Exam Reviews

Extreme Exchange

Exchange 2000 Server is the first “killer app” for Windows 2000 and Active Directory. Be sure to have an in-depth knowledge of all the migration tools (and Exchange 5.5) before tackling this exam.

• By Barry Shilmover
• 02/01/2001

Exchange 2000 is the first “killer app” for Windows 2000 and Active Directory. In fact, Exchange 2000 won’t install without AD on a domain controller. As more Exchange-based organizations migrate from Windows NT to Win2K and AD, a migration from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000 makes sense.

Exchange 2000 Server is very different from Exchange 5.5 Server, and passing this new exam requires in-depth knowledge of both products. The test uses the familiar multiple-choice question format that Microsoft has used for years. The beta I took had none of the new testing innovation questions, such as “build tree and reorder.” It’ll be interesting to see what Microsoft decides to do with the live version of the test.

If you’ve taken any of the pre-adaptive exams, you’ll most likely remember the scenario questions. In those questions, you were presented with a situation (consisting of a required component and one or more optional components) and an applied solution. You then had to decide which problems, if any, were solved. While this type of question doesn’t appear on the exam, a similar variety does, in which you face a problem with some desired outcomes. You’re presented with a potential solution and must decide which outcomes it addresses. Each solution is listed as a multiple-choice answer with between four and seven options.

Installation and Upgrade
Although Exchange 2000 shares somewhat of a common look with Exchange 5.5, the two messaging programs are different. This is evident the first time you install Exchange 2000, which relies heavily on AD. In fact, in developing AD, Microsoft brought in the group that developed the Exchange 5.5 Directory. During the installation process, you’ll be asked if it’s OK for the installer to extend AD.

Tip: Be sure you know how to perform an Exchange 2000 installation, including its various services.

This modifies AD to handle the new Exchange 2000 objects and features. While Exchange 2000 server needn’t be a domain controller, it does need access to a Win2K domain controller.

Microsoft is well aware that a majority of organizations will migrate from existing Exchange 5.5 implementations to Exchange 2000. Herein lies a problem. The earlier software maintains a directory of objects separate from — but connected to — NT. Exchange 2000 doesn’t. It uses AD to store its objects.

For this reason, Microsoft released the Active Directory Connector (ADC), which replicates information between Exchange 5.5 and AD. This allows both versions of Exchange to co-exist and communicate.

Tip: Be sure you know how to install ADC. Work with it and make it break, if possible, then try to fix it.

Exchange 2000 supports several different clients for accessing its messaging and public folder information. These include Microsoft Outlook 2000, Outlook Web Access, POP3 clients, IMAP4 clients, and IRC clients.

Tip: Know how each client connects to Exchange 2000, including protocols, and what types of information can be transferred between them.

Exchange 2000 installations will fail at times. Luckily, you can use the "/disasterrecovery" setup switch to re-install Exchange. This switch assumes the AD information is intact. Two other switches you should try out: /forestprep, which prepares the AD forest for Exchange 2000, and /domainprep, which prepares each domain for Exchange 2000.

Configuration Details
A strength of Exchange 2000 is its ability to maintain multiple mailboxes (formerly known as private) and public stores, as well as separate storage groups. Different mailbox stores allow you to specify different properties, such as mailbox storage or transfer limits.

Similarly, creating multiple storage groups allows you to recover individual databases during a failure, thereby shortening the time required before some users’ mailboxes are available.

Tip: Be sure you know how to use the Exchange 2000 System Manager to create multiple mailbox and private stores and multiple storage groups; know the steps involved in taking them on- and offline.

Microsoft recommends you store log files and the databases on separate physical hard disks for fault tolerance, preferably on different RAID 5 arrays. Remember that Exchange 2000 is transactional in nature much like Exchange 5.5. All changes are written to the transaction logs before being committed to the database. Circular logging should be turned off for fault tolerance; otherwise, log files may be overwritten as they’re used up.

A new feature in Exchange, known as Administrative Groups, allows the person managing the enterprise network to configure different site administrators by setting up rights to servers and server components. To accomplish this in Exchange 5.5, you needed different service accounts

Tip: Be sure you know how to create Administrative Groups and assign users to them.

Exchange 2000 has the ability to create front- and back-end servers. The front-end servers are those that users access via the Internet, usually placed in front of the firewall or in the trusted or DMZ area of the firewall. The firewall is then made aware of the ports that are to be passed through to the back-end servers. The ports used depend on the protocols required.

Tip: Remember which ports each supported protocol uses. Don’t forget that the port numbers differ for the protocol and the protocol under SSL.

Tip: Know how each client connects to Exchange 2000, including protocols, and what types of information can be transferred between them.

The back-end servers are the actual Exchange servers. They’re placed in the internal network, behind the firewall, and contain the actual Exchange databases and stores.

Managing Recipient Objects
You “Exchange-enable” objects in AD that need to participate in the Exchange infrastructure by right-clicking on the object and choosing Exchange Tasks from the drop-down menu and following the wizard.

There are three types of objects supported by Exchange 2000: a mail-enabled user, a mail-enabled contact, and a mail-enabled group. A mail-enabled user is simply a user object that has been given a mailbox on the system. A mail-enabled contact is an object that doesn’t have a mailbox on the system and can’t be used to log onto the system. It simply has an email address associated with it.

A mail-enabled group is similar to the Exchange 5.5 distribution list, which is simply a group containing one or more mail-enabled users and contacts.

You use the Exchange Tasks Wizard to enable a user’s account for Instant Messaging or Chat or to remove any of the Exchange components. The user object doesn’t change, only some of its properties.

Tip: Be sure you know how to create each type of Exchange object in AD using the Users and Groups administrative tool.

Monitoring and Managing Messaging Connectivity
As with its predecessor, Exchange 2000 has the ability to monitor messages between Exchange 2000 servers and non-Exchange systems. Configure two or more Exchange 2000 servers and monitor the link between them. Exchange 2000 uses routing groups to decide how to route messages and public folders.

These routing groups can be assigned costs, which control the route a message takes when multiple routes exist.

Tip: Understand how to configure link status and message tracking.

Managing Exchange 2000 Server Growth
A nice feature of Exchange 2000 is its multiple queue capabilities. If the server communicates with two different domains, say, company1.com and company2.com, it’ll create two different queues for the domains. As an administrator, you have the ability to freeze one queue, while letting the other run.

Win2K includes an indexing server for speeding up searches for information on the system. Exchange 2000 leverages that for its stores. Each store can have a single full-text index, which lets you search for items in the Exchange stores.

Tip: Practice creating, deleting, modifying, and controlling the full-text index for the stores.

Restoring System Functionality and User Data
Herein lies a large portion of the exam. It’s important for you to understand the concepts behind backing up and restoring an Exchange 2000 server. Each storage group on the server can be backed up and restored individually. However, multiple stores (mailbox or public) within a storage group must be restored as a whole. Therefore, if you need to be able to bring different mailbox stores online individually, then you should use multiple storage groups. You also need to understand the different backup methods: normal (or full), incremental, and differential. A normal backup backs up the entire system. With larger installations, running a normal backup every night becomes time restrictive. For this reason, you’d typically perform a combination of normal and incremental (or differential) backups.

An incremental backup records all the changes since the last backup and the transaction logs, then deletes the transaction logs. A differential backup records all the changes since the last full backup and the transaction logs, but doesn’t delete the transaction logs.

Tip: Be sure you know how to use the different backup methods to back up and restore Exchange. Use the Windows 2000 backup utility and learn what the Exchange 2000 system and files look like after full, incremental and differential backups.

Making it to the Top
Pass this exam, and you’ll demonstrate that you have what it takes to perform any and all administration tasks on Exchange 2000. You’ll have shown that you understand the migration process from Exchange 5.5 to 2000, the multiple store concepts, and how to recover from a failed system. Don’t take this exam lightly—it’s far from easy. Instead, install Exchange 2000 on several systems and work with them until you understand how Exchange operates. Good luck!