Exchange 2000 – Features

Introduction to Exchange 2000

The old adage tells us: ‘There are only two things in life that are inevitable – death and taxes’.  If I could add a third inevitability, it would be the move to Microsoft’s Exchange 2000.  Here is advice from an independent consultant on what to look out for in Exchange 2000.  Topics in this section

• New Features in Exchange 2000
• Migration from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000
• Installing Exchange 2000
• Configuring Exchange 2000
• Download my Exchange 2000 Migration ebook only $4.95

Exchange 2000 features

There is always an air of excitement with any upgrade; however, to get the most from your move Exchange 2000 take the time to evaluate the new components.  My first piece of advice is to choose the Enterprise version, and avoid the basic Exchange 2000 which has a miserly 16GB limit on the mail store.

• Integration with Active Directory.  Think of a mail box as a property of the user.
• Move Mailboxes is now available through Active Directory Users and Computers.  (right-click user).
• Multiple Storage Groups – provide for easier management and faster recovery.  e.g. put the boss in their own Storage Group.
• Administrative Groups – useful for delegation.
• Create Front End servers for authentication and Backend server to store the mailboxes
• Trial OWA.  Outlook Web Access is much improved and supports public folders and right mouse clicking.
• Create Routing Groups to transfer mail between your sites.  (They replace Site Connectors in Exchange 5.5)
• Master the SMTP connector to send and receive internet email.
• Inspect the property sheets of the SMTP virtual server.
• Configure a System Policies folder and create policies to set limits on users’ mailboxes.
• Exchange 2000 relies on IIS for the SMTP service.
• Be aware that Exchange creates a special virtual ‘M:’ drive which is used by its Installable File System.
• Configure Index Server so that Outlook 200x clients can take advantage of speedy Advanced searches.
• Instant Messenger (Personally I am not sure if Instant Messenger is useful or will be a pain!)
• Conference Server – Note this a simple Add-on and NOT a big separate Exchange version.