These days when it comes to collecting your Exchange email, you are spoilt for choice. Exchange 2003
clients seem to grow by the week, firstly there is the Outlook 200x family of MAPI clients, then there is Outlook Express with POP3, IMAP4 (and NNTP). Perhaps the biggest increase is in OWA (Outlook
Web Access). Lastly comes a technology with a future - OMA (Mobile Access).
In a nutshell, OWA in Exchange 2003 supports the full Outlook feature
set. A sign that this version of the web client has come of age is that people
are now complaining that OWA has too many features!
To connect to the Exchange 2003 server, simply type http://ExchangeServerName/exchange.
I particularly appreciate having the Rules Wizard and a the spell checker.
The new OWA, looks and feels like Outlook. You even have navigation settings and preview -
now called Reading Pane. Best of all, a right click now produces the short
cut menu, just like other Windows programs.
It makes sense for administrators to configure and publicise the use of UPN
(user principle names) so that OWA users can logon with their email address.
For those concerned about the security of their messages or their signature OWA
now supports S/MIME encryption and signature verification.
There also improvements to the calendar so that you can reply to meeting requests
and receive reminders using OWA.
Note: Select the Premier version of OWA unless you have a very old browser.
Guy Recommends:
The SolarWinds Exchange Monitor
Here is a
free tool to monitor your Exchange Server. Download and
install the utility, then inspect your mail queues, monitor the Exchange
server's memory, confirm there is enough disk space and check the CPU
utilization. This is the real deal - there is no catch. SolarWinds
provides this fully-functioning product for free, as part of their commitment to
supporting the network management community.
As with previous versions of Exchange, OWA is available to each user by default. To check the settings, launch Active Directory Users and Computers, navigate to the User object then examine the
Exchange features tab. See here.
Outlook 2003 leverages Kerberos security to decrease password theft.
OWA clients can take advantage of Kerberos as it operates at both front-end and
back-end servers.
Cached
mode creates a local data file that Outlook uses for all foreground activity. It then contacts the
Exchange server in the background. Exchange / Outlook traffic is
compressed on low bandwidth connections. What is more if server connection
is lost, Outlook just carries without hesitation until the server comes back on
line.
To configure the Outlook 2003 client, navigate to the Control Panel, Mail icon. Select setting to connect to Exchange 2003.
There has been a technical development in that Outlook 2003 (the MAPI clients), can now use RPC over
HTTP, Microsoft says this removes the need to use a VPN. The port number
for this arrangement are Port 80 front-end servers in the de-military zone.
While on the back-end server, you need to open port 593 (End point mapper) and
ports 6001,2 and 4 for Exchange. You may also need to edit the registry on
the Proxy server to reflect the use of these ports, here is the relevant
registry
setting:
Note you cannot leave FQDN, you must enter a real value.
Guy Recommends: Solarwinds' Free Bulk Mailbox Import Tool
Import users, complete with mailbox from a spreadsheet. Just provide a list of the
users with the fields in the
top row, and save as .csv file. Then launch this FREE utility and match
your Exchange fields with AD's
attributes, click and import the users. Optionally, you can
provide the name of the OU where the new mailboxes will be born.
There are also two bonus tools in the free download, and all 3 have been approved by Microsoft:
Bulk-import new users and mailboxes into Active Directory.
The
extra features you get in your eBook include: 20 checklists to
plan your migration. Detailed instructions and advice on the best
strategy for your organization.
Lots of tips, recommendations and troubleshooting advice. Problem
solving section. Active Directory explained. Printer friendly
pages.
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Custom Search
SolarWinds Exchange Monitor
Here is a
free tool to monitor your Exchange Server.
Download the utility, then inspect your mail queues, monitor Exchange server's
memory, confirm there is enough disk space and check the CPU utilization.
The
extra features you get in your eBook include: 20 checklists to
plan your migration. Detailed instructions and advice on the best
strategy for your organization.
