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I had the privilege of attending Microsoft TechEd North America 2010 last week in New Orleans, LA and wanted to share a few confirmed new features of Exchange 2010 SP1 (due out later this year but no firm ETA).  The overall theme of this year’s TechEd was centered around, not surprisingly, cloud computing.  Specifically, Microsoft emphasized their mature Exchange Online offering but also stressed the growth of Windows Azure (Microsoft’s hosted services platform) and hosted SQL services.  The demonstrations of what Windows Azure and hosted SQL could do were extremely interesting and solidified Microsoft’s vision of being “all in” (according to keynote speaker Bob Muglia) with cloud computing.

Regarding Exchange 2010 SP1, a few of the Exchange sessions I attended had specific focus on SP1 and most of the others mentioned how different aspects of Exchange would change with SP1.  I discuss a number of my favorite changes/additions associated with SP1 below but please note that there are many more new features.  Please refer to the MS Exchange Team blog post on SP1 for more information.

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At a few recent client implementations, we have seen noticeable delays synchronizing various changes in mailboxes to Exchange 2010 when running Outlook 2003 in Online Mode.  As it turns out, this is a known issue and Microsoft has documented it at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2009942.  The following are symptoms of the issue:

• Outgoing messages stay in the Outbox for up to 1 minute
• New messages do not arrive in the mailbox for up to 1 minute
• Items that are deleted or moved between folders may take up to 1 minute for the change to be reflected

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Microsoft has recently announced some new features that will be available with Exchange 2010 SP1 (anticipated in the summer timeframe of this year).  While a more detailed list is forthcoming from Microsoft, a few highlights can be found below:

• Archiving Enhancements – With SP1, you will be able to store a user’s primary mailbox in one mailbox database and that user’s Personal Archive mailbox in a different mailbox database.  This will allow administrators to leverage tiered storage for primary and archived data.  Additionally, new server side features will allow for easy back-end PST imports directly into a mailbox.  Finally, as alluded to by Microsoft previously, SP1 will include updates that will enable Personal Archive access from Outlook 2007.  Without SP1, the only methods of access for the Personal Archive are Outlook Web App 2010 and Outlook 2010.
• Management Enhancements – New capabilities will be added to both the Exchange Management Console (EMC) and Exchange Control Panel (ECP).  Specifically, the EMC will have new tools to configure/manage Retention Policies, Retention Policy Tags, Litigation Holds, DAG IP addresses and Alternate Witness Servers, recursive public folder settings and permissions, and more.  The ECP will have new tools to configure/manage Transport Rules, MailTips, Personal Archives, RBAC roles, and more.  In summary, many tasks that previously required the Exchange Management Shell will now be available through either the EMC or ECP.
• Discovery Enhancements – Multi-mailbox search will be improved by providing a Search Preview that will provide an estimated number of results (with keyword statistics as well) before exporting the desired content to the designated discovery mailbox.  This will help discovery users understand the impact of their queries and how much data to expect before actually exporting this data.  Additionally, a search de-duplication option will be provided that, when checked, will only export one instance of each unique message to the designated discovery mailbox.  This could dramatically reduce the amount of time it would take for a discovery user to review the data exported from a query.  Finally, support for annotation will be introduced so that discovery users can include notes while reviewing discovered data.
• Outlook Web App Enhancements- Outlook Web App (OWA) gets more efficient by pre-fetching message content to make reading faster and running some actions asynchronously (delete, mark read, etc.) to make them appear faster.  Additionally, various user interface improvements will be included to reduce clutter in OWA and prevent long running operations (such as attaching files) from blocking OWA access for the end user.  A new feature to anonymously share calendars via the web will be an option as well.  Finally, OWA themes return to allow users to customize the look and feel of OWA.
• ActiveSync Enhancements- Support for send as and conversation view, along with other new features will be provided.

You can read more about these new features of Exchange 2010 SP1 at http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2010/04/07/454533.aspx.

As mentioned in my previous blog post about the Exchange 2010 RPC Client Access Service and the ClientAccessArray, Exchange’s dependence on the Client Access Server (CAS) role has increased dramatically in Exchange 2010.  This is because, in Exchange 2010, on-network Outlook MAPI connectivity now connects to a mailbox through the CAS role via the RPC Client Access Service.  As a result, high availability of the CAS role is crucial since any failure of CAS could affect Outlook client connectivity.  For smaller implementations or those where the limitations of native Windows Network Load Balancing (NLB) are not a major problem (please see my previous blog post for more information), NLB can work well.  The process for configuring NLB is fairly straightforward and I’ve outlined the steps below.

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My last post Citrix Provisioning Services Part 1 – What Is It? served an introduction to what exactly Citrix Provisioning Services is capable of. Below I hope to open people’s eyes to using PVS for something other than VDI, as it is often thought of as a part of the XenDesktop suite. However PVS is actually independent of XD or VDI, and can be utilized in combination with XenApp to bring single-image benefits to the Terminal Services world.

Provisioning Services allows for server consistency, easier maintenance, dynamic servers, and aids in disaster recovery.

• Consistency – As a best practice every XenApp server delivering the same applications should be 100% identical to the rest of the farm. However, obtaining this is easier said than done.  By streaming the same image to every server, each server is inherently and 100% the same as the rest.
• Maintenance – Updating and patching large farms can be a very time consuming task, and anything done to one server must be repeated for the entire farm to maintain consistency. With PVS, patches and software installations are applied once to the master image and on next reboot, each XenApp server boots the new updated image. In addition to software patching and installation, Terminal Servers need to be completely refreshed periodically to keep them clean and performing optimally; they are used by dozens of different users, reducing performance and resulting in inconsistent servers. A typical server refresh requires the server to be re-imaged and the software redeployed, a time consuming process that can be prone to error, leaving a server in an unusable or inconsistent state. Operating system streaming with PVS results in a completely fresh and optimized server on every reboot.
• Dynamic – PVS allows for a dynamic XenApp farm instead of a static one. As load rises and additional servers are needed, they can be quickly brought online in seconds instead of hours. Conversely, as load drops, un-needed servers can be powered off or repurposed as needed. A server becomes a vessel for different workloads and can be a XenApp server one day and an IIS server another if need be. Since Provisioning Services is capable of streaming to both physical and virtual servers, administrators have the ability to utilize different types of resources all from the same master image(s).
• Disaster Recovery – Creating a disaster recovery plan for the XenApp environment often requires complex processes, scripts and configurations. Assuming a PVS server has been built in the DR site, and that the master image has been replicated as well, quickly bringing an entire farm of XenApp servers online becomes a simple task.

Creating a XenApp environment that is more dynamic and easier to maintain is a goal for many XenApp administrators. The addition of Provisioning Services to a XenApp implementation can go a long way to achieving those goals. By leveraging the single-image management capabilities of PVS, administrators can dramatically reduce the costs involved with deploying and maintaining their XenApp farms. While at the same time, guaranteeing consistency between and ensuring peak performance of each server in the farm. All while being capable of quickly adapting to changes in load and disaster scenarios.

Microsoft has announced that Exchange 2010 has been released to manufacturing with expected general availability and launch to be announced at TechEd Europe 2009 in early November.  More information on Microsoft’s official announcement of Exchange 2010 can be found at the MS Exchange Team blog here.  Exchange 2010 marks a significant milestone in the development of Exchange Server.  Some of the most important features have been summarized below but many more exist that make this a compelling upgrade for all firms. 

Please note that Exchange 2007 SP2 and/or Exchange 2003 SP2 are required for coexistence with Exchange 2010 in the same Active Directory site.

• Dramatically Improved Storage Footprint and Large Mailbox Support – Changes in the underlying storage architecture allow for a 70% reduction in I/O over Exchange 2007 and a 90% reduction over Exchange 2003. This allows for more efficient usage of storage and results in the ability to store Exchange databases on slower/lower-cost disk such as SATA.  This makes Exchange not only better performing for larger mailboxes but also more cost effective.
• Native E-mail Archiving – With Exchange 2010, basic archiving features are now included natively, allowing firms to reduce the footprint of production mailboxes and improve client-side Outlook performance.  While this functionality may not be as feature-rich as third-party solutions and even though it requires a to-be-released Outlook 2010 client to support it (or OWA 2010), it does present a much needed piece of functionality that many firms have desired natively for years.
• Database Availability Groups – All of the Exchange 2007 high availability and disaster recovery methods (Local Continuous Replication, Single Copy Clustering, Cluster Continuous Replication, and Standby Continuous Replication) have been deprecated and replaced with a single concept: Database Availability Groups (DAGs).  DAGs unify the concepts of high availability and disaster recovery into a single deployment and management process, thereby simplifying it dramatically over previous versions of Exchange.
• Native eDiscovery and Compliance Features – Multi-mailbox search, legal holds, and improved retention policies all combine to increase the native capabilities of Exchange to assist with compliance processes and discovery requests.
• MailTips – Exchange can now notify users if a message violates an aspect of IT or corporate policy (sending to unauthorized third-parties or exceeding a maximum allowed message size) or if the result of sending the message may be unexpected (recipient is out of the office or a distribution list contains a large number of recipients).  This can enable users to better understand the results of sending a message and potentially reduce confusion and calls to IT.

Please refer to my three-part blog post series on Exchange 2010’s specific benefits for law firms (Part 1 can be found at http://blogs.kraftkennedy.com/index.php/2009/08/19/exchange-2010-benefits-for-law-firms-part-1-of-3/).  Check back often for additional blog posts about the new features of Exchange 2010. 

High availability and site resiliency have evolved a great deal from early versions of Exchange through Exchange 2007.  While Exchange 2007 introduced the concepts of Single Copy Clustering (SCC) and Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) for high availability and Standby Continuous Replication (SCR) for site resiliency, each had very specific benefits and drawbacks.  CCR gradually became Microsoft’s and the industry’s preferred solution for high availability because of its robust availability capabilities but concerns about manageability, scalability, and associated storage cost were all factors when settling on a design.  SCR extended CCR technology to provide a robust and cost effective solution for site resiliency but many firms were frustrated by the configuration and database activation processes and that all administration must be completed via cmdlets.
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With Server Based Computing and consolidation becoming increasing prevalent along with the enormous buzz of VDI, I think it is worth debunking some of common myths of XenApp and Terminal Server.  Below are the most common misconceptions that I continue to hear from IT folks today on the limitations of XenApp/Terminal servers that I have debunked from real world experience supporting and working with different terminal server environments.

Myth 1: Application compatibility is a huge problem on Terminal Servers.
There might have been some truth to this myth a decade ago, but in reality this is just not a big problem in the 2003/2008 world.  From my first hand experience, I can say that an application that works on XP will work on 2003, what works on Vista, will work on 2008, etc.  Are there some exceptions?  Of course.  However, these applications are few and far between, yet the “application compatibility” myth continues to circulate. This myth was probably true in the NT/2000 OS where applications did not do a good job of differentiating between “user” and “computer” parts of an installation.  Since Windows XP, application developers have done a better job writing “user” specific information in the user profile and “machine” specific information in Program Files, or HKLM.  I would probably attributed to the “Fast User Switching” feature introduced in XP.  Whatever the reason, this is just not a problem anymore.

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Exchange 2007’s Client Access Server (CAS) role, while similar to the Front-End server configuration of Exchange 2003, introduced a number of new features and capabilities that distinguished it significantly.  For example, instead of just passively acting as a relay for Internet-based access to a Back-End server via Outlook Web Access (OWA) and ActiveSync like in Exchange 2003, the Exchange 2007 CAS role actively facilitated access for such functions and, in doing so, offloaded some load from the back-end Mailbox server role.  In Exchange 2007, OWA, ActiveSync, and Outlook Anywhere (formerly RPC-over-HTTPS) clients all connected through the CAS role as an endpoint, which then connected to the Mailbox role to provide access to the necessary content.  However, native on-network Outlook  MAPI connectivity still connected directly to the Mailbox role for mailbox access.

Introducing the RPC Client Access Service

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Previously, in part 2 of this blog post, I discussed native electronic discovery features, retention policies, and legal holds.  In this post, the final part of this three-part post, I will present  user-specific HTML disclaimers and MailTips.

User-Specific HTML Disclaimers

Exchange 2007 allowed for basic disclaimer-type functionality with the introduction of Transport Rules.  However, this was limited to static text and it was difficult to manage.  In addition, many firms wanted to standardize the format of their e-mail signatures so that all electronic correspondence had a uniform signature block.  As a result, most firms leveraged third-party software or e-mail gateways, hosted message hygiene services (such as Google/Postini or MessageLabs), or manually-created Outlook signatures to provide this functionality.  The former two options required the management of this content outside of Exchange and the latter was difficult to update and manage since these signatures must be kept up-to-date for messages sent from Outlook, Outlook Web Access, or a handheld mobile device.

With Exchange 2010, an administrator can define dynamic signature text that leverages Active Directory-defined attributes, such as name, title, phone number, etc., in addition to HTML formatting.  As a result, a firm can define a standard format for all users that dynamically includes key information specific to each user.  In addition, administrators can include Circular 230 or other required disclosure information dynamically, based on specific needs.

MailTips

MailTips represent new functionality in Exchange 2010 that can not only prevent specific policy infractions but also help users to become more productive with e-mail.  MailTips can provide suggestions to end users about potentially unanticipated results that will occur if a message was to be sent and, in addition, they can prevent specific messages or content from being sent entirely.  Situations in which MailTips can be useful can be found below (all can be customized):

• If a user is about to send a message to a distribution list that contains more than 1,000 recipients or to a distribution list that contains an external e-mail address
• If a user is about to send a message to another user that has enabled their Out-of-Office auto-reply
• If a message exceeds the maximum configured sending/receiving size limits configured within Exchange
• If a recipient’s mailbox is full due to a storage quota
• If a user replies to all but was BCCed on the original message
• If user is attempting to send a message to a user or distribution list to which they are not allowed to send (ethical wall or defined client conflict)

All of these can help users understand the results of sending a particular message in advance and, potentially, result in fewer calls to IT to question why sending a particular message had a specific result.

As you can see, there are a number of beneficial new features in Exchange 2010 for law firms of all sizes.  Previously these features were either not available, expensive, or required an investment in third-party solutions.  With Exchange 2010, this functionality can be managed natively within the messaging platform, thereby potentially saving cost and maximizing efficiency.