Exchange Server Interview Questions and Answers.

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.

What are Exchange Recipient types? Name 5.

The people and resources that send and receive messages are the core of any messaging and collaboration system. In an Exchange Server organization, these people and resources are referred to as recipients.

A recipient is any mail-enabled object in the Active Directory directory service to which Exchange can deliver or route messages. This topic discusses the recipient types that are supported in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

User mailbox

A mailbox that is assigned to an individual user in your Exchange organization. It typically contains messages, calendar items, contacts, tasks, documents, and other important business data.

Linked mailbox

A mailbox that is assigned to an individual user in a separate, trusted forest.

Shared mailbox

A mailbox that is not primarily associated with a single user and is generally configured to allow logon access for multiple users.

Legacy mailbox

A mailbox that resides on a server running Exchange Server 2003 or Exchange 2000 Server.

Room mailbox

A resource mailbox that is 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.

Exchange 2007 came in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Name a couple of reasons for ever needing the 32-bit version.

You need exchange 2007 32bit to export mail box into PST file.

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

What is the order to install Exchange Server 2007 Roles in a exchange Server 2003 organization?

Ø  Client Access Server Role

Ø Hub Transport Server Role

Ø Mailbox Server Role

Ø Unified Messaging Server role

Wanting to manage Exchange 2007 – 2010 from a remote computer, name a few of your management options.

There are a few options for managing Exchange 2007 servers remotely. First off, you can install the Exchange 2007 management tools onto a separate machine from your Exchange server, as long as that machine is running either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later, Windows Server 2003 R2, or Windows XP SP2 or later. Note that installing any of the server roles (client access, mailbox, edge, and so on) on 32-bit hardware is not supported in production environments, but is supported for installing the management tools on a

32-bit machine. Also note that as of the initial release of Exchange Server 2007, the management tools are not supported on Windows Vista.

In some organizations, the IT department creates a single server to be the management server, installing all the necessary management tools for various products on this server. Then the administrators who need to use those tools access the management server via Terminal Server so they can perform remote administration. In other settings, users install the management tools on their own desktops.

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 environmen

What is Storage Group?

Storage Group is a grouping of Mailbox and/or Public Folder Databases, which shares a single backup schedule and a single set of Transaction log files. Storage Groups are managed using their separate server process and the idea behind splitting databases up in Storage Groups is primarily to reduce the overhead that results from multiple sets of transaction log files.

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

Describe the differences in the permission model between Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2010.

Exchange 2003 Security and Permissions Model

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.

What are the Active directory requirements to install Exchange Server 2007?

Ø Domain functional level at least windows server 2000 native or higher

Ø Schema Master must be run on windows 2003 server with sp1

Ø At least one Domain Controller, in each domain with windows server 2003 sp1

Ø At least one global catalog server in Active Directory Site which hosts exchange Server 2007

Ø 4:1 ratio of Exchange processor to global catalog server processors

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

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

Public Folder

Rules

Monthly view

New themes

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

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.

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 Pack 2 (SP2).

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.

What is Migration in Exchange Server 2007?

Migration is the scenario in which you upgrade to Exchange 2007 by migrating data from a non-Exchange 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 company’s 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.

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.

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 Information Services (IIS) 7.

Updated Search Functionality

Exchange 2007 SP3 includes updates to the Exchange Search (MS-Search) 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-to-left language, such as Arabic.

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 –

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

What are the Exchange 2003 equivalents of the various Exchange 2007-2010 roles?

Exchange 2007 Exchange 2003

Edge Transport

Hub Transport Bridgehead server

Client Access Front-End server

Mailbox Back End server

Unified Messaging

The main differences between Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010. Feature	Exchange 2007	Exchange 2010
Database	Jet EDB database	Jet EDB database
Storage Groups	Yes	None, only data stores
Public Folders	Automatically created	Manual creation
Web Services	ExOLEDB, CDOEX, WebDAV, EWS	Exchange Web Services (EWS)
Desktop Clients	Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010	Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010
DR Technologies	SCC, CCR, SCR	Database Availability Group (DAG)
Outlook clients connect to	Mailbox Server

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.

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).

Which service should not be installed in Exchange Server 2007 installation?

SMTP and NNTP service should not be installed

What are the storage group and database size limitations in Exchange 2007, compared with Exchange 2003?

Exchange Server 2003 Standard edition supported 1 Storage Group and 2 Stores – one Mailbox and one Public Folder Store (when excluding the Recovery Storage Group of course). Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition supported a total of 4 Storage Groups each containing a maximum of 5 store databases per Storage Groups (thus maximum 20 databases per server). The limit of a database size in Exchange Server 2003 Standard edition was 16 GB (although raised to 75 GB when Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 was applied). There was no limit on a database size when talking about Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise edition (well actually there is a 16 Terabyte limit but this limit is caused by hardware).

Exchange Server 2007 comes in two flavors, a standard edition and an enterprise edition, just like previous versions of Exchange. The Mailbox Server when talking about the Exchange Server 2007 Standard edition supports a total of 5 Storage Groups and 5 databases. Unlike Exchange 2003 and previous versions of Exchange there’s no longer a database storage limit in the standard edition. The Mailbox server in the Exchange 2007 Enterprise edition supports up to 50 Storage groups and a maximum of 50 databases per server. Exchange 2007 allows you to create up to 5 databases in each Storage Group as is the case with Exchange 2003, but best practice is to create 1 database per Storage Group. So why should you have a one to one relationship between storage groups and databases? Well primarily because you’ll be up and running a lot faster considering disaster recovery scenarios, etc.

No Storage Groups In Exchange 2010… Exchange 2010 has only mailbox databases and they are organizational objects in EMC. Mailbox databases no longer connected to the server object they become *Peers*. Database management has also been moved from Server configuration node in exchange console EMC. The mailbox databases are placed in the Organization Configuration ->Mailbox location in the console rather than the server level in exchange 2007. The database names has to be unique through out the exchange organization as well. This means that we can’t have duplicate mailbox database names like in 2007 (in different storage groups, of course).

As there are no storage groups, this will also mean that the database will have its own logs as well…

One of the goals of ESE in Exchange 2010 is to reduce the cost of maintaining and managing a database. Database maintenance is comprised of several tasks that manage and keep the integrity of your mailbox database.

Database maintenance is divided into the following:

Store mailbox maintenance

ESE database maintenance

In Exchange 2007, ESE database maintenance was disk-intensive. In Exchange 2010, improvements have been made to increase performance. In Exchange 2010, on large or very heavy profile servers, the store mailbox maintenance task only lasts approximately 45 minutes, while ESE database maintenance usually took from six to eight hours per night to complete on large Exchange 2007 databases (2 GB quotas). In Exchange 2010, improvements have been made to support both large mailboxes as well as to support JBOD storage and storage without the use of RAID.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 includes many improvements to the Exchange database architecture:

· Public folder reporting has been enhanced.

· Databases are no longer associated with storage groups. Storage groups have been removed.

· Investments in store schema and Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) optimizations have reduced IOPS by 70 percent.

What are the Exchange Server editions available?

There are two types of Exchange Server 2007 editions available

Ø Standard Edition

Ø Enterprise Edition

What is the difference between standard and Enterprise Edition?

Exchange 2007 functions
Standard Edition
Enterprise Edition
Number of Data Stores Supported

What are the Exchange 2007/2010 server roles?

Exchange 2007 introduces a new concept to Exchange organizations, the concept of server roles. Similar to how a Windows server can host one or more roles. Server roles allow an administrator to split the functions of an Exchange server and place each role, or a combination of roles, on different servers in the organization. With current Exchange servers you can make a server a Front-End server, or a Back-End server and that is about it. Exchange 2007 introduces five roles to the Exchange organization.

Edge Transport - The last hop of outgoing mail and first hop of incoming mail, acting as a "smart host" and usually deployed in a perimeter network, Edge Transport provides mail quarantine and SMTP service to enhance security. One advantage of this role is that is does not require Active Directory access, so it can function with limited access to the corporate network for increased security.

Hub Transport - The Hub Transport role handles mails by routing them to next hop: another Hub Transport server, Edge server or mailbox server. Unlike Exchange 2003 Bridgehead that needs Exchange admin defined routing groups, Exchange 2007 Hub Transport role uses AD site info to determine the mail flow. The Hub Transport and Edge Transport servers are very similar and in fact, one can forgo the Edge Transport server and configure the Hub Transport to accept mail from, and send mail to, the Internet.

Client Access - The Client Access server role provides the other mailbox server protocol access apart from MAPI. Similar to Exchange 2003 FrontEnd server, it enables user to use an Internet browser (OWA), 3rd party mail client (POP3/IMAP4) and mobile device (ActiveSync) to access their mailbox.

Mailbox - The Mailbox server role is responsible for hosting mailbox and public folder data. This role also provides MAPI access for Outlook clients. Note that there is also a variation of this role called Clustered Mailbox role, for use with high-availability MSCS clustering of mailbox data. When Clustered Mailbox role is selected, other server roles cannot be combined on the same physical server.

Unified Messaging - This role enables end users to access their mailbox, address book, and calendar using telephone and voice. IP-PBX or VoIP gateway needs to be installed and configured to facilitate much of the functionality of this server role.

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.

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

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.

Dividing Exchange features among several server roles has advantages:

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.

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

What is 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.

Name major benefits of PowerShell v2 over V1

PowerShell Remoting : Using WS-Management, PowerShell 2.0 allows scripts and cmdlets to be invoked on a remote machine or a large set of remote machines.

Background Jobs : Also called a PSJob, it allows a command sequence (script) or pipeline to be invoked asynchronously. Jobs can be run on the local machine or on multiple remote machines. A PSJob cannot include interactive cmdlets.

Transactions : Enable cmdlet and provider developers to perform transactional operations. PowerShell 2.0 includes transaction cmdlets for starting, committing, and rolling back a PSTransaction as well as features to manage and direct the transaction to the participating cmdlet and provider operations. The PowerShell Registry provider supports transactions.

ScriptCmdlets: These are cmdlets written using the PowerShell scripting language. NOTE: The preferred name for script cmdlets is now Advanced Functions.

SteppablePipelines: This allows the user to control when the BeginProcessing(), ProcessRecord() and EndProcessing() functions of a cmdlet are called.

Modules : This allows script developers and administrators to organize and partition PowerShell scripts in self-contained, reusable units. Code from a module executes in its own self-contained context and does not affect the state outside of the module. Modules can define a restricted runspace environment by using a script. They have a persistent state as well as public and private members.

Data Language : A domain-specific subset of the PowerShell scripting language, that allows data definitions to be decoupled from the scripts and allow localized string resources to be imported into the script at runtime (Script Internationalization).

Script Debugging : It allows breakpoints to be set in a PowerShell script or function. Breakpoints can be set on lines, line & columns, commands and read or write access of variables. It includes a set of cmdlets to control the breakpoints via script.

Eventing: This feature allows listening, forwarding, and acting on management and system events. Eventing allows PowerShell hosts to be notified about state changes to their managed entities. It also enables PowerShell scripts to subscribe to ObjectEvents, PSEvents, and WmiEvents and process them synchronously and asynchronously.

Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) : PowerShell 2.0 includes a GUI-based PowerShell host (formerly known as Graphical Windows PowerShell) that provides integrated debugger, syntax highlighting, tab completion and up to 8 PowerShell Unicode-enabled consoles (Runspaces) in a tabbed UI, as well as the ability to run only the selected parts in a script.

Network File Transfer : Native support for prioritized, throttled, and asynchronous transfer of files between machines using the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS).

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 configure

Mention what are the new features in MS Exchange 2013?

·          Integration with Lync and SharePoint: With site mailboxes and in-place eDiscovery, it offers a greater integration with MicrosoftSharepoint and Lync

·          Provide a resilient solution: It built upon the exchange server 2010 and redesigned for simplicity of scale, feature isolation and hardware utilization

·          Supports a multigenerational workforce: From multiple sources users can merge contacts as well as smart search allows to search people in the network

·          Provide an engaging experience: MS web app focused on a streamlined user interface that supports the use of touch, enhancing the use of mobile devices

·          Meet the latest demand: With improved search and indexing, you can search across Lynch 2013, Exchange 2013, SharePoint 2013, etc.

·          DAG system: A new evolution of exchange 2010 DAG

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.

·         New Cmdlets : Including Out-GridView, which displays tabular data in the WPF GridView object.

·         New Operators : -Split, -Join, and Splatting (@) operators.

·         Exception Handling with Try-Catch-Finally : Unlike other .NET languages, this allows multiple exception types for a single catch block.

·         Nestable Here-Strings : PowerShell Here-Strings have been improved and can now nest.

·         Block Comments : PowerShell 2.0 supports block comments using <# and #> as delimiters.

·         New APIs : The new APIs range from handing more control over the PowerShell parser and runtime to the host, to creating and managing collection of Runspaces (RunspacePools) as well as the ability to create Restricted Runspaces which only allow a configured subset of PowerShell to be invoked. The new APIs also support participation in a Windows PowerShell managed transaction.

·         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.

Mention what is recommended when you are using an exchange account for your work, when you are offline?

It is suggested that you use Cached Exchange Mode when you are using an exchange account for your work, as it eliminates all the reason to work offline. With Cache Exchange Mode, you can keep continuing working even if you are disconnected with the network.  Cache Exchange Mode uses a folder file (.ost) and manages a synchronized copy of the items in all folder in the mailbox, when you are offline.  As soon as you are connected to the network, it syncs your data automatically to the server without losing any data.

Mention what are the roles in MS exchange 2013?

In MS exchange 2013, there are two roles Client Access Server and Mailbox Server.

 Mention what is the role of Client Access Server?

The Client Access Server gives connectivity to various services like

·          Microsoft Office Outlook

·          Outlook Web App

·          Mobile devices

·          POP & SMTP

·          Accepts mail from delivers mail to other mail hosts on the internet

·          Gives unified namespace, network security and authentication

·          Handles all client requests for Exchange

·          Routes requests to the correct mailbox server

·          Allows the use of layer 4 (TCP affinity) routing

5) Mention what is the role of Mailbox server?

Mailbox servers help in

·          e-mail storage

·          Host public folder databases

·          Host mailbox databases

·          Calculate e-mail address policies

·          Performs multi-mailbox searches

·          Provide high availability and site resiliency

·          Provide messaging records management and retention policies

·          Handle connectivity as clients don’t connect directly to the mailbox services

·          For given mailbox, it provides all core exchange functionality

·          When a database fails over, it also fails access to the mailbox

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.

·         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.

·         From the console or shell you can perform operations on the servers in your organization. In the console, the servers are visible so you can perform operations on any of them remotely. In the shell, many of the tasks support a filtering flag like -server if you want to scope an operation to a single server. There are a few exceptions, however, for commands that must be run locally, such as the Get-NetworkConnectionInfo command.

 Explain what are the important features of Transport Pipeline?

Transport pipeline is made up of three different services:

·          Front end transport service: It does basic message filtering based on domains, connectors, senders and recipients. It only connects with the transport service on a mailbox server and does not backlog any messages locally

·          Transport service: It runs on all mailbox servers, and it handles SMTP mail flow. It helps in message categorization and content inspection. The transport services routes messages between the Mailbox Transport service, the Transport Service and Front End Transport service.  This service does not queue messages locally

·          Mailbox Transport: This system includes receiving and sending SMTP to the transport service from mailbox using RPC (Remote Procedure Call).

·         How would you check your Exchange configuration settings to see if they’re right?

·         Run Microsoft Exchange Best Practices Analyzer tool.

·         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.

    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.

·         At the time of this writing, Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 and Update Rollup 10 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 are available.

Explain what is the role of categorizer?

Categorizer performs following functions

·          Recipient Resolution: The e-mail address of the recipient is resolved to decide whether the recipient has got a mailbox in the Exchange Organization or an external e-mail address

·          Routing Resolution: Once the information regarding the recipient is resolved, the ultimate destination for the mail is routed, and the next hop are determined

·          Content Conversion: Once the mail has reached its determined address, the SMTP is converted into readable format like HTML, rich text format or plain text

·           

Explain the term DAG (Data Availability Group)?

DAG or Data Availability Group is a framework build is MS Exchange 2013.  It is a group of upto 16 mailbox server that hosts a set of databases and provides automatic database level recovery due to failure of servers of databases.

Mention how many types of delivery groups found in MS Exchange 2013?

In MS Exchange 2013, there are five types of delivery groups

·          Routing DAG

·          Mailbox delivery groups

·          Connector source service

·          AD site

·          Server List

·         How would you easily install all the Windows Server 2008 R2 roles and features required for Exchange 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.

·         Installing Exchange Server 2010 Pre-Requisites on Windows Server 2008

·         First, install the following software components.

·         1. .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1

·         2. .NET Framework 3.5 Family Update

·         3. Windows Remote Management and Windows PowerShell 2.0

·         4. 2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack (for Hub Transport and Mailbox Server roles only)

·         Run the following from an elevated command prompt.

·         C:\>sc config NetTcpPortSharing start= auto

·         Next we need to install the operating system components. The Exchange source files contain a series of ServerManagerCmd.exe answer files in XML format that can be used to install the operating system pre-requisites for each of the server roles.

·         Each file relates to a specific Exchange 2010 deployment scenario.

·         exchange-all.xml – all server roles

·         exchange-base.xml – only the requirements for Forest and Domain prep operations

·         exchange-cadb.xml – Central Admin Database role

·         exchange-cas.xml – Client Access Server role

·         exchange-eca.xml – Central Admin role

·         exchange-edge.xml – Edge Transport Server role

·         exchange-hub.xml – Hub Transport Server role

·         exchange-mbx.xml – Mailbox Server role

·         exchange-typical.xml – Typical Exchange server (Client Access, Hub Transport, and Mailbox Server roles)

·         exchange-um.xml – Unified Messaging role

·         Execute any of the answer files using ServerManagerCmd.exe and the -inputPath parameter (that can be shortened to -ip). Here I am installing the pre-requisites for a “Typical” Exchange 2010 server.

·         servermanagercmd -ip exchange-typical.xml –restart

·         -restart option used to restart server automatically

Explain how message is delivered to the mailbox database in Exchange 2013?

In exchange 2013, after the message reaches the target mailbox server in the destination AD site, the transport service avails SMTP to carry the message to the mailbox.  After that, using RPC, Transport Service delivers the message to the local mailbox.

What action does Front End Transport service does?

Front end transport service does one of the following actions based on the number and type of the recipients

·          For the message with a single mailbox recipient, choose a mail box server in the target delivery group and based on the proximity of the AD site, give preference to the mail box server

·          For the message with multiple or several mailbox recipients, it uses the first 20 recipients to select a mailbox in a closest proximity or delivery group, based on the AD site proximity

·          If the message has no mailbox recipients, it choose a random mailbox server in the local AD site

·           

Mention what is the function of mailbox Transport Submission service?

Mailbox Transport Submission service does one of the following actions based on the number and type of recipients.

·          For the message having only one mailbox recipient, it chooses a mailbox server in the target delivery group and give priority to the mailbox server based on the AD site proximity

·          With multiple mailbox recipients, it uses first 20 recipients to choose a Mailbox server in the closest delivery group, based on the AD site proximity

·          If there is no mailbox recipient, select a mailbox server in the local delivery group

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.

The following is a list of core store functionality that's included or has been changed in Exchange 2010:

· Deprecated storage groups

· Mailbox databases no longer connected to the server object

· Improvements in Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) for high availability, performance, and database mobility

· Flattened Outlook store schema

· Enhanced reporting with public folders

In Exchange 2010, the store schema has been changed to remove the dependency of mailbox databases on the server object. In addition, the new schema has been improved to help reduce database I/O per second (IOPS) by refactoring the tables used to store information. Refactoring the tables allows higher logical contiguity and locality of reference. These changes reduce the store's reliance on the secondary indexes maintained by ESE. As a result, the store is no longer sensitive to performance issues related to the secondary indexes.

Store resilience and health has also been improved by adding several features related to detecting and correcting errors and providing alerts, such as the following:

· Mailbox quarantine on rogue mailboxes

· Transport cut-off to databases with less than 1 GB of space

· Thread time-out detection and reporting

Name the system prerequisites for installing Exchange 2007 in your existing Active Directory forest.

Windows Server 2003/R2 x64 SP2

Windows Server 2008 x64

Microsoft .NET Framework Version 3.0/Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 (with update/SP1)

Microsoft Windows PowerShell

Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0

Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) service must not be installed.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service must not be installed.

IIS (for OWA)

Name the system prerequisites for installing Exchange 2010?

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 Exchange 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.

2- Operating System Components Prerequisites:

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Windows Remote Management (WinRM) 2.0

Windows PowerShell V2

IIS 7

ASP.NET

In addition to the above, we need to install the following windows components (features):

RSAT-ADDS (requires a reboot)

Web-Server

Web-ISAPI-Ext

Web-Metabase

Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console

Web-Basic-Auth

Web-Digest-Auth

Web-Windows-Auth

Web-Dyn-Compression

Net-HTTP-Activation

RPC-over-HTTP-Proxy

3- Software Prerequisites:

For Hub Transport or Mailbox server role, Microsoft Filter Pack is required to be installed. You can download the Microsoft Filter Pack from the Microsoft website.

How the flow of the mail is tracked in MS Exchange 2013?

To track message flow in MS Exchange 2013, Delivery Reports are used.  It is applicable for Outlook and Outlook web only.  However, Message Tracking Logs are also helpful to know the flow of the mail.