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

Server role is a logical concept used to organize Exchange 2007 services and features across one or more servers. While Exchange 2003 provided primitive server roles called BackEnd server and FrontEnd server, Exchange 2007 has more granular divisions. More flexible deployment topology: For a small or medium company that has only hundreds of mailboxes and all users are centralized, customer can install all required roles on one physical server. For a large enterprise where tens of thousands of mailboxes span multiple physical locations, customer can choose to deploy each role on a separate server or even multiple servers per role to provide better performance and fault tolerance. Better hardware utilization and scalability: Because each role only installs binaries and runs services for a specific feature set. Unlike older versions of Exchange, configuring a server that has only one or two roles will reduce Memory, CPU and disk space requirements for this server. In addition, roles are scalable so admin can load balance work of one role to multiple servers. Easy to maintain: Upgrading, applying hotfix, or other server changes that could cause server outage can be isolated to one server role. This reduces maintenance down time and end user impact. Admin can also install or uninstall roles on a server as needed. 2. What are the Exchange 2003 equivalents of the various Exchange 2007/2010 roles? Exchange 2007 Edge Transport Hub Transport Client Access Mailbox Unified Messaging 3. Name the system prerequisites for installing Exchange 2007/2010 in your existing Active Directory forest. 1- General Prerequisites: Make sure that the functional level of your forest is at least Windows Server 2003, and that the Schema Master is running Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 or later.The full installation option of Windows Server 2008 SP2-64bit or Windows Server 2008 R2-64bit must be used for all servers running Exchange 2010 server roles.Both Windows Server 2008 SP2-64bit or Windows Server 2008 R2-64bit Standard & Enterprise are supported and we can use them to install Exchang e 2010.DNS must configure correctly in your Active Directory forest. All servers that run Exchange Server 2010 must be able to locate Active Directory domain controllers, global catalog servers, and other Exchange servers.For all server roles other than the Edge Transport server role, you must first join the computer to the appropriate internal Active Directory forest and domain. Operating System Components Prerequisites: a. Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1),Windows Remote Management (WinRM) 2.0Windows PowerShell V2IIS 7, ASP.NET. 4. 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? Bridgehead server Front-End server Back End server Exchange 2003

Install an intermediary Exchange 2003 server. Then move mailboxes from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003 using Exchange 2003's toolset, and then move from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010 using its toolset. 5. You're looking to install Exchange 2007/2010 and Outlook on the same machine. Should you do that? Why?We need Exchange 2007/2010 32bit and Outlook 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Outlook 2007 installed on same machine to export mailbox data to a .pst file. 6. Where does Exchange store its configuration settings? At Active Directory configuration partition 7. How do you prepare the AD for Exchange 2007/2010? Name 2 methods. As with Exchange 2000 and 2003, the forest and domain needs to be prepared with schema extensions. However, unlike the previous versions, Active Directory does not need to be prepped beforehand, it is done automatically during setup, but the option does exist to allow for manual schema upgrades. During the setup process the server will connect to the Schema Master in an effort to update the schema and this requires that the Schema Master is available and that the account you are running setup with has permissions to modify the schema. If you wish to prep the domain manually, you can do so with the /PrepareAD switch on any server in the same domain that the Schema Master is in but it is recommended to do this on the Schema Master. Once you have completed this, you will have to wait for the schema updates to replicate throughout the forest before you install any additional Exchange 2007 servers in the organization. Preparing Active Directory manually offers more options than before and there maybe more commands for you to run, depending on your current environment. If you are currently running any Exchange 2000 or 2003 server the first command you must run is Setup.com /PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions The next command will prepare the schema, and this means the account you run this command from, must be a member of the Schema Admins group as well as the Exchange Admins group. Setup.com /PrepareSchema The third command that you need to run preps the current domain, adds the Exc hange Universal Security Groups and configures the Exchange objects with AD. The command Setup.com /PrepareAD The final step is optional and is only required to run if you have multiple domains within the forest. This command configures the other domain, or domains, in the forest. It does not need to be run on the domain that you run /PrepareAD in, but any additional domains will need this command run. You have three command line options with this command. Setup.com /PrepareDomain Prepares the current domain Setup.com /PrepareDomain:FQDN of target domain to be prepped Setup.com /PrepareAllDomains Prepares all domains in the forest. 8. What permissions do you need to prepare the AD for Exchange 2007/2010? Setup.com /PrepareAD This command requires different permissions, depending on your current configuration. You need to run this with Enterprise Admin privileges, and if you have any Exchange 2003 servers within your current organization, you need to be a member of the Exchange Organization Administrators group. 9. In the installation folder root you see setup.com and setup.exe. Which would you use and when? Setup.com is used for all preparation work; basically it calls different backend procedures. Setup.com is also used in disaster recovery to reinstall all ex2k7 roles. Setup.exe is used for GIU installation. 10. How would you easily install all the Windows Server 2008/R2 roles and features required for Exchange 2007/2010? Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 allows us to install all Operating System prerequisites using just the Exchange Setup wizard. When we use the Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Setup wizard, there is a

new option called Automatically install Windows Server roles and features required for Exchange Server. Just by clicking on that option will be installed all prerequisites automatically. 11. How would you check your Exchange configuration settings to see if they're right? Run Microsoft Exchange Best Practices Analyzer tool. 12. What's New in Exchange Server 2007 SP1 You can install Exchange 2007 SP1 on a computer that is running the Windows Server 2008 operating system,Improvement in Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA),Recover Deleted Items,Local Distribution List,S/MIME feature,PublicFolder,Rules,Monthlyview,New themes 13. What's New in Exchange Server 2007 SP2 You can deploy Exchange Server 2010 in your organization once all of the Client Access servers in your organization have been upgraded to Exchange Server 2007 Service Pac 2 (SP2). k Exchange 2007 Service Pack 2 includes a VSS plug-in for Windows Server Backup to support Exchange backups. Once SP2 is installed, you can use Windows Server Backup to back up and restore your Exchange 2007 SP2 databases. New Exchange auditing events and audit log repository enable Exchange administrators to more easily audit the activities occurring on their Exchange servers. 14. What's New in Exchange Server 2007 SP3 Windows Server 2008 R2 Support Exchange Server 2007 SP3 supports all Exchange 2007 roles on the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. Windows 7 Support Exchange 2007 SP3 supports the installation of the Exchange 2007 management tools on a computer that is running Windows 7. Additionally, Exchange 2007 SP3 provides support for the installation of the Exchange 2007 Management Tools together with the Exchange Server 2010 Management Tools on the same Windows 7-based computer. Improved Password Reset Functionality Exchange 2007 SP3 introduces password reset functionality for Internet Inform ation Services (IIS) 7. Updated Search Functionality Exchange 2007 SP3 includes updates to the Exchange Search (MSSearch) component. Support for Right-to-Left Disclaimer Text Exchange 2007 SP3 includes support for Right-to-Left text in e-mail message disclaimers in a right-toleft language, such as Arabic. 15. Looking to install Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008. What SP version do you need? And for R2?

Exchange Server 2007 SP1 required for installation on Windows Server 2008 and Exchange Server 2007 SP3 required for Windows Server 2008 R2 16. What's a Rollup Update? What's the latest RU for Exchange 2007/2010? An update rollup is a tested, cumulative set of hotfixes, security updates, critical updates, and updates that are packaged together for easy deployment. A rollup generally targets a specific area, such as security, or a component of a product. 17. How can you easily integrate a RU in the Exchange 2007/2010 installation media? The Exchange installation folder includes an Updates folder. When you perform a new Exchange installation, you can copy an update rollup to the Updates folder. In this scenario, the update rollup package is applied during the installation of Exchange. The Updates folder supports only new installation of Exchange server. 18. Name a few reasons for using 64-bit hardware and OS version for Exchange
2007/2010. 64-bit hardware provides the system architecture that is required to support the increased memory,

storage, and enhanced security requirements in a more cost-effective manner. Trends indicate that demands on messaging systems will continue to grow and 64-bit servers provide the system architecture to meet these demands while reducing costs within organizations through server and disk storage consolidations. With a larger addressable space, the Exchange servers can utilize more memory thereby reducing the required input/output per user (IOPS), enabling the use of larger disks as well as low cost storage such as SATA2 drives. 19. Exchange 2007 came in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Name a couple of reasons for ever needing the 32 -bit version. 64-bit hardware provides the system architecture that is required to support the increased memory, storage, and enhanced security requirements in a more cost-effective manner. Trends indicate that demands on messaging systems will continue to grow and 64-bit servers provide the system architecture to meet these demands while reducing costs within organizations through server and disk storage consolidations. With a larger addressable space, the Exchange servers can utilize more memory thereby reducing the required input/output per user (IOPS), enabling the use of larger disks as well as low cost storage such as SATA2 drives. 20. What's PowerShell and why do we care?

Windows PowerShell is a task-based command-line shell and scripting language designed especially for system administration. Built on the .NET Framework, Windows PowerShell helps IT professionals and power users control and automate the administration of the Windows operating system and applications that run on Windows. Built-in Windows PowerShell commands, called cmdlets, let you manage the computers in your enterprise from the command line. The Exchange Management Shell, built on Windows PowerShell technology, provides a powerful command-line interface for Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 that enables automation of administrative tasks. With the Shell, you can manage every aspect of Exchange. You can enable new e-mail accounts, configure SMTP connectors, store database properties, store transport agents, and more. The Shell can perform every task that can be performed by the Exchange Management Console and the Exchange Web interface in addition to tasks that can't be performed in those interfaces. In fact, when a task is performed in the console and the Web interface, those interfaces use the Shell to perform the task.
21. What are the different Exchange Recipient types?

Recipient type Dynamic distribution

Description A distribution group that uses recipient filters and conditions to

group

derive its membership at the time messages are sent. A resource mailbox that's assigned to a non-location specific resource, such as a portable computer projector, microphone, or a company car. Equipment mailboxes can be included as resources in meeting requests, providing a simple and efficient way of utilizing resources for your users. A mailbox that resides on a server running Exchange Server 2003. A mailbox that's assigned to an individual user in a separate, trusted forest. A mail-enabled Active Directory contact that contains information about people or organizations that exist outside the 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. A mail contact that represents a recipient object from another forest. Mail forest contacts are typically created by Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS) synchronization.

Equipment mailbox

Legacy mailbox Linked mailbox

Mail contact

Mail contact

forest

Important: Mail forest contacts are read-only recipient objects that are updated only through MIIS or similar custom synchronization. You can't use the EMC or the Shell to remove or modify a mail forest contact. A mail-enabled Active Directory user that represents a user outside the Exchange organization. Each mail user has an external e -mail address. All messages sent to the mail user are routed to this external e-mail address. A mail user is similar to a mail contact, except that a mail user has Active Directory logon credentials and can access resources.

Mail user

Mail-enabled non-universal group Mail-enabled public folder Mail-enabled universal distribution group Mail-enabled universal

A mail-enabled Active Directory global or local group object. Mailenabled non-universal groups were discontinued in Exchange Server 2007 and can exist only if they were migrated from Exchange 2003 or earlier versions of Exchange. You can't use Exchange 2010 to create non-universal distribution groups. An Exchange public folder that's configured to receive messages.

A mail-enabled Active Directory distribution group object that can be used only to distribute messages to a group of recipients. A mail-enabled Active Directory security group object that can be used to grant access permissions to resources in Active Directory

security group Microsoft Exchange recipient

and can also be used to distribute messages. A special recipient object that provides a unified and well-known message sender that differentiates system-generated messages from other messages. It replaces the System Administrator sender used for system-generated messages in earlier versions of Exchange. A resource mailbox that's assigned to a meeting location, such as a conference room, auditorium, or training room. Room mailboxes can be included as resources in meeting requests, providing a simple and efficient way of organizing meetings for your users. A mailbox that's not primarily associated with a single user and is generally configured to allow logon access for multiple users. A mailbox that's assigned to an individual user in your Exchange organization. It typically contains messages, calendar items, contacts, tasks, documents, and other important business data. New in Exchange 2010, a linked user is a user that resides in one forest while their mailbox resides in another forest.

Room mailbox

Shared mailbox

User mailbox

Linked user

22. What are resource mailboxes? When would you use them?

A dynamic distribution group is a collection of mailbox users, other distribution groups, mail -enabled users, and mail-enabled contacts. Unlike regular distribution groups that contain a defined set of members, the membership list for dynamic distribution groups is calculated based on the filters and conditions that you define. When an e mail message is sent to a dynamic distribution group, it is delivered to all recipients in the organization that match the criteria defined for that dynamic distribution group. 24. What type of groups would you use when configuring distribution groups in a multiple domain forest? Use Universal distribution groups in a multiple-domain environment. The membership of universal distribution groups is replicated to each global catalog server in each domain. 25. Describe the differences in the permission model between Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2010. Exchange 2003 Security and Permissions Model

Organizations had a need to make bookings for meeting rooms or equipment. The system should enable organizers to reliably find and book an available resource in one attempt and later confirm the reservation while minimizing attendee confusion. This is accomplished in Exchange Server 2007 with the help of resource mailbox functionality Exchange Server 2007 introduced two types of resource mailbox: Room Mailbox These are intended for locations such as meeting rooms and training rooms. Room mailboxes can be included as resources in meeting requests, providing a simple and efficient way of organizing meetings for your users. Equipment Mailbox These are intended for items such as pool cars, video projectors, or any other shared portable item. Equipment mailboxes can be included as resources in meeting requests, providing a simple and efficient way of utilizing resources for your users. 23. What are Dynamic Distribution groups?

To help simplify management of permissions, Exchange Server 2003 provided predefined security roles that were available in the Exchange 2003 Administrative Delegation Wizard. These roles were a collection of standardized permissions that could be applied at either the organization or the administrative group level. In Exchange 2003, the following security roles were available through the Delegation Wizard in Exchange System Manager: Exchange Full Administrator

Exchange Administrator Exchange View Only Administrator This model had the following limitations: A lack of specificity. The Exchange Administrator group was too large, and some customers wanted to manage their security and permissions model at the individual server-level. A perception that the Exchange Server 2003 security roles only differed in subtle ways. There was no clear separation between administration of users and groups by the Windows (Active Directory) administrators and Exchange recipient administrators. For example, to perform Exchange recipient related tasks, you had to grant Exchange administrators high level permissions (Account Operator permissions on Windows domains). Exchange 2007 Security and Permissions Model To improve the management of your Exchange administrator roles, which were called "security groups" in Exchange 2003, the following new or improved features have been made to the Exchange security and permissions model: New administrator roles that is similar to the built-in Windows Server security groups. You can use the Exchange Management Console (formerly Exchange System Manager) and the Exchange Management Shell to view, add, and remove members from any administrator role. 26. What are the major changes in the way Exchange 2007 stores work? Exchange Server 2007 is still based on a more or less unchanged Extensible Storage Engine (ESE). As most of you are aware, ESE relied on two databases files, an .EDB and a .STM file. The purpose of the streaming file (.STM) was to house raw Internet content message streams as defined in Request for Comments (RFC 822). Since the .EDB file isn t very suitable for storing raw Internet content message streams, the idea of introducing the .STM file was understandable, but with Exchange Server 2007 the .STM file has been removed together with the Exchange Installable File System (ExIFS). The reason behind this decision was in order to reduce the overall I/O footprint for Exchange Server 2007. However, unlike previous versions of Exchange, Exchange Server 2007 no longer maintains singleinstance storage of message bodies, only for attachments. There is one exception to this rule and that is when a set of mailboxes has been moved from Exchange 2000 or 2003 Mailbox store to an Exchange 2007 Mailbox database during a transition. In this situation Exchange 2007 maintains single-instance storage for both attachments as well as message bodies Another change in Exchange Server 2007 is that the transaction log files are now 1MB instead of 5MB as was the case in previous versions of Exchange. Another improvement worth mentioning is that the log file sequence numbers now can go above 1 million. As some of you might be aware previous versions of Exchange had a limit of 1 million, so if a database had been running long enough to generate a million logs, you had to shut it down and start over from log #1 ("reset the log sequence"). This would happen every few years for most databases. With the smaller log sizes and the increasing amount of messages passing through most databases, the Exchange Product group decided 2 billion log files (per storage group!) would be a better maximum log number. 27. What is the GAL?
The Global Address List (GAL) also known as Microsoft Exchange Global Address Book is a directory service within the Microsoft Exchange email system. The GAL contains information for all email users, distribution groups, and Exchange resources

28. What is the OAB? When is it used? An Offline Address Book is a container that stores a collection of Offline Address Lists. Outlook users can choose which offline address lists they want to download. Users who work offline connect to Exchange Server computers and download Offline Address Lists to obtain information about other users in their organization. When an Administrator creates an Offline Address Book, the address list will be converted to a separate set of files and stored in an Exchange Public Folder. Offline Address Books typically contain

at least one address list that represents the global address list (GAL). Users who are working offline with their Outlook clients can use this global address while they are on the road. 29. You are at a client's location, and you see no Public Folders on any of the Mailbox servers. How
can that be?

When you installed Exchange 2007, you may answer " No " to the question: " Do you have any client computers running Outlook 2003 and earlier or Entourage in your organization? " This eliminate of the creation of Public Folder store and the connection from this Public Folder store to the mailbox store. 30. 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? SYMPTOMS

Earlier Outlook clients (Earlier then Outlook 2007) cant c onnect to Exchange 2007 Server

RESOLUTION

Create a new public folder store. Connect the new public folder store to exiting mailbox store that host users mailboxes. Use "Configure Offline Address Book (OAB) Distribution for Outlook 2003 and earlier clients" wizard in Exchange 2007 Console, to enable Offline Address Book (OAB) Distribution for Outlook 2003 and earlier clients. 31. Describe the concept behind Log Shipping. Log shipping is a process of backing up database and transaction log files on a production E xchange Server and then restoring them on a standby server. Log shipping is a form of continuous backup because it automatically copies transaction logs throughout the day and automatically restores them on the standby server. In the event an Exchange server fails, the standby database files are ready for recovery, and contain the most recent transaction data from the last log file shipped. This is a major improvement over the previous standard of the once-a-day backup. In addition to improving Exchange data protection, log shipping has several other important benefits. Log shipping does not require expensive hardware or software. Your choice for standby server need not be similar in capacity to your production server and you can use the standby server for other tasks, helping to justify the standby server cost. Implementing log shipping is not difficult and once it is up and running, very little maintenance is required. Depending on how you design your log shipping, should you need to failover, very little, if any data is lost. Compared to third-party disaster recovery products that attempt to protect Exchange data with byte-level changes, log shipping is relatively inexpensive and easy to maintain. 32. What's the difference between LCR, CCR and SCR?
The following tables list the difference between LCR, CCR and SCC in Exchange 2007.

LCR Failure planned downtime one node Database corruption or of No protection

CCR

SCC

Protected

Protected

Probable protected if database corruption is not replicated to the copy

Probable protected if database corruption is No protection not replicated to the copy

Protected if second copy Failed local is on a different storage Protected storage system system Probable protected if Failed disk second copy is on a subsystem different storage system

Protected if the failure is isolated to one node No protection

Protected

Data failure

center

No protection

Probable protected if the second node is located in a second No protection datacenter and the file share witness is accessible by it Yes Yes

Utilizes Windows clustering

No

Can use low cost storage Yes systems Storage requirements Backup databases without impacting server Double

Yes

No

Double

Single

Partial if the second copy is located on a different storage system the impact Yes will be less. With CCR the primary server is not affected at all.

No

LCR Support only one target passive copy Can backup LCR Copy Log shipping is Continuous and uses a PULL model Does no use Windows Clustering Double requirements Storage

CCR Support only one target passive copy Can backup CCR copy Log shipping is Continuous and uses a PULL model Uses Windows Clustering Double requirements Storage

SCR Supports multiple targets per storage groups Cannot backup SCR copy Log shipping is Continuous and uses a PULL model Uses Windows Clustering Single requirements Storage

SCR is similar to LCR and CCR, but it has unique characteristics of its own: SCR supports multiple replication targets per storage group. LCR and CCR support only one replication target per storage group (the passive copy). SCR includes a built-in delay for replay activity, and it enables an administrator to specify an additional delay. This is useful in a variety of scenarios. For example, in the event of logical corruption of an active database, the built-in and additional administrator-configured delay could be used to prevent logical corruption of an SCR target database. LCR and CCR have no such delays. SCR is completely managed using the Exchange Management Shell. The Exchange Management Console can be used to manage many aspects of LCR and CCR, but it cannot be used to enable or manage any aspects of SCR. 33. What's SCC? A single copy cluster (SCC) is a clustered mailbox server that uses shared storage in a failover cluster configuration to allow multiple servers to manage a single copy of the storage groups. This feature is similar to the clustering features in previous versions of Microsoft Exchange. However, there are some significant changes and improvements that have been made. The way in which you build, manage, and troubleshoot an SCC is completely different from the way in which previous versions of Exchange clusters were built and managed. In addition, the out-of-box failover behavior has changed significantly in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. SCCs require the use of a shared-nothing architecture, which includes shared disk storage. In a shared-nothing architecture, although all nodes in the cluster can access shared data, theycannot access it at the same time. For example, if a physical disk resource is assigned to node 1 of a twonode cluster, node 2 cannot access the disk resource until node 1 is taken offline, fails, or the disk resource is moved to node 2 manually. In an SCC, an Exchange 2007 Mailbox server uses its own network identity, not the identity of any node in the cluster. This network identity is referred to as a clustered mailbox server. If the node running a clustered mailbox server experiences problems, the clustered mailbox server goes offline for a brief period until another node takes control of the clustered mailbox server and brings it online. This process is known as failover. The storage hosting the clustered mailbox server's storage groups and databases is hosted on shared storage that is available to each possible host node of the clustered mailbox server. As the failover occurs, the storage associated with the clustered mailbox server is logically detected from the failed node and placed under the control of the new host node of the clustered mailbox server. In addition to failover, an administrator can manually move a clustered mailbox server between nodes in a cluster. This process is known as a handoff . A handoff should only be performed using the Move-ClusteredMailboxServer cmdlet in the Exchange Management Shell, or, if running Exchange 2007 SP1, by using the Manage Clustered Mailbox Server wizard in the Exchange Management Console. 34. What are streaming backups? Streaming backup is a backup method where copies of all desired database files and the necessary log files are made during the backup process. File copies may be saved directly to tape or can be made to any other storage device. No quiescing of activity of any kind is required with streamed backups. Both the database and log files are check summed to ensure that no data corruptions exist within the data set during the backup process. Streaming backups may also be incremental backups. Incremental backups are ones in which only the log files are copied and which can be restored along with a previous full backup to bring all databases to a recent state. Streaming backup functions on Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) application programming interfaces (API). The streaming backup technology is used by Microsoft Windows Server Backup as well as many third-party products. This technology has been available in all previous versions of Exchange and has a mature feature set.

35. What are VSS backups? The Volume Shadow Copy Service provides the backup infrastructure for the Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating systems, as well as a mechanism for creating consistent point-in-time copies of data known as shadow copies. The Volume Shadow Copy Service feature in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 can be used to create applications that backup and restore Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Solutions based on VSS infrastructure can use the shadow copies to backup and restore one or more Exchange Server 2007 databases. VSS coordinates communication between VSS Requestors (for example, backup applications), VSS Writers (for example, the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007), and VSS Providers (system, software, or hardware components that create the shadow copies). To use VSS to backup Exchange Server 2007, the backup application must include an Exchange Server 2007-aware VSS requestor.