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An Exchange Front-end server is the server that OWA clients (as well as other non-MAPI clients) connect to. Front-end (FE) servers are used to reduce the load on the Back-end (BE) servers among other things. Setting up an Exchange FE is a pretty straightforward task so let’s get to it!

Exchange will install by default as a BE server. A BE server is really just a normal Exchange server that holds the databases and transaction logs for all the mailboxes and public folders in its Storage Groups. A FE server does not hold any of this data, it is merely a “gateway” to those resources on the BE servers.

To create a FE server, you need to install Exchange into the same Exchange organization as the back-end servers. Seeing as Exchange is already installed in the forest there is no need to run forestprep or domainprep. Once you have

Continue reading Configure an Exchange FE/BE System

Installing Exchange has been a pretty straightforward task; however there have been some changes in the install process for Exchange 2007. Part two of this article will take cover the GUI and CLI installation options for Exchange 2007.

Continue reading at MSExchange.org!

Installing Exchange has been a pretty straightforward task; however there have been some changes in the install process for Exchange 2007. Part one of this series will cover the prerequisites required and preparation of Active Directory.

Continue reading at MSExchange.org!

IMF is the built in spam filter included with Exchange Server 2003 SP2.  It is quite a powerful tool but there are times when you may want to exclude a user or users from filtering.  Microsoft has published a hotfix under KB 912587, which, once applied, will allow you to exclude a user from IMF.

Once the hotfix is installed you have a little configuration to do on the Exchange server itself.

Open up the registry and drill down to

HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftExchange

Create the a new key called ContentFilter and under this key create a REG_DWORD called CheckRecipients and set the value to 2.  Next create a Multi-string Value called RecipList and enter the names to be excluded seperated by a semi colon (;).  Reboot.  You should be aware the with a message going to multiple recipients if even just one is not on the excluded list, the message will

Continue reading Exclude Users From IMF

The other day I wrote how to view message headers in OWA, and recieved a lot of mail asking if this can be done it Outlook as well. If you have ever used Outlook Express, you might be familiar with the View –> Source option. In Outlook this feature does not exist.

Outlook gives you the option to View –> Options which will display the e-mail header. To enable the View –> Source functionality in Outlook 2003 open up regedit and drill down to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice11.0OutlookOptionsMail

Create a new Reg_DWORD called SaveAllMIMENotJustHeaders and give it a value of 1. This will enalbe the View –> Source option in Outlook 2003 but there are a few exceptions. It will only work for messages received after the change has been made and will not work with MAPI connections (i.e. Exchange mailboxes). You will only have this option for mail received from

Continue reading View Message Source in Outlook 2003

The Edge Transport server role in Exchange 2007 performs a number of functions including routing messages between the Exchange organization and the internet, as well as providing Anti-virus and Anti-Spam protection. It is meant to be installed on the edge of the corporate network, or on a screened subnet. This location makes it more vulnerable than the servers on your protected network. This means you are required to do a little more work to secure the server itself. The Security Configuration Wizard in Windows Server 2003 SP1 is an ideal tool to use to reduce the attack surface of your Edge Transport server(s).

Continue reading at MSExchange.org!

Exchange 2007 introduces a new concept to Exchange organizations, the concept of server roles. Similar to how a Windows server can host one or more roles, this type of configuration has been implemented in Exchange Server 2007.

Server roles allow an administrator to split the functions of an Exchange server and place each role, or a combination of roles, on different servers in the organization. This can be done for performance reasons, management reasons, or any other reason deemed necessary by the organization’s policies.

Continue reading at MSExchange.org!

Exchange 2007 Beta 2 is now available and the biggest change is in the management. The entire management of Exchange 2007 can be done using PowerShell (aka MSH). Learning the commands has been made easy as well and as a bonus, we’ll see how to move the mailbox database in Exchange 2007!

The Exchange Management Console (EMC) has been built on top of PowerShell, and every task you do in the GUI can be done with PowerShell as well. Learning the commands couldn’t be easier, when you perform a task in the GUI, once it is complete it will show you the command that was used. In this example I have moved the database files from the default location to a folder on the S: drive called Database. You can see the MSH command that was executed.

If we cut and paste that into the

Continue reading Learning Exchange 2007 MSH Commands

Exchange Servers are resource intense machines that can be improved with some small but very important steps. Applying a few, or better yet all, of these tips you can increase the performance of your Exchange 2003 server(s).

Lets get right to it!

RPC over HTTPS is one of the most useful features of Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003 and one of the most frustrating. In part one of this article we looked at troubleshooting client and firewall related issues and part two will look into problems that occur with SSL certificates, RPC proxy and Exchange server configurations.

Continue reading at MSExchange.org!