Datasheet

Exam Essentials
35
Summary
Planning a message service for a medium-to-large organization is quite a time-intensive and dif-
ficult task. You have to consider many factors, and you have to be especially aware of products
that might interfere with the message service. Exchange Server 2007, with its tight integration
with Active Directory, requires an Exchange messaging IT pro to have an excellent understand-
ing of all Active Directory–related technologies, such as the impact of IP sites and IP site links.
To start off your planning, you should thoroughly investigate what is available within the
company itself.
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From a technical perspective, you need to understand the company’s network topology,
its Active Directory implementation, how messaging is done today, and what other prod-
ucts might interfere with the messaging system.
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It is also crucial to know about the business factors of the company: What is the future IT
strategy? Who are the key stakeholders of the IT system and what are their expectations? Are
large data centers in their focus, or do they like to build more sites with messaging servers?
You should also consider the company’s acceptable amount of server downtime, their existing
Service Level Agreements, and any security or regulation requirements.
If you can consider all these topics together and if you understand what Exchange Server
2007 can offer, then you have a good way to create a solid plan for a messaging service. And
that is exactly what is required to be an excellent Exchange messaging IT professional.
Exam Essentials
Understand how Exchange Server 2007 relies on Active Directory Exchange Server 2007
depends heavily on Active Directory and has certain requirements in terms of Service Packs
applied to domain controller or global catalog servers. You need to understand the require-
ments of Exchange Server 2007 on the Active Directory, and what functional mode your
domains and forest must run in. Also, it is important to know which domains need to be
prepared for Exchange and how the preparation is done.
Know about the Exchange Server 2007 administrative roles and permissions To design a
good Exchange Server 2007 permissions model, you need to have a good understanding of
which administrative roles you have available for delegating certain tasks, and of how they
apply to your system. You should understand when to use the split-permissions model and
when you need to use server provisioning.
Understand the different Exchange Server 2007 roles and their planning aspects Exchange
Server 2007 comes with new server roles that all have specific functions and need separate
planning. To build a good plan for implementing these roles, you need to understand all
requirements as well as their specific features. Additionally, it is important to understand bud-
getary decisions (e.g., what Exchange Server edition you will use) and other business factors
that might impact where you plan to install an Exchange server.
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