Exchange Ideas - Daniel Kenyon-Smith : Exchange 2003

Exchange 2010 Q&A

danielke — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:43:47 GMT

please Join me at this event to talk about Exchange 2010, you can register here

A Guide to Migrating Public Folders to SharePoint

danielke — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:05:04 GMT

Check out the WindowsITPro ‘Guide to Migrating Public Folders to SharePoint’ well worth a read

Written By Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Planning Mailbox Quotas – Part I

danielke — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:57:00 GMT

When planning for storage it’s a good idea to categorise users into quota limits so you can plan your storage requirements. This calculation should be done in the High Level Design phase to allow your customer to purchase the hardware. An example of how quota limits might be categorised are shown below:-

Ø 200MB limit – Bronze limit

Ø 400MB limit – Sliver limit

Ø 600MB limit – Gold limit

Ø 2GB limit – Platinum limit

If you have mailboxes with an unlimited mailbox quota it is impossible to manage from a storage perspective as a user can effectively carry on using storage, so the unlimited users/shared mailboxes can be calculated at 2GB from a storage point of view. It’s recommended that limits are applied at something like 2GB for the following reason:-

Ø The maximum size of the .OST file (Outlook off line cache) for the unlimited mailboxes, assuming users are logging into these accounts.

Ø The .ost file performance is also another factor to consider if there are mailboxes in your organization that exceed 2 GB in size. If users of those mailboxes are running Outlook in cached mode, those users may experience degraded performance as the size of their .ost file grows above 2 GB.

Ø A limit can be set by changing the registry - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832925 If no limit is set the default is 2GB to prevent corruption and user experience as mentioned above.

Ø Specific folders can also be synchronised (if you are using Outlook 2007) therefore limiting the amount of data that be will synchronised.

When Outlook 2003 synchronises with Exchange it uses an intelligent learning algorithm that is transparent to the user. Folders used most frequently are placed in a priority order, this gives the user a better experience. The order is listed below:-

1. Utility folders (common views, views, and security settings)

2. Calendar

3. Contacts

4. Drafts

5. Inbox

6. All other folders (defined by the user)

7. Sent Items

8. Deleted Items

9. Public Folder Favorites (added by the user)

Part II will contain details on how to plan your backend storage requirements based on quota limits.

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Outlook 2003 consolidated information

danielke — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:46:00 GMT

Running Outlook in Online mode

· Running Outlook in Online Mode moves the IO burden from the client to the server and doesn't address the disconnected laptop scenario.

Network impact and ability to optimize the client

· Cached Exchange Mode provides intelligent use of bandwidth. This functionality is enabled by synchronizing only headers on slow connections (connections that are slower than 128 kilobits per second [Kbps]). This functionality works only when a network connection is present.

· After messages have been cached locally, typical user operations do not cause interactions that block the server. Quickflagging, marking a message as read, replying, and editing require a small amount of data to be pushed up to the server to keep the mailboxes synchronized. However, the pushing of data occurs in the background. This behavior causes much faster access to messages and to attachments, because you work from the local copy instead of the server copy.

Outlook 2003 Cached Exchange Mode offers you the following benefits:

· Reduced server load. After messages are cached locally, re-opening the same message does not require server transactions.

· Reduced network load. After messages have been pulled over the network one time, subsequent access to those messages does not cause additional network traffic. Because messages are also compressed, there is an additional reduction on network load.

· When you turn on Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook 2003, and when the connection from your computer that is running Outlook 2003 to the Exchange Server 2003 computer is not available, Outlook switches to the Trying to connect state or to the Disconnected state. If the connection is restored, Outlook switches to the Connected state or to the Connected (Headers) state. Any changes that you made while you were offline are synchronized automatically when a connection to a server is available. You can continue to work while changes are synchronized.

· Additionally, Cached Exchange Mode causes no loss of conventional functionality. New e-mail notifications, full Global Address List details, free/busy lookup, public folder access, and delegate support function as expected. However, this is true only when a network connection to an Exchange Server computer is present.

What is the Level of Security around cached mode and how it is encrypted

The .ost file is similar to a personal folders (.pst) file, but the .ost file is automatically encrypted with compressible encryption. The encryption key is stored in two places: in the mailbox on the Exchange computer and in a local Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) profile that is configured on the client workstation. If the key is lost from both locations, the .ost file is unreadable. When a client connects in Online mode, the key in the profile is checked against the key in the information store database. If the keys differ, the client copy of the key is overwritten with the key from the information store, and a new .ost file is automatically generated on the client workstation. When you reset an information store database, a new offline key is generated in each new mailbox; therefore, the current .ost file becomes unreadable at the beginning of the first successful online connection. Any changes that are made before the synchronization of the current .ost file are not uploaded.

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

TechNet: Recipient management, policies and permissions in Exchange 2007

danielke — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:38:00 GMT

Why not come along to my TechNet presentation ‘Recipient management, policies and permissions in Exchange 2007’ at our Microsoft offices in London

Abstract
In this session we will discuss the recipient management model, which has changed since Exchange Server 2003. There are a number of things we will cover here, most notably, how Exchange Server 2007 handles resources. The other major are we will be discussing is changes to the administrative permission model. In Exchange 2007, you have the option to separate your Active Directory administration from your Exchange administration, and during the session, we’ll see how that’s achieved.

What we will cover:

Recipient Management Model Update

Administrative Permission Model Overview

Demonstrations in this Session:

Locating Recipients

Managing Recipients

Delegating Admin Roles

Session Prerequisites

IT administration experience with Microsoft? Exchange Server 2003, Exchange 2000 Server, or Exchange Server 5.5

Recommended Audience

Generalist

Infrastructure Specialist

Written by Daniel Kenyon-smith

Antigen Manual Download

danielke — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:49:00 GMT

If you want to install Antigen on an Exchange server that doesn't have access to the internet to install updates there is a work around, see the steps below:-

Create the UNC Update Folder structure.

· Create a directory that is named "Forefront."

· In the Forefront directory, create a directory that is named "Engines."

· In the Engine directory, create a directory that is named "x86."

· In the x86 directory, create a folder for the engine on which you are working.
For example, create a folder that is named "Norman."

· In the %EngineName% directory, create a folder that is named "Package."
An example of the UNC Update Folder path is as follows:
C:\Forefront\Engines\x86\Norman\Package

Download the latest scan engine files.

· Save the Manifest.cab file to the Package folder for the engine that you are
updating. An example of the path of this file in the directory is as follows:
C:\Forefront\Engines\x86\Norman\Package\manifest.cab
To obtain the Manifest.cab file, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://forefrontdl.microsoft.com/server/scanengineupdate/x86/Norman/Package/manifest.cab

· Extract the Manifest.xml file from the Manifest.cab file, and then open the
Manifest.xml file by using a text editor, such as Notepad.

Search for the "version=" string in the Manifest.xml file. After one of the
instances of "version=," a 10-digit number is displayed.

For example, locate the entry that resembles the following entry:
version="0805080001"
In this entry, the 10-digit number represents the update version number of the
latest update at the time this was written. It is different now and just needs to
be update based on the instructions just stated. The update version is the year,
month, day with the last 4 digits for the particular update version for that day.
For this article, this update version number is represented by the update_version
placeholder.

· Save the Norman_fullpkg.cab file to a directory that has the same version name
within the Package folder. An example of the path of this file in the directory is
as follows:
http://forefrontdl.microsoft.com/server/scanengineupdate/x86/Norman/Package/0709170001/norman_fullpkg.cab

Important In this URL, replace update_version with the update version number that
you located.
For example, use a URL that resembles the following sample URL:
http://forefrontdl.microsoft.com/server/scanengineupdate/x86/Norman/Package/0709170001/norman_fullpkg.cab

· Copy the Manifest.cab file in the Package folder, and then paste the file into
the "%Version%" folder. An example of the final structure of the file is as
follows:
c:\Forefront\Engines\x86\Norman\Package\manifest.cab
c:\Forefront\Engines\x86\Norman\Package\0805080001\manifest.cab
c:\Forefront\Engines\x86\Norman\Package\0805080001\Norman_fullpkg.cab

Update the engine.

· Open the Antigen Administrator.

· Under SETTINGS, click Scanner Updates.

· Select the engine on which you are working. For example, select Microsoft.

· Change Network Update Path to the parent directory of the x86 folder. For
example, change this item to "C:\ Forefront \Engines."

· Click Save.

· Click Update Now.

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Intelligent Message Filter (IMF) Exchange 2003 SP2

danielke — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:47:00 GMT

When using Intelligent Message Filter (IMF) with Exchange 2003 SP2 it is possible to download filters manually and then upload them to the Exchange server. Why would you want to do this I hear you ask, well if you have an Exchange server that is part of a secure network and does not have access to the Internet but you still require SPAM filters, you can access the filters manually then upload them into Exchange.

The following site allows you to download IMF filters manually - http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Home.aspx

Once the filter has been downloaded you can then upload the filter to exchange by running the following commands:-

To manually install an update or roll back to an earlier version

1. Click Start, click Run, type the following command, and then click OK: regsvr32 "Drive_Letter:\\Program Files\Exchsvr\Bin\MSCFV2\6.5.7615.0\MSExchange.UceContentFilter.dll"

2. Click OK to accept the registration confirmation message.

3. Click Start, click Run, type iisreset, and then click OK.

Simple as that!

If you want to enable to IMF you'll need to do this in 2 seperate locations, see below for steps:

How to Enable IMF

·         Start System Manager: On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.

·         Move to the SMTP virtual server, starting with Servers.

·         Right-click the SMTP virtual server, and then click Properties.

·         On the General tab, click Advanced.

·         In Identification, select the Apply Intelligent Message Filtering check box, and then click OK. In Advanced, under the Filter Enabled column, Yes appears.

Note: To disable filtering, clear the Apply Intelligent Message Filtering check box.

How to Enable Updates

After you’ve enabled IMF in Exchange System Manager, to enable IMF updates, you must create the ContentFilterState registry entry. To do this, follow these steps

· Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.

· Expand the following registry sub key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange

· In the left pane, click Exchange. Then, right-click in the right pane, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.

· Type ContentFilterState, and then press Enter to name the new registry entry.

· Right-click ContentFilterState, and then click Modify.

· In the Data value box, type 1, and then click OK.

· Quit Registry Editor.

· In the Services snap-in, restart the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service.

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith