The information is regarding Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. For further information on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010 please visit http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/2010/en/us/default.aspx.
Today’s enterprise relies on e-mail as a primary source of communication. Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition, running on the high-end editions of Windows Server 2008, provides a premier e-mail solution for an enterprise. In accordance with the Microsoft company-wide Trustworthy Computing Initiative, Exchange Server 2007 running on Windows Server 2008 high-end editions provides many improved features and enhancements to improve reliability, manageability, and security. Furthermore, Exchange Server 2007 will only be able to take advantage of features, such as clustering, when installed on Windows Server 2008 high-end editions.
Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition is the latest version of the Microsoft industry-leading communications server. Exchange Server 2007 provides many features that can increase worker productivity and help organizations reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO). One example is the improvements in the way Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Outlook work together to dramatically improve performance. Checking e-mail over a dial-up connection or a low-bandwidth mobile network now feels much more like working in the office.
E-Mail Reliability
Installing and running Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition on Windows Server 2008 helps ensure that e-mail is up as frequently as possible. With Exchange Server 2007 built on Windows Server, it is possible to achieve up to 99.99 percent uptime, or less than an hour of downtime per year.
Failover Clustering
With Windows Server 2008 high-end editions, you can take advantage of failover clustering to minimize e-mail downtime. The distribution of e-mail servers over multiple nodes in a cluster will help ensure that if one node goes down, another node will take over—your customers and employees will continue receiving e-mail uninterrupted. Geographically dispersed cluster environments also extend clustering benefits to companies that operate without preference to a particular location.
Advised by Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS), Linklaters, a global law firm with 30 offices in 22 countries, uses Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 with Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition. The firm uses multi-node clusters of servers to centrally manage its e-mail architecture for more than 7,000 users. As a result, Linklaters has reduced administration and licensing costs while minimizing downtime."Exchange Server 2003 greatly increases our server availability and reliability. We are benefiting from improved virtual memory management and support for up to eight-node clustering, with Windows Server 2003. They are all single clusters, with varying numbers of servers per cluster. This is helping us to reduce costs, as well as providing for future growth in the firm's use of e-mail messaging for communication with customers,” says Jon Segger, Technical Consultant for Linklaters.
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E-Mail Security
In addition to being reliable, e-mail must be highly secure. The constant use of e-mail poses the ever-present threat of security breach that could be disastrous. Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS), exclusively included in Windows Server 2008 high-end editions, provides the framework for more secure e-mail, in addition to collaboration. With the security enhancements aimed at shrinking the attack surface of Windows Server 2008 by both reactively addressing known threats and proactively preempting potential threats, running e-mail servers on Windows Server 2008 will become even more secure.
Forbes is a privately held, 900-employee company that is best known for its financial reporting magazines. After moving to Windows Server 2003, Forbes Network Manager Peter Menoni said, “Initially, I was hesitant about moving to Microsoft Windows Server 2003 because of security concerns, but any misgivings have long since disappeared. The solution has proved itself by keeping the Forbes environment protected ever since our deployment.”
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