Exchange Server 2010 part1: features and Prerequisites

In this series of posts I’ll talk about installing Exchange Server 2010 on Windows Server 2008 R2 and how to migrate mailboxes from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010.

My lab will consist of the following servers:

Windows Server 2003 R2/SP2 Domain Controller with Exchange 2003/SP2 installed on the same box. Note that it is not recommended to have Exchange and Domain Controller on the same server but we are doing this for our test lab (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997407(EXCHG.80).aspx). Additional Windows Server 2008 Domain Controller. One HUB/Client Access server roles installed on Windows Server 2008 R2. One Mailbox Server installed on Windows Server 2008 R2.



 

What is new in Exchange 2010

Database Availability Group (DAG): This is the key feature in Exchange 2010 besides Incremental Deployment. DAG is a group of up to 16 Mailbox servers that host a set of databases and provide automatic database-level recovery from failures that affect individual servers or databases. Any server in a DAG can host a copy of a mailbox database from any other server in the DAG. Incremental deployment: In Exchange 2010, the cost and complexity of deploying and providing a high available site have been reduced. You don’t have to install Failover-Clustering as a pre-requisite to Exchange 2010. If you decide to use  DAG, you simply create one, and then add Mailbox servers to it. When you add a Mailbox server to a DAG, the Windows failover clustering feature will be automatically installed and a cluster will be created. Outlook Web Access (OWA) now supports Multiple browsers. If you are using Firefox or Safari, then you can use OWA as if you are using Internet Explorer.

And a lot of other features that I’ll talk about in other posts.

Installing Exchange 2010 prerequisites

Let’s start our lab. First of all we will install Exchange 2010 prerequisites.

• Microsoft Filter Pack: for the server that will host Mailbox or Hub Transport roles. Exchange Search uses IFilters to index text content in different file formats. Microsoft Filter Pack includes filters for Microsoft Office 2007 file formats. The following file name extensions are supported by the filter pack: .docm, .docx, .one, .pptm, .pptx, .vdx, .vsd, .vss, .vst, .vsx, .vtx, .xlsb, .xlsm, .xlsx, .zip. Visit 2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack

• Open an elevated PowerShell Console and run the command:

Import-Module ServerManager

• In the same PowerShell console run the command :

Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-Digest-Auth,Web-Dyn-Compression,NET-HTTP-Activation,RPC-Over-HTTP-Proxy –Restart

• Because we will install Client Access Server role, after the system has restarted, log on as an administrator, open an elevated PowerShell console, and configure the Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service for Automatic startup by running the following command:

Set-Service NetTcpPortSharing -StartupType Automatic

• Finally, make sure to always keep you servers updated.

References

- Exchange 2010 Prerequisites (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354.aspx)
- Register Filter Pack IFilters with Exchange 2010 (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee732397.aspx)
- This Exchange server is also a domain controller, which is not a recommended configuration (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997407(EXCHG.80).aspx)