Exam 70-285:

Designing a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Organization

Published:March 26, 2004
Language(s):English, French, German, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified)
Audience(s):IT Professionals
Technology:Microsoft Exchange Server 2003
Type:Proctored Exam

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Preparing for an Exam
This exam will be retired on March 31st, 2011.
 
The Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 credential is designed for IT professionals who work in the typically complex computing environment of medium to large companies.
Audience Profile
The Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 credential is designed for IT professionals who work in the typically complex computing environment of medium to large companies.
A candidate for this exam should have at least one year of experience designing and planning Exchange messaging systems in environments that have the following characteristics:
  • 250 to 5,000 or more users
  • Three or more physical locations
  • Network services and resources such as multiple versions of Exchange Server, Active Directory, proxy server, firewall, other messaging systems, DNS, Internet, intranet, and mobile clients that use a public infrastructure
  • Three or more domain controllers
  • Two or more Exchange Server computers
  • Connectivity requirements such as connecting branch offices and individual users in remote locations to the corporate network and connecting corporate networks to the Internet
Credit Toward CertificationWhen you pass Exam 70-285: Designing a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Organization, you complete the requirements for the following certification(s):Exam 70-285: Designing a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Organization: counts as credit toward the following certification(s):
Note This preparation guide is subject to change at any time without prior notice and at the sole discretion of Microsoft. Microsoft exams might include adaptive testing technology and simulation items. Microsoft does not identify the format in which exams are presented. Please use this preparation guide to prepare for the exam, regardless of its format.
Skills Being MeasuredThis exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below.The percentages indicate the relative weight of each major topic area on the exam.The higher the percentage, the more questions you are likely to see on that content area on the exam.

The information after “This objective may include but is not limited to” is intended to further define or scope the objective by describing the types of skills and topics that may be tested for the objective. However, it is not an exhaustive list of skills and topics that could be included on the exam for a given skill area. You may be tested on other skills and topics related to the objective that are not explicitly listed here.
Designing an Upgrade or Migration and Coexistence Strategy
  • Design an upgrade strategy from previous versions of Exchange. Considerations include upgrading from Exchange 2000 Server or Exchange Server 5.5, whether to upgrade the existing organization or create a new organizational structure, and designing connection agreements.
    • Upgrade from Exchange Server 5.5.
    • Upgrade from Exchange 2000 Server.
  • Design coexistence and migration of Exchange Server 2003 with other messaging systems. Considerations include cc:Mail, MSMail, previous versions of Exchange, Lotus Notes, X.400 messaging systems, PROFS, SNADS, and Groupwise.
    • Plan for coexistence/migration with foreign mail systems, such as Notes, cc:Mail, GroupWise, MS Mail, PROFS, TAO, and SNADS.
    • Plan for coexistence with Exchange Server 5.5.
    • Plan for coexistence with Exchange 2000 Server.
  • Design the integration with the existing or planned Active Directory. Considerations include potential changes to the current or planned Active irectory structure, and inter-organizational connectivity and synchronization.
    • Identify any changes needed to the Active Directory.
    • Design inter-organizational connectivity and synchronization.
Designing the Exchange Server 2003 Infrastructure
  • Design an Exchange Server 2003 administrative model. Considerations include business factors, existing and planned administrative model, organizational unit (OU) structure, policies, administrative group placement and boundaries, and permissions.
  • Designate and design servers. Server configurations include server placement, connectors, client computer access, and multiple protocols.
    • Design server placement.
    • Design Server Specialization.
  • Design Exchange Server 2003 Public Folder Infrastructure. Considerations include company structure, geographical structure, maintenance policies, permissions, replication and indexing.
    • Determining Public Folder Referrals.
    • Design Public Folder Security.
  • Design the storage strategy. Considerations include optimal database sizing, logging strategy, stores and storage group configurations.
  • Design servers to achieve fault tolerance and increased performance. Considerations include server scalability, storage fault tolerance, front-end back-end topology, and clustering.
    • Determine approach for scalability.
    • Hardware fault tolerance (RAID).
    • Design the front-end/back-end servers.
    • Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) Clustering.
  • Design a backup and recovery solution. Considerations include planning backup scope, defining the backup schedule, media storage and rotation, backup type, recovering the entire messaging system, individual databases, and servers; re-associating user mailboxes with accounts; and designing mailbox stores to support recovery.
Designing Connectivity for Exchange Server 2003
  • Design an Exchange Server 2003 routing group topology.
    • Plan traffic flow. Considerations include ADC computer and bridgeheads, routing group boundaries, bandwidth, public folder replication, and existing network connections.
  • Design Exchange 2003 Connectors.
  • Design Exchange 2003 Virtual (protocol) Server Strategy.
  • Design a fault-tolerant DNS solution.
  • Design Client strategy for Exchange Server 2003. Considerations include hardware, operating system, access method, existing message store requirements, and existing message clients.
    • Design a strategy for mail access. Messaging clients include MAPI, IMAP4, POP3, RPC over HTTP, and HTTP mail.
    • Plan deployments of messaging clients. Considerations include policies and profiles.
Designing the Security Strategy
  • Design an authentication and encryption strategy. Considerations include user authentication and encryption requirements, such as S/MIME, IPSec, NTLM, Digest authentication, and SSL.
    • Outlook Web Access (OWA)
    • Outlook Mobile Access (OMA)
    • Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME)
  • Design protection from external threats. Considerations include protection from unsolicited commercial e-mail, viruses, spoofing, and firewalls.
    • Block SMTP Relay
    • Virus protection
    • Protect from unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam)
    • Protect from spoofing
    • Firewall configuration
    • Content filtering
    • Blacklists
  • Protect the Exchange Server 2003 infrastructure against internal attacks.
    • Physical security of the computer
    • Virus protection
    • Permissions
    • Internal firewall
Preparation Tools and ResourcesTo help you prepare for this exam, Microsoft Learning recommends that you have hands-on experience with the product and that you use the following training resources. These training resources do not necessarily cover all of the topics listed in the "Skills Measured" tab.
Learning Plans and Classroom Training There is no classroom training currently available.
Microsoft E-Learning There is no Microsoft E-Learning training currently available.
Microsoft Press Books There are no Microsoft Press books currently available.
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