then select the domain and organizational unit. The filter will be applied to all users in the organizational unit.
7. Select the Users with Exchange Mailbox option.
8. Click Next and then click Finish.
36. What are the types of Group Scopes?
Following are the types of group scopes
· Local
· Global
· Universal
25. Can you restore Public folder store using recovery storage group?
Public folders cannot be restored with the use of a recovery storage group
26. How to restore a mailbox store?
We can restore a Mailbox store in 3 methods
Restoring Mailbox store by using Exchange System Manager
Make sure Mailbox deletion settings are already done.
Expand the Mailbox store go to the Mailboxes and run cleanup agent.
Right click the mailbox u want to recover and click reconnect
Restoring Mailbox store by recovery storage Group
The recovery storage group is a specialized storage group in Exchange 2003. After you restore a mailbox store to the recovery storage group, use the Exmerge.exe tool to move the recovered mailbox data from the recovery storage group to the regular storage group.
Restoring Mailbox store from backup to a recovery server
To recover a mailbox from backup, you must have a recovery server that has sufficient storage capacity to install Exchange Server 2003 and to restore the private information store database. This server can be on the same physical network as your production Exchange Server 2003 computer.
27. How to create a recovery storage group and add the database to restore?
Use the context menu of the server object to setup the recover storage group
Specify the transactional log and system path location
Add the database to be recovered to the recovery storage group by using the context menu of the recovery storage group
28. How to restore individual mailboxes and messages?
Recovering individual mailboxes
Individual mailbox can be restored with the help of mail box retention period enabled on the mailbox store. By default mailbox retention period is set to 30 days. And if a mailbox is deleted and if restoration is requested within 30 days retention period then you can recover and reconnect that mailbox without restoring the entire mailbox store
Recovering by Recover Server
If the retention period has expired you have to restore by creating a recover server. You need to perform the following tasks
1. Install recovery server in different active directory forest from the forest where original server is located
2. Install exchange server on a recovery server by using the same organization name
3. Recover the database to an administrative group in which legacy exchange Dn value matches the original server
4. Name the restore storage group and the restore logical database so that their name match the original storage group and logical database names
5. Create a .pst file and move all data that you need to recover in to the .pst file
6. Open the .pst file on the original server and move the data back to appropriate location
Recovering messages
Exchange server 2003 performs backup and restore in page level rather than in mailbox level, so you cannot easily restore individual messages in a mailbox from a backup.
You can allow users to retrieve messages from the delete items folder in outlook or OWA, to do so you have to set the keep deleted items for certain days in individual user account setting from the Active directory users and computers
Alternative you can create new mailbox policy using exchange system Manager. To recover deleted mails. User has to point to the deleted items folder and use the recover deleted items option from the tools menu in outlook or in OWA
29. what are the dynamic data’s that should be backup?
· Active Directory data
· System state data
· Exchange Server 2003 databases
· Exchange Server 2003 log files
· Cluster quorum data
· Microsoft certificate services data
· Site Replication Service (SRS) databases
30. what is Automated System Recovery?
The Automated System Recovery (ASR) feature is a new feature found in the Windows Backup utility. Automated System Recovery should be used to restore the system when all other disaster recovery tools are unavailable or do not work. ASR basically automates the procedure of saving and restoring system state information. In the event of all other recovery methods not being successful, you can use ASR to restore the operating system to a previous state so that you can start Windows Server 2003.
31. what is Exmerge.exe?
Once a database is restored to the Recovery Storage Group, the ExMerge utility (Exmerge.exe) can be used to move the mailbox data to the storage group. A Recovery Storage Group cannot be accessed by users because the group is disconnected. You can recover one mailbox or recover the entire database.
32. what is the process for using a Recovery Storage Group to restore mailbox data ?
1. Create and configure the Recovery Storage Group on the Exchange server
2. Restore the mailbox database to the Recovery Storage Group
3. Merge the mailbox data of the restored database to the original database
33. how to create Recovery Storage Group?
· Configure the Recovery Storage Group using the context menu of the server object.
· Set the transaction log location.
· Set the system path location.
· Add the database which you want to recover to the Recovery Storage Group
34. how to restore the Mailbox Database to the recovery Storage Group?
· You should use a backup and restore application to restore the mailbox database to the Recovery Storage Group.
· Choose the database and log files that should be restored.
· Specify the temporary file directory.
· Mount the store, once the restore has completed.
35. how to merge the Mailbox Database of the Restored database to the original Database?
· Start Exmerge.exe and then initiate the Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Merge Wizard.
· Using the various prompts of the Exchange Mailbox Merge Wizard, define the export method.
· You also have to specify the source and destination server.
· Specify the databases within the Recovery Storage Group for restoring.
· Specify a single mailbox to restore, or specify multiples mailboxes.
· Select the temporary folder
· After completing the Exchange Mailbox Merge Wizard, data is copied from the mailboxes in the recovery database and merged with the appropriate mailboxes of the original database.
36. How to restore an Exchange Server 2003 member server?
1. If you are able to access the hard disks of the problematic Exchange server, then you should copy the Exchange Server 2003 database files on the server to a different location.
2. Next, if necessary, replace all damaged hardware.
3. Proceed to install Windows 2003 on the server.
4. Restore the Windows backup set to restore the Windows 2003 system files and registry database, and the IIS metabase files.
5. Install all necessary service packs and software updates.
6. Install all applications on the server.
7. You can now run Exchange Server 2003 Setup in Disaster Recovery mode to install the Exchange applications and Exchange files. The configuration information of the original server that you recovered includes:
· Storage group names
· Mailbox store names
· Public folder store names
· Virtual server configuration
1. Verify that each component which existed on the damaged server is selected for Disaster Recovery.
2. Install Exchange Server 2003 to the same drive and directory.
3. Install any Exchange Server service packs and hot fixes.
4. Restore the Exchange Server 2003 databases.
16. What is the use of public store policy?
Storage limits and public folder replication settings can be configured through public store policy, through and individual public store, or through individual public folders
17. What is public folder referral?
When a user connects to a public folder store and the store does not contain the copy of the contentment the user is requesting exchange server 2003 automatically redirects the user to the server where the original content resides. This is known as Public folder referral. Usually the public folder referrals with takes place within the routing groups
18. what are the options to create Public Folders?
We can create Public folders from the following options
1. Outlook 2003
2. Outlook XP
3. Outlook 2000
4. Exchange System Manager
5. Windows Explorer
6. Internet clients
7. Web browser
19. what is the main advantage of using Public Folders ?
Messages can be sent to public folders by using an Active Directory stored e-mail address.
Users can obtain access to any public folder in the organization. With Exchange Server 2003, public folder referrals can be enabled between routing groups.
Full-text index searches can be performed on public folder contents.
Newsgroups can be made available to users
20. how to mail enable a public folder?
1. Open Exchange System Manager.
2. Expand the administrative group container.
3. Expand the Folders container
4. Expand the public folder tree.
Right-click the public folder that you want to mail-enable and select All Tasks and then Mail Enable from the shortcut menu
21. what are the benefits of replicating public folder?
· Fault tolerance and load balancing can occur between multiple servers.
· Replication can be scheduled.
· A public folder copy is accessible to each location for local access.
· Any newly created subfolders obtain the configuration settings of the parent folder after public folder replication is manually configured
1. What are the Exchange Server clients?
· Microsoft outlook
· Outlook web access
· Outlook Mobile Access
· RPC over HTTP
· POP3
· MAP4
2. What is a Forest and Domain functional level?
Domain functionality enables features that will affect the entire domain and that domain only. Four domain functional levels are available: Windows 2000 mixed (default), Windows 2000 native, Windows Server 2003 interim, and Windows Server 2003. By default, domains operate at the Windows 2000 mixed functional level
Forest functionality enables features across all the domains within your forest. Three forest functional levels are available: Windows 2000 (default), Windows Server 2003 interim, and Windows Server 2003. By default, forests operate at the Windows 2000 functional level. You can raise the forest functional level to Windows Server 2003.
3. What is cache mode in Outlook 2003?
When an Outlook account is configured to use Cached Exchange Mode, Outlook works from a local copy of a user’s Exchange mailbox stored in an Offline Folder file (OST file) on the user’s computer, along with the Offline Address Book (OAB). The cached mailbox and OAB are updated periodically from the Exchange server.
When a user starts Outlook for the first time with Cached Exchange Mode configured, Outlook creates a local copy of the user’s mailbox by creating an OST file (unless one already exists), synchronizing the OST with the user’s mailbox on the Exchange server, and creating an OAB. (If a user is already configured for offline use with an OST and an OAB, Outlook can typically download just the new information from the server, not the whole mailbox and OAB.)
4. What is IP address?
An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical identification and logical address that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol for communication between its nodes.
Two IP versions are currently in use, they are
IP version 4 – 32 bit addressing
IP version 6 – 128 bit addressing
5. What is MX record?
An MX record or Mail exchanger record is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS) specifying how Internet e-mail should be routed using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Each MX record contains a preference and a host name, so that the collection of MX records for a given domain name point to the servers that should receive e-mail for that domain, and their priority relative to each other.
6. What is Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)?
SMTP is a short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and it is used to transfer e-mail messages between computers. It is a text based protocol and in this, message text is specified along with the recipients of the message. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is a ‘push’ protocol and it cannot be used to ‘pull’ the messages from the server.
7. What is Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP)?
NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol) is the predominant protocol used by computer clients and servers for managing the notes posted on Usenet newsgroups. NNTP replaced the original Usenet protocol, UNIX-to-UNIX Copy Protocol (UUCP) some time ago. NNTP servers manage the global network of collected Usenet newsgroups and include the server at your Internet access provider. An NNTP client is included as part of a Netscape, Internet Explorer, Opera, or other Web browser or you may use a separate client program called a newsreader.
NNTP utilizes TCP port 119; NNTP with SSL utilizes TCP port 563.
8. What is Workgroup?
In workgroup, all the computers are peers; no computer has control over another computer
Each computer has a set of user accounts. To use any computer in the workgroup, you must have an account on that computer
All computers must be on the same local network or subnet
9. What is five nines availability?
99.999 availability – not sure on this
10. Which utility can you use to verify that port 25 is open on a remote SMTP server?
Telnet is the utility to verify the port 25
11. What are important Ports for firewall configuration?
1. SMTP - 25
2. DNS - 53
3. HTTP - 80
4. Kerberos - 88
5. NNTP - 119
12. What is MBSA?
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) 2.1 is an easy to use tool that helps small and medium businesses determine their security state in accordance with Microsoft security recommendations and offers specific remediation guidance. Improve your security management process by using MBSA to detect common administrative vulnerabilities and missing security updates on your computer systems.
13. To run MBSA your account must be a member of which group?
User account should me member of the administrator group on the targeted host
14. What is DMZ?
In computer networks, a DMZ (demilitarized zone) is a computer host or small network inserted as a “neutral zone” between a company’s private network and the outside public network. It prevents outside users from getting direct access to a server that has company data. (The term comes from the geographic buffer zone that was set up between North Korea and South Korea following the UN “police action” in the early 1950s.) A DMZ is an optional and more secure approach to a firewall and effectively acts as a proxy server as well.
15. What is ESEUTIL?
Eseutil is more powerful than Isinteg for repairing problems in the database. When using Eseutil:
· Dismount the stores you want to analyze. The Information Store must still be running.
· Common options with Eseutil include:
· /d to perform an offline defragmentation.
· /r to perform a database recovery.
· /g to check database integrity.
· /p to repair a database.
16. What size is each page of data in the database?
The pages are 4KB in size (for Exchange 2003) and include not only data but also a checksum and pointers to other page
AD uses a page size of 8 kb
17. What type of memory optimization changes could you do for Exchange 2003?
The server is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, has 1 GB or more of physical memory, to perform memory optimization we have to set the /3GB switch to the Boot.ini
18. Which parameters needs to added in boot.ini file if Your Exchange Server 2003 computer has more than 1 GB of RAM installed?
Add /3Gb switch to boot.ini
19. What is open relay?
An open relay (sometimes called an insecure relay or a third-party relay) is an SMTP e-mail server that allows third-party relay of e-mail messages. By processing mail that is neither for nor from a local user, an open relay makes it possible for an unscrupulous sender to route large volumes of spam. In effect, the owner of the server — who is typically unaware of the problem — donates network and computer resources to the sender’s purpose. In addition to the financial costs incurred when a spammer hijacks a server, an organization may also suffer system crashes, equipment damage, and loss of business.
20. What is Active Directory Schema?
The Microsoft Active Directory schema contains formal definitions of every object class that can be created in an Active Directory forest. The schema also contains formal definitions of every attribute that can exist in an Active Directory object. This section provides the reference for each schema object and provides a brief explanation of the attributes, classes, and other objects that comprise the Active Directory schema.
21. What is X 400 Connector?
X.400 connectors Although you can use X.400 connectors to connect routing groups, X.400 connectors are designed to connect servers running Exchange with other X.400 systems or to servers running Exchange Server 5.5 outside an Exchange organization. A server running Exchange Server 2003 can then send messages over this connector using the X.400 protocol.
22. What is a storage group?
Storage groups
An Exchange storage group is a logical container for Exchange databases and their associated system and transaction log files.
Storage groups are the basic unit for backing up and restoring data in Microsoft Exchange (although you can restore a single database). All databases in a storage group share a single backup schedule and a single set of transaction log files.
Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition supports up to 50 storage groups. Exchange 2007 Standard Edition supports up to five storage groups.
23. What are the advantages of implementing multiple Exchange databases (mailbox store & public folder store)?
1. You can place each database on a different physical disk, which will likely improve performance.
2. You can set database-level quota policies, so that by grouping users into different databases, you can assign different policies (e.g., mailbox quotas) to particular user groups.
3. By separating users into multiple databases, you minimize the scope of any database corruption.
4. In the event of a database restore, you must restore the data in only one database, which enables faster recoverability.
5. By dividing user accounts over multiple databases, you can prioritize the database-restoration order in the event of a total disaster. For example, if all managers are in one database, you could restore that database first. (Of course, when you put all managers in one database, if a database becomes corrupt, it’s bound to be that one!)
6. Multiple databases let you keep database size to a manageable level (typically less than 40GB
24. What is Volume Shadow Copy service?
The Volume Shadow Copy Service provides the backup infrastructure for the Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating systems, as well as a mechanism for creating consistent point-in-time copies of data known as shadow copies.
The Volume Shadow Copy Service has native support for creating consistent shadow copies across multiple volumes, regardless of the snapshot technology or application
25. How to enable Volume Shadow Copy service?
1. Open Windows Explorer or the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Disk Management snap-in, then right-click the drive.
2. Select Properties from the context menu.
3. Select the Shadow Copies tab.
4. Under “Select a volume,” select the volume for which you want to enable Shadow Copies.
5. Click Settings to configure VSS. (If you don’t configure the default settings, Windows 2003 will use a default configuration that creates a Shadow Copy on the selected drive at 07:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. every weekday).
6. In the displayed dialog box, configure the settings to tell Windows 2003 where you want VSS to store the Shadow Copies (you can specify only the drive–you can’t specify a folder) and the maximum amount of space to use for the Shadow Copies (at least 100MB), then click Schedule.
7. From the drop-down list in the Schedule dialog box, select a time to make a scheduled Shadow Copy. After you select a time, you can use the options in the dialog box to specify when VSS runs (i.e., the date and time). You can also click New to create a new schedule. For example, you might want to schedule the system to make a Volume Copy on Saturday at 7:00 a.m. and on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. Click OK after you finishes selecting the scheduling options.
8. Click OK to exit the main Settings dialog box.
26. What is the Size of Exchange log file?
5 MB for 2003 and 1 MB for 2007
27. For how many days deleted mailboxes are not permanently purged by default?
By default Exchange Server 2003 set to 30 days
Mail items deletion retention period is set to 7 days for Exchange server 2003 and 14 days for Exchange Server 2007
28. What is use of Full-text indexing?
Mailboxes are repositories for messages, documents, calendar items, and task lists for all the users in your organization. Exchange Server 2003 has the capacity to index the full text of all messages in any mailbox store. If you configure full-text indexing, users can quickly search for any word or phrase that occurs in the body of any item in their own mailbox.
29. What is Incremental Population?
An incremental population event causes only new and modified items to be indexed
30. What is Full Population?
A full population event causes all items in the public folder store to be indexed or re indexed, regardless of their current state of modification.
31. Which are the Exchange virtual servers?
Windows Exchange Servers use the word ‘Virtual’ in many contexts. To begin with, one physical machine can act as a server for several Virtual SMTP domains, for example ourcomp.com and mergecomp.net. Moreover, in addition to SMTP, one Exchange Server can also control Virtual servers for IMAP4, NNTP and POP3. From another point of view, you could interpret these Exchange Virtual servers as aliases for physical folders in Microsoft’s IIS.
In a completely different context, the term Virtual Server is used in clustering. The Outlook clients connect not to the individual Exchange 2003 nodes, but to a Virtual server with a virtual IP address.
32. Which virtual servers are operational by default?
In a default Exchange organization, only the HTTP and SMTP virtual servers are operational. You can opt to enable the POP3, NNTP, and IMAP4 virtual servers as needed
33. Which messaging protocols are supported by Exchange Server 2003?
· HTTP
· IMAP4
· NNTP
· POP3
· SMTP
34. How to create a new Virtual server?
In Exchange System Manager, expand the First Administrative Group, expand the Servers node, and then expand the Exchange server where you want to create a new HTTP virtual directory.
Expand the Protocols node, right-click the SMTP protocol, select New and then click SMTP Virtual Server.
In the Properties dialog box for the new SMTP virtual server, configure the settings for your new Exchange virtual directory.
35. How to limit the inbound connections to Virtual servers?
A virtual server can accept an unlimited number of inbound connections and is limited only by the resources of the computer where the virtual server is running. To prevent a computer from becoming overloaded, you can limit the number of connections that can be made to the virtual server at the same time. By default, Microsoft® Exchange does not limit the number of incoming connections.
1. Log on to the Exchange server where the virtual server is running using the Exchange administrator account that has local Administrator permissions and Exchange Full Administrator permissions.
2. In Exchange System Manager, expand Protocols, right-click the protocol for which you want to change connection limits, and then click Properties.
3. On the General tab, set the appropriate connection limits.
36. How to configure the SMTP Relay settings?
SMTP relay setting can be configure by navigating through Exchange System Manager>Servers>protocols>SMTP Virtual Server, go to the properties and select the relay option to configure which server is to relay the mails for the Exchange Organization
37. How to configure External DNS servers for external name resolution in Exchange Server 2003?
When you configure external DNS servers, you specify a different DNS server than the server that is configured in the TCP/IP properties of the computer running Exchange Server. This DNS server is used by SMTP to resolve external DNS names and deliver mail.
1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. In the console tree, expand Servers, expand
3. Right-click
4. Click the Delivery tab, and then click Advanced. The Advanced Delivery dialog box appears.
5. In Advanced Delivery, click Configure. The Configure dialog box appears.
6. In Configure, click Add, type the IP address of the external DNS server that you want to use, and then click OK.
7. In Configure, under External DNS, verify that the IP address is correct, and then click OK twice to apply the settings.
Configure your DNS server to include forwarders to external (Internet) DNS servers. This setting allows your DNS server to receive a query for external names, forward the query to the remote server, and deliver the response to the requestor. To configure this setting, open the DNS console, right-click your DNS server, click Properties, click the Forwarders tab, and then configure forwarders to external DNS servers.
38. How to configure auditing in Exchange?
Auditing lets you track what’s happening with Exchange Server. You can use auditing to collect information related to information logons and logoffs, permission use, and much more. Any time an action that you’ve configured for auditing occurs, this action is written to the system’s security log. You can then access the security log from Event Viewer. You enable auditing in the domain through Group Policy
To enable Exchange auditing, follow these steps:
1. Start the Group Policy Management Console by clicking Start, All Programs, Administrative Tools, Group Policy Management. You can now navigate through the forest and domains in the organization to view individual Group Policy Objects.
2. To specifically audit users’ actions on Exchange Server, you should consider creating an organizational unit (OU) for Exchange servers and then define auditing policy for a Group Policy Object applied to the OU. After you’ve created the OU or if you have an existing OU for Exchange servers, right-click the related policy object, and then select Edit to open the policy object for editing in Group Policy Management Editor.
3. Access the Audit Policy node by working your way down through the console tree. Expand Computer Configuration, Policies, Windows Settings, Security Settings, and Local Policies. Then select Audit Policy.
4. You should now see the following auditing options:
· · Audit Account Logon Events Tracks user account authentication during logon. Account logon events are generated on the authenticating computer when a user is authenticated.
· · Audit Account Management Tracks account management by means of Active Directory Users And Computers. Events are generated any time user, computer, or group accounts are created, modified, or deleted.
· · Audit Directory Service Access Tracks access to Active Directory. Events are generated any time users or computers access the directory.
· · Audit Logon Events Tracks local logon events for a server or workstation.
· · Audit Object Access Tracks system resource usage for mailboxes, information stores, and other types of objects.
· · Audit Policy Change Tracks changes to user rights, auditing, and trust relationships.
· · Audit Privilege Use Tracks the use of user rights and privileges, such as the right to create mailboxes.
· · Audit Process Tracking Tracks system processes and the resources they use.
· · Audit System Events Tracks system startup, shutdown, and restart, as well as actions that affect system security or the security log.
5. To configure an auditing policy, double-click or right-click its entry, and then select Security. This opens a Properties dialog box for the policy. 6. Select the Define These Policy Settings check box, and then select the Success check box, the Failure check box, or both. Success logs successful events, such as successful logon attempts. Failure logs failed events, such as failed logon attempts. 7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to enable other auditing policies. The policy changes won’t be applied until the next time you start the Exchange server.
39. What is the purpose of Logging in Microsoft Exchange?
Microsoft® Exchange Server transaction logging is a robust disaster recovery mechanism that is designed to reliably restore an Exchange database to a consistent state after any sudden stop of the database. The logging mechanism is also used when restoring online backups.
Before changes are actually made to an Exchange database file, Exchange writes the changes to a transaction log file. After a change has been safely logged, it can then be written to the database file.
40. How to enable Logging?
Protocol Logging
If you want to troubleshoot mail system protocol issues then you should enable and configure protocol logging. Protocol logging provides information on the message commands that a user sends to an Exchange Server 2003 server
· Open Exchange System Manager.
· Expand the Administrative Groups node, the administrative group, the Servers node, Server Name, Protocols.
· Expand the SMTP folder.
· Right-click Default SMTP Virtual Server and then select Properties.
· The Default SMTP Virtual Server Properties dialog box opens.
· Select the Enable logging checkbox on the General tab.
· Choose either of the following logging format options available in the Active Log Format drop-down list:
§ Microsoft IIS Log File Format
§ NCSA Common Log File Format
§ ODBC Logging
§ W3C Extended Log File Format
· · Click Properties.
· · The Logging Properties dialog box opens.
· · In the New Log Schedule area of the General tab, choose either of the following options:
§ o Hourly
§ o Daily
§ o Weekly
§ o Monthly
§ o Unlimited File Size
§ o When File Size Reaches, and set the size setting.
· In the Log File Directory box of the General tab, set the log file location.
· If you have selected the W3C Extended Log File Format option, then you can click the advanced tab to configure the items which should be tracked.
· Click OK in the Logging Properties dialog box.
· Click OK in the Default SMTP Virtual Server Properties dialog box.
41. What are the log file formats are available with Logging?
You can configure the logging format that should be used for logging the information
· ASCII-based format
· Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) format
· The different ASCII format options which you can choose between are:
· Microsoft IIS log file format
· NCSA log file format
· W3C Extended log file format
For the ODBC format, you have to configure which ODBC database to use, and then configure the database to receive protocol logging information. You can use Access or SQL Server to create an ODBC database.
42. What is the location of log files for Logging?
By default logs are stored in C:WINNTSystem32LogFiles directory
43. How to enable Logging on HTTP virtual server?
· Open the IIS Manager console.
· Expand the Web Sites node.
· Right-click Default Web Site and then select Properties from the shortcut menu.
· Click the Web Site tab.
· Check the Enable Logging checkbox.
· Select the log file format from the Active Log Format drop-down list. The default format specified is W3C Extended Log File Format.
· Click Properties.
· The Logging Properties dialog box opens.
On the General tab, set the following:
o Specify when information should be saved to the log file.
o Specify the log file size.
o Specify the log file location.
· Click the Advanced tab if you have selected the W3C Extended Log File Format. This is where you can configure Extended Logging Options.
· Click OK in the Logging Properties dialog box.
· Click OK in the Default Web Site Properties dialog box.
44. What is OWA?
OWA is to access the mail via browser from outside the corporate network. The Outlook Web Access (OWA) client is now nearly indistinguishable from the full Outlook client. The one major component missing is offline capability, but nearly every other Outlook functionality is part of OWA.
45. What is Exchange Active sync?
ActiveSync provides for synchronized access to email from a handheld device, such as a Pocket PC or other Windows Mobile device. It allows for real-time send and receives functionality to and from the handheld, through the use of push technology.
46. What is Outlook Anywhere?
Outlook Anywhere (previously known as RPC over HTTP) is a method by which a full Outlook client can dynamically send and receive messages directly from an Exchange server over an HTTP or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) web connection. This allows for virtual private network (VPN)–free access to Exchange data, over a secured HTTPS connection.
47. What is POP3?
The Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) is a legacy protocol that is supported in Exchange 2007. POP3 enables simple retrieval of mail data via applications that use the POP3 protocol. Mail messages, however, cannot be sent with POP3 and must use the SMTP engine in Exchange. By default, POP3 is not turned on and must be explicitly activated.
48. What is IMAP4?
Legacy Interactive Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) access to Exchange is also available, which can enable an Exchange server to be accessed via IMAP applications, such as some UNIX mail clients. As with the POP3 protocol, IMAP support must be explicitly turned on.
49. What is an IPSec policy?
An IPSec policy is nothing more than a set of rules that govern when and how Windows 2000 uses the IPSec protocol. The IPSec policy interacts directly with the IPSec driver. The policy tells Windows such things as which data to secure and which security method to use.
50. What are the preconfigured IPSec policies Windows Server 2003 comes with?
1. Client (Respond Only) Policy
2. Secure server policy (Require Security) policy
3. Server (request security) policy
51. Explain the preconfigured IPSec policies?
The first policy on the list is the Client (Respond Only) policy. This policy is designed to be run on client machines that don’t normally need to worry about security. The policy is designed in such a way that the client will never initiate secure communications on its own. However, if a server requests that the client go into secure communications mode, the client will respond appropriately.
The next policy on the list is the Secure Server (Require Security) policy. This policy is only appropriate for servers that require all communications to be secure. Once this policy has been applied, the server will either send or accept insecure communications. Any client wanting to communicate with the server must use at least the minimum level of security described by the policy.
The final policy on the list is the Server (Request Security) policy. Contrary to the name, this policy can be used on both client and server PCs. This policy will use IPSec security for all outbound security. However, this policy will accept insecure inbound communications. If a client requests a secure session, the policy will allow the client to establish one.
52. What are the options for giving remote user access to Exchange?
1. Outlook web Access
2. POP3
3. IMAP4
4. Outlook Mobile Access
5. RPC over HTTP
53. What are the Exchange Server 2003 core services?
1. Exchange System Attendant
2. IIS admin Service
3. SMTP service
4. Exchange Information Store
5. Exchange Installable File System
54. What other services are associated with Exchange Server 2003?
Following are the important Exchange Services
1. MS Exchange Event – Monitors folders and files of Exchange 5.5
2. MS Exchange IMAP4 – provides IMAP4 services
3. MS Exchange Information Store – Manage Exchange Information store
4. MS Exchange Management – Exchange management using WMI
5. MS Exchange MTA Stack – provides X.400 service to connect Exchange 5.5
6. MS Exchange POP3 – provides POP3 Service
7. MS Exchange Routing Engine – provide topology and Routing Engine
8. MS Site Replication Service – Exchange 2003 co exist with Exchange 5.5
9. Exchange system Attendant – Provides monitoring, maintenance and AD lookup service
55. What is the default mailbox size in Exchange Server 2003?
For Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition value between 1 and 75 (the default is 18 GB).
For Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition value between 1 and 8000 (the default is 8000 GB). Click OK.
56. What is the maximum database size with Exchange Server 2003 standard edition?
16 GB if Exchange Server 2003 sp 1 is installed
75GB if it is upgraded to Server pack 2
57. What is ISINTEG, and where we have to use this?
Isinteg is a command-line tool that analyzes and makes some repairs to the Exchange databases. Use Isinteg for problems similar to the following:
· Users are continuously connecting to their mailboxes and keep getting disconnected.
· Users report corruption within their mailboxes.
Users report error messages that are associated with the database not being able to be mounted
58. What is the use of ESEUTIL?
Users report corruption within their mailboxes.
Users report error messages that are associated with the database not being able to be mounted
Eseutil is more powerful than Isinteg for repairing problems in the database
o Perform an offline defragmentation.
o Perform a database recovery.
o Check database integrity.
o Repair a database.
59. Where is Eseutil located?
Located in windows 2003 support tools
60. What are the different Eseutil modes and switches associated with them?
1. /d to perform an offline defragmentation.
2. /r to perform a database recovery.
3. /g to check database integrity.
4. /p to repair a database.
61. How much free disk space is needed for defragmenting a database with ESEUTIL?
Because defragmentation copies the files to a temporary file and then copies the compressed file back to the original file, the process needs a great deal of disk space to do this. To run defragmentation, you need about 110% of your file size available on your disk.
62. What is the command to run the Eseutil defragmentation on a specific database?
In Exchange System Manager, right-click the information store that you want to defragment, and then click Dismount Store.
At the command prompt, change to the ExchsrvrBin folder, and then type the eseutil /d command, a database switch, and any options that you want to use.
Use the following database switch to run Eseutil defragmentation on a specific database:
eseutil /d
63. What need to be done before performing the defragmentation with Eseutil?
It is recommended that you always perform a backup of your data before running Eseutil
64. How to run Eseutil on a computer without Exchange Server?
Create a new folder on the computer that does not have Exchange Server 2003 installed.
Copy the Eseutil.exe, Ese.dll, Jcb.dll, Exosal.dll, and Exchmem.dll files from the Exchange Server 2003 computer’s Drive:ExchsrvrBin folder to the new folder that you created.
At a command prompt, change directory to the new folder.
Run the eseutil command from this folder against any databases that were copied from the Exchange Server 2003 computer.
65. Explain the Message flow in Exchange server 2003?
Message flow in Exchange 2003 is as follows:
· An SMTP host connects to the SMTP transport engine on port 25, or an Outlook client places a message for sending in the database, or an inbound message is received from the MTA.
· Regardless of the origin, the message is transferred to the advanced queuing engine. If the message comes from a remote SMTP host, the SMTP protocol engine transfers the message to the advanced queuing engine, whereas if the message comes from a MAPI client, such as Outlook, or from MTA, the store driver transfers it to the advanced queuing engine.
· The advanced queuing engine then uses the categorizer to process received messages. The categorizer tries to resolve the originator, resolve recipients, and enforce message restrictions. Received messages are placed in one of two queues: a local queue with messages for recipients residing on the server, and an outbound pre-routing queue.
· From the local queue, the message transfers to the store driver, which is part of the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service, and is placed in the destination mailbox.
· To transfer messages from the pre-routing queue, the advanced queuing engine uses the routing engine to determine where the SMTP service should send the message. The routing module passes the message to the queue manager that finally places the message in a link queue to be sent through the SMTP service. The name of the link queue corresponds to the name of the destination domain. From the outbound queue, messages are sent to the next routing hop by the SMTP service
66. What is WINROUTE?
WinRoute is an additional tool that shows the link state table for Exchange. Use WinRoute to query a server and view its table, routing groups, connectors, master, address spaces, and member servers
67. What is address rewrite in Exchange Server?
Exchange Address Rewrite is the process of rewriting e-mail addresses for all outgoing messages on a special SMTP virtual server (true for Exchange Server 2003). Exchange Address Rewrite is especially used in merger or acquisition scenarios where two Exchange organizations are to be merged into one but, until these two organizations are completely merged, every organization uses its own SMTP namespace while for all outgoing SMTP messages the new or unique SMTP address space is used.
68. What is S/MIME?
Secure Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extension (S/MIME) protects the integrity and confidentiality of e-mail messages. S/MIME protects the message itself, while other forms of protection, such as SSL, protect the transmission channel. S/MIME requires the use of certificates issued through a public key infrastructure (PKI)
69. Where S/MIME supportable?
S/MIME is supported by Outlook, Outlook Web Access, or POP3 or IMAP4 clients. Use the following process to use S/MIME for secure e-mail.
1. Obtain a certificate for each user.
2. Enable S/MIME in the e-mail client application.
Share and obtain public keys with other users. Users who will send you encrypted e-mail must have your public key. You must have the public key for all users to whom you will send encrypted or digitally signed e-mails
70. What is white space, and how can it be reclaimed?
White space is nothing but free space.
When the 16 GB database size limit is reached on the Standard version of Exchange and white space must be reclaimed in order to mount the database. If you are running Exchange Server 2003, then Service Pack 2 (SP2) should be installed to raise the limit to 75 GB
71. What is DS2MB?
Directory ServiceMetabase Synchronization process (DS2MB process), In short the DS2MB process overwrites new configuration information in the local metabase (the metabase is kind of a registry for IIS) with configuration information that was last set in Active Directory by using the Exchange System Manager snap-in.
DS2MB is short for Directory Service to Metabase and the purpose of this process is to transfer configuration information from Active Directory to the IIS Metabase. The configuration is stored in the IIS Metabase instead of the registry mainly for performance and scalability reasons. The DS2MB process is a one-way write from Active Directory to the IIS Metabase, which means that the Metabase never writes back to Active Directory.
72. What is MIME & MAPI?
MIME = Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions It defines non-ASCII message formats. It is a coding standard that defines the structure of E-Mails and other Internet messages. MIME is also used for declaration of content from other Internet protocols like HTTP, Desktop environments like KDE, Gnome or Mac OS X Aqua. The standard is defined in RFC 2045.
With MIME it is possible to exchange information about the type of messages (the content type) between the sender and the recipient of the message. MIME also defines the art of coding (Content-Transfer-Encoding).
MAPI = Messaging Application Programming Interface It’s the programming interface for email. It is a Microsoft Windows program interface that enables you to send e-mail from within a Windows application and attach the document you are working on to the e-mail note. Applications that take advantage of MAPI include word processors, spreadsheets, and graphics applications. MAPI-compatible applications typically include a Send Mail or Send in the File pulls down menu of the application. Selecting one of these sends a request to a MAPI server
73. What are virtual servers? When would you use more than one?
An SMTP virtual server is an instance of the SMTP service running on an Exchange server. It is bound to a particular IP address (or group of IP addresses) and port, usually the well-known TCP port 25.
Windows Exchange Servers use the word ‘Virtual’ in many contexts. To begin with, one physical machine can act as a server for several Virtual SMTP domains, for example ourcomp.com and mergecomp.net. Moreover, in addition to SMTP, one Exchange Server can also control Virtual servers for IMAP4, NNTP and POP3. From another point of view, you could interpret these Exchange Virtual servers as aliases for physical folders in Microsoft’s IIS.
In a completely different context, the term Virtual Server is used in clustering. The Outlook clients connect not to the individual Exchange 2003 nodes, but to a Virtual server with a virtual IP address.
74. What is a Smart Host? Where would you configure it?
Smart hosts are used to connect Exchange Server to an external (to the organization) messaging system. Typical use of a smart host involves relaying outbound SMTP email to a non-Exchange SMTP host in perimeter networks; or to an ISP or hosted service provider that may offer functionality like mail relaying and spam and virus scanning
A smart host is a common term for a server that accepts outbound mail and passes it on to the recipient.
A smart host is a type of mail relay server which allows an SMTP server to route e-mail to an intermediate mail server rather than directly to the recipient’s server. Often this smart host requires authentication from the sender to verify that the sender has privileges to have mail forwarded through the smart host. This is an important distinction from an open relay that will forward mail from the sender without authentication. Common authentication techniques inc Set Up Private Outbound DNS route mail to Outbound Services by setting up an external DNS server.
Select the start Menu – > Programs -> Microsoft Exchange -> System Manager
Expand the Top Level Servers – > your mail server -> Protocols -> SMTP
Right click the default SMTP server and select properties
75. Explain Exchange transaction logs?
5 MB for 2003 and 1 MB for 2007
Before changes are actually made to an Exchange database file, Exchange writes the changes to a transaction log file. After a change has been safely logged, it can then be written to the database file.
One of the most important components of Exchange server is the transaction logs. Exchange server was designed to write all transactions to these log files and commit the changes to the databases when the system allows. Users can send and receive messages without touching the database thanks to this write-ahead method of logging.
When a message is sent, the transaction is first recorded in the transaction logs. Until the transaction is committed to the Exchange database (EDB), the only existence of this data is in the system memory and the transaction logs. In the event of a crash, you lose the contents of the memory and all you are left with is the record in the transaction log. These transaction logs are crucial to the recovery of a failed Exchange server, whether it was a minor crash that required a reboot, or a more catastrophic failure requiring the deployment of your disaster recovery plans. The same goes for other transactions such as received messages, deleted items and messages moved to different folders
76. Explain Exchange transaction logs?
5 MB for 2003 and 1 MB for 2007
Before changes are actually made to an Exchange database file, Exchange writes the changes to a transaction log file. After a change has been safely logged, it can then be written to the database file.
One of the most important components of Exchange server is the transaction logs. Exchange server was designed to write all transactions to these log files and commit the changes to the databases when the system allows. Users can send and receive messages without touching the database thanks to this write-ahead method of logging.
When a message is sent, the transaction is first recorded in the transaction logs. Until the transaction is committed to the Exchange database (EDB), the only existence of this data is in the system memory and the transaction logs. In the event of a crash, you lose the contents of the memory and all you are left with is the record in the transaction log. These transaction logs are crucial to the recovery of a failed Exchange server, whether it was a minor crash that required a reboot, or a more catastrophic failure requiring the deployment of your disaster recovery plans. The same goes for other transactions such as received messages, deleted items and messages moved to different folders
77. Which services are disabled in Exchange Server 2003 by default?
NNTP service
Microsoft Exchange IMAP4 service
Microsoft Exchange POP3
78. Which services are needed to enable Exchange Server 2003 to perform message routing functions?
Microsoft Exchange Routing Engine
SMTP service
IIS Admin Service
79. Which services are needed to maintain interoperability with previous versions of Exchange?
Microsoft Exchange Event Service
Exchange MTA Stacks
Microsoft Exchange Site Replication Service
80. What are the services required to run exchange server 2003 Front End Server?
Microsoft Exchange Routing Engine; needed to enable Exchange to route messages.
IIS Admin Service; needed to enable Exchange routing functionality. The IIS Admin Service is dependent on the Microsoft Exchange Routing Engine.
IPSec services; these services are needed if you want to configure an IPSec filter on OWA servers. IPSec services provide security between clients and servers on TCP/IP networks.
World Wide Web Publishing Service; needed if you want clients to be able to access OWA or Outlook Mobile Access front-end servers
81. What is dumpster?
Dumpster is a storage location for the deleted items from mailbox database or Public folder Database. We can set the dumpster setting by keeping the retention period of Mailbox deletion settings to certain number of days
By default it is 18 MB in size and can keep record of deleted items for 7 days.
1. What is Administrative Group?
In Exchange 5.5, site concept is divided into two groups in Exchange 2003 named Administrative Groups and Routing Groups
Administrative Group are used to provide administrative tasks. Under administrative groups it contains servers, policies, routing groups and Public Folder trees. Three administrative models are present
· Centralized – adding all the exchange servers to the same administrative groups to have centralized administration
· De centralized – it’s for large organization, in this model it will have different administrative group in a forest
· Mixed - Combination of centralized and de centralized model.
2. What are Routing Groups?
Routing Groups are related to physical layout. It is like AD sites used to group servers that share reliable well connected bandwidth. Routing groups comes in to play when you have multiple physical locations
3. How Routing Groups works?
If you have routing groups implemented, you can have one routing group at the corporate office and a separate routing group at a remote office. The routing groups would be joined by a routing group connector.
That connector would designate one server in each routing group as a bridgehead server. (Exchange traffic flowing between routing groups can only be sent between bridgehead servers.)
Let’s say that an Exchange server in your main office has been updated, and that update needs to be replicated to 10 servers at a remote office. With routing groups set up, rather than sending 10 copies of the update across the WAN link, the server could send the update to the local bridgehead server. The local bridgehead would then send the update to the remote bridgehead server. The remote bridgehead server would distribute the update to the machines at the remote office.
4. What is Circular logging?
All transactions are first logged to the current log file E00.LOG. If it gets full it will be saved to a file of the log generation E00xxxxx.log. This process is called transaction log rollover. The way the current log file is rolled over depends on the logging mechanism used. Microsoft Exchange provides circular and sequential logging mechanisms.
Circular logging automatically overwrites transaction log files after the data they contain has been committed to the database. It reduces disk storage space requirements
5. What is the downside of Circular logging?
It prevents you from using differential or incremental backups, because they require the past transaction log files. In fact, because circular logging purges some transaction log files, you may not be able to recover to a point of failure by roll forward through the transaction log files—one or more may be missing. For this reason it is a good idea to disable circular logging on all Storage Groups
6. How Circular logging works?
Circular logging automatically overwrites transaction log files after the data they contain has been committed to the database. It reduces disk storage space requirements; however, if circular logging is enabled, you cannot perform incremental backups
7. How to enable Circular logging?
To enable circular logging, go to the Properties window of a Storage Group and choose the General tab.
Circular logging (disabled by default) uses transaction log technology but does not maintain previous transaction log files. Instead, it maintains a window of a few log files, then removes the existing log files and discards the previous transactions after the transactions in the transaction log files have been committed to the database.
8. Which service needs to be stop and restart to take effect of changes made
to circular logging?
Microsoft Exchange Information Store service has to be restarted, if we configure the circular logging option.
9. What is difference between Send on Behalf permission and Send As permission?
Send on Behalf permission - Send on Behalf Of” allows one user to be able to send emails on behalf of another. The message will show the recipient who the message was sent on behalf of and who actually sent the message.
Send As Permission - means user A will be able to access the mail box of user B and reply back to those mail. Even though user A has replied to the mail, the send address will display user b email.
10. Where does the expansion of mail sent to mail-enabled groups occur?
When you send a message to a mail-enabled group, the Exchange server sends a copy of the message to each mail-enabled user and contact in the group. The process of finding those mail-enabled group members is called expansion
The Global Catalog server obtains the names of the ultimate recipients from its copy of Active Directory, along with the requested email attributes. If the list includes any mail-enabled groups, the Global Catalog server expands the membership of each of those groups and repeats the process recursively until it has assembled a full list of all ultimate recipients in each of the nested groups. It returns this list to the Exchange server.
11. How can you prevent your users and groups from viewing the contents of a custom address list?
Go to the properties of the Custom Address list, point to security tab and select advanced button to open the advanced setting
Browse the users or group and set deny permission to open the Address list
12. How you can configure HTTP virtual server logging?
Logging is only available for SMTP and NNTP protocols. Use IIS to configure logging for HTTP
13. Can Exchange Servers move between administrative groups?
With Exchange Server 2003, servers can be moved between Routing groups, but we can’t move the servers between Administrative Groups.
14. How to enable the Administrative Group in native-mode Exchange Organization?
Click Start, All Programs, Microsoft Exchange, and then select Exchange System Manager.
Exchange System Manager opens next.
Right-click the Exchange organization and the select Properties from the shortcut menu When the Exchange organization Properties dialog box opens, select the Display routing groups checkbox on the General tab.
Click OK
15. How to delegate the control of Administrative Group to users?
1. Open the Exchange Systems Manager.
2. Navigate to the Administrative Group.
3. Click the Action menu and select Delegate Control options.
4. The Exchange Administration Delegation Wizard launches.
5. Click Next on the Welcome to the Exchange Administration Delegation Wizard screen.
6. Click Add.
7. Provide the details of the Active Directory user account or group that you are delegating control over the Administrative Group to.
8. Select the Exchange role which should be assigned. Click OK.
9. Click Next and then click Finish.
16. How many Exchange Organizations can exist per forest?
We can have only one Exchange Organization to exists per forest
17. How to access the Exchange Tasks?
Right click a user object from the Active Directory user and computer console. Exchange Tasks will be available
18. Which functions are provided by Exchange Tasks for a User?
we can.
· Move a mailbox
· Delete Mailbox
· Configure Exchange Features
· Remove Exchange Attributes
19. Which functions are provided by Exchange Tasks for a contact?
we can
· Delete Email Address
· Modify Exchange Attributes
20. Which options are added to the Mailbox-enabled User properties for Exchange?
· Exchange General
· Exchange Advanced
· Exchange Features
· Exchange E-Mail Address
21. Which functions are available with Exchange General Tab?
Explanation of Exchange General TAB
We can do the following options in this Exchange General TAB
Delivery Restriction – set maximum size of outgoing and incoming messages
Delivery option - set delegating privileges, set a forwarding address
Storage Limits – specify storage Limits for the mailbox enabled user
22. Which functions are available with Exchange Features Tab for a Mailbox-enabled User?
We can have enable or disable the following features respect to that of user permission, for example if a user is restricted to allow OWA you can disable the feature
Features we can enable/disable
· Mobile Features
· OWA
· POP3
· IMAP4
23. Which functions are available with Exchange Advanced Tab for a mailbox-enabled User?
We can do the following options
· Hide the user from global Address list
· We can set mailbox rights
· We can set custom attributes
24. Which functions are available with Exchange Advanced Tab for a Group?
We can do the following option
· New alias name
· Choose an expansion server
· Hide group from address list
· Send out of office message to originator
· Send delivery reports
25. What are the options for a group once Exchange Server is installed?
Exchange General
Exchange Features
Exchange E-Mail Address
26. Which functions are available with Exchange Tasks for a group?
We can
· Delete email address
· Hide membership
· Remove exchange attributes
27. How to configure the Send on Behalf permission?
1. Log onto the server running Exchange.
2. Run Active Directory Users and Computers.
3. Find the user’s account that you want to be able to send on behalf of, and open up the account properties.
4. Select the “Exchange General” tab.
5. Click [Delivery Options...]
6. Click [Add ...] and add the user (or users) that are to be granted permission to send on behalf of this account.
7. Click [OK] to close the “Delivery Options” dialog.
8. Click [OK] to close the account properties dialog..
28. What is the other way to configure Send on Behalf permission?
We can configure this option by using outlook 2003, to configure this
1. Start Outlook
2. Tools → Options, select the “Delegates” tab
3. Click on [Add ...]
4. Add the user or users that you want to grant the send-on-behalf-of permission to, then click [OK]
5. The next window will allow you to specify which permissions you are granting. To allow send-on-behalf-of, you need to grant permissions on the “Inbox” to either “Author” or “Editor”, then click [OK]
6. Click [OK] to close the “Options” dialog.
29. How to configure the Send as Permission?
1. Log onto the server running Exchange
2. Run Active Directory Users and Computers.
3. Under the “View” menu ensure that “Advanced Features” is ticked.
4. Find the user’s account that you want to be able to send as, and open up the account properties.
5. Select the “Security” tab.
6. Click [Add ...] (under “Group or user names”) and add the user (users or group) that is to be granted permission to send-as this account.
7. For each account added, highlight the account under “Group or user names” and in the “Permissions for …” window grant the account “Send As” permission.
8. Click [OK] to close the account properties dialog.
9. Send As Permission means user A will be able to access the mail box of user B and reply back to those mail. Even though user A has replied to the mail, the send address will display user b email.
31. How to configure a forwarding address?
1. Start the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in.
2. Right-click the mail-enabled user, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Exchange General tab.
4. Click Delivery Options.
5. In the Forwarding Address section, click Forward to, and then click Modify.
6. Click the mail-enabled user or the mail-enabled contact. Then, click OK.
Note If you want e-mail to be delivered to the original mailbox as well as the forwarding address, select the Deliver messages to both forwarding address and mailbox check box.
7. To close Delivery Options and to close Properties, click OK two times.
32. How to configure the mailbox permissions?
We can assign the following permission to a mailbox
· Administrators group: Full Control
· Authenticated Users group: Read and Execute, List Folder Contents, and Read
· Creator Owner: None
· Server Operators group: Modify, Read and Execute, List Folder Contents,Read,Write
· System account: Full Control
To configure the mailbox permissions
1. In Active Directory Users and Computers, click Advanced Features on the View menu.
Note: This is not necessary on Exchange Server 2003 because of the fact that the Exchange Advanced tab is exposed by default.
2. Under Active Directory Users and Computers, click the account, click the Exchange Advanced tab, and then click Mailbox Rights.
3. The rights are displayed in the Permissions for account name dialog box.
This behavior occurs because the mailbox security descriptor is not read from the Active Directory account object until the user logs on or gets mail. The Recipient Update Service (RUS) does not stamp the inherited permissions when the mailbox is created. After the mailbox is created in the store, the store calculates inherited mailbox rights.
33. What is a Query-based distribution group?
A query-based distribution group works much like a standard distribution group. The difference being that the query-based Distribution Groups assign group membership based on LDAP queries. Query-based distribution groups are only supported when running in Exchange Server 2003 Native Mode. The main advantage of creating a query-based distribution group is that administrators can dynamically assign members to the group – you do not have to manually add/remove accounts from the query-based distribution group.
You can use the Filter option to define group membership for the query-based distribution group. Then, when new account objects are created, these objects too are added to the group when they defined as being mail-enabled in Active Directory.
1. The different Filter options for defining a query-based distribution group are listed here:
2. Users with Exchange Mailboxes
3. Users with External Mail Addresses
4. Mail-Enabled Groups
5. Contacts with External Email Addresses
6. Mail-Enabled Public Folders
7. Customer Filters
34. How to create a Query-based distribution group?
1. In Active Directory Users and Computers, in the console tree, right-click the container where you want to create the query-based distribution group, point to New, and then click Query-based Distribution Group.
2. In Query-based Distribution Group name, type a name for the query-based distribution group, and then click Next.
3. Under Apply filter to recipients in and below, verify that the parent container shown is the one that you want the query-based distribution group to be run against. If this is not the correct container, click Change to select another container.
4. Under Filter, select one of the following options:
To filter the query based on a set of predefined criteria, click Include in this query-based distribution group, and then select from the following criteria:
- Users with Exchange mailboxes
- Users with external e-mail addresses
- Groups that are mail-enabled
- Contacts with external e-mail addresses
- Public folders that are mail-enabled
5. To create your own criteria for the query, click Customize filter, and then click Customize
6. Click Next to see a summary of the query-based distribution group that you are about to create.
7. Click Finish to create the query-based distribution group.
35. What is Expansion server?
Expansion servers route messages that are sent to a single distribution list or group for each of the recipient objects in that list or group. When a user sends a message to a group, the Exchange server that is acting as the expansion server expands the group to its individual members. This expansion permits members of the distribution list or group to receive the message. An expansion server also resolves the names of all recipients in the distribution list or group, and then determines the most efficient path for routing the message.
36. How to configure an expansion server for a mail-enabled group?
In Active Directory Users and Computers, right-click the distribution group and then click Properties.
Click the Exchange Advanced tab, and look in the value under Expansion server.
We can configure expansion server here
37. How to move the database of a store?
1. Start Exchange System Manager.
2. Open the administrative group that contains the database that you want to change.
3. Under Storage Group, right-click the mailbox store or the public folder store that you want to change, and then click Properties
4. Click the Database tab.
5. Next to the database that you want to change, click Browse, and then specify a new drive or folder location for the files.
6. Click Yes to dismount the database automatically and move the location.
7. When you finish moving the databases, remount the databases manually.
38. What is mail relay?
The first mechanism to be used against attacks is a mail relay. A mail relay is basically just a simple mail server that accepts e-mails, filters it according to pre-defined criteria and then delivers them to another server. Your mail relay will only allow mails that are destined to user in your SMTP domain to be relayed to the internal server. A mail relay could also filter out viruses and junk e-mail if you install the right software package for it.
You would definitely want one of those so that your Exchange server will not be directly connected to the Internet for inbound connections. A mail relay is typically placed in a DMZ, which a dedicated network, protected by a Firewall and separated from both the internal LAN and the Internet. This allows the Firewall administrator to determine who is trying to get into the mail relay and what is passing from the mail relay to the internal LAN
1. Name some Exchange Server 2003 clients
· Outlook 2000/2003
· Outlook Web Access.
· Outlook Mobile Access.
· RPC over Http/Https.
2. What is Outlook Web Access (OWA)?
Outlook Web Access 2003 (known as OWA 2003) allows you to gain access to your messages, calendars, contacts, tasks and public folders from any computer with internet access. OWA 2003 has many added features which allow for improved performance, better security and a fresh new look.
3. How to access OWA?
Open your browser and type in the following address:
https://DomainName/exchange
4. How OWA works?
1. The client issues a HTTP request using browser using URL.
2. The DNS resolves the request and forward to the IIS server.
3. The HTTP request flows across the network to the IIS server.
4. Exchange registers itself with IIS as a valid application, so when a request is received byHTTP client IIS redirect the request to application. Davex.dll is an ISAPI extension thatincludes the functions necessary to communicate with the Store. Exchange also registersDavex.dll with IIS as the component to handle all incoming requests for the Exchange application.
5. Davex.dll checks the request and contacts the Store through the epoxy inter process communication channel. Communication goes to the HTTP epoxy stub. Eproxy does notuse RPC.
6. The HTTP epoxy stub communicates with Store using exoledb.dll to get the necessary information from the Store.
7. After getting information from Store the reverse path is followed and client gets itsmailbox on browser.
5. What are the limitations of OWA?
· We can’t access offline address list
· A lot of attachments have to be saved to the local drive first, in order to be able to open them.
· Adding recipients when sending an E-mail is a pain.
· You cannot work offline.
6. What is RPC over HTTP?
The RPC over HTTP protocol allows your full Outlook 2003 MAPI clients to connect to Exchange 2003 Servers using HTTP/HTTPS. This solves the problem remote Outlook 2003 users have when located behind restrictive firewalls.
By using RPC over HTTP, users no longer have to use a virtual private network (VPN) connection to connect to Exchange mailboxes. Users who are running Outlook 2003 on client computers can connect to an Exchange server in a corporate environment from the Internet. The Windows RPC over HTTP feature enables an RPC client such as Outlook 2003 to establish connections across the Internet by tunneling the RPC traffic over HTTP.
7. What are the requirements to use RPC over HTTP?
Server Requirement
RPC over HTTP/S requires Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003. RPC over HTTP/S also requires Windows Server 2003 in a Global Catalog role.
Client Requirement
The client computer must be running Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later.
The client computer must be running Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.
8. What is the procedure to configure RPC over HTTP?
Verify that your server computer and your client computer meet the requirements to use RPC over HTTP/S.
· Configure Exchange to use RPC over HTTP/S.
· Configure the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services.
· Configure the RPC proxy server to use specific ports.
· Configure your client computers to use RPC over HTTP/S
9. Why you must create an additional Outlook profile for RPC over HTTP connections?
For users to use RPC over HTTP from their client computer, they must create an outlook profile that uses the required RPC over HTTP settings. These settings enable SSL communication with Basic Authentication, which is required when using RPC over HTTP
10. How to prepare an Exchange Server 2003 computer to support RPC over HTTP?
Configure Exchange to use RPC over HTTPS.
Configure the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services.
Configure the RPC proxy server to use specific ports.
11. What is Exchange recipient?
In Exchange, the term recipient refers to an Active Directory object that is mailbox-enabled or mail-enabled. Mailbox-enabled recipients can send, receive, and store messages. Mail-enabled recipients can only receive messages.
12. What are the types of Exchange recipient objects?
1. Mailbox-enabled recipients
2. Mail-enabled
3. Contacts
4. Resource mailbox
13. What is a mailbox-enabled object?
Users can log on to networks and access domain resources. Users can be added to groups and appear in the global address list (GAL).
Mailbox-enabled users can send and receive messages and store messages on their Exchange server.
14. What is mail-enabled object?
Mail-enabled users can receive messages at an external e-mail address only. They cannot send or store messages on Exchange.
15. What is Encryption?
Encryption refers to algorithmic schemes that encode plain text into non-readable form or cyphertext, providing privacy. The receiver of the encrypted text uses a “key” to decrypt the message, returning it to its original plain text form. The key is the trigger mechanism to the algorithm.
16. What is the purpose of Digital Signatures?
Digital signatures are used to digitally sign the messages and encrypt them. Digital signatures provide authentication, non repudiation and data integrity. Encryption keeps message contents confidential
17. How to verify that S/MIME is supported by mailbox store so that users are able to store encrypted or digitally signed messages?
1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. Click Administrative Groups,
3. Click Administrative Group,
4. Click Servers, click servername,
5. Click Storage Group,
6. Right click either the Mailbox Store or the Public Folder Store, and then click Properties.
7. On the properties page, verify that the Clients support S/MIME signatures check box is selected.
18. What is the use of Key Recovery Agent?
We need to enable a Key Recovery Agent. A Key Recovery Agent is a highly trusted person which is responsible for recovering lost or damaged archived certificates for users.
We must issue a Key Recovery Agent certificate for this user. To do this:
1. Start the Windows 2003 CA console
2. Issue a new template named Key Recovery Agent
3. Request this certificate for the user who becomes the Key Recovery Agent
4. Manually Issue the Key Recovery Agent Certificate at the CA
19. How to configure Outlook to enable Digital Signatures and Encryption?
Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office, and then click Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.
Click Tools, and then click Options.
Click on the Security tab and click Settings.
Outlook populates the Change Security Settings dialog box with default information. Click OK to accept the defaults.
20. What are the components of PKI?
Certification Authorities - Provide services that authenticate the identity of individuals, computers, and other entities in a network. This encompasses both root certification authorities and subordinate authorities.
Certificate Directory - Saves certificate requests and issued and revoked certificates and certificate requests.
Key Recovery Server - Saves encrypted private keys in the certificate database for recovery after loss.
21. Name a few 3rd party CAs ?
1. VeriSign
2. GeoTrust
3. Global Sign
4. Digicert
5. Digi-sign
1. What are the tools to monitor Exchange Server 2003?
Following are the Tools to Monitor Exchange Server 2003
· Event Viewer – Exchange Specific events are logged in application logs
· Performance Monitor - view real-time Exchange server statistics
· Exchange System Manager – enable Protocol logging for virtual server instance
· Message Tracking center – view the message flow
· Monitoring and status tool – monitor servers and connectors
· Message queue viewer – view messages waiting to be delivered
· MBSA – analyze security settings
2. What is the tool to diagnose queue problems?
Queue viewer is the Tool to diagnose queue problems. The queue viewer shows the protocol, queue state, and the number of messages in the queue.
3. Where is Queue viewer located?
Queue viewer located at the Server container, following figure shows the diagram
Error! Unknown switch argument.
4. What are the types of logs provided in the Event Viewer?
· Application Log - events logged by applications or programs
· System Log - events logged by the Windows operating system components
· Security log - security events such as valid and invalid logon attempts
· Directory Service log - Server directory service logs events
· File replication service log – logs replication of files
· DNS Server service log - events related to the Domain Name System (DNS) Server service
5. What are the types of Events?
· Error - significant problem, such as loss of data or loss of functionality
· Warning - not necessarily significant, but may indicate a possible future problem
· Information - event that describes the successful operation of an application, driver, or service
· Success Audit - audited security access attempt that succeeds
· Failure Audit - audited security access attempt that fails
6. What are the types of events for Security log?
The Security log can record security events such as valid and invalid logon attempts as well as events related to resource use, such as creating, opening, or deleting files. An administrator can specify what events are recorded in the Security log.
7. Where are Exchange Monitors located?
Following figure shows the location of Exchange Monitor
Error! Unknown switch argument.
8. Which additional items can be added for monitoring in Exchange Monitors?
We can configure Notifications and also we can see the status of the exchange servers that are running by using the Monitoring and status tool
9. Where is Exchange Notification located?
Exchange Notifications are located at Monitoring and Status tool on the Tools container in Exchange System Manager
10. What are the types of notifications?
Two types of Notification we can configure, they are
· E-Mail Notification
· Script Notification
Error! Unknown switch argument.
11. What is Exchange Diagnostics logging?
Enable diagnostic logging for a server in Exchange System Manager to send Exchange event information to the Event Viewer.
· Enable diagnostic logging to log events related to authentication, connections, and client actions.
· When troubleshooting, activate the category specific to the problem at a medium or maximum level.
· Use Event Viewer to view the logged information.
Disable logging when not needed to improve performance and reduce the amount of information sent to the Event Viewer
12. How to configure the Exchange Diagnostics logging?
1. Open Exchange System Manager.
2. Locate the Exchange server that you want to configure.
3. Right click the Exchange server and select Properties from the shortcut menu.
4. Click the Diagnostics Logging tab.
5. In the Services area of the tab, click service.
6. Select the appropriate entry in the Category area of the tab.
Error! Unknown switch argument.
13. What are the four levels of logging available in Exchange Diagnostics Logging?
· None - only critical events and error events are recorded.
· Minimum - one entry is logged for each key task performed by the service.
· Medium- for each action needed to execute a task, entries are logged.
· Maximum - entries are logged for each line of code. The Maximum logging level should be enabled only when you need comprehensive debugging information. This is due to the impact this logging level has on server performance.
14. Where is System Monitor located?
System Monitor: The System Monitor utility is the main tool for monitoring system performance. System Monitor can track various processes on your Windows system in real time. The utility uses a graphical display that you can use to view current, or log data. You can determine resource usage by monitoring trends. System Monitor can be displayed in a graph, histogram, or report format. System Monitor uses objects, counters and instances to monitor the system.
Located in Performance Monitor on Administrative Tools container
15. What are the Useful Memory Counters to Monitor in System Monitor?
· Pages/sec
· Page faults/sec
· Page inputs/sec
· Page outputs/sec
· Write copies/sec
16. What are the Useful Processor Counters to Monitor in System Monitor?
· Process total
· Process Interrupt
· %Idle Time
· % user Time
17. What are Performance logs and alerts?
Performance Logs and Alerts: By using the Performance Logs And Alerts tool included in the Performance console, you can track the performance of the server by creating counter logs, trace logs, and defining alerts.
· Counter Logs: Counter logs collect data on the selected counters once a predefined interval has passed. A few features of counter logs are listed below:
· Collect performance data on the activities of system services.
· Collect performance data on hardware usage.
· Manually log data.
· Trace Logs: Trace logs differ to counter logs in that trace logs monitors data constantly and then records performance data when a specific event occurs. The collected data is written to a trace log file.
· Alerts: You can configure alerts to be generated when a predefined counter reaches, exceeds or falls beneath a defined threshold or value. When you configure alerts, you can specify that the following actions occur when an alert condition is met:
18. What is the use of Nslookup?
NSLookup is to Query a DNS domain name server to lookup and find IP address information of computers in the internet, like MX record details
19. What is the command to locate a SMTP server for a particular domain or to determine if the MX records have been configured properly in DNS
To verify this use the below commands
NSLOOKUP
Set q =MX
20. How to identify if the problem is with smart host or exchange server?
Smart host are used to relay the mails outside of your exchange organization, if any problem in sending mails outside and we can send mails within the organization then there is problem with smart host.
21. What could be the problem if incoming mail queue is becoming unmanageably large?
A large number of SMTP queues may indicate that there is either a denial of service attack, a lot of spam that is leaving the server, or an Internet connection that may be down.
22. What are the counters to diagnose whether a global catalog server is the cause of a lengthening incoming mail queue?
MSExchangeDSAccess Processes is the counters to diagnose whether a global catalog server is the cause of a lengthening incoming mail queue
23. What is command to run dcdiag from another member server to check domain controller diagnosis?
Dcdiag /test:DNS /s:TargetDCName /v /f:LogFileName
24. Which tests are performed by dcdiag?
DNS: Checks the health of Domain Name System (DNS) settings for the enterprise.
CheckSecurityError: Locates security errors or errors that might be related to security problems, and performs initial diagnosis of the problems.
25. What is ISinteg ?
Isinteg is a command-line tool that analyzes and makes some repairs to the Exchange databases. Use Isinteg for problems similar to the following:
· Users are continuously connecting to their mailboxes and keep getting disconnected.
· Users report corruption within their mailboxes.
Users report error messages that are associated with the database not being able to be mounted.
26. What is ESutil ?
Eseutil is more powerful than Isinteg for repairing problems in the database. When using Eseutil:
· Dismount the stores you want to analyze. The Information Store must still be running.
· Common options with Eseutil include:
· /d to perform an offline defragmentation.
· /r to perform a database recovery.
· /g to check database integrity.
· /p to repair a database.
27. What is the use of Ping?
You can use the Ping command to perform several useful Internet network diagnostic tests, such as the following
Access - You can use Ping to see if you can reach another computer
Distance & Time - You can use the Ping command to determine how long it takes to bounce a packet off of another site, which tells you it’s Internet distance in network terms
Domain IP Address - You can use the Ping command to probe either a domain name or an IP address. If you ping a domain name, it helpfully displays the corresponding IP address in the response.
28. What is the use of Tracert?
Trace route command determine how packets are travel between your computer and the destination. Trace provides a quick response
29. What is the use of Pathping?
Path PING it’s same as that of trace route which determine how packets travel between your computer and the destination. Path ping provides a more detailed and reliable analysis of network performance.
30. What is the use of Telnet?
Telnet is a program to let you login to another computer on the Internet in order to use typed commands
31. Which tests are performed by netdiag?
Gathers static network information and tests the network driver, protocol driver, send/receive capability, and well-known target accessibility.
Can be used by network administrators in conjunction with the Scheduler Service, to generate reports at regularly scheduled intervals
32. Which switch is used with netdiag to display only errors and warnings?
To run the tool, you must
· Open a command prompt, change to the folder containing the extracted files and run the tool from there.
· All these diagnostic tools run from a command prompt,
· you can’t just double-click them.
Netdiag /q – show the quiet output (error and warnings only)
33. How to install the Network Monitor tool?
To install the Windows version of Network Monitor,
1. Open the Control Panel and select the Add / Remove Programs option. Next, click the Add / Remove Windows Components button to launch the Windows Components wizard.
2. Scroll through the list of components until you locate the Management and Monitoring Tools option.
3. Select the Management and Monitoring Tools option and click the Details button.
4. Select the Network Monitor Tools option and click Next.
5. Windows will now begin the installation process.
6. You may be prompted to insert your Windows installation CD.
7. Click Finish to complete the installation process.
34. What is the use of Network Monitor?
It allows you to monitor any machine on your network and to determine which users are consuming the most bandwidth. You can also use the SMS version of Network Monitor to determine which protocols are using the most bandwidth on the network, locate network routers, and resolve device names into MAC addresses.
Ability to capture, edit, and retransmit a packet. This functionality is used by hackers when performing a replay attack.
35. What is DcDiag?
DCDiag command-line tool analyzes the state of domain controllers in a forest or enterprise and reports any problems to assist in troubleshooting
36. What is NetDiag?
This is a command-line diagnostic tool helps to isolate networking and connectivity problems by performing a series of tests to determine the state of your network client. These tests and the key network status information they expose give network administrators and support personnel a more direct means of identifying and isolating network problems. Moreover, because this tool does not require parameters or switches to be specified, support personnel and network administrators can focus on analyzing the output rather than on training users how to use the tool.
1. What is Front-end Server?
A Front-End server is a Microsoft Exchange server 2003 configuration where servers are used for authentication and fault tolerance.
2. What is Back-end Server?
A Back-End server is a Microsoft Exchange server 2003 configuration where servers are used to hold the users data. There is no special configuration to designate a server as a Backend server.
3. What are the advantages of Front End and Backend architecture?
1. Unified Name Space can have single name space for multiple exchange servers
2. Reduced over head for SSL
3. Firewall – place the Back-end behind the firewall and allow only traffic from frontend
4. How to increase security of the communications between your front- and back-end Exchange servers?
We can increase the security of communication between your frontend and Back-end Exchange Server by placing the Backend behind the firewall and allow only traffic from Front End
5. Which services must be disabled to increase the security of front-end servers?
Recipient Update services, offline address lists, the mailbox management service, and the free busy services are not supported on front end server
6. Which server can be used in place of a front-end server?
ISA server can be used in place of a Front End Server
7. Which is the best clustering Technology for frontend and backend server?
Front-end best work with Network load balancing and Backend best works with the cluster services
8. How to configure Exchange Server 2003 to run as a front end server?
In the Exchange server, remove the Recipient update service and default offline Address list. On the server container right click the server which you want to designate as a Front end server and go to properties and designate the server by selecting this is a front end server. Click ok and finish
9. Does Exchange Server 2003 front-end server support Exchange 2000 back-end server?
Yes, Exchange Server 2003 front-end server support Exchange 2000 back-end server
10. Does Exchange 2000 front-end server support an Exchange Server 2003 back-end server?
Exchange 2000 Server can be used only as a back-end server in a front-end and back-end configuration. However, Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server can be used as a front-end server or a back-end server in a front-end and back-end configuration
11. What all ports are required by front-end server to communicate with back-end servers?
· 443 for HTTPS
· 993 for SSL-enabled IMAP
· 995 for SSL-enabled POP
· 25 for SMTP (including TLS)
12. What are the steps involved in troubleshooting front-end and back-end servers?
1. Make sure that all the appropriate services are started on the front-end and back-end servers. This includes the relevant Exchange services in addition to the World Wide Web Publishing service and SMTP service,
2. If you have a perimeter network, make sure that the appropriate ports are opened
3. Ensure that the front-end server can successfully connect to the global catalog servers and DNS server.
4. If you cannot connect to the back-end server from the front-end server using the hostname with any protocol, try to use the IP address. If this works, verify that you can connect to the DNS server the front-end server is using. Also verify that the name to IP mapping is correct in DNS.
5. If the front-end server is configured with the list of domain controllers and global catalog servers in the registry, verify that the front-end can reach each of those servers exactly as specified in the registry entry.
6. Make sure that the combination of IP address and host header is unique for each virtual server.
7. If you have a load balancing solution for the front-end servers, make sure that the shared IP can be reached from client computers.
8. Administration: If you want to use Exchange System Manager, ensure that the System Attendant service is running. Also recall that you cannot use the Internet Services Manager after deleting the stores on the front-end server.
9. If users complain that the state of read and unread messages in public folders fluctuates, consider the following:
· Was a back-end public folder server added or removed?
· Is authentication enabled on the front-end?
· Are any back-ends that host the folder down?
13. Which port is used by front-end server to communicate with back-end server?
All communication between the Front-end and Back-end server are TCP port 80, regardless of the port used for communication between the client computer and the front end server
14. What needs to be created on Exchange front-end server for SMTP access to the Exchange organization?
SMTP must be available on the front-end server to allow POP and IMAP clients to submit e-mail messages. You can install SMTP on the front-end server or set up a separate SMTP server. To install SMTP on the front-end server, configure SMTP for internal and external domains
Mail for Internal Domains
For the front-end server to accept mail that is inbound from the Internet, the front-end server needs to know the domains for which it should accept mail. Adding recipient policies for each of your domains tells all servers in the Exchange organization to accept mail for those domains. Additionally, you must enable anonymous access for other SMTP servers on the Internet to successfully route mail to your organization (this is the default setting).
Error! Unknown switch argument.Mail for External Domains
In the default configuration, any SMTP mail that is submitted to your server and addressed to external domains is denied. This occurs because relaying is turned off for all anonymous access (however, authenticated users can still send e-mail to any external domain). Users who try to anonymously submit e-mail to external domains receive an error, such as “550 5.7.1 Unable to relay for suzan@adatum.com.” The clients must be configured to use SMTP authentication.
15. What are the important Services that should run on Frontend server?
It depends on the services that we want the frontend server to function
· WWW
· POP3
· Exchange system attend
· Exchange Information store
· IMAP4
16. What is Smart Host?
A Smart host is a common term for a server that accepts outbound mail and passes it on to a recipient
Smart host are used to connect Exchange Server to an external messaging system. Typical use of a smart host involves relaying outbound SMTP email to a Non-Exchange SMTP host in perimeter networks, or to ISP or hosted service that may offer functionality like mail relaying and spam and virus scanning
17. What are the considerations for deploying front end and backend server?
· Do not cluster Frontend servers
· One front-end server is reasonable for every four back-end servers. However, this number is provided only as a suggested ratio and starting point
· Load balancing is suitable for front end servers
· Encrypt the communication between Frontend and Backend by IPSec
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)