Exchange & Outlook UPDATE, Exchange Edition, July 24, 2003

1. Commentary

- Exchange 2003: New Setup Features

2. Announcements

- New--Test-Drive Our Performance Portal!

- Exchange 2003: Do You Plan to Migrate or Wait?

3. Resources

- How to Upgrade Windows 2000 Domain Controllers to Windows Server 2003

- Featured Thread: Delaying Sent Email

- Outlook Tip: Synchronizing Nondefault Folders

4. Events

- New--Mobile & Wireless Road Show!

5. New and Improved

- Remotely Control Fax, Voicemail, and Email Messages

- Submit Top Product Ideas

6. Contact Us

- See this section for a list of ways to contact us.

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==== 1. Commentary: Exchange 2003: New Setup Features ==== by Paul Robichaux, News Editor, [email protected]

Last week I wrote about some of Exchange Server 2003's new features for using and managing distribution groups. Perhaps I should have started at the beginning, with the new features and options for installing Exchange 2003. Whether you're migrating from Exchange Server 5.5, migrating from Exchange 2000 Server, or performing a clean installation, these new features and functionality will make your migration or setup experience work more smoothly.

For those migrating from Exchange 5.5, the biggest change is the inclusion of the new exdeploy.chm file. "What's so great about a Help file?" you ask. Plenty, in this case: Exdeploy.chm is a master checklist that you can use to plan and execute your migration. The checklist tells you which steps to take and in what order, leading you through the complex process of migrating from Exchange 5.5. Most of the steps are the same as those required to migrate from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000, but the file also includes instructions for running existing but lesser-known tools such as Dsadiag and Netdiag. You don't need to use exdeploy.chm; you can dive right into your migration by running Exchange 2003 Setup. However, Microsoft spent a lot of time talking with customers to find out how to streamline the migration process, and exdeploy.chm's instructions reflect that feedback. Many of the diagnostic steps are useful when you migrate from Exchange 2000, but they're most useful when you're migrating from Exchange 5.5. If you already run Exchange 2000, your Active Directory (AD) and DNS configurations probably work properly already.

Another change is in Exchange 2003 Setup's permission requirements. To install new Exchange 2000 servers, you need Exchange Full Administrator permissions on the Exchange organization. If you want to delegate installation tasks, you find yourself in an unhappy conundrum: Either grant Exchange Full Administrator rights on the organization to all the administrators in an administrative group (thus giving the members of that group more privileges than they need to do the job), or shanghai someone with Exchange Full Administrator privileges every time a server needs to be installed or reinstalled. Thankfully, Exchange 2003 breaks this deadlock for most installations. With the exception of the first server in the organization and in each domain, you can now install or reinstall Exchange 2003 into an administrative group using an account that has Exchange Full Administrator on that group only.

I vividly remember a nightmare from a couple of years ago: I was trying to simultaneously install 105 Exchange servers, and the installation kept dying because various instances of Exchange Setup were making competing changes to AD. Setup's new /choosedc switch solves this type of problem. You can use this switch to specify the name of the DC you want the Exchange installation to use, thus forcing multiple installations to use the same DC. Forcing all the Exchange-related changes to take place on one DC reduces the chance of collisions when the installation process makes multiple changes to the Exchange Domain Servers object in AD.

One other change worth mentioning: Every time you install an Exchange 2000 server, Setup resets the permissions on the Exchange organization object to their default values. This behavior is a huge hassle if you've changed those default permissions (a common occurrence as doing so is one of the best available security measures). Exchange 2003 does away with this deficiency by resetting permissions when the first Exchange 2003 server is installed or upgraded but leaving the permissions alone during subsequent installations.

Other changes include a host of new (and better) Setup behaviors and some modifications to the /forestprep and /domainprep switches; I'll discuss those changes in more detail next week. In the meantime, you can visit Microsoft's Exchange Server site (at the first URL below) and run a search for "setup" to read more about how these improvements can help you with your next deployment. Or read Kieran McCorry's Exchange and Outlook Administrator article "Exchange 2003 Deployment Fundamentals," which will be available for a limited period at the second URL below, beginning on Monday, July 28.

http://www.microsoft.com/exchange

http://www.exchangeadmin.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=39489

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==== 2. Announcements ==== (from Windows & .NET Magazine and its partners)

New--Test-Drive Our Performance Portal!

The Windows & .NET Magazine Performance Portal site is an online service that lets IT professionals test client/server scalability and application performance of client/server database, workflow, streaming media, and office productivity applications. Check out this innovative service at

http://list.winnetmag.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eA0D8O6k0CCG0BAW70AY

Exchange 2003: Do You Plan to Migrate or Wait?

Windows & .NET Magazine and Aelita Software would like to know about your organization's plans to migrate to Exchange Server 2003. Take our brief survey, "Windows & .NET Magazine: The State of Exchange Migration," and sign up to receive a free white paper titled, "Upgrade or Migrate? Deployment Options for Exchange 2000/2003." Give us your feedback today!

http://list.winnetmag.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eA0D8O6k0CCG0BBLs0AO

==== 3. Resources ====

How to Upgrade Windows 2000 Domain Controllers to Windows Server 2003

Each week, Microsoft posts several Exchange Server how-to articles to its Knowledge Base. This week, learn how to update your Windows 2000 Server domain controllers (DCs) to Windows Server 2003 before upgrading to Exchange Server 2003.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=325379

Featured Thread: Delaying Sent Email

A forum reader wants to know whether he can capture individual Outlook Web Access (OWA) users' outgoing email. To offer your advice or join the discussion, go to the following URL:

http://www.winnetmag.com/forums/rd.cfm?cid=40&tid=61515

Outlook Tip: Synchronizing Nondefault Folders by Sue Mosher, [email protected]

Q: My Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC synchronizes only the Contacts folder in my mailbox. How can I configure it to also work with contacts from a public folder?

A: The Microsoft ActiveSync utility that comes with Pocket PC devices can't handle anything other than Outlook's default folders. To synchronize additional folders and keep the data separate from your personal contacts, you need to buy a different sync utility, such as Pumatech's Intellisync, that can handle folders other than the default set.

Alternatively, you can use a free tool from Microsoft, Pocket Contact Synchronizer (http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2002/opcs.aspx ) to copy items from the public folder to your personal Contacts folder, which you can synchronize with your iPAQ.

See the Exchange & Outlook Administrator Web site for more great tips from Sue Mosher.

http://www.exchangeadmin.com

==== 4. Events ==== (brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine)

New--Mobile & Wireless Road Show!

Learn more about the wireless and mobility solutions that are available today! Register now for this free event!

http://list.winnetmag.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eA0D8O6k0CCG0BA8Y0Ab

==== 5. New and Improved ==== by Carolyn Mader, [email protected]

Remotely Control Fax, Voicemail, and Email Messages

serVonic announced IXI-UMS Exchange 2003 Connector, a unified messaging connector that provides fax, voice, Short Message Service (SMS), and mobile capabilities for Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server. IXI-UMS lets you send and receive messages and have mobile access and control of all your Inbox messages. You administer serVonic through the management console called IXI-MMC, and you maintain users in your Active Directory (AD). For pricing, contact serVonic at [email protected].

http://www.servonic.com

Submit Top Product Ideas

Have you used a product that changed your IT experience by saving you time or easing your daily burden? Do you know of a terrific product that others should know about? Tell us! We want to write about the product in a future Windows & .NET Magazine What's Hot column. Send your product suggestions to [email protected].

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==== 6. Contact Us ====

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