Without a doubt, one of the
most important Microsoft
releases planned for 2007 is the next version of Exchange Server.
Exchange Server 2007 will be the premier enterprise mail server and, as
you might expect, the new release
brings with it a number of important
enhancements and features. However,
you need to be aware of a few caveats
as well. Let's look at some of the most
important new features in the upcoming Exchange 2007 release. For more
information about the release, you
can visit http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/preview.
10.64-bit hardware required—Bowing
before the inevitable, Exchange 2007 is
Microsoft's first 64-bit–only product.
Considering that all the company's tier-one servers are 64-bit capable, that's
really no surprise. However, some confusion did stem from the beta's 32-bit
support, which Microsoft provided to
facilitate testing. The release to manufacturing (RTM) version will be 64-bit only.
9. An all-new setup—One of the first things you'll notice about Exchange
2007 is the new setup process.
Modeled after the same setup that
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 uses, the
new Exchange 2007 setup first checks
the system for required prerequisite
components such as Microsoft .NET
Framework 2.0, Windows PowerShell,
and Microsoft Management Console
(MMC). In addition, the Exchange
Best Practices Analyzer is integrated
into the setup process to check
for possible configuration and setup
errors.
8. Exchange Management Shell—
Another first for Exchange 2007 is the
integration of PowerShell (Microsoft's
new .NET-based scripting environment) into a feature called Exchange
Management Shell. Formerly code-named Monad, PowerShell adds
powerful scripting capabilities to
Exchange 2007.
7. New Exchange Management Console—Another instantly noticeable
feature in Exchange 2007 is its new
Exchange Management Console.
Unlike the older management GUI,
Exchange System Manager (ESM), the new Exchange Management Console
is built on Exchange Management
Shell and now can perform virtually
all Exchange administrative tasks. In
addition, you can capture actions you
take in the console as PowerShell scripts.
6. Device security and management—For organizations using mobile
devices (and who isn't?), some of the
best features in Exchange 2007 are its
mobile-device–management capabilities. Using Exchange 2007's per-user
security policies, administrators can
require device PINs and setup for
device wipe for data protection in case
devices are lost or stolen. This device
management is limited to devices
supporting ActiveSync.
5. Support for unified messaging—Exchange 2007 provides support for
unified messaging (UM),which lets
you store voicemail and faxes in your
Exchange mailbox. This support can
eliminate the need for a separate
voicemail system and can enable
phone access to your inbox. Exchange
UM requires the use of a compatible
IP-enabled PBX but can also access
older PBXes by using an IP gateway.
4. New Resource Booking Attendant—As anyone who regularly schedules
appointments knows, booking meetings can be a frustrating experience as
you not only attempt to bring together
the required attendees but also try to
book required resources such as conference and meeting rooms. The new
Resource Booking Attendant enables
centralized management of rooms and
other meeting equipment and resources.
3. New Scheduling Assistant—Like the
Resource Booking Attendant, the
Scheduling Assistant helps you schedule meetings. A new graphical UI
enables administrators to quickly see
the availability of attendees and resources as well as the best times to
schedule a meeting for required attendees and resources.
2. Antivirus and antispam support—Basic antispam and antivirus protection are a requirement for today's
messaging servers. Exchange 2007
features a number of built-in antispam and antivirus features, including
connection, sender, and recipient filtering as well as content and attachment filtering. For more robust
enterprise-level antivirus protection,
Microsoft separately offers Antigen
Messaging Security Suite, which
includes Antigen for Exchange and
Antigen Spam Manager.
1. 5 new server roles—Probably one
of the biggest improvements in
Exchange 2007 is the introduction of
five new prebuilt modular server
roles. These server roles reduce the
manual configuration that would otherwise be required to set up and
secure Exchange 2007 to perform various mail server tasks. The new roles
are: Edge Transport, Hub Transport,
Mailbox, Client Access, and Unified
Messaging.
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