Exchange Server 2007 Training

In this kick-off Video, I introduce myself and share my expertise. It is a brief overview of what you will learn and what to expect from this comprehensive course. I also explain why Exchange 2007 is an exciting technology that you MUST master.

First, we will define the networking architecture of our fictitious business, Cash Cow Capital Group, and detail our multi-server lab setup. I also detail my unique real-world approach to teaching Exchange technology, so you can prepare yourself for the exciting learning experience ahead!

Learn the vital details and requirements for preparing your network & servers for the addition of a new Exchange 2007 organization. This includes going over hardware requirements and setting up an Active Directory, as well as registering a domain name, working with DNS, updating Active Directory schema and running the Readiness Scan.

You'll learn the differences between Client Access License types, and the difference between Standard and Enterprise editions of the product. Once you are finished with this lesson, you should lack nothing to get started with an installation. You will also know how to leverage your existing AD infrastructure for centralized user and security management.

• Hardware Requirements for Exchange Server 2007
• Creating Infrastructure
• Physical Disk Configuration
• DNS Setup in Exchange Server 2007
• AD Installation (Dcpromo)
• Domain Registration
• Requirements for Active Directory and older Exchange organizations
• Active Directory Schema Changes
• Readiness Scan
• Editions and CAL types

Walk arm-in-arm with me through the actual Exchange 2007 installation process. You will become familiar with role selection and what your options are in regards to deploying different types of server roles. You'll also learn the different stages of setup and the information necessary to successfully complete each step.

• Installing Exchange Server 2007
• Pre-install Splash
• Error Reporting
• Install Type and Roles Selection
• Server Name
• Client Settings
• Readiness Check #2
• Verifying Install
• Finalize Deployment Tasks List
• End-to-End Scenario Tasks List
• Editing Installed Roles
• Installing SP1

Learn about the general console layout and how it maps to Exchange 2007's role-based architecture. Learn how to use role delegation to set up different level Exchange administrators without giving away the keys to the kingdom. Dive into the Exchange Toolbox and other extra features hidden in the console.

Lastly, learn how to get and install the 32-bit version of the Management Console so you can do your Exchange administration from a workstation.

• Console Layout of Exchange Server 2007
• Architecture
• Role Delegation
• Grand Tour
• Finalization Tasks
• Toolbox and Extras in Exchange Server 2007
• 32-bit Edition

Become more comfortable using xPowerShell to complete your management tasks. Learning the command-line shell allows you to take advantage of features not exposed through the Console. This is critical for mastery of the product, particularly for making light work out of repetitive tasks.

By the end of this lesson, you'll know how to easily get command syntax when you need it. You will also know how to modify the settings of multiple mailboxes using PowerShell, and know how to streamline your productivity via pipelining.

• Shell Usage Overview
• Getting Help With Syntax
• Modifying a Mailbox With the Shell
• Pipelining
• Modifying Lots of Mailboxes with the Shell
• Other Management cmdlets

Knowing the Exchange 2007 database architecture of the Extensible Storage Engine is important because it's required for a complete understanding of how backup and recovery and Single Instance Storage works.

Learn what has changed in Exchange 2007, as well as the difference between storage groups and databases and how to use them. Also learn the best practices for Exchange database management.

Truly understanding these architectures will prevent serious mistakes in the areas of backup and recovery. It also helps you optimize your database for space, performance and stability

• Exchange Server 2007 Database Overview
• What's changed from Exchange Server 2003?
• Storage Groups and Databases
• Limitations
• Modifying Lots of Mailboxes with the Shell
• Best Practices

Before you go live, make sure you have all the essential pieces in place to have a functional Exchange 2007 server. We'll go through a critical checklist of tasks, some of which we've already accomplished.

We look at DNS settings and check the listening ports on our firewall. We then do several tests to verify mail-flow (The ability to send mail to external hosts and to accept delivery of inbound mail to internal mailboxes).

• Checklist
• Checking DNS
• Checking Listening Ports
• Testing Email Flow

Skillfully integrating external users into organizational address books is key to healthy communication with partners and contractors.

Learn how distribution lists work and how to create dynamic distribution lists that help you avoid tedious maintenance of your company address books. This knowledge allows you to focus on other important tasks as your organization grows.

Leveraging room and equipment mailboxes make scheduling and reservations of these commonly used objects much simpler than past versions of Exchange. Also, learn how to use those resources to streamline scheduling in your organization.

• Configuring Mailboxes in Exchange Server 2007
• Working with Contacts
• Creating and Using Distribution Groups
• Working with Rooms and Equipment Mailboxes
• Using Recipients Filtering

Public folders are one of the most important collaborative features of Exchange, and knowing how they are managed in Exchange 2007 will allow you to provide solutions to many common business processing problems.

Gain a firm grasp on public folder architecture and learn the tools available for managing them. Learn how to do common tasks like creating new folders, assigning permissions to folders, and allowing folders to send and receive mail.

Once you've gotten comfortable with public folders, you'll be in a position to make an operations manager happy with your proposed PF-related solutions.

• Public Folder Architecture
• Scenario
• Tools for Managing Public Folders
• Creating New Public Folders in Exchange Server 2007
• Assigning Public Folder Permissions
• Allowing Public Folders to Receive and Send Mail

Understanding how server-side address lists work is a valuable skill in enterprise environments. The ability to configure and provide discrete lists of addresses to targeted user groupings is one common example.

Learn how to create a custom address list to target a particular group of users, and learn how the Global Address List is generated so you can more effectively troubleshoot any problems that come up with the GAL on your server.

We'll look at offline address books and how they make life easier for both internal and external users Learn how to use dynamic distribution groups that greatly reduce the overhead of distribution list management. Focus on important things rather than manually managing group memberships.

• How Server Side Address Lists Work
• Creating a Custom Address List
• How the Global Address Book Works
• Brief Bit on Offline Address Books
• Dynamic Distribution Groups
• Best Practices For Using This Stuff

AutoDiscover is a service that drastically reduces the amount of administrative intervention required to connect Outlook to Exchange on desktops. Knowing how to set it up will save you time and reduce headaches.

I'll walk you through AutoDiscover mechanisms and setup, including certificate generation and installation. You'll also learn how to setup Outlook when you have AutoDiscover properly in place. Upon finishing this lesson, you can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing you saved several hours of mail profile configuration this year.

• What is AutoDiscover?
• How Does It Work?
• How Do I Set It Up?
• How Do I Set Up Outlook?
• Best Practices

Learn about Exchange 2007's use of IIS virtual directories for monitoring activity. Then I will walk you through some of the features of Client Access Server.

Become a hero to remote workers by learning how to set up Outlook Anywhere in order to provide secure MAPI access to Exchange data from any internet-connected location.

What makes executives ecstatic? If you can configure the server for Exchange ActiveSync. ActivSync synchronizes mailbox content with Windows Mobile phones. Armed with these skills and some wise best practices from yours truly, you'll be ready to tackle remote mail access with ease.

• CAS Role Overview
• IIS Virtual Directories for Exchange Server 2007
• Outlook Anywhere Architecture
• Setting Up Outlook Anywhere
• Active-Sync Architecture
• New Active-Sync Features in Exchange Server 2007
• Active Sync Configuration
• Best Practices

Every good admin knows how to implement and support web access to Exchange mailboxes and public folders from the internet. When you're finished with this lesson, you'll know the difference between editions of OWA, when to use the Light and Premium versions, how to access server-based shares, and more.

I'll also teach you how to change the base URL for OWA to make it simpler for users to remember. This is another one of those high-profile knowledge areas that makes a big difference to your end users!

• New Outlook Web Access (OWA) Features
• Request From Management Relating to OWA Experience
• Light and Premium Versions
• Authentication Options
• Accessing Server-Based Shares and SharePoint Sites
• Changing the Base URL for Outlook Web Access (OWA)

Despite the proliferation of MAPI clients like Outlook, there is often a need to securely enable the server for different types of legacy clients. You will need to know how to configure POP3 and IMAP on your server if your environment requires you to be flexible and compromise for some legacy clients. I show you how to do this, while keeping security concerns in mind.

After I teach you the basic architecture of those services, I'll show you the CAS and Hub role settings you will need to change, as well as settings that are unique to each user. You'll then learn you how to configure an external client to connect to your server using the IMAP and POP3 protocols, and you'll learn several best practices related to implementing POP3 and IMAP in your organization.

• Protocol Architecture
• Management Requests
• Settings on the CAS Server
• Settings on the Hub Transport Server
• User-Specific Permissions
• Setting Up the Client
• Best Practices

When I teach you about the Hub Transport role, I'll be covering the process of mail delivery and routing, and the tools built around managing and configuring those functions. You'll learn how to create Transport Rules, which will allow you to set disclaimers, filter traffic, screen some content, and many other things that will make your HR and security departments happy.

I'll cover the Send and Receive Connectors that are used to control your inbound and outbound mail activity, set encryption settings, even route mail for particular destinations uniquely. I'll also show you how to set size limits and delivery restrictions, which will allow you to throttle the activity on your server, increasing system stability and manageability.

You'll also learn about the Queue Viewer. The QV allows you to know what's happening with undelivered mail and have actionable intelligence with which to make troubleshooting decisions.

• Mail Flow and Routing Architecture
• Management Requests
• Working with Domains and Email Addresses
• Creating Transport Rules
• Using Send Connectors
• Using Receive Connectors
• Setting Size Limits and Delivery Restrictions
• Using the Queue Viewer

Learn how to capture internal and external mail for auditing and compliance purposes. This skill can protect your company from federal and industry audits.

Learn how to set up journaling, and look at two third-party products commonly used to archive mail. I'll walk you through the installation and use of one of these products, GFI's MailArchiver.

• Management Requests
• Intro to Journaling
• Planning and Implementing Journaling
• 3rd Party Products
• Other Compliance Issues

Knowing that your Exchange server is protected against external threats provides great peace of mind. And the ability to properly configure an Edge server will bring you there.

In this lesson, you will gain a solid understanding of Edge transport architecture and the security it affords. In addition, I'll also teach you the requirements for setting up an Edge server, and make you familiar with both the process and the best practices around installing and securing an Edge server.

• Management Requests
• A Look at Edge Transport
• Edge Setup Requirements
• Installing the Edge Role
• Securing the Edge Server
• Best Practices

These lessons will focus on honing your understanding of the spam filtering options in Exchange. This allows you to save time for your end-users and save storage on your servers.

You'll learn how the transport pipeline works and then find out how to configure the diverse filtering and transport rule options that Exchange 2007 offers.

You'll also learn how to install and configure the Anti-Spam components on a Hub role server, in the event that your organization does not use an Edge server. In any case, this is one set of skills that will have your users showering you with praise!

• Architecture
• Installing the Edge Anti-Spam Filters on the Hub Transport
• Connection Filtering
• Sender Filtering
• Recipient Filtering
• SPF Records
• Content Filtering in Exchange Server 2007
• Attachment Filters
• Transport Rules
• Address Rewrite Agent
• Safe list Aggregation
• Best Practices

Integrating Anti-Virus into your Edge solution alongside anti-spam and general security will make your Edge server a one-stop shop for mail hygiene. Having this consolidated security solution will save considerable time, money and problems.

I'll show you some options for Anti-Virus solutions and then give you the tools to configure and manage Microsoft ForeFront AntiVirus on your Edge server.

• Architecture
• Supported Vendors
• ForeFront Overview
• Installing ForeFront
• Testing AV
• Best Practices

A mail database disaster can literally destroy a company. As Exchange administrator, knowing how to properly preserve email data is vital to maintaining, possibly even restoring the health of the company.

Learn how to backup data using NTBackup and Volume Shadow Copy. I'll round out those topics with some coverage of clustering. One type of clustering technology is known as Local Continuous Replication.

LCR is a new feature that provides a significant amount of assurance against local database crashes and disk corruption. It does this by creating a continuously updated copy of the mail database that can be mounted in the event of a crash. I will walk you through the process of setting up LCR and show you how to use it if things get ugly.

I'll also give you an overview of Standby Cluster Replication and wind things down with some critical recommendations regarding backups. The knowledge in this lesson will help you be the "ultimate" protector of your organization's mail.

• Database/Backup Architecture
• Knowing What to Back Up
• Using NTBackup
• Volume Shadow Copy
• Local Continuous Replication
• Standby Cluster Replication
• Recommendations

Disaster preparedness is not just about making good backups. You must follow through with intelligent recovery if you want to save the day and keep your organization protected.

In this lesson, we'll look at a variety of sticky disaster situations ranging from stolen servers to database corruption. I'll walk you through the steps to recover from several of those scenarios. You'll learn how to develop a wise backup strategy so you can make recovery much simpler.

• A Look at Scenarios of Increasing Cruelty
• Walk-through Several Types of Recovery
• Best Practices For Recovery

The ability to guarantee message encryption between organizations across the public internet is something that TLS provides. A solid understanding of TLS on Exchange 2007 will allow you to answer your CSO's inquiries authoritatively.

Learn about TLS architecture and the changes between Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2003. Then you'll learn how to configure server-to-server encryption in different scenarios to keep your communication secure.

• Management Requests
• TLS Architecture
• Setting Up TLS
• Recommendations

In most organizations, mailboxes get complicated very quickly. To service your users, you must know how to delegate access to a mailbox to other users, use linked mailboxes to handle accounts in other domains, and use managed folders to provide policy-driven data handling.

In this lesson, we'll cover all of those scenarios, along with some general recommendations on how to implement strategic solutions to prevent future problems.

• Management Requests
• Delegating mailboxes
• Linked mailbox architecture
• Using linked mailboxes
• Managed folder architecture
• Setting up managed folder policies
• Recommendations

With wisdom that only experience can generate, I use this Video to show you how to identify problems with your Exchange 2007 installation. Learn what tools are at your disposal to resolve several types of outages.

I'll also show you some tools like the Best Practices Analyzer that you can use to keep your server healthy and optimized. I'll show you how to interpret the Analyzer results, and we'll spend some time with Message Tracking, protocol logs, ESEUTIL and other invaluable tools.

Beyond this, I'll give you some troubleshooting techniques & tips that will help you take a proactive approach towards server health and prevent common problems.

• Scenario Drivers
• Using the Best Practices Analyzer (BPA)
• Interpreting BPA Results
• Using the Message Tracking Center (MTC)
• Tips and Tricks On How To Troubleshoot Exchange Server 2007
• Errors in Application Event Log
• Protocol Logging
• Event IDs Lookup
• Proactive Tips

Using SharePoint as an endpoint for inbound Exchange mail is a desired solution in many environments. And knowing the roadmap for building that solution is a valuable asset.

In this bonus Video lesson, we start by looking at how the architectures of Exchange 2007 and SharePoint 2007 are built to integrate with each other.

I will show you how to set up Exchange 2007 to allow Outlook Web Access clients to browse SharePoint libraries, and how to access SharePoint via Outlook 2007. I will also show you how to make a SharePoint library a destination for inbound mail, which is a requirement for organizations that are replacing public folders with SharePoint libraries.

To wrap up the lesson, I reveal points you should consider when planning a migration of public folder data to SharePoint. I also go over some Best Practices for Exchange administrators who need to work with SharePoint.

• SharePoint and Exchange Server 2007 Linked Architectures
• Exchange Server 2007's SharePoint Tie-ins
• SharePoint Folder Access Via Outlook Web Access (OWA)
• SharePoint folder access via Outlook
• Migrating content from Public Folders to SharePoint folders