Exchange Server pointers needed....

I'm investigating setting up exchange, what do I need?

[SEOMike]

Ok, I'm thinking about setting up an exchange server so people in the office can have a central scheduling system that will allow us to know when people are coming and going and when the conference room is free.

Before I even START to get software / hardware together I have a few questions...

Should Exchange run on a dedicated server? (there's not that many of us)

Can exchange Pop from a server, or does it require an MX change? (our email server has a great SPAM filter I just don't think we can loose)

My home Outlook will see my mailboxes just as I left them at work, right? All sorted and everything?

Does Exchange serve as my outgoing SMTP too?

Can one Exchange server serve more than one domain? (can domain1.com and domain2.net come from the same exchange server?)

If the answer to the above is yes, has anyone ever thought of offering it as a value added service to their clients? (client sees the same stuff at home and work, but using your exchange server.)

Thanks for you help in determining if Exchange is something worth my time to learn!

[plumsauce]

Should Exchange run on a dedicated server? (there's not that many of us)

*depends on the horsepower you have and need

Can exchange Pop from a server, or does it require an MX change? (our email server has a great SPAM filter I just don't think we can loose)

*yes, but much better to set the front end server to forward to the exchange server, just leave the MX as is.

My home Outlook will see my mailboxes just as I left them at work, right? All sorted and everything?

*yes

Does Exchange serve as my outgoing SMTP too?

*yes, or you can use the frontend server as a smarthost, this is preferred because it avoids reverse lookup problems

Can one Exchange server serve more than one domain? (can domain1.com and domain2.net come from the same exchange server?)

*yes

If the answer to the above is yes, has anyone ever thought of offering it as a value added service to their clients? (client sees the same stuff at home and work, but using your exchange server.)

*yes, me

[SEOMike]

Interesting.... What version of Exchange do you use?

[SEOMike]

Also, how can I get all my mail from my outlook up to a new install of exchange. It's not on my server anymore, just on my computer.

[Warren]

There are some good case studys and technical documents on how to configure and install Exchange on the Microsft site (http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/techinfo/default.asp)

Consider getting the Small Business Server pack as they may be a good cheap option.

Or, you may wish to consider looking into becoming a Microsoft Certified Partner, because a certain number of licenses are given away.

With respect to Microsoft Exchange hosting multiple domains, you are effectily talking an ASPed type model (Appication Service Provider and not Active Server Page). There are some companies doing this in Australia so I would assume that there would be these in the US. If you are going to do this, make sure you have set the permissions correctly to ensure that client A can't see client Bs email and vice versa. Don't laugh because I have seen this happen.

[jam13]

1) Try to avoid running other big apps on the same box (MSSQL etc). Most of the troublesome installs we have come across are where one server is used for several applications (file sharing, email, database etc.)

2) If you use the SBE version, make sure you are aware of _all_ the limitations. We've been tripped before by missing features that we assumed were there.

3) Exchange 2k3 SBE (and I think the standard version too) have the ability to collect email from a POP server. Previous versions cannot do this directly, but third party apps can pull mail from a POP account(s) and forward to the Exchange server using SMTP. Having said this, using POP is _not_ recommended: we have seen it cause mail loops when set up incorrectly; it has problems handling bcc addressing; and mail can get stuck in the POP collection box and overflow your quota (if you have one) thus preventing new email from arriving. If you can get a static IP address then use SMTP (preferably via a relay).

4) I'm pretty sure you need the enterprise version of Exchange to be able to handle separate multiple domains (ASP model), which is _very_ expensive.

If you want to move mail from a PST file to an Exchange mailbox, you just have to open both in Outlook and use cut and paste.

Personally I hate Exchange and avoid it as much as possible. However it's the only mail server that I know of that works with _all_ the features of Outlook, and weaning people off Outlook is hard work.

[Easy_Coder]

you may wish to consider looking into becoming a Microsoft Certified Partner

Bingo... we did this and saved thousands. You'll need to get yourself and one other person in your organization microsoft certified to be considered for partner status.

[Warren]

4) I'm pretty sure you need the enterprise version of Exchange to be able to handle separate multiple domains (ASP model), which is _very_ expensive.

Forgot about that. You do need Exchange Ent to do multiple domains - it has been a while since I have done any licensing and forgot that.

SBE is generally limited to 50 clients but has some great wizzards for setting up the box.