Microsoft Exchange Server
| Microsoft Exchange Server
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| developer | Microsoft |
| Publishing year | April 11, 1993 |
| Current version | 2019 CU6 ( June 16, 2020 ) |
| operating system | Microsoft Windows Server |
| programming language | C # |
| category | Groupware |
| License | Microsoft EULA ( Closed Source ) |
| German speaking | Yes |
| Microsoft Exchange Server | |
Microsoft Exchange Server is a groupware - and e-mail transport - server software company Microsoft . It is used for the central storage and administration of e-mails , appointments, contacts, tasks and other elements for several users and thus enables collaboration in a work group or in a company. Exchange Server requires Microsoft Windows Server software and is therefore mainly used in infrastructures characterized by Microsoft products.
In order to be able to use the functions of Exchange Server as a user, additional client software is required. Microsoft supplies the separate program Microsoft Outlook for this , and Exchange Server itself already includes the Outlook on the web web application for browser access.
As part of the Microsoft online service Office 365 , the server software under the title Exchange Online can also or additionally be operated by Microsoft (“ cloud computing ”) instead of in-house (“ on premises ”), which is primarily for smaller companies without a well-developed IT infrastructure can be interesting.
Details
The Exchange Server version 2019 can be operated on Windows Server 2019 . The Microsoft directory service Active Directory must be present in the network, as Exchange Server integrates itself intensively into it. a. for user administration.
A new product maintenance model from Microsoft has been in effect since version 2013: A so-called Cumulative Update (CU) is published about once per quarter , which reflects the complete status of the product with regard to bug fixes and functional enhancements at this point in time and thus not only for Updates, but can also be used for new installations. Please note that Microsoft only provides product support for the last two Cumulative Updates , e.g. B. in the form of security updates.
Licensing
The product is available in the variants Standard and Enterprise . The standard version is designed for use in smaller companies, as it only allows 5 databases per server. The Enterprise version, on the other hand, allows up to 100 databases per server. Each database can contain up to 2 terabytes of data in each server variant .
Every user of the software also needs a client access license (CAL). This is also available in the basic version Standard and as an additional add-on license in the Enterprise version to be able to use extended server functions.
Range of functions
The initially simple e-mail system became an extensive groupware solution. In the 2003 version, the Intelligent Message Filter (IMF) was the first to implement server-side filtering that made it possible to filter out unwanted e-mails . Since the 2013 version, rudimentary anti-virus software has also been included.
The functionality includes:
- Emails
- Dates / calendar
- tasks
- Contacts / addresses
- notes
- Mobile e-mail access via ActiveSync technology
- E-mail retrieval via POP3 / IMAP4 , e-mail delivery via SMTP
- Global address book
- Certificate-based authentication
- Support for Secure / Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions ( S / MIME )
- Intelligent anti-spam filter: SmartScreen filter technology, Intelligent Message Filter (IMF)
- Global Accept and Deny List ( White List / Black List )
- Anti-virus filtering or anti-virus API , with which anti-virus software from third-party providers can be connected
- Support for the Sender ID email authentication protocol
- Outlook Web App , web access to the functions of the server
- Mixed operation with an Office 365 exchange online service
- Data loss prevention
Basically, data is divided into personal and user-dependent data on the one hand and shared data such as the so-called public folders on the other , which makes group work possible.
Microsoft Outlook is mostly used as the front-end application. As an alternative under Linux , Novell Evolution can also be used. However, Exchange Server can also be used via a web application using Outlook Web App or via mobile devices using ActiveSync or telephone (Outlook Voice Access).
When using Outlook together with Exchange Server, the functionality of Outlook is expanded. So z. B. an out-of-office assistant is offered, which replies to incoming e-mails with an out-of-office message. Certain other rules for incoming mail are also processed directly on the server, even if the user has not started Outlook. The user can access folders in his mailbox, e.g. B. Share the calendar with other users. When scheduling a meeting, the invitee can see whether the invitee is available or has another appointment.
Exchange Server can work together with the Microsoft SharePoint Server portal software and with the instant messaging product Microsoft Lync .
Exchange Server is managed via a web application, the Exchange Administration Center (EAC), or for advanced options using the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) via PowerShell .
technology
roll
In the 2019 version, the Exchange functionality is divided into two so-called roles, which are defined during installation:
- Mailbox - contains the main functionality, holds the databases and receives client requests
- Edge Transport - additional security for e-mail transmission between the internal network and the Internet (e.g. spam filtering); usually in a DMZ located
Client-server communication
Microsoft Exchange Server uses a proprietary interface called MAPI for communication with the client , the calls of which are transported using the RPC and HTTP protocols and which are used by Microsoft Outlook for Windows , among others . When using the latest versions of Exchange Server and Outlook, the RPC layer is deactivated in favor of greater flexibility and MAPI is transmitted directly via HTTP.
Outlook for Macintosh , on the other hand, uses the newer server interface Exchange Web Services . In the future, third-party providers should also use these instead of the MAPI interface.
history
| version | year |
|---|---|
| 4.0 | 1996 |
| 5.0 | 1997 |
| 5.5 | 1998 |
| 2000 (6.0) | 2000 |
| 2003 (6.5) | 2003 |
| 2007 (8.x) | 2006 |
| 2010 (14.x) | 2009 |
| 2013 (15.0) | 2012 |
| 2016 (15.1) | 2015 |
| 2019 (15.2) | 2018 |
Microsoft originally offered the mail system MS Mail (up to and including version 3.5), but it could no longer meet the requirements of larger environments. So it was only possible to create a maximum of 500 mailboxes on a server, and the storage of the data in a file tree turned out to be more and more of a problem with the increasing mail volume because of the amount of data to be managed. Exchange itself was designed from the ground up. In order to suggest a proximity to Microsoft Mail and to suggest that customers switch to Exchange, version number 4.0 was used for the first Exchange Server. From the beginning, secure data processing (relational database with 2-phase commit transactions) and scalability played a special role in the development. Since the beginning, the basis has been the Jet Engine (Jet Blue), which was later also used for products such as Active Directory or the Kerberos Distribution Server.
Alternatives
There are many competing products for Microsoft Exchange Server such as Lotus Domino Server , GroupWise , Scalix , Axigen , IceWarp Server and the open source alternatives Kopano (formerly Zarafa) , Open-Xchange , SOGo , Zimbra , Kolab and Citadel / UX . There are also alternative implementations of the MAPI protocol , which enable standard-compliant groupware and e-mail programs to be connected to Microsoft Exchange Server.
literature
- Tony Redmond: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 - The Guide . Microsoft Press, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86645-152-0 , pp. 996 ( Table of Contents [accessed July 26, 2011]).
- Walter Glenn, Scott Lowe, Joshua Maher: Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 - The Manual . Microsoft Press Germany, 2007, ISBN 978-3-86645-116-2 .
- Kay Unkroth, Fergus Strachan, Microsoft Exchange Team u. a .: Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 - The technical reference . Microsoft Press Germany, 2005, ISBN 978-3-86063-974-0 .
- Siegfried Jagott, Joel Stidley: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Best Practices . Microsoft Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-7356-2719-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Exchange Server build numbers and release dates. Retrieved February 26, 2020 .
- ↑ Servicing Exchange 2013. In: Exchange Team Blog. Retrieved February 26, 2020 .
- ↑ Microsoft Exchange Server licensing. In: Office.com. Retrieved July 14, 2013 .