Any Exchange 2007/2010 people on the forums?

[Dantrag]

I'm trying to find the answers to these questions. I will be researching them as I go along and filling in the answers that I find but if anyone else knows the answers please feel free to help out.

• What are the Exchange 2007/2010 server roles?
• What are the benefits of using roles, vs. the way Exchange 2000/2003 worked?
• What are the Exchange 2003 equivalents of the various Exchange 2007/2010 roles?
• Name the system prerequisites for installing Exchange 2007/2010 in your existing Active Directory forest.
• You have an Exchange 5.5 organization and finally decided to move forward and upgrade to Exchange 2007/2010. What's your next obvious step?
• You're looking to install Exchange 2007/2010 and Outlook on the same machine. Should you do that? Why?
• Where does Exchange store its configuration settings?
• How do you prepare the AD for Exchange 2007/2010? Name 2 methods.
• What permissions do you need to prepare the AD for Exchange 2007/2010?
• How would you verify that the schema was in fact updated?
• In the installation folder root you see setup.com and setup.exe. Which would you use and when?
• How would you easily install all the Windows Server 2008/R2 roles and features required for Exchange 2007/2010?
• How would you check your Exchange configuration settings to see if they're right?
• .....
• What is the latest Exchange 2007 Service Pack? Name a few changes in functionality in that SP.
• Looking to install Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008. What SP version do you need? And for R2?
• What's a Rollup Update? What's the latest RU for Exchange 2007/2010?
• How can you easily integrate a RU in the Exchange 2007/2010 installation media?
• Name a few reasons for using 64-bit hardware and OS version for Exchange 2007/2010.
• Exchange 2007 came in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Name a couple of reasons for ever needing the 32-bit version.
• ....
• Wanting to manage Exchange 2007/2010 from a remote computer, name a few of your management options.
• Name a few changes that were made in Exchange 2003 Management Console (EMC) when compared to Exchange 2003 System Manager (ESM).
• What's PowerShell and why do we care?
• Name one major benefit of PowerShell v2 over V1.
• What are the different Exchange Recipient types?
• What are resource mailboxes? When would you use them?
• What are Dynamic Distribution groups?
What type of groups would you use when configuring distribution groups in a multiple domain forest?
• How can you grant access for an administrator to access all mailboxes in your organization?
• How can you grant access for an administrator to access all mailboxes on a specific Exchange server?
• Describe the differences in the permission model between Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2010.
• ....
• What are the major changes in the way Exchange 2007 stores work?
• What's the difference between the Enterprise and Standard editions of Exchange in relation with the number and size of the stores on the server?
• What are the major changes in the way Exchange 2010 stores work? Name some of the changes in comparison with Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007.
• What's the major difference in store high availability in Exchange 2007?
• What's the major difference in store high availability in Exchange 2010?
• What is the GAL?
• When would you decide to create more than one GAL?
• How would you modify the filter properties of one of the default address lists?
• What is the OAB? When is it used?
• What are the OAB distribution options?
• You are at a client's location, and you see no Public Folders on any of the Mailbox servers. How can that be?
• You don't have any Public Folder, but now you've got a bunch of laptop users that use Outlook 2003. What issues would you see? How would you fix these issues?
• .....
• In Exchange 2007, what are the minimum requirements for implementing a high availability topology, in relation to the server roles and server numbers?
• In Exchange 2010, what are the minimum requirements for implementing a high availability topology, in relation to the server roles and server numbers?
• Describe the concept behind Log Shipping.
• What's the difference between LCR, CCR and SCR?
• What's SCC?
• You've installed Exchange 2007 RTM and are looking to enable SCR but cannot find the option to do so in the EMC or in PS. Why?
• Describe DAG in Exchange 2010.
• Considering DAGs in Exchange 2010, why does Microsoft claim that you can run "Raidless"?
• Would you run "Raidless" even when implementing DAGs in Exchange 2010? Why?
• Would you run "Backup-less" even when implementing DAGs in Exchange 2010? Why?
• How do you enable LCR?
• Why does Microsoft suggest using NTFS mount points when using LCR?
• What Exchange edition version do you need for LCR? What Windows edition version do you need for LCR?
• How do you recover from a store corruption when using LCR? Name the procedures you would use.
• ....
• What are streaming backups?
• What are VSS backups?
• How would you backup Exchange 2007/2010 on a Windows Server 2008/R2 machine without using 3rd-party tools?
• What's a Brick-Level backup?
• What backup solutions are you familiar with in Exchange 2007/2010?
• What's a Recovery Storage Group? How do you work with one?
• Can you use Exmerge in Exchange 2007/2010? Why?
• How do you export a mailbox content in Exchange 2007/2010?
• What's a Dial Tone recovery?
• What built-in tool do you have to allow you to manage Exchange store recoveries?
• What's the difference between online and offline defrag?
• In Exchange 2010, is there any change in the way online and offline defrags are used (or should be used)?
• What is Eseutil?
• What is Isinteg?
• Name a few scenarios for using both tools?
• What are the major considerations for using these tools?
• ...
• Where does Exchange 2007/2010 get its routing topology from?
• What protocol is used for the Mailbox to HT transport?
• How would you achieve incoming mail redundancy?
• Name all the client connection options in Exchange 2007/2010.
• What happened to OMA?
• Name some of the major changes in OWA in relation to Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2003? And in relation to Exchange 2010 and Exchange 2007?
• What's the ECP in Exchange 2010 OWA?
• A user opens an OWA session from an external computer. Which role does that user connect to?
• What are the major changes in Outlook 2010 in relation to Exchange 2010, when compared to Outlook 2007/Exchange 2007?
• What's a mailbox move request in Exchange 2010?
• What is Online Mailbox Move in Exchange 2010?
• Describe the issues you're facing when attempting to obtain a digital certificate for Exchange 2007.
• What's one of the changes that was made to the digital certificate request process in Exchange 2010 in relation to Exchange 2007?
• What are SAN certificates?
• Name a few commercial CAs you could use to obtain digital certificates.
• What is Cached Mode in Outlook 2007/2010?
What are the benefits and "issues" when using cached mode? How would you tackle those issues?
What is S/MIME? What are the usage scenarios for S/MIME?
• What is Outlook Anywhere?
• Describe the method for enabling Outlook Anywhere.
• You've just bought a new Internet domain name, and are looking to set up an Exchange organization to receive e-mail for that domain. Name ALL the steps you would need to take in order to successfully be able to work with that domain name.
• You've installed Exchange 2007/2010 and now you need to be able to send e-mail externally (to the Internet). What do you need to do?
• What's Accepted Domains?
• Where in EMC would you look to configure Send Connectors?
• What is a Mail Relay? Name a few known mail relay software or hardware options.
• What's a Smart Host? When would you use it?
• Wanting to configure a Send Connector to the world, what address would you use?
• What are Receive Connectors?
• In Exchange 2007/2010, what's the major issue blocking you from receiving e-mail from the world, considering you've enabled the right port(s) on the firewall, and properly configured MX records for your domain(s)?
• What's the difference between the "Client" and the "Default" Receive Connectors?
• You're looking to troubleshoot e-mail delivery issues. Name 4 options/tools/logs that are built into Exchange 2007/2010 that can help you in your task.
• ...
• You're looking to enable Anti-Spam features on Exchange. Which role would you use to do so?
• Let's say you're wanting to use Anti-Spam features on the HT role. You're looking to enable these features but cannot find them. What do you need to do?
• Where does Edge role store its settings?
• You have a need to enable high-availability and load balancing on your Edge role. How do you achieve that?
• What's Edge synchronization?
• What's Edge subscription?
• How do you enable Edge subscription?
• What's the default replication interval for Edge sync?
• What ports do you need to open between the DMZ holding the Edge role and your internal network?

[Mafai]

I'd recommend just asking in your post, someone will know it.

[Dantrag]

Edited.

[necailis]

Omg this is a totally ridiculous number of questions lol. Some off the top of my head, no Internet research done here, good test of knowledge. I have some gaps i'm afraid but also know a bit here and there

I'm trying to find the answers to these questions. I will be researching them as I go along and filling in the answers that I find but if anyone else knows the answers please feel free to help out.

• What are the Exchange 2007/2010 server roles?

Mailbox Server, Client Access, Hub Transport, Edge Transport, Unified Messaging

• What are the benefits of using roles, vs. the way Exchange 2000/2003 worked?

Can segregate out the roles/processing power where it's needed, allows greater portability and expansion of server capacity without impacting other roles. Essentially you can pick and choose what each server does (except if you have clustered mailbox servers in Exchange 2007, these can't have any other roles installed).

• What are the Exchange 2003 equivalents of the various Exchange 2007/2010 roles?

2003 Backend = Mailbox Server
2003 Frontend = Client Access Server
Hub Transport I believe could be done on either role on Exchange 03, Edge Transport/UM server are new roles.

• Name the system prerequisites for installing Exchange 2007/2010 in your existing Active Directory forest.

Server 2003 Domain/Forest functional level
Can't be installed alongside Exchange 2000
Requires 64 bit version of Windows Server 2003 minumum

• You have an Exchange 5.5 organization and finally decided to move forward and upgrade to Exchange 2007/2010. What's your next obvious step?

Upgrade all Exchange 5.5 servers to Exchange 2003 - generally move mailboxes to a new server.

• You're looking to install Exchange 2007/2010 and Outlook on the same machine. Should you do that? Why?

You need to do this to allow for PST Import/Exports using Export-Mailbox and Import-Mailbox commands.

• Where does Exchange store its configuration settings?

Active Directory Configuration container.

• How do you prepare the AD for Exchange 2007/2010? Name 2 methods.

setup.com /PrepareSchema
setup.com /PrepareAD

• What permissions do you need to prepare the AD for Exchange 2007/2010?

I believe it's Schema Admins and Enterprise Admins, you may want to verify this.

• How would you verify that the schema was in fact updated?

There are certain things that can be checked, again verify.

• In the installation folder root you see setup.com and setup.exe. Which would you use and when?

setup.com is Cmdline installer, setup.exe is GUI installer.

• How would you easily install all the Windows Server 2008/R2 roles and features required for Exchange 2007/2010?

Use ServerManagerCmd.exe cmdline tool with Exchange role installation xml files.

• How would you check your Exchange configuration settings to see if they're right?
• .....
• What is the latest Exchange 2007 Service Pack? Name a few changes in functionality in that SP.

Exchange 2007 SP3 is the latest one, the only change I am aware of is that messages can be managed in the submission queues where they couldn't before, there are bound to be other changes though.

• Looking to install Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008. What SP version do you need? And for R2?

Windows 2008 SP2 is best, for R2 SP1 has just come out, don't think it's needed though.

• What's a Rollup Update? What's the latest RU for Exchange 2007/2010?

Series of patches for exchange that fix/change the functionality of Exchange, you would need to check what the latest RU version is.

• How can you easily integrate a RU in the Exchange 2007/2010 installation media?

I'm pretty sure you can add the RU patch into the updates folder in the installation media directory.

• Name a few reasons for using 64-bit hardware and OS version for Exchange 2007/2010.

Because you an address much more RAM/Memory than in 32 bit versions, Exchange 2007/2010 are memory hungry.

• Exchange 2007 came in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Name a couple of reasons for ever needing the 32-bit version.

32 Bit version is needed if you want to be able to Import/Export PST files.
Otherwise it's recommended to only have 64 bit in production, though 32 bit can be used for testing in a lab.

• ....
• Wanting to manage Exchange 2007/2010 from a remote computer, name a few of your management options.

I don't remotely manage exchange but obviously you can manage some settings from AD Users and Computers for example, I also think there is an Exchange Management package that can be installed so a desktop can manage Exchange remotely. You can also use the ECP (Exchange Control Panel).

• Name a few changes that were made in Exchange 2003 Management Console (EMC) when compared to Exchange 2003 System Manager (ESM).

EMC is a GUI frontend that uses PowerShell as it's core language for making changes, otherwise it's hugely different to EMS down to basic functionality levels.

• What's PowerShell and why do we care?

Powershell is win, and we care because it makes managing admin tasks in bulk much easier. Also certain things can only be done in PowerShell and can't be done in the EMC/.

• Name one major benefit of PowerShell v2 over V1.

You'll need to check this, V2 has a few new cmdlets and options that aren't in V1.

• What are the different Exchange Recipient types?

Normal ones like Groups, Dynamic Groups, Contacts, Mailboxes, Resource Mailboxes (Equipment, Room), Linked mailboxes etc, There are a couple of others.

• What are resource mailboxes? When would you use them?

Can be booked out as room and equipment mailboxes, i.e. if you have a room resource mailbox this can be a meeting room that people can book.

• What are Dynamic Distribution groups?

Dynamic groups get members added dynamically, for example if you want all users that have thier 'Office' attribute set to 'London' to be a member of a group, you could use a Dynamic group to do this.

What type of groups would you use when configuring distribution groups in a multiple domain forest?
• How can you grant access for an administrator to access all mailboxes in your organization?

You can use PowerShell to grant a mailbox full mailbox access over all mailboxes

• How can you grant access for an administrator to access all mailboxes on a specific Exchange server?

You can use PowerShell to grant a mailbox full mailbox access over all mailboxes on a specific server

• Describe the differences in the permission model between Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2010.
• ....
• What are the major changes in the way Exchange 2007 stores work?

Exchange 2007 stores data in a single EBD file, in Exchange 2003 there was the EDB file and the .STM (streaming) EDB file.

• What's the difference between the Enterprise and Standard editions of Exchange in relation with the number and size of the stores on the server?

Standard allows for 5 Storage Groups and Databases. Enterprise allows for 50 Storage Groups and Databases.

• What are the major changes in the way Exchange 2010 stores work? Name some of the changes in comparison with Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007.

In Exchange 2010 there are no Storage Groups anymore only Databases. Also Exchange 2010 has the DAG (Database Availability Group) model which allows for databases to be replicated across servers.

• What's the major difference in store high availability in Exchange 2007?

Exchange 2007 has several cluster methods that are not in Exchange 03, for example CCR, LCR, SCR.

• What's the major difference in store high availability in Exchange 2010?

Exchange 2010 rolls up the new cluster methods from Exchange 07 into the DAG model.

• What is the GAL?

Global Address List - contains recipient objects for browsing in mail clients.

• When would you decide to create more than one GAL?

If you wanted to have different recipients show up in different address lists.

• How would you modify the filter properties of one of the default address lists?

EMC or EMS, you can change the filters.

• What is the OAB? When is it used?

Offline Address Book - uses for clients working offline so they can still view GAL information.

• What are the OAB distribution options?

Web Based distribution, Public Folder distribution. There may be a 3rd option or so can't recall.

• You are at a client's location, and you see no Public Folders on any of the Mailbox servers. How can that be?

Outlook 2003 Compatability was not enabled during installation, this creates a public folder store to allow older clients such as Outlook 2003 to function.

• You don't have any Public Folder, but now you've got a bunch of laptop users that use Outlook 2003. What issues would you see? How would you fix these issues?

Public Folders store data such as Availability/Free Busy data. You would fix these issues by creating a Public Folder databases on the mailbox server.

• .....
• In Exchange 2007, what are the minimum requirements for implementing a high availability topology, in relation to the server roles and server numbers?

2 Mailbox Servers in a cluster, 2 servers with the CAS and HT roles installed on both.

• In Exchange 2010, what are the minimum requirements for implementing a high availability topology, in relation to the server roles and server numbers?

2 Servers with the Mailbox, CAS and HT roles installed. Servers are then added to a DAG

• Describe the concept behind Log Shipping.

Used to send logs to another server, concept behind CCR and DAG model, allows for replicating database information elsewhere.

• What's the difference between LCR, CCR and SCR?

LCR - Local Continuous Replication - Syncs databases locally on the server, so if you had more than one LUN for your databases you could sync a database from one LUN to another.
CCR - Cluster Continuous Replication - two servers and two sets of storage, one server is active one is passive, database logs are shipped from one server to the other to keep databases up to date and ready to go. In the event of a failover the passive node can come online with uo to date database information.
SCR - Standby Continuous Replicaiton - Not sure so much on this one, never used it.

• What's SCC?

Single Copy Cluster - Two or more mailbox servers sharing the same set of storage.

• You've installed Exchange 2007 RTM and are looking to enable SCR but cannot find the option to do so in the EMC or in PS. Why?

At a guess, not available in the RTM until SP1.

• Describe DAG in Exchange 2010.

High Availability solution that allows up to 16 Mailbox Servers to replicate databases between them. Allows for database level failovers, i.e. if a database has a problem on one server that database can be failed over to another server without moving all databases. DAG is basically an advanced version of CCR.

• Considering DAGs in Exchange 2010, why does Microsoft claim that you can run "Raidless"?

Because the DAG model is so robust, as long as you have several DAG nodes you have several copies of the databases.

• Would you run "Raidless" even when implementing DAGs in Exchange 2010? Why?

Requires less disks but performance may not be as good, as you can get faster performance on a RAID. Not sure if i would run Raidless myself.

• Would you run "Backup-less" even when implementing DAGs in Exchange 2010? Why?

If you have 3 or more DAG nodes you will always have 3 + copies of the databases, in the event one server has a problem you still have 2 copies of the data. Personally I can still see the benefit of taking snapshot backups, especially if your DAG nodes are in the same data centre.

• How do you enable LCR?
• Why does Microsoft suggest using NTFS mount points when using LCR?
• What Exchange edition version do you need for LCR? What Windows edition version do you need for LCR?
• How do you recover from a store corruption when using LCR? Name the procedures you would use.
• ....
• What are streaming backups?

Backups taken by reading the database file directly (impacts disk I/O)

• What are VSS backups?

Backups taken using Volume Shadow Copies (doesn't impact disk I/O)

• How would you backup Exchange 2007/2010 on a Windows Server 2008/R2 machine without using 3rd-party tools?

Windows Server Backup utility.

• What's a Brick-Level backup?
• What backup solutions are you familiar with in Exchange 2007/2010?

DPM 2010.

• What's a Recovery Storage Group? How do you work with one?

RSG can be used to restore data for a database, you can work with one using EMC toolbox or the EMS and powershell.

• Can you use Exmerge in Exchange 2007/2010? Why?

It's possible but replaced by Import-Mailbox/Export-Mailbox

• How do you export a mailbox content in Exchange 2007/2010?

Exchange 2007 - Export-Mailbox.
Exchange 2010 - New-ExportRequest

• What's a Dial Tone recovery?

When a database becomes corrupt and you want to get users working again whilst the database corruption is repaired, you can mount a dial tone database which is an empty database that users can login to to allow sending/receiving mail.

• What built-in tool do you have to allow you to manage Exchange store recoveries?

ESEUtil

• What's the difference between online and offline defrag?

Online defrag runs every night and clears down database pages leaving whitespace behind, database size remains the same. Offline defrag is where you reduce the database size by taking it offline and then defragging it, this operation can take a very long time.

• In Exchange 2010, is there any change in the way online and offline defrags are used (or should be used)?
• What is Eseutil?

Database repairing utility, can be used to perform offline defrags or recover databases.

• What is Isinteg?

can be used to fix databases.

• Name a few scenarios for using both tools?
• What are the major considerations for using these tools?
• ...
• Where does Exchange 2007/2010 get its routing topology from?

Active Directory Sites and Services

• What protocol is used for the Mailbox to HT transport?

SMTP Port 25

• How would you achieve incoming mail redundancy?

Multiple Hub Transport servers with more than one MX record in place.

• Name all the client connection options in Exchange 2007/2010.

ActiveSync, Outlook Web Access, IMAP, POP3, SMTP.

• What happened to OMA?

Gone

• Name some of the major changes in OWA in relation to Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2003? And in relation to Exchange 2010 and Exchange 2007?

OWA in new versions is just generally better, for example in Exchange 2010 OWA you can use the full version in browsers other than IE.

• What's the ECP in Exchange 2010 OWA?

Can be used by admins to manage organization users from within OWA.

• A user opens an OWA session from an external computer. Which role does that user connect to?

Client Access Server

• What are the major changes in Outlook 2010 in relation to Exchange 2010, when compared to Outlook 2007/Exchange 2007?

Outlook 2010 allows for mulitple MAPI profiles in one Outlook profile.

• What's a mailbox move request in Exchange 2010?

Move mailbox from one database to another.

• What is Online Mailbox Move in Exchange 2010?

Mailbox can be accessed whilst being moved.

• Describe the issues you're facing when attempting to obtain a digital certificate for Exchange 2007.
• What's one of the changes that was made to the digital certificate request process in Exchange 2010 in relation to Exchange 2007?
• What are SAN certificates?

Subject Alternative Name certificates, these certificates allow you to have a valid certificate for a number of different host names.

• Name a few commercial CAs you could use to obtain digital certificates.

DigiCert, Thawte etc

• What is Cached Mode in Outlook 2007/2010?
What are the benefits and "issues" when using cached mode? How would you tackle those issues?

Cached exchange mode is where offline copies of your mailbox are kept on the local client. Benefits are quicker access for local data and the data can be viewed offline.

Issues can include OST file corruption, or when Outlook gets confused and doesn't update the folders properly.

What is S/MIME? What are the usage scenarios for S/MIME?
• What is Outlook Anywhere?

RPC over HTTPS protocols, allows connecting to mailboxes through SSL on Ports 80/443 across the Internet.

• Describe the method for enabling Outlook Anywhere.

Need to enable it on the CAS servers in EMC.

• You've just bought a new Internet domain name, and are looking to set up an Exchange organization to receive e-mail for that domain. Name ALL the steps you would need to take in order to successfully be able to work with that domain name.
• You've installed Exchange 2007/2010 and now you need to be able to send e-mail externally (to the Internet). What do you need to do?

Setup a Send Connector for * on the Hub Transport servers.

• What's Accepted Domains?

Domains that are accepted for mail delivery in the Exchange organization.

• Where in EMC would you look to configure Send Connectors?

Under Servers -> Hub Transports -> Send Connectors tab

• What is a Mail Relay? Name a few known mail relay software or hardware options.
• What's a Smart Host? When would you use it?

Smart Host is where you configure a server to be used for sending mail

• Wanting to configure a Send Connector to the world, what address would you use?

*

• What are Receive Connectors?

Opposite of send connectors, used for receiving emails.

• In Exchange 2007/2010, what's the major issue blocking you from receiving e-mail from the world, considering you've enabled the right port(s) on the firewall, and properly configured MX records for your domain(s)?

Receive Connector permissions/settings.

• What's the difference between the "Client" and the "Default" Receive Connectors?

Client is used for clients such as Outlook/POP3. Default is used for other traffic.

• You're looking to troubleshoot e-mail delivery issues. Name 4 options/tools/logs that are built into Exchange 2007/2010 that can help you in your task.

Message Tracking logs
Pipeline Tracing
Send Connector Protocol logging logs
Receive Connector Protocol logging logs

• ...
• You're looking to enable Anti-Spam features on Exchange. Which role would you use to do so?

Can be installed on HT or Edge Transport roles.

• Let's say you're wanting to use Anti-Spam features on the HT role. You're looking to enable these features but cannot find them. What do you need to do?

Run Install-AntiSpamAgents.ps1 script.

• Where does Edge role store its settings?

Locally in Active Directory LDS config.

• You have a need to enable high-availability and load balancing on your Edge role. How do you achieve that?

Multiple Edge Transport servers, multiple MX records.

• What's Edge synchronization?

Syncs Edge Transport server to Hub Transport servers for settings.

• What's Edge subscription?

Links Edge Transport server to Hub Transports.

• How do you enable Edge subscription?

Export Edge Subscription file from Edge Server, Import on HT server.

• What's the default replication interval for Edge sync?
• What ports do you need to open between the DMZ holding the Edge role and your internal network?

[rezn0r]

some good info in there necailis thanks (wow great first post)

we don't use exchange right now at work but i just got the go-ahead to upgrade to it w/new hardware soon, so this may help a bit

[SephYuyX]

Necailis deserves a gdamn medal; best first post ever.

[srtavish]

Here you go

How would you check your Exchange configuration settings to see if they're right?
Answer: Once your exchange server configuration is done run the
tool EXBPA.exc .This will give you the correct ficture of
your exchange organization.

Thanks,
Sivakumar Thayumanavan