How to Managing Site Configuration

Overview   A site is a logical grouping of Exchange servers. The purpose of the grouping is to create a transparent messaging environment (users do not need to know on which server a resource is located). The properties of a site are the same type as with the organization object, the main one being permissions. Permissions can be assigned to a particular administrator allowing that administrator to create or modify child objects (like mailboxes) in the site. The difference between permissions granted at the organization object versus the site object is the context (i.e., the location in the hierarchy). Permissions granted at a site only apply to objects in the site, not to other sites and not to the organization.

Introduction to Site Configuration Container

1.         Configuration            This container object holds seven additional container objects that pertain to numerous aspects of a site configuration. There are also four non-container objects under Configuration. These eleven objects are listed here :-

            (a)        Add-Ins (container object)

            (b)        Addressing (container object)

            (c)        Connections (container object)

            (d)       Directory Replication (container object)

            (e)        Monitors (container object)

            (f)        Protocols (container object)

            (g)        Server (container object)

            (h)        DS Site Configuration

            (i)         Information Store Site Configuration

            (j)         MTA Site Configuration

            (k)        Site Addressing

            (l)         Recipients These are objects to which Exchange users can send messages. Recipient objects include-

            (i)         Mailboxes   A location from which messages can be received, sent,             stored, etc. also stores other types of data.

            (ii)        Distribution List    A grouping of individual recipients.

            (iii)       Public Folder    A storage container for group access.

            (iv)       Custom Recipients   E-mail addresses that represent a foreign mail             system address.

6.         Configuring Connection Container.

(a)    The configuration container has at least two property pages, the general page and the Service Account Password page (there are three pages if the Permissions page is present). These property pages are assessed by highlighting the Configuration container, then using the File menu, Properties option. The Service Account Password page is used to change the password used by the site service account. For example, suppose someone used User Manager for Domains to change the password of the site service account. The next time the Exchange server is stopped and restarted, none of the Exchange services will start because they will be using the old password. The Most efficient way to solve this problem is to use the Service Account Password of the site service account. To perform that procedure, you must be able to run the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program, and to run that program the system Attendant and Directory Service must be running.

(b)    That would be accomplished by manually starting those two service through Control Panel/Services and using the new password in the Startup parameters. Then the Exchange Administrator program can be run and the Service Account Password page accessed in order to change the password for the remaining Exchange services. The rest of the Site Management section will cover the objects under the Configuration container.

7.         Configuring Directory Replication Container.

(a)    All Exchange servers in a site contain a complete copy of the directory information of that site. This is accomplished by automatic directory replication between servers of a site. When an Exchange object, for example a mailbox, is created on a particular Exchange server, that mailbox information is automatically copied to all the other servers in that site. This is an important factor in creating a transparent messaging environment. Users see all site recipients in their site address book. And while users do not need to know the physical location of a recipient, each Exchange server can route a message to the correct server because it has a copy of the site directory which contains this information.

(b)    The Directory Replication Connector uses an existing messaging connector to send directory information to a remote site.

(c)        There can also be directory replication between sites. This is not an automatic process, and must be configured by an administrator. This ability allows administrators to decide what resources to share with other sites. But directory replication between sites can be used to create an enterprise messaging environment.

(d)       The four primary steps to setting up directory replication between sites are listed here.

(i)         Configure the messaging connector to be used for inter site directory replication. 

(ii)        Install a Directory Replication Connector for both sites. 

(iii)       Identify the directory replication bridgehead at each site that will be responsible for transferring directory updates. 

(iv)       Configure a replication schedule to determine how often directory updates will occur.

Architecture of MS Exchange Server

1.         Overview

(a)        Sites are logical groupings of one or more Exchange server. Even though resources reside on different server in the site, the site groups all those resources without reference to their locations. This grouping makes using resources in the site very easy. For example, let us say that a certain mailbox physically resides on site server A. that site server is called the mailbox home server. Senders do not need to know the physical location of the mailbox in order to send messages to it. They simply see the mailbox in the site listing, and send it a message. The same principle applies to public folders in a site. The particular server a public folder is stored on is of no concern to the users wanting to access it. They simply see the public folder listed in their site and access it. This is called location transparency. From the user’s perspective a site creates a transparent messaging environment.

(b)        Exchange server comprises the final main structure in the Exchange hierarchy. These computers run the Windows NT server operating system and the Exchange server software. The Exchange servers are the physical location for mailboxes, folders, and other data and information for the site. Individual servers, while inheriting certain configuration parameters from the site (the parent), can also be individually configured. For example, even though recipients can be managed at the site level, they can also be managed at the server they were created on, their home server. All Exchange objects, as well as all related process, are created and managed by the software components that make up the Exchange product.

2.         Exchange Server Core Components.       The Exchange components are executable programs that perform the exchange functions. Some are in the form of EXE files, others are in the form of Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs). They are referred to as core components because they are necessary for Exchange to be operational. They are also referred to as services, because they run as services on the Microsoft Windows NT server operating system. The core components include the following :-

(a)   Directory Service (DS) 

(b)   Information Store (IS) 

(c)   Message Transfer Agent (MTA) 

(d)   System Attendant (SA)

3.         Exchange Server Additional Components.    The additional components also called as Optional Components. As the name implies, are not necessary for the basic operation of Exchange. But these components could be needed for additional functionality in your Exchange environment. Optional components include the following :-

(a)        Connectors or gateways 

(b)        Outlook Web Access 

(c)        Chat Service 

(d)       Scripting Agent

(e)        Key Management

How to Importing And Exporting Data from the Directory with examples

Using Directory Export

(i)         The Directory Export utility can be used to copy objects and their properties to a file called an export file. The export file is a text file in a comma-separated value format (CSV). The new properties can be entered in the export file through any application that can read a text file as well as search, replace, and input data (Microsoft Excel is an example). Below is an example of an export file , Obj – Class, Display Name, Alias Name, Home server, Telephone- Office.

(ii)        The top line in the above example is the header line. It is like the name of the columns in a table. In the example above, the first column name is Obj-Class, which denotes the type of objects in that column, e.g. mailboxes, distribution lists, etc. the remaining headers are self-explanatory. The lines following the header line are the exchange recipient objects and their properties. In below mention Table, we placed the export file into a table format.

Obj-Class	Display Names	Alias Name	Home server	Telephone Official
Mail box	Mike Andrews	M Andrews	Education Server	201-555-6161
Mailbox	Sally Jones	S Jones	Education Server	201-555

Using Directory Import        Before you import this file back into the   exchange Directory, edit the file to reflect the changes you want. First edit the header  line to inform the import process how to process the file. This is done by adding the   word ‘Mode’ to the header line; then on each line containing an object(i.e. Mailbox, Mike Andrews, etc.), place the mode that will be used for that line. The options for  the Mode field are: create, delete and modify. The header line for our example would then look like :-

(i)         Obj –Class, Mode, Display Name, Alias Name, Home server, Telephone – Official

(ii)        We would also insert the word ‘modify’ as a new second field        for each object that we want modified. That would look like

(iii)       Mailbox, modify, Mike Andrews, M Andrews, Education Server, 201-555-6161

 (iv)       The final edit is to use a search and replace tool to change the current area code from 201 to the new number, for example, 212. this change, plus our earlier edits, are listed below :-

(aa)   Obj – Class, Mode, Display Name, Alias Name, Home server, Telephone – Official

(ab)  Mailbox, modify, Mike Andrews, M Andrews, Education Server, 212-555-6161

(ac) Mailbox, modify, Sally Jones, S Jones, Education Server, 212-555-6161