Every organization is unique, but there are certain similarities that organizations of varying sizes possess. In general, the following company examples can be used as a starting point to match its needs to the needs of any similar organization. The following sections summarize the design decisions presented by the sample organizations in this chapter.
As illustrated throughout this chapter, Company123 followed a best practice model from small organizations for its Exchange Server 2003 design strategy. Each organization is unique, and there might be other factors that would change some of these design decisions, but they are presented to give a better understanding of how the needs of a sample small organization fit into Exchange Server 2003 design.
In summary, the following key design elements were implemented as part of Company123's small organization Exchange Server 2003 design:
Forest and Domain Design Single forest/Single domain—company123.org
AD Domain Controller and Global Catalog Placement Single domain controller/Global Catalog server
Server Number and Placement Single Exchange Server 2003 system, on same hardware as AD domain controller
Server Redundancy and Optimization RAID1 drive set for OS and Logs; RAID5 drive set for database and SMTP folder
Server Operating System Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
Exchange Version and Org Name Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition/org name: Company123
Administrative Group and Routing Group Structure Single admin group/single routing group
Public Folder Structure and Replication Single public folder store
Exchange Database and Storage Group Structure Single private folder store/single public folder store
Exchange Monitoring Solution Manual monitoring via event log parsing and using perfmon counters
Client Access Methods Outlook 2003 client for all users; Outlook 2003 in slow-link header mode for remote users
Front-end Server Design Single Exchange Server with front-end capabilities
OrganizationY is fairly typical of the run-of-the-mill, midsize organization in today's environment. The following design decisions can be useful in designing Exchange Server 2003 for these types of organizations:
Forest and Domain Design Used existing placeholder root domain AD structure with placeholder domain (placeholder.internal) and user resource domain (ydomain.internal)
AD Site and Replication Topology Placement Separate AD sites for three main locations
AD Domain Controller and Global Catalog Placement Full Global Catalogs in two largest sites; universal group caching enabled in third site
DNS Layout AD-integrated zones for local DNS trees; stub zone for separate tree in the forest
Server Number and Placement Exchange Servers in Manchester and Los Angeles; all other sites to access Exchange using auto-detected slow-link capabilities of Outlook 2003 or OWA
Server Redundancy and Optimization Redundant fans and power supplies; RAID sets for OS, logs, and database
Server Operating System Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
Exchange Version and Org Name Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
Administrative Group and Routing Group Structure Single admin group; two routing groups (Manchester, Los Angeles)
Public Folder Structure and Replication Two public folder instances, one for each routing group
Exchange Database and Storage Group Structure Three private store databases for each Exchange Server, divided by practice group; single production storage group
Client Access Methods Outlook 2003 client for most users, OWA for Internet users
Front-end Server Design Single front-end server deployed for RPC over HTTP access to Exchange from the Internet
The complexities of larger organizations were not lost on the Exchange design team. Exchange Server 2003 was built upon the lessons learned by large organizations with Exchange 2000 and is consequently a better product. The sample large organization shown in this chapter is not unique, and some of the following design strategies can be used for similar designs:
Forest and Domain Design Separate, dedicated AD forest (exchange.internal) for Exchange with cross-forest transitive trusts to the two existing AD production forests
AD Site and Replication Topology Placement AD sites for each large location
AD Domain Controller and Global Catalog Placement Full Global Catalog servers in each AD site
DNS Layout Single AD-integrated DNS zone (exchange.internal)
Server Number and Placement Exchange Mailbox Servers in each major location; 4-node Exchange cluster with one passive node in Minneapolis
Server Redundancy and Optimization Redundant fans and power supplies; RAID drive sets; cluster in Minneapolis
Server Operating System Windows Server 2003 Standard for non–cluster systems; Windows Server 2003 Enterprise for cluster nodes
Exchange Version and Org Name Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
Administrative Group and Routing Group Structure Two admin groups, 8 routing groups
Public Folder Structure and Replication Public folder instance in each routing group
Exchange Database and Storage Group Structure Three private stores on each mailbox server, divided alphabetically; single storage group for each server
Exchange Monitoring Solution Microsoft Operations Manager deployed for all AD and Exchange System monitoring needs
Client Access Methods Preferred client Outlook 2003; support for older MAPI clients, OWA, OMA, IMAP, and POP3
Front-end Server Design Dual load-balanced front-end servers to provide for remote RPC over HTTP Internet access to Exchange data