Exchange Server 2007 Webcast Series - Most Frequently Asked Follow Up Questions (1 - 6)
As I state in my earlier post on May 9th, I am going to be posting the top 24 most frequently asked questions (and their answers) that I received via email during and after the 24 Part Webcast Series.
I am going to break these up into 4 different posts so that they are so long and are easier to read. These are not in any particular order or importance.
Q1: Do I REALLY need to have a 64 bit machine for every Exchange 2007 Role?
A1: For production purposes, Yes, you do. This hold true for ALL roles (Mailbox, Client Access, Hub Transport, Unified Messaging and Edge Transport). Even though we released a 32 bit version of Exchange Server 2007, it is only meant for Demo, Lab Testing and Classroom / Teaching scenarios. There are 2 exceptions to the 32 bit code rule. The first is around extending the schema. Since the schema extensions are identical (32 bit versus 64 bit), you can use the 32 Bit evaluation code to perform the schema extensions against your production forest. The second is for the Exchange 2007 administration tools. You can use the 32 bit evaluation code to install the Exchange 2007 Admin tools onto your 32 bit Windows XP SP2 machine or your 32 bit Windows Server 2003 SP1 Server.
Q2: If I choose to separate out the Roles onto different physical servers, how does Licensing work??
A2: You must purchase an Exchange 2007 Server License for each physical machine (server) you install Exchange Server 2007 onto. If you choose to deploy each role onto its own physical server, then you would need a minimum of 5 Exchange Server 2007 Licenses - assuming you also deploy the Edge Transport.
Q3: When will the GroupWise Migration tools for Exchange Server 2007 be released?
A3: At this point in time, there are no plans from the Exchange Product Group to develop these tools. If you need these, then you will want to look at tools from our Partners (https://www.microsoft.com/exchange/partners/2007/migrationsolutions.mspx).
Q4: I want to cluster Exchange Server 2007. Is it really true that the Mailbox role is the only one that is clusterable? If so, what do I need to do in order to implement a cluster in Exchange 2007??
A4: If you are looking to implement a Single Copy Cluster (SCC) or a Clustered Continuous Replication (CCR) Cluster, then you are correct - the Mailbox server role is the only one that can be part of the cluster. In this scenario, you would need to implement at least one additional server to host the Client Access and Hub Transport server roles. Those two roles can co-exist on the same server. If you need redundancy of these roles as well, then you will need to implement at least 2 additional server (in addition to the cluster) so that you can have redundancy for the Hub Transport and Client Access server roles.
Q5: I have 40 Active Directory Sites. I heard that I must have a Hub Transport and Client Access server role in every AD site with Exchange Server 2007? That's a lot more Exchange Servers than Exchange 2003. Why is Microsoft stealing my money??
A5: There has been a lot of confusion on this point. Let's make sure we get this clarified. You need a minimum of 1 Client Access and 1 Hub Transport server role in every Active Directory site that also has a Mailbox server role. If you have AD sites with no Mailbox servers, then you also don't need the Client Access or Hub Tranport server roles. Let's take a look at the original question which has 40 AD sites. If the plans were to install a Mailbox server in 3 of those AD sites, then the requirement is to have at least 3 Hub Transport server roles and 3 Client Access server roles to correlate with each of the AD sites that has a Mailbox server role. Also, this does not mean that you have a total of 9 Exchange Servers based on my example. You can have as few as 3 (all roles on a single server) or as many as 12 (2 node CCR cluster in each site and the CAS and HT roles on their own servers). The key here is that you do NOT have to install a CAS and HT in every AD site - only in AD sites that will also have a Mailbox server role.
Q6: Is the Edge Transport server role a required server role???
A6: No, the Edge Transport server role is OPTIONAL. However, if you want to take advantage of all the message hygiene capabilities built into Exchange Server 2007, you will need to implement the Edge Transport. The key anti-spam agents can be installed on the Hub Transport, but this does not include all the message hygiene capabilities.
Hopefully this helps clarify a few things for you. Look for the next 6 in a few days.
Harold Wong
harold.wong@microsoft.com