IT managers should start planning now for Microsoft
Exchange 12, the next version of Microsoft's e-mail, contacts and
office collaboration platform, IT analysts have
advised.
The biggest change is that the new version will only run on
hybrid 32/64-bit servers, based on Intel's EM64T Xeon processor and
the AMD64 Opteron processor. However, Microsoft will not offer
Exchange 12 support for Itanium (IA-64) processors. Nor will there
be a 32-bit only version.
So organisations will need to update their IT hardware if they
have not already done so. This is not like the shift from Exchange
Server 2000 to 2003, which ran on 32-bit hardware.
Microsoft said users will get a boost in performance from the
64-bit version of Exchange. The platform can handle greater demands
for e-mail access, and offers stronger security, larger inboxes and
bigger storage, said the company.
Exchange 12 also has a number of features designed to aid an
organisation's ability to collaborate and work more efficiently.
For example, it has unified messaging for the first time, bringing
e-mails, voicemails and faxes into one inbox, which has an embedded
Windows Media Player to play media files.
So, from within the Outlook or Outlook Web Access inbox,
voicemail appears as a new e-mail message with a .wav extension,
which the embedded Windows Media Player will play. Similarly, a fax
appears as a .gif or other graphic file attached to the
message.
It also has better security and manageability through a set of
what Microsoft calls "server roles", enabling IT administrators to
install and manage only the components that their company
requires.
With the server roles system, most servers sit behind the
firewall or in a demilitarised zone (DMZ) at the edge of the
network. Edge servers will sit in this DMZ and will relay e-mail,
cleaning it up through anti-virus and spam filtering. These
so-called "edge services" are provided for mobile and remote
Exchange access, and boost the infrastructure's security, said
Microsoft.
Exchange 12 also offers easier application integration for
developers and third-party software suppliers through the use of
web services, replacing component object model (COM)-based
application programming interfaces (APIs).
Exchange customers should start using these new interfaces
immediately, said Erica Rugullies, principal analyst at Forrester
Research. "Exchange customers should not invest in building
additional applications using the COM-based APIs that Microsoft
will either be cutting or de-emphasising in Exchange 12."
She added, "Developers will have to rewrite some older
application interfaces. They may have to recreate interfaces they
built or implemented for Exchange Server versions 2003 and
older.
"This will increase the difficulty of maintaining mixed
environments containing Exchange 12 and older versions, where old
APIs were used to integrate with applications."
Another change is that Exchange 12 will allow users to
collaborate more easily through new messaging features such as the
universal inbox. It will also build on groupware product Sharepoint
Portal Server, which will link into the forthcoming Office 12
application, and use the XML standard to integrate business data
into a range of applications.
Microsoft Sharepoint does not require any particular mail
server, but "the tightest integration" is available with Microsoft
Exchange Server, said Microsoft in a technical paper.
As a result, users will be able to collaborate more easily over
the web using public folders to share information from their
Outlook inbox and other mail folders, and their Tasks and Calendar
folders, among others.
Bob Tarzey, services director at Quocirca, said, "People have
been used to the high level of collaboration they get through using
Outlook and Sharepoint Portal with Exchange at the back end. This
collaboration will be more achievable with Exchange 12 [through the
use of web services].
"The aim of the whole Exchange and Office 12 release is to make
collaboration more achievable for users of all sizes, but what will
be required is that people take up the back-end product as
well."
Office 12 includes new versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint,
Outlook, Access, Infopath, Onenote, Publisher, Project and
Visio.
Exchange 12 is expected to be generally available in the first
half of 2007, but Maurene Caplan Grey, principal analyst at Grey
Consulting, said organisations should start migration planning now
- even if they have only just migrated off Exchange 5.5. "Very
preliminary plans for major upgrades should start years in advance
of actual deployments," she said.
Many organisations will recall experiencing difficulties
migrating from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000 or 2003, issues that
Microsoft has recognised, said analysts. With this in mind,
organisations should plan carefully and early, said Grey.
"In developing your Exchange 12 timeline, factor in
interdependencies with infrastructure or application software that
relies on or is required by Exchange 12. Examples may include the
Realtime Communications [RTC] server applications, Office [which
includes Outlook] and third-party applications," she said.
Organisations should also think hard about the move to 64-bit
hardware, said Grey. "In planning a migration to Exchange 12, the
enterprise must balance the depreciated value of its current 32-bit
servers against the cost of new 64-bit servers. Separately,
consider whether the performance improvements resulting from a
64-bit server [increased memory and cache, for example] are a 'must
have' versus a 'nice to have' for your company," she said.
Overall, Grey said organisations should exercise a high degree
of due diligence before making any migration decisions.
They must develop a top-level Exchange 12 deployment timeline,
but understand that it will undergo many refinements. Finally,
users should synchronise their Exchange 12 upgrade programme to
minimise the impact on the Active Directory architecture, said
Grey.
All this preparation is important because this is the first
Microsoft release to run only as a 64-bit application. This will
make the typical Exchange version migration slower and more
complex, warned analyst Gartner.
"Enterprises will need to validate their readiness to deploy and
support Windows Server 2003 x64 within their production
environments," said Garter analysts Matthew Cain and Stephen
Kleynhans.
"This will require an understanding of the subtle differences
between the operating systems, as well as validation of hardware
support and third-party management and support tools."
According to Gartner, many users have begun to experiment with
Windows Server x64 for certain focused services (notably SQL Server
and Terminal Services), but few have certified it for broad
internal deployment.
Initially, Gartner expects most enterprises to deploy mixed
Exchange 2000/2003 and Exchange 12 configurations, to avoid
wholesale server replacements - for example, upgrading performance-
intensive mailbox and front-end servers to Exchange 12, but leaving
public-folder, relay and bridgehead servers running on older
versions.
Cain and Kleynhans believe the performance improvements made
possible by this change justify any migration problems.
Gartner has found Exchange bottlenecks typically revolve around
disc I/O performance. Microsoft claims the new version of Exchange
will improve disk I/O by up to 70% through larger cache sizes.
But the change will be less popular with small and medium-sized
businesses, which have fewer demands for the extra performance
promised and are typically wary of server upgrades, Gartner
noted.
What you should do depending on your version of
Exchange
Erica Rugullies, principal analyst at Forrester Research,
suggests what to do according to which version of Exchange Server
you use.
Exchange Server 5.5
Move off Exchange 5.5 as soon as possible. Support has now ended
and Microsoft will not provide a direct migration option to
Exchange 12. Or migrate to Exchange 2003 with SP2. Take advantage
of improvements such as server and site consolidation, Active
Directory, and better mobility support.
Or switch to an alternative messaging platform. The top three
options are IBM Lotus Notes/Domino, Novell GroupWise, and Oracle
Collaboration Suite.
Exchange Server 2000
Conduct a careful analysis and draw up a plan. Remember that
Exchange 2000 is in extended support until January 2011, and this
does not include non-security-related hotfix support, among other
things. Further support could be costly.
Upgrade to Exchange 2003 with SP2, then wait to consider
Exchange 12. This is the best option if you want to centralise your
Exchange environments, roll out mobility services to users, or wait
for the first Exchange 12 service pack.
Or skip Exchange 2003 and implement Exchange 12. This offers all
the benefits of Exchange 2003 plus improvements such as server
roles, web services, 64-bit hardware and unified messaging.
Exchange Server 2003
Install SP2 and migrate to Exchange 12 within three years.
Implement SP2 if you could benefit from mobility improvements, such
as direct push e-mail. New management features include device
policy provisioning and local or remote device wipe. Wireless sync
includes e-mail, calendar, contacts and tasks.
Or plan to migrate to Exchange 12 in 2007, or beyond. Exchange
12 will offer a number of improvements over Exchange 2003. Users
that have hit performance or scalability limits with Exchange 2003
may want to take part in the first public beta of Exchange,
mid-2006.
Five new features of Exchange 12
64-bit only
Microsoft said it chose to make Exchange 12 run on hybrid
32/64-bit servers only because it will boost its performance. The
decision was driven by higher e-mail access demands; stronger
security requirements; larger inboxes; and bigger storage needs,
said Microsoft.
Edge services
Edge services are essentially a sophisticated system to relay
mail, and feature tighter security. Edge services are deployed at
the perimeter of the e-mail network, and manage e-mail security
services such as anti-virus and spam filtering, and mail routing
through the internet.
Server roles
The new software features what Microsoft calls "server roles",
which enable IT administrators to install and manage only the
components required by a company. This also brings simplified
navigation and new filtering capabilities through a new graphical
management console.
Unified messaging
The platform will allow communications to be delivered to a
single inbox repository, whether they are e-mails, voice messages
or faxes. Windows Media Player is embedded within the message
itself to play media files. E-mail messages can also be accessed
through telephone voicemail with Exchange 12.
Web services support
Exchange 12 will help developers to integrate applications more
easily through the use of web services, in place of component
object model (COM)-based application programming interfaces
(APIs).