To aid customers running Windows Small Business Server 2008 in installing Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Microsoft released an installation tool to support the process.
Normally, SBS2008 users must follow a series of steps in order to be able to install Exchange 2007 SP2 succesfully (see Q973862).
The description also states the tool also detects and repairs common problems.
You can download the tool here.
Today, the Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 documentation became available on TechNet.
Besides the regular topics, like configuring TMG as a secure gateway between your network and the internet, the documentation also focuses on new functionality like HTTPS inspection, Anti-malware, Network Inspection (NIS), Enhanced NAT, VOIP support, 64-bit support and interoperability between TMG and BranchCache (new functionality in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 r2).
The documentation also contains steps on how to plan to, prepare for and configure ForeFront TMG in relationship with Exchange Edge Servers, i.e. E-Mail Protection as well as steps on how to upgrade from previous products like ISA Server to ForeFront TMG here.
You can find the ForeFront TMG 2010 documentation here.
There is some confusion on the minimum number of Exchange 2010 servers that are required for running a Exchange 2010 in a High Available configuration. This seems logical, because with Exchange 2007 you could not mix a clustered Mailbox role with one of the other Exchange roles. That meant for a minimum Exchange 2007 HA configuration you need 2 clustered Mailbox servers and 2 Exchange servers with the CAS en Hub role, where you load balanced the CAS role using Network Load Balancing (NLB).
With Exchange 2010 you can add CAS and HUB roles to a Mailbox server that is part of a Database Availability Group (DAG). So this might lead people to think you can suffice with 2 servers with Exchange 2010, each server holding the Mailbox, CAS and Hub role, part of a DAG and with load balancing configured for CAS (Hub roles are load balanced automatically within a site).
However, there’s a caveat: NLB and Failover Clustering (on which DAGs are build) are mutually exclusive. This means you can’t have both.
The solution is to install the CAS and Hub roles on DAG’ed Mailbox servers, but instead of load balancing client requests on the server, you use an external load balancer or ISA Server. When using a load balancer you need to configure the CAS servers in a CAS array, but I’ll devote another article to that at a later time.
So, when asked what’s the minimum number of Exchange 2010 servers required for a HA solution, the answer is 2½.
Update: The mentioned article on CAS Arrays is located here.
A few days ago, Forefront Unified Access Gateway 2010 (UAG) reached RTM status. UAG is the successor to Intelligent Application Gateway (IAG), and provides remote access to remote resources through (SSL) VPN or DirectAccess, providing a Single Sign-On (SSO) portal and making more granular control over publishing of applications, such as Exchange, possible.
For more information follow on of the provided links below:
In a statement on the issue with ForeFront being 32-bit or 64-bit, ForeFront Senior Program Manager Carolyn Liu announced today that the upcoming releases of Microsoft ForeFront Protection for SharePoint 2010 (FPSP) and Microsoft ForeFront Protection for Exchange Server (FPES) 2010 with Service Pack 1 will be native 64-bit. The statement came after questions rose on the 32-bit parts in for instance FPE 2010, while Exchange 2007 and 2010 may only be installed on 64-bit platforms in production environments. This is their intent, as the blog also states that scanning engines not yet available in 32-bit will remain hosted in a seperate process with FPSP and FPE 2010 SP1. SP1 will introduce the possibility to alternate between using 32-bit or 64-bit engines. This way you can make the switch when a 64-bit engine becomes available or switch back to the 32-bit engine when required.
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