In his blog, UDP Notification Support Re-added to Exchange 2010, Kevin Allison announced that Microsoft is now going to include User Datagram Protocol (UDP) notification functionality support with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.

When Exchange Server 2010 was originally released, back in 2009, it did not include support for UDP for new mail notifications. Exchange Server 2010 UDP notification support should be available in Exchange 2010 SP1 Update Rollup 3 (SP1 RU3), scheduled for March 2011. The RU3 schedule has been adjusted in order for the engineering team to complete the requisite work to include UDP support within the rollup.

Previously, whenever Outlook 2003 displayed new messages, or needed to display changes to folders, it was expecting to use UDP for those notifications. Because of the UDP change those updates would take much longer than expected. The send/receive process was also affected and would take more time than it did before with prior releases of Exchange Server. Specifically, folders would take a long time to update when an Exchange Server 2010 user used an Outlook 2003 client in online mode.

Continue reading Exchange Server 2010 and UDP Support

Something gained, something lost – so the saying goes as I remember. And with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 there were many features lost, I mean removed. Here is a list of the features that were removed.

1. In Exchange Server 2007 you had three different types of replication to support high availability. But as of Exchange Server 2010, Local Continuous Replication (LCR), Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) and Standby Continuous Replication (SCR) are no longer available. Even Single Copy Clusters (SCCs) have been removed. SCCs are reminiscent of earlier high availability solutions for Exchange but as of Exchange Server 2010 they are being replaced by Database Availability Groups (DAGs). Database Availability Groups are easily configured and are similar to disk drive related fault-tolerant solutions.
2. The deployment of Auto Archive based retention settings through Outlook 2010 via the Group Policy is no longer available. Retention policies can now be set by way of the Messaging Records Management (MRM) features in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and later versions.
3. Windows Server Fail-over Clustering has also been removed from Exchange Server 2010. A lot of Exchange Administrators reported that the fail-over clustering was too complex and difficult to manage. The result was that there were more errors and problems associated with Windows Server Fail-over Clustering to outweigh the benefits. It was therefore pulled from Exchange Server 2010. Continue reading 8 Unavailable Exchange Server 2010 Features and Changes

Last year Exchange Server came out which featured several new capabilities. Many of these capabilities helped ease the management actions for email administrators. And in a blog written by Clint Boessen, about one of those new features called, “Email Moderation”, Clint discussed the benefits of having a moderator involved in the email review process.

Email Moderation allows for a pre-review of email messages so that they may get forwarded with enough information for a full review to be complete. Email moderation can be configured for mailboxes, contacts and various distribution groups. Clint Boessen makes the comment that this feature can be, “…very useful in the business world that does not already have systems like this in place.”

I agree that a pre-review of an email message – such as a message intended for a helpdesk – can help to ensure that enough information is included as appropriate for the request. But I do think there are other ways to ensure a minimum level of information is sent with the original email request. Such methods include the use of forms that a user must complete prior to sending in their request for service.

Not only can the use of a form serve as a pre-screening mechanism but more specifically is the judicious use of required (versus optional) input fields that can help to ensure all required information is included before a form is submitted. The “required” input fields can be indicated as such by using highlights or asterisks or some other annotation consistently throughout the input forms. Companies can ensure a higher rate of acceptance of requests submitted for helpdesk or support services by creating such forms.

Continue reading Email Moderation Feature

Archive Mailbox can reduce user dependency on PST files.

Less than five months after it announced its plans to release the first service pack for Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft made the final version of the software available for download at the end of last month. Early adopters have been able to work with the upgrade since June when Microsoft released a beta version of the software at its annual Tech Ed conference held this year in New Orleans.

Final release of the first service pack for a major software product in the Microsoft world is significant for many administrators. Since many IT pros distrust the reliability of the initial release of any product–and the track record of Microsoft’s software releases has done little to discount that skepticism–the arrival of  that first big upgrade signals to them that it may be time to seriously consider what a new product has to offer.

In times past, service packs collected all the “hot” fixes released previously by Microsoft for a product and maybe added some additional bug fixes. In recent times, though, Microsoft has used the vehicles to introduce new features into its software, as well as significantly improve existing features. That’s the case with SP1 for Exchange 2010. It has lots of improvements. Among its updates and bug fixes, there are improvements in archiving, message searching and usability.

When announcing the final release of SP1, Microsoft, in a rare show of modesty for a high tech company or at least for a company blogger, turned the stage over to its users. Its blog item trumpeting the arrival of the service pack is almost totally feedback–albeit fanboy feedback–about Exchange 2010.

Continue reading Exchange Server 2010 SP1 ready for prime time

If you didn’t believe there’s a lot to learn about Microsoft Exchange 2010, all you need do is pick up a copy of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Best Practices, by Siegfried Jagott and Joel Stidley. Make sure you use your legs when you do so, though, lest you injure your back hefting the 900-plus page book.

While Jagott and Stidley may not be household names, their credentials and experience appears impeccable. “Individually and collectively the authors who wrote this book have been working with Exchange 2010 for as long as many senior developers at Microsoft,” Microsoft Senior Program Manager for the Exchange Ship Team David Espinoza writes in the foreword to the book.

“They have done an awesome job of providing readers with the ins and outs of the full range of features of Exchange 2010, which will help you get the most out of the product,” he continued. “Exchange administrators will find the experienced, hands-on approach of this book valuable in designing and deploying Exchange 2010.”

“You wouldn’t want a book that only skimmed and introduced new features,” he added. “Fortunately for you, this book is based on the experience of years of successful development in complex environments and a teamwork approach to the final design process.”

As might be expected, this best practices volume will have a narrow audience. According to the authors, their work is aimed at experienced messaging architects, Exchange administrators, support professionals and engineers–especially those who are working in medium to large enterprise organizations and have at least one year of experience in administering, deploying, managing, monitoring, upgrading, migrating and designing Exchange Server.

Continue reading Best practices book published for Exchange 2010