Hello,

Please help me tomorrow I have to attend interview, the job description is mentioned below:

Exchange User and Security Administration

Message Tracking on SMTP CAS /Hub/Edge Servers.

Mail Administration [ Exchange 2003 / 2007 Servers/ Clusters (CCR/LCR)]

Windows 2003 Administration and maintenance.

Implementation of Mail Aging Policy / E Mail Policy

Public Folder Maintenance (Defining Hierarchy)

Calendar and free busy schedule issues

Move Exchange Cluster Resources

Message Tracking on SMTP Gateway and Exchange

Mailbox restoration

Replication of directory/database

Exchange 2003 / 2007 Server administration, troubleshooting and application break fix support

Troubleshooting Internet Email routing problems

Exchange 2003 / 2007 Server Patch Management (Service Pack, Hot Fixes & Critical update)

Blackberry end user support and Administration

Recovery of mail messages from backups or mail data stores

Root Cause Analysis

Incident Management

Backup Configuration

Patch/Change implementation

Handling tickets/calls for any kind of Exchange issue.

SMTP Mail routing issue

Replication issue

Exchange Database corruption issue

Public Folder

I need helpin the mail flow, public folder, mailbox restore and CCR and LCR. Please help me.

Q.Exchange Admin task?

Ans-

1.

Exch BPA

2. Perfom of Exch, AD, OS

3. Capacity planning/usage
4. Monitoring/Alerting
5. DR process
6. Backup/restore testing
7. Patching (OS & Exch)
8. Mailbox size/limits/folder counts/item count
9. Permissions/rights for Exch admins
10. AV/Spam update/patches

Q Installation of Exchange 2007 on win 2003 Server?

Ans--1. Insert DVD of 2007 exchange.
2.Install..

Step 1: Install .NET Framework 2.0

Step 2: Install Microsoft Management Console (MMC)

Step 3: Install Microsoft Windows PowerShell

3. Install Microsoft exchange

The physical installation of Exchange Server is the fourth step in the installation process.

4. Click on the I accept the terms in the license agreement option and click Next
5. Select Yes or No for the Error Reporting option. In my example Im going to enable this
feature. When ready, click on Next
6. Select one of the installation types listed. Im going to select the Typical Exchange Server
Installation. In this window you may also specify the path for the installation; Im going to
accept the default. When ready, click Next

7. In the next window you can specify client settings. Click on the Yes option if you think that

one of your clients might have Outlook 2003 on his or her system.
If you are positive that all client computers have Outlook 2007 installed, you may click on No.
When ready, click on Next to continue
8. Once the Readiness Checks are done running, click on the Install button to start the

installation

9. The entire installation takes approximately 30 minutes. When it is successful you will see this
window, on which you can go ahead and click Finish
10. You should update your Exchange server right after the installation. To do so, go back to the
main install screen and click on Step 5: Critical Updates for Microsoft Exchange

Q: Is it possible to do in place upgrade from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange Server

2007?
No in-place upgrade on existing Exchange server organization. Install new Exchange Server
2007 server into existing organization, and move data to new server.
Q: What are the transition options available in Exchange Server 2007
We can make transition in following options :
Single forest to single forest you have an existing single forest Exchange 2003 or Exchange
2000 topology, you can transition to a single forest Exchange 2007 organization Single forest to
cross forest sIf you have an existing single forest Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2000 topology,
you can transition to a cross-forest Exchange 2007 topology
Cross forest to cross forest If you have an existing cross-forest Exchange 2003 or Exchange
2000 topology with Exchange servers and mailboxes in each forest, you can transition to an
Exchange 2007 cross-forest topology.
Resource forest to resource forest
Single forest to resource forest Q: -What are the considerations for Exchange Server 2007 to co exists with Exchange
server 2000 and Exchange Server 2003?
* Exchange Organization in Exchange Native Mode Exchange Server 2007 routing group
(DWBGZMFD01QNBJR) is created only for coexisting with earlier versions of Exchange.
* Routing Group Connector is required between Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server
2007 (created during setup).
* Exchange Server 2003 computers cannot inter operate with the Unified Messaging server role.
Exchange 2003 mailboxes cannot be Unified Messaging enabled.

* Exchange 2003 Front-ends cannot talk to Exchange Server 2007 Mailbox Server Roles.
* No in-place upgrade on existing Exchange server. Install new Exchange Server 2007 server
into existing organization, and move data to new server
Q: Will Front End server talk to Exchange Server 2007 Mailbox server in an Exchange
organization having both exchange 2003 and exchange Server 2007?
Exchange Server 2003 Front-end server cannot talk to Exchange Server 2007 Mailbox Server
Roles
Q: What is the status of routing group connector in co existed of Exchange Server 2003
and 2007?
Exchange Organization in Exchange Native Mode Exchange Server 2007 routing group
(DWBGZMFD01QNBJR) is created only for coexisting with earlier versions of
Exchange.Routing Group Connector is required between Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange
Server 2007 (created during setup).
Q: Which service should not be installed in Exchange Server 2007 installation?
SMTP and NNTP service should not be installed
Q: What are the Exchange Server editions available?
There are two types of Exchange Server 2007 editions available
1. Standard Edition
2. Enterprise Edition
Q: What is the difference between standard and Enterprise Edition?
Exchange 2007 functions
Standard Edition
Enterprise Edition
Number of Data Stores Supported
Q: What to do if exchange Server 5.5 in your organization in order to
upgrade to Exchange Server 2007?
You cannot upgrade an existing Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5 organization
to Exchange Server 2007. You must first migrate from the Exchange Server 5.5

organization to an Exchange Server 2003 or an Exchange 2000 Server organization.

Then you can transition the Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2000 organization to
Exchange 2007.
Q: What are the Planning Considerations of Mailbox Server Role?
The Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Mailbox server role hosts mailbox databases and provides
e-mail storage and advanced scheduling services for Microsoft Office Outlook users The
Mailbox server role can also host a public folder database, which provides a foundation for
workflow, document sharing, and other forms of collaboration
We have to perform a planning consideration on
* Sizing the database,
* Planning for public folder,
* Co hosting with other server roles and
* Planning for clustered Mailbox server
Q: What are the Planning considerations for Client Access Server Role?
The Client Access server role supports the Outlook Web Access, Outlook Anywhere, and
Exchange ActiveSync client applications, in addition to the POP3 and IMAP4 protocols. The
Client Access server role also hosts several key services, such as the Auto discover service and
Exchange Web Services.
In order to have better client access functionality we have to perform a Planning consideration
on Exchange Active Sync. Outlook web Access, outlook anywhere, POP3 and IMAP4 protocols
and also securing client access
Q: What are the Planning Considerations of Hub Transport Server Role?
Hub Transport server role is a required role in a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 organization
that provides routing within a single organizational network by using the Active Directory
directory service site. Hub Transport server role installed handles all mail flow inside the
organization, apply transport rules, apply journal rules, and deliver messages to recipients
mailboxes
We have to perform a Planning Consideration on
* Topology for mail flow inside and outside the Exchange organization
* Server capacity determine how to perform performance monitor
* Security includes delegation of administrative roles and verification that IP connections are
only enabled from authorized servers

* Transport Features determine the transport features that you will enable at the Hub Transport
server and how they will be configured
Q: What are the pre requisites to install Exchange Server 2007?
1. Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0
2. Microsoft ASP .Net
3. World Wide Web Service
4. MMC 3.0
5. Windows power shell
6. SMTP & NNTP service should not be installed
Q: What is the order to install Exchange Server 2007 Roles in a exchange Server 2003
organization?
1. Client Access Server Role
2. Hub Transport Server Role
3. Mailbox Server Role
4. Unified Messaging Server role
Q: What are the versions available in Exchange Server 2007?
There are two types of Exchange Server 2007 version release
64 bit for production environment
32 bit only for non-production environment
Q: What are the Operating system requirements to install Exchange Server 2007?
Exchange Server 2007 can be installed on
Windows Server 2003 SP2 64-bit,
Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 64-bit or
Windows Server 2008 64-bit
Q: What are the Active directory requirements to install Exchange Server 2007?
1. Domain functional level at least windows server 2000 native or higher
2. Schema Master must be run on windows 2003 server with sp1
3. At least one Domain Controller, in each domain with windows server 2003 sp1

4. At least one global catalog server in Active Directory Site which hosts exchange Server 2007
5. 4:1 ratio of Exchange processor to global catalog server processors
Q: What are the hardware requirements to install Exchange Server 2007?
* Processor 64 bit processor
* RAM 2 GB + 5 MB per Mailbox
* Disk Space At least 1.2 GB on the drive on which you install Exchange
* 200 MB of available disk space on the system drive
* File Format NTFS
Q: What are the Software requirements to install Exchange Server 2007?
Following are the software prerequisites to install Exchange Server 2007
1. Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0
2. IIS
3. WWW
4. MMC 3.0
5. Microsoft Windows Power Shell
Q: What is Transition in Exchange Server 2007?
Transition is the scenario in which you upgrade an existing Exchange organization to Microsoft
Exchange Server 2007. To perform the transition, you must move data from the existing
Exchange servers to new Exchange 2007 servers. For example, when upgrading from an
Exchange Server 2003 or Exchange 2000 Server organization to an Exchange 2007
organization, you perform a transition. When transitioning to Exchange 2007, you cannot
perform an in-place server upgrade on an existing Exchange server. Instead, you must install a
new Exchange 2007 server into the existing organization, and then move data to the new
Exchange 2007 server.
Q: What is Migration in Exchange Server 2007?
Migration is the scenario in which you upgrade to Exchange 2007 by migrating data from a nonExchange messaging system to Exchange 2007 or from an existing Exchange organization to a
completely new Exchange organization, without retaining any of the Exchange configuration
data in the first organization. For example, when merging with another company, you can
perform a migration. In this scenario, you move mailboxes and data to the other companys
Exchange organization, without retaining any of the configuration data from your existing
Exchange organization. Another example is when upgrading from Lotus Notes to Exchange

2007, you perform a migration. In this scenario, you must move mailboxes and data to the new
Exchange 2007 organization, without retaining any of the data from the Lotus Notes
organization.The migration process includes installing a completely new Exchange 2007
organization, and then migrating mailboxes from the old messaging system to the new
Exchange 2007 messaging system, using various tools for migration.
Q. Difference between .pst and .ost ?
Ans-In computing, a Personal Storage Table (.pst) is an open proprietary file format used to

store copies of messages, calendar events, and other items within Microsoft software such as
Microsoft Exchange Client, Windows Messaging, and Microsoft Outlook. The open format is
controlled by Microsoft who provide free specifications and free irrevocable technology
licensing.
The file format may also be known as a Personal Folder File or a Personal Address Book
(.pab). When functioning in its capacity as a cache for Outlook's Cached Exchange Mode
feature, it may be called an Off-line Storage Table (.ost) or an Off-line Folder File.
In Microsoft Exchange Server, the messages, the calendar, and other data items are delivered to
and stored on the server. Microsoft Outlook stores these items in a personal-storage-table (.pst)
or off-line-storage-table (.ost) files that are located on the local computer. Most commonly, the
.pst files are used to store archived items and the .ost files to maintain off-line availability of the
items. This is an essential feature of Microsoft Outlook.
The size of these files no longer counts against the size of the mailbox used; by moving files
from a server mailbox to .pst files, users can free storage space on their mailservers.[1] To use
the .pst files from another location the user needs to be able to access the files directly over a
network from his mail client. While it is possible to open and use a .pst file from over a network,
this is unsupported, and Microsoft advises against it, as .pst files are prone to corruption when
used in this manner.[2]
Both the .pst and .ost files use a fixed-block-based allocation scheme; the file is enlarged by a
fixed amount of bytes, and the file internally maintains information about the allocated and nonallocated blocks. So, when data files like email messages are added to a .pst file, its file size is
automatically adjusted by the mail client (if necessary). When mail is deleted from a .pst file, the
size of the .pst file will stay the same, marking the space as unallocated so that it will hold future
data items. Recently removed data items can actually be recovered from .pst and .ost files.

Explain

Exchange 2010 Interview Questions

the

Topology

changes

in

Exchange

servers?

In Exchange server 2003, we have one two server roles that is front end and back-end server
architecture
In Exchange server 2007, Exchange architecture changes and we have 5 key server roles that
depend on the functions it does. They are Edge Transport Server Role, Hub transport Server Role,
Client Access Server Role, Mailbox Server Role and Unified Messaging Server Role.
In Exchange Server 2010, there is no change in the topology, there is only changes in the key
architecture
component
in
the
Server
role
level
For
example
Client

Access
Storage
Introduction
of
Client

Server,
RPC
RPC

changes
access
Client
Access
connection

are
path
Service
changes

Transport
Server,
changes
are

Resiliency
issues
are
removed

Shadow
redundancy

Exchange
Storage
Engine
changes

Increase
in
DB
cache
size
and
check
point
depth

Edge
sync

Support
for
safe
sender
and
blocked
sender

Information
leakage
protection
and
control
Mailbox

DB
New

Server
Store

Role,
I/O

changes
schema
size

message
records
management
High
Availability
Introduction
of
Database
Availability
DAS
supportable
to
reduce
Large
mailbox
support
up
to
Support
for
Public

are
changes
improvements
features
changes
Group
cost
10
GB
Folders

1. What are the new features introduced in Exchange Server 2010 on overview perspective?
1.
Protection
and
compliance
2.
Anywhere
Access
3.
Flexible
and
reliable

2.

3.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Whats

Whats

Whats

Flexible

new

in
Email
Protect
Advanced
new

Manage
Enhanced

new

Protection

in

Collaborate

in
Continuous
Simplified
deployment
of

and

compliance?
Archiving
Communication
Security

anywhere

Access?
Overload
Mail
efficiently

Inbox
Voice

Flexibility

Exchange

and

reliability?
Availability
Administration
Server
2010

5.
Explain
the
E-Mail
Archiving
feature
in
Compliance?
We
can
set
email
retention
mail
policy
from
end
user
level
Message
expiration
We can search for individual or Multi user mailboxes from compliance officer perspective
6.
Exchange
the
protection
features
in
Exchange
Server
2010?
Hub
Transport
Server
provides
1. Automatically protect Messages with the centralized Rights Management Service
2.
Automatic
Content
Based
Protection
3.
Transport
rule
action
to
apply
template
to
E-Mail
or
Voice
Mail
4.
Support
for
scanning
of
attachment
5.
Internet
confidential
and
DO
NOT
Forward
E-Mail
Polices
6.
Information
Protection
Cross
PC,
Web
and
Mobile
devices
7.
What
are
the
Advanced
Security
features
in
Exchange
Server
2010?
Exchange server 2010 comes up with the advance security feature of stopping malicious software
and
spam
from
enter
into
the
message
environment
1. We can have Forefront Security to have this advance security, which has
2.
Multiple
scan
engines
throughout
the
corporate
infrastructure
3. Easy to use management console provides central configuration and operation
8.
Whats
New
in
Anywhere
Access?
Manage inbox overload using enhanced conversation view and filtering the messages
Mail Tips if no permission to send mail, popup will show mail tips to reduce NDRS
Can
access
Voice
Mailbox
with
features
like
1.
Audio
play
back
2.
Text
preview

3.
Quick
option
to
add
the
user
to
Auto attend we can manage auto attend,

contacts
and
phone
number
define personalized voice menu

9.
What
are
the
supportable
clients
for
Exchange
Server
2010?
Desktop

office
2007
and
entourage
MAC
WEB

OWA,
OFFICE
outlook
web
access,
IE,
Firefox
and
safari
Mobile office outlook mobile, windows mobile, and Exchange active sync for third partys
10.
What
are
the
outlook
features
now
introduced
to
mobile
devices?
1. Auto complete cache used email address in OWA in cache will be shared mobile
2. Conversation view if any change in messages on outlook that will be applied to Mobile
3.
Contact
to
see
the
availability
of
the
users
4.
Voice
Mail
Preview

see
voice
mail
5.
Send
and
receive
text
message
in
OWA
and
mobile
6.
Admin
can
control
which
mobile
devices
can
connect
7.
Downloadable
mobile
devices
11.
What
is
universal
Inbox
In
OWA?
Its provides a solution to have one E-Mail inbox for EMail, Text messages and Voice messages
Can
have
multiple
E-Mail
accounts
in
one
OWA
window
12.
What
is
federation?
Federation is new feature in Exchange server 2010 to share the company users calendars to the
partners.
A
trust
relationship
to
be
made
to
have
this
feature
13.
What
is
continuous
availability
feature
in
Exchange
Server
2010?
In Exchange Server 2007, we have server to server failover scenarios, and we need to use failover
clustering
to
configure
the
HA
options
which
is
very
difficult
to
manage
In Exchange Server 2010, HA modified to Database level which provides quick recoverability in disk
and database failures. We can have multiple database copies up to 16 mailbox copies in a database
availability group. Admin have replicate mailbox copies up to 16 replicated copies. Capabilities of
having
CCR
and
SCR
into
single
platform
14.
Continuous
availability
in
user
level?
If a mailbox move is happening, the users will be stay online and there wont be be any discontinuity
in
sending
or
receiving
mails
15.
Explain
the
administration
option
in
Exchange
Server
2010?
Exchange Server 2010 provides simplified administration by providing options like
1.
Compliance
office
can
easily
search
for
mailboxes
2.
HR
can
easily
update
the
user
information
3.
Help
desk
can
easily
manage
mailbox
quotas
4.
User
can
easily
track
the
status
of
the
message
easily

5.
6.

User
User

can

can

easily

modify

create

the

own

Distribution
contact

group
information

16.
What
are
the
storage
options
supported
in
Exchange
Server
2010?
Exchange Server 2010 can support the DAS and Also JBOD disks its because of the HA option
depends
only
on
the
Database
level
1.
Why
Archive?
1. Growing E-Mail Volume everyone wants to have more E-mail because of this the storage,
Backup
disk
should
be
increases
2.
Performance
and
storage
issue

increase
in
Storage
costs
3.
Mailbox
quota

users
are
forced
to
manage
quota
4. PSTs quota management often results in growing PSTs outlook Auto Archive
5. Discovery and Compliance issues PSTs difficult to discovery centrally, regulatory retention
schedules
contribute
to
further
volume/storage
issues
2.
How
Archiving
improved
in
Exchange
Server
2010?
Archiving improved by providing larger mailbox architecture, simple migration of PSTs back to server,
discovery
options,
retention
policies
and
legal
hold.
Large mailbox Architecture maintains performance and provides option for DAS-SATA storage to
reduce
costs
Archiving enables simple migration of PSTs back to server. If the archiving option sin enabled for a
user, a new Mailbox will be created to the user name archive in which the user can set retention
policies to move the mails to archive mailbox or the admin can set retention policies for the user
mailbox.
Archiving
simplifies
discovery,
retention
and
legal
hold
3.
What
are
the
archiving
options
introduced
in
Exchange
Server
2010?
1. Personal Archive secondary Mailbox Node, they are the PST files of primary Mailbox
2.
Retention
Policies

folder/item
level
and
archive/delete
policies
3. Multi-Mailbox search Role based GUI, admin can assign this permission to legal team
4. Legal Hold monitor or control a user from delete a mail by legal hold and searchable with Multi
Mailbox
Search
5. Journaling Journal de-duplication (unwanted journaling on distributed mails). One copy of
journal
per
database
and
6. Journal decryption HT role will do the decryption and send the decrypted copy for journaling
4.
What
is
personal
archive
in
Exchange
Server
2010
archiving?
It is a Secondary mailbox that is configured by the administrator, this appears along with users
primary mailbox in outlook or OWA, and the PST files can be dragged and dropped to personal
archive Mailbox. Mails in Primary mailbox can be moved automatically using Retention policies.
Archive
quota
can
be
set
separately
from
primary
mailbox

5. What are retention policies? And what we can do with retention policies in Exchange Server
2010?
Retention policy is an option to move/ delete certain mails by applying rules. We can set retention
policies at Item or Folder level. Policies can be applied directly within e-mail. We can set expiration
date stamped directly on e-mail. Policies can be applied to all email within a folder. We can configure
delete policy to delete the mail after certain period and Archive policies to move certain mails with
the
certain
period
to
archive
mailbox
6.
What
are
the
Retention
Policies
in
Exchange
Server
2010?
1. Move Policy automatically moves messages to the messages to the archive Mailbox with the
options of 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years and never 2 years is default. Move mailbox policies
helps keep mailbox under quota. This works like outlook Auto Archive without creating PSTs
2. Delete Policy automatically deletes messages. Delete policies are global. Removes unwanted
items
3. Move + Delete policy automatically moves messages to archive after X months and deletes from
archive after Y Months. We can set policy priority: Explicit policies over default policies; longer
policies
apply
over
shorted
policies
7.
What
is
Multi
Mailbox
Search?
This option delegated access to search to HR, compliance, legal manager. Administrator has to
provide access permission on to use this feature, this will provide an option to search all mail items
( email, IM contacts, calendar) across primary mailbox, archives. The filtering option in Multi Mailbox
search includes sender, receiver, expire policy, message size, send/receive date, cc/bcc, regular
expressions,
IRM
protected
Items
8.
What
are
E-Discovery
features?
Following are
the E-Discovery
features
introduced in Exchange Server
2010
1.
Search
specific
Mailboxes
or
DLS
2.
Export
search
results
to
a
mailbox
or
SMTP
Address
3.
Request
email
alert
when
search
completes
4.
Search
results
organized
by
per
original
hierarchy
Lot
more
will
be
added
in
the
original
release
9.
What
is
Legal
Hold
and
what
are
the
features
in
Legal
Hold?
New feature in Exchange Server 2010 to monitor or control a user from deleting a Mail or Mailbox,
the
features
available
in
Legal
Hold
are
1. Copy edited and deleted item this option is in Exchange server 2007 to hold the auto deleted
items
2.
Set
duration
for
auto
delete

indefinite
or
specify
time
period
3. Auto alert notification sends alerts to users that they are on hold, eliminates manual process
4. Search dumpster use Multi Mailbox search to retrieve deleted/edited items indexed in dumpster
folder

10. What is journaling and what are the journaling features in Exchange Server 2010?
Journaling is an option to track mails from particular user or from a group of users. The New
Features
in
Journaling
for
Exchange
server
2010
are
1. Transport Journaling ability to journal individual Mailboxes or SMTP address and also this gives
a
detailed
report
per
To/Cc//Bcc/Alt-Recipient
and
DL
expansion
2. Journal report de duplication reduces duplication of journal reports. Exchange server 2010
creates
one
report
per
message
11.
What
is
journal
decryption?
Journal decryption is a new feature in Exchange Server 2010, if a user sends an encrypted message
to recipient and if journaling was enabled for that user, then the Hub transport Server decrypts the
message and sends that decrypted message for journaling. The intended recipient will receive the
encrypted
message
12.
What
is
Set
Quota
in
Archive
management?
With Mailbox quota Management, we can assign mailbox size for a user. This option can be enabled
from the properties of the user account, and the default settings to Mailbox quota is 10 GB
1.
What
is
federated
sharing?
Federated Sharing allows easy sharing of availability information, calendar, and contacts with
recipients
in
external
federated
organizations
2.
1.
2.
3.
3.
4.

What

are

the
Free
Calendar

How

federated

6.
Explain
Establish

Install

shared
busy

in

and
Sharing
sharing

Explain

5.
What
Allow
users

Specific

User
Reduces

No
AD

options

works

the
are

contact

in

Exchange

operation
the

commands
in
trust
=
certificate

sharing?
information
sharing
policy

server

of

benefits
to
act
on
behalf
user
identified
by
not
prompted
explicit
trust
trusts,
service
to
cloud
Minimizes
certificate
Verifies
domain
the
federation
federation
signing

federated

2010?
federation?

of

federation?
of
specific
user
E-mail
address
for
credentials
management
accounts
to
manage
exchanges
ownership

Exchange
server
New-federation
on
CAS

2010?
Trust
servers


Exchange
certificate
with
Prove
domain
ownership
=
domainname.com

Create
DNS
Add
domain
to
trust
=
Add-federatedDomain

Must
be
7.
1.
2.
3.

How

federation
gateway
TXT
AppId
=
xxxxxxxx
TXT
record
set-federatedOrganizationIdentifier

IN

accepted

to
establish
federated
sharing
in
Create
trust
with
Prove
domain
Add

Exchange
certificate

domain
Server

2010?
exchange
ownership
domains

8.
What
is
Microsoft
Federation
Gateway?
Exchange Server 2010 uses Microsoft Federation Gateway (MFG), an identity service that runs in
the cloud, as the trust broker. Exchange organizations wanting to use Federation establish a
Federation Trust with MFG, allowing it to become a federation partner to the Exchange organization.
The trust allows users authenticated by Active Directory , known as the identity provider (IP), to be
issued Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) delegation tokens by MFG. The delegation
tokens allow users from one federated organization to be trusted by another federated organization.
With MFG acting as the trust broker, organizations are not required to establish multiple individual
trust relationships with other organizations. Users can access external resources using a single signon
(SSO)
experience
9.
What
is
Federation
Trust?
A Federation Trust is established between an Exchange organization and MFG by exchanging the
organizations certificate with MFG, and retrieving MFGs certificate and federation metadata. The
certificate
is
used
for
encrypting
tokens
10.
What
is
Sharing
Policy?
Sharing policies allow you to control how users in your organization can share calendar and contact
information with users outside the organization. To provision recipients to use a particular sharing
policy
Prerequisites
to
create
a
Sharing
Policy
A federation trust has been created between your Exchange 2010 organization and Microsoft
Federation
Gateway,
and
the
Federated
Organization
Identifier
is
configured.
Although you can create a sharing policy for any external domain, recipients from the specified
domain can access your users information only if they have a mailbox in an Exchange 2010
organization
and
their
domain
is
federated
Only
1.
2.

Questions
What
Why
RPC

is
Client

RPC
Access

Client
Service
in

:)
Access
Exchange
Server

Service?
2010?

3. How the client Access in Exchange Server 2010 changes by RPC Client Access Service?
4. How directory referral connection works in RPC Client Access Service?
5. What are the outlook Anywhere improvements using RPC Client Access Service?
6. What are the considerations for Client Access Server in Exchange Server 2010?
7. What is the resilience issue in Exchange Server 2007? How it is overcome in Exchange Server
2010?
8.
What
are
the
resilience
improvements
in
Exchange
Server
2010?
9.
How
does
shadow
Redundancy
works?
10. How Exchange Server 2010 supports the legacy exchange clients that not support shadow
redundancy?
11. What are the performance enhancements changes in Exchange Server 2010 Transport roles?
12.
Explain
the
Performance
Changes
in
Edge
Transport
Server
Role?
13. Explain the Architectural consideration for Exchange Server 2010 Transport Roles?
14.
What
are
the
issues
in
ESE
of
Exchange
Server
2007?
15.
How
the
issues
are
overcome
in
Exchange
Server
2010?
16. Explain the High Availability Changes in Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox server role?
17.
What
are
the
considerations
for
deploying
mailbox
server
roles?
18. Explain the Architectural consideration for Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox Server role?
19. Explain Public Folders in Exchange Server 2010?

-----------------------

Exchange General
1. What is the server roles in Exchange 2007?
2. What are the Exchange 2003 sever roles equivalents of the various Exchange
server 2007/2010 roles?

Exchange server 2003

Exchange server 2007/2010

Front End Server (SMTP Service)

HUB Transport Server

Front End Server

Client Access Server

Backend End Server

Mailbox Server
Edge Transport Server (NEW)

Unified Messaging

3. Name the system prerequisites for installing Exchange 2007?

4. Why doesnt we install Outlook on the same machine running
Exchange 2007/2010?
5. Where does Exchange store its configuration settings?
6. How do you prepare the AD for Exchange 2007?
7. How would you verify that the schema was in fact updated?
8. What are in the installation folder root setup.com and setup.exe.
Which would you use and when?
9. What is PowerShell in Exchange server and Name one major benefit of
PowerShell v2 over V1?

10. Whats the difference between the Enterprise and Standard editions of
Exchange in relation with the number and size of the stores on the server?

11. What is Cached Mode in Outlook 2007/2010?

12. What is S/MIME? What are the usage scenarios for S/MIME?
13. What are E-Discovery features?
14. In Exchange 2007, what are the minimum requirements for implementing a
high availability topology, in relation to the server roles and server numbers?

Exchange Recipient Level

1. What are the different Exchange Recipient types?
User mailbox:

This mailbox is created for an individual user to store mails,

calendar items, contacts, tasks, documents, and other business data.

Linked mailbox: This mailbox is created for an individual user in a separate, trusted forest.
For example AD account is created in A.COM and Mailbox is created in B.COM Exchange
Server.
Shared mailbox:

This mailbox is not primarily associated with a single user

and is generally configured to allow logon access for multiple users.

Legacy mailbox: This mailbox is resides on a server running Exchange Server 2003 or
Exchange 2000 Server.
Room mailbox:

This mailbox is created for a meeting location, such as a

meeting or conference room, auditorium, or training room. When we create

this mailbox, by default a disabled user object account is created.
Equipment mailbox: A resource mailbox is created for a non-location specific resource,
such as a portable computer projector, microphone, or a company car. When we create this
mailbox, by default a disabled user object account is created. Equipment mailboxes provide
a simple and efficient way for users to use resources in manageable way.

2. What is the difference between mail user and mail contact?

Mail user: This is an Active Directory user that represents e-mail address outside your
Exchange organization. Each mail user has an external e-mail address to which all messages
sent to the mail user are routed.
Mail contact: This is an Active Directory contact that contains e-mail address information
about people or organizations that exist outside your Exchange organization. Each mail
contact has an external e-mail address. All messages sent to the mail contact are routed to
this external e-mail address.

3. What is the difference between Distribution group and Dynamic Distribution

group?
Mail-enabled (Universal distribution group): This is an Active Directory distribution
group object that can be used only to distribute messages to a group of recipients.

Mail-enabled (Universal security group):A mail-enabled Active Directory

security group object that can be used to grant access permissions to
resources in Active Directory, and can also be used to distribute messages.
Mail-enabled (Non-universal group): This is an Active Directory global or local group
object. Mail-enabled non-universal groups are de-emphasized in Exchange 2007 and can
exist only if they were migrated from previous versions of Exchange. You cannot use

Exchange 2007 to create new non-universal distribution groups.

Dynamic distribution group: A distribution group that uses recipient filters and conditions
to derive its membership at the time messages are sent.

Exchange CAS Role

1. What is OWA?
OWA refer to Outlook Web Access in Exchange 2007 by you access your e-mail from any
Web browser. Outlook Web Access contains many new features such as meeting booking,
Microsoft SharePoint Services and Windows file share integration, and a rich user experience
from any computer that has a Web browser.

2. What is the Exchange ActiveSync?

Exchange ActiveSync is a feature which synchronize you email data between your mobile
device and Exchange server. Using Active sync you can synchronize e-mail, contacts,
calendar and tasks. Mobile devices running Windows Mobile software and Windows Mobile
5.0, are all supported.

3. What is Availability service

The Availability service provides free/busy information using secure, consistent, and up-todate free/busy data to users that are running Outlook 2007. Outlook 2007 uses the
Autodiscover service to obtain the URL of the Availability service.

4. What is Autodiscover service?

This service enables Outlook clients and some mobile devices to receive their necessary
profile settings directly from the Exchange server by using the clients Active Directory
domain credentials or users SMTP domain.

5. What is Outlook Anywhere and describe the method for enabling Outlook
Anywhere?

Outlook Anywhere feature (previously known as RPC over HTTP) provide a

facility to connect your Internet-based Microsoft Outlook clients to connect to
your Exchange Server 2007. This featureeliminates the need to use virtual private
networks (VPNs) if Exchange server 2003 with Sp1 and Exchange 2007.

Outlook Anywhere can be enabled by using the

Exchange Management Console
Open Exchange Management console tree > expand Server Configuration > then click Client
Access.
In the action pane, click Enable Outlook Anywhere.
Exchange Management Shell
Enable-OutlookAnywhere -Server: <ServerName> -ExternalHostName:
<ExternalHostName> -ClientAuthenticationMethod:Basic -IISAuthenticationMethods
<MultiValuedProperty> -SSLOffloading:$false
Requirement of Outlook anywhere

Install a valid Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate from a trusted certification authority
(CA).

Install the Windows RPC over HTTP Proxy component

6. What are the certificates can be installed on Exchange 2007 and Name a few
commercial CAs?
Wildcard Certificate: Exchange Server support certificates with wildcard names, such as
*.nakshatrait.com. This is an acceptable domain. Please make sure that some legacy clients
and mobile devices do not support wildcard names on a certificate.
SAN Certificate: This is the most widely used certificate type such as it has one common
name like webmail.nakshatrait.com and some additional domain name refer to Exchange
other services like Autodiscover.nakshatrait.com, pop.nakshatrait.com,
imap.nakshatrait.com.

7. How to Determine When to Use Certificates Issued by Public CAs and When to
Use Self-Signed Certificates?
Whenever your users are access Exchange components that require authentication and
encryption from outside your corporate firewall, it is time to deploy a certificate issued by a
public CA. Let users are accessing Exchange ActiveSync, POP3, IMAP4, and Outlook
Anywhere. so in this case you require a certificate that is issued by a public CA.
A self-signed certificate used by Exchange 2007 component that uses Kerberos, Direct Trust,
or NTLM authentication. These are all internal Exchange 2007 components, to the fact that
the data paths are between Exchange 2007 servers and within the corporate network that is
defined by Active Directory.

8. Named the Exchange 2007 components use certificates?

SMTP
EdgeSync synchronization

POP3 and IMAP4

Unified Messaging
Autodiscover
Client Access applications such as Outlook Anywhere, OWA, and Exchange ActiveSync

Exchange Server 2007/2010

interview questions and answers
Part 2
Posted on 07/11/2012

Dear All, this is the second part, I hope the below question bank will help you.
Click here for Part 1

Exchange Transport Role

1. Where does Exchange 2007 get its routing topology from?
Exchange 2007 uses the Active Directory site topology to determine how messages are
transported in the organization. The Hub Transport server uses the Active Directory Topology
service to retrieve the Exchange organizations configuration information. Unlike earlier
versions of Exchange, Exchange 2007 does not use a link state routing table and does not
try to calculate an alternative route when a connection is unavailable.
2. What is a Mail Relay? Name a few known mail relay software or hardware
options?
3. Whats a Smart Host? When would you configure and use it?
4. What is Send Connector?
Send Connector
5. What is Receive Connectors? Provide two default receive connector names?
Receive Connector: By default, when you install the Hub Transport server role, two Receive
connectors exist. No additional Receive connectors are needed. The default Receive
connectors do not require any additional configuration changes.

Default Receive connector:

(A) Client <Servername>: This Receive connector accepts SMTP connections from all nonMAPI clients, such as POP and IMAP. This connector work on port 587.
(B) Default <Servername>: This Receive connector accepts connections from Edge
Transport servers to receive messages from the Internet and from other Hub Transport
servers. This connector work on port 25
Whats the major issue blocking you from receiving e-mail from the world,
considering youve enabled the right port(s) on the firewall, and properly
configured MX records for your domain(s)?
6. Whats the difference between the Client and the Default Receive
Connectors?
Youre 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.
7. How to enable Anti-Spam features on the HT role and what is the
recommendation?
8. Where does Edge role store its settings?
Edge Transport server role installed doesnt have access to Active Directory. The Edge
Transport server stores all configuration and recipient information in ADAM. Because Active
Directory and ADAM both use Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), and because
both directory services use the Exchange 2007 schema, you can replicate data from Active
Directory to ADAM.
Types of Data Replicated to ADAM
A. Edge Subscription information
Provision and maintain the credentials to help secure the LDAP connection.
Arbitrate the synchronization lock and lease process.
Optimize the EdgeSync synchronization process
B. Configuration information
Hub Transport servers
Accepted domains
Message classifications
Remote domains
Send connectors
Internal SMTP servers
Domain Secure lists
C. Recipient information
Recipients

Proxy addresses
Safe Senders List and Safe Recipients List
Per recipient anti-spam settings
D. Topology information
Notification of newly subscribed Edge Transport servers. This data is refreshed every five
minutes.
9. How to enable high-availability and load balancing on Edge servers?
10. What is Edge subscription and process to enable Edge subscription?
Exchange 2007 Edge Transport server role is always deployed in organizations DMZ
(perimeter) network. Edge Transport server handles all Internet mail flow. It also provides
some additional protection and security provided by a series of agents running on the Edge
Transport server. These agents protect messages against viruses and spam and apply
transport rules to control message flow.
This is an optional process, subscribing an Edge Transport server provide anti-spam features,
recipient lookup or safelist, or secure SMTP communications.
Edge Subscription Process
A. Make sure that the Hub Transport servers and the Edge Transport server can resolve the
each other FQDNs by using DNS.
B. Run the New-EdgeSubscription cmdlet in the EMS on the Edge Transport server to export
the Edge Subscription file.
C. Copy the Edge Subscription file to a Hub Transport server.
D. Run the New-EdgeSubscription cmdlet in the EMS or EMC to import the Edge Subscription
file.
11. Whats the default replication interval for Edge sync and what is the step to
force replication?
When the Exchange Edge server starts, the Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync service starts and
establishes a synchronization schedule.
Configuration data is synchronized to ADAM once every hour.
Recipient data is synchronized to ADAM once every four hours.
You cannot modify the synchronization intervals.
Steps to Sync Edge sync replication
Use the EMS to immediately start synchronization of data from the Active Directory service
to the subscribed Edge Transport servers. Run the below command on the HB transport
server.
Start-EdgeSynchronization -Server <Hub Transport server name>

12. What ports required to open between the DMZ holding the Edge role and
internal network?
13. How to configure E-mal routing to be able to send e-mail externally (to the
Internet) and what do you need to do?
14. What are the default connectors created during the Exchange Edge
subscription?
When we do the EdgeSync synchronization process, it creates two send connector which
then replicated to ADAM.
A Send connector that is configured to relay e-mail messages from the Exchange
organization to the Internet.
Connector Name: EdgeSync <Site Name> to Internet
A Send connector that is configured to relay e-mail messages from the Edge
Transport server to the Exchange organization.
Connector Name: EdgeSync Inbound to <Site Name>
Nam
e

EdgeSync <Site Name> to

Internet

Addre
ss
Spac
e
SMTP:*;100

EdgeSync Inbound to <Site

Name>

SMTP:;1

Edge Subscription name

Edge Subscription name

Note:
Sourc
e
Serve
rs
Enabl
ed
DNS
Routi
ng
Enabl
ed
Doma
in
Secur
e
Enabl
ed
(Mutu

The name of the Edge

Subscription is the same as the
name of the subscribed Edge
Transport server.
TRUE

TRUE

TRUE

FALSE

TRUE

al
Auth
TLS)
15. What is Accepted Domains and difference?

Exchange Mailbox Role

What is OAB? OAB? When it is used and what are the OAB distribution options?

What is the GAL and when would you decide to create more than one GAL?
What are the major changes in the way Exchange 2007 stores work?
Whats 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?
Whats a Dial Tone recovery?
Describe the concept behind Log Shipping.
Whats the difference between LCR, CCR and SCR and SCC?
What are the high availability solutions introduced in Exchange Server 2010?
What id DAC and when it need to enable?
Whats the major difference in store high availability in Exchange 2007?
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 the major changes in the way Exchange 2010 stores work? Name some
of the changes in comparison with Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007.

Exchange Tools, Backup

1. What is Eseutil and Isinteg, Name a few scenarios for using both tools?
Eseutil
Isinteg
Scenario when you need there utilities.
When there is a logical corruption in database.
When you have enough free white space in Exchange database.
When your Exchange database disk going to full and need to free disk space.
For more details go to URL
2. What backup solutions are you familiar with in Exchange 2007/2010?
3. What built-in tool do you have to allow you to manage Exchange store
recoveries?

4. What the difference is between online and offline defrag?

5. What are streaming backups and VSS backups?
6. How would you backup Exchange 2007/2010 on a Windows Server 2008/R2
machine without using 3rd-party tools?
7. Whats a Brick-Level backup?
8. What is ROLA BASED ACCESS CONTROL?

Technical Interview Questions Exchange Server

2007/2010

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. Whats your next obvious step?

Youre 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 theyre
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?

Whats a Rollup Update? Whats 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).

Whats 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?

Whats 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.

Whats the major difference in store high availability in Exchange 2007?

Whats 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 clients location, and you see no Public Folders on any of the
Mailbox servers. How can that be?

You dont have any Public Folder, but now youve 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.

Whats the difference between LCR, CCR and SCR?

Whats SCC?

Youve 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?

Whats a Brick-Level backup?

What backup solutions are you familiar with in Exchange 2007/2010?

Whats 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?

Whats a Dial Tone recovery?

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

Whats 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?

Whats 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?

Whats a mailbox move request in Exchange 2010?

What is Online Mailbox Move in Exchange 2010?

Describe the issues youre facing when attempting to obtain a digital

certificate for Exchange 2007.

Whats 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.

Youve 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.

Youve 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?

Whats 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.

Whats 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, whats the major issue blocking you from receiving
e-mail from the world, considering youve enabled the right port(s) on the
firewall, and properly configured MX records for your domain(s)?

Whats the difference between the Client and the Default Receive
Connectors?

Youre 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.

Youre looking to enable Anti-Spam features on Exchange. Which role would

you use to do so?

Lets say youre wanting to use Anti-Spam features on the HT role. Youre
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?

Whats Edge synchronization?

Whats Edge subscription?

How do you enable Edge subscription?

Whats 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?

___________________

Release to manufacturing (RTM)[edit]

The term "release to manufacturing", also known as "going gold", is a term used when a software product is
ready to be delivered or provided to the customer. This build may be digitally signed, allowing the end user to
verify the integrity and authenticity of the software purchase. A copy of the RTM build known as the "gold
master" or GM is sent for mass duplication. RTM precedes general availability (GA), when the product is
released to the public.
It is typically used in certain retail mass-production software contextsas opposed to a specialized software
production or project in a commercial or government production and distributionwhere the software is sold as
part of a bundle in a related computer hardware sale and typically where the software and related hardware is
ultimately to be available and sold on mass/public basis at retail stores to indicate that the software has met a
defined quality level and is ready for mass retail distribution. RTM could also mean in other contexts that the
software has been delivered or released to a client or customer for installation or distribution to the related
hardware end user computers or machines. The term does not define the delivery mechanism or volume; it
only states that the quality is sufficient for mass distribution. The deliverable from the engineering organization
is frequently in the form of a golden master media used for duplication or to produce the image for the web.