Before
installing Exchange Server 2010, the administrator should become
familiar with the prerequisites for each of the server roles. This
section covers the prerequisites for the implementation of Exchange
Server 2010 in a Windows networking environment.
Active Directory Infrastructure
Exchange
Server 2010 relies on an Active Directory infrastructure to do its job.
AD Sites and Services, DNS, Global Catalog Servers, Domain
Controllers—all must be in place and configured properly for Exchange
Server to function well.
The importance of each of
these services, and the steps to deploy them.
Windows Server 2008—64-Bit All the Way
From inception through
Exchange Server 2003, Exchange Server was always a 32-bit application.
While this technology was able to handle the needs of organizations in
the past, organizations today have more demanding messaging
requirements.
In a world with
ever-increasing message traffic, the need for highly available systems
that allow access from multiple client technologies, through the
Internet, and through continuous synchronization with wireless devices
resulted in the desire for increased productivity through increased
performance.
To address these growing
needs, Microsoft released a 64-bit version of their Exchange Server 2007
server for production environments. While they still produced a 32-bit
version of the product, it was intended primarily for non-production
environments.
With Exchange Server 2010, 32-bit support has gone away, and the product is only being released in a 64-bit version.
By utilizing 64-bit
architecture, Exchange Server has significantly enhanced processor and
memory utilization. This ensures higher performance gains, the ability
to handle an ever-increasing volume of messages, the capability of
supporting more users per server, and more simultaneously connected mail
clients. This last item is critical as more and more organizations take
advantage of the capabilities of Outlook Web App (OWA) and ActiveSync.
The Exchange Server 2010
application can only be installed on a 64-bit edition of the Windows
Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (or later) operating system. Either the
standard or enterprise edition of Windows Server can be utilized;
however, if you plan on taking advantage of some of the more advanced
features of Exchange Server 2010 (such as database availability groups
and mailbox database copies) you must use the Enterprise edition.
Note
The Exchange Server
2010 management tools can be installed on a 64-bit edition of the
Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (or later) operating system, or on
the Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (or later) operating system.
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
The
Microsoft .NET Framework is a Microsoft Windows component that allows
the ability to build, deploy, and run Web Services and other
applications. The .NET framework is a key offering from Microsoft, and
most new applications created for the Windows platform rely on it in one
way or another.
.Net Framework 3.5
builds on the features added in previous releases and includes service
packs for both .NET Framework 2.0 and .NET Framework 3.0. Additionally,
there are a number of new features which have been added.
Windows Server 2008 ships
with .NET Framework 3.0 already installed. However, Exchange Server 2010
requires .NET Framework 3.5 or above. When applying updates to the
Windows Server 2008 server, if you elect to apply all updates the latest
version of .NET Framework will be installed. If you elect to
selectively install updates, make sure you install this update.
Windows Remote Management 2.0
The Exchange Management Shell
is a command line interface that enables you to manage your Microsoft
Exchange organization without having to rely on a GUI interface.
The Windows Remote
Management (WinRM) 2.0 is the transport mechanism that enables your
local version of Windows PowerShell to connect to remote Exchange
servers, whether that server is in the next rack or across the country.
Utilizing WinRM 2.0, administrators can manage servers, devices, and
applications throughout their organization from a single management
server.
Windows Remote Management
2.0 can be downloaded and installed from the Internet.
Windows PowerShell V2
Administrators who are
familiar with Exchange Server 2007 have most likely had some experience
with Windows PowerShell. For many, the implementation of PowerShell
addressed one of the most glaring shortcomings of older Windows
installations—the lack of a usable command line interface for performing
administrative tasks.
PowerShell is
an extensible command-line shell and scripting language from Microsoft
that integrates with the .NET Framework to allow administrators to
perform just about any task in an Exchange environment from a command
line. From simple to complex, scripts can be written using the
PowerShell scripting language to save administrators from time consuming
and repetitive tasks.
While some have
found the PowerShell scripting language to be difficult to learn and
challenging to implement, few who have seen the results of this product
being put into action can complain about the results.
Windows PowerShell V2 introduces several new features to PowerShell 1.0 that extend its capabilities including:
PowerShell Remoting— Allows scripts and cmdlets to be executed on a remote machine, or several remote machines
Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE)—
GUI-based PowerShell host that provides an integrated debugger, syntax
highlighting, tab completion, and up to eight PowerShell consoles.
Script Debugging— Allows breakpoints to be set in a PowerShell script or function.
Eventing— Allows listening, forwarding, and acting on management and system events.
Windows PowerShell V2
can be downloaded and installed from the Internet.
Microsoft Management Console 3.0
The Microsoft
Management Console (MMC) was originally released back in 1996 with the
Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack. This was the first time Microsoft released a
consistent and integrated management tool that aimed at standardizing
the way administrators conducted administrative and operational tasks on
Microsoft software. Since 1996, Microsoft has been updating and
improving its management console and releasing new versions.
The Exchange
Server 2010 Management Console utilizes MMC 3.0, but as Windows Server
2008 ships with the product already installed, it is not listed as a
prerequisite and you do not have to install it separately.
Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0
Internet Information
Services (IIS) remains a critical component that allows users to connect
to Exchange services over the Internet using Outlook Web App (OWA),
Outlook Mobile Access (OMA) and ActiveSync.
As with the MMC above, IIS 7.0 is installed by default with Windows Server 2008.
