1. What is Exchange Server?

Exchange Server is a Microsoft’s Messaging system which provides Industry leading Email, calendaring and unified Messaging

2. Tell me a bit about the capabilities of Exchange Server.

1. Outlook Anywhere (OWA)
2. Mailbox can sync with Blackberry Device.
3. Calendar Sharing.
4. MAPI & POP3 Client support

3. What are the different Exchange 2003 versions?

• Exchange server 5.5
• Exchange Server 2000
• Exchange Server 2003
• Exchange Server 2007
• Exchange Server 2010

4. What are the differences between Exchange Sever 2003 Standard and Enterprise Editions?

Following are the difference between Exchange server 2003 Standard and Enterprise Edition.

Feature	Standard Edition	Enterprise Edition
Storage groups support	1 storage group	4 storage groups
Number of databases per storage group	2 databases	5 databases
Individual database size	16 gigabytes (GB)	Maximum 16 terabytes, limited only by hardware
Exchange Clustering	Not supported	Supported
X.400 connector	Not included	Included

5. What are the main differences between Exchange 5.5 and Exchange 2000/2003?

• Exchange 2000 does not have its own directory or directory service; it uses Active Directory instead.
• Exchange 2000 uses native components of Windows 2000 (namely, IIS and its SMTP, NNTP, W3SVC and other components, Kerberos and others) for many core functions.
• SMTP is now a full peer to RPC, and is it the default transport protocol between Exchange 2000 servers.
• Exchange 2000 supports Active/Active clustering and was recently certified for Windows 2000 Datacenter.
• Exchange 2000 scales much higher.
• It boasts conferencing services and instant messaging.

6. What are the minimum hardware requirements for Exchange Server 2003?

• Processor – Pentium 133 MHz
• Operating System – Windows 2000 SP3
• Memory – 256 MB
• Disk Space – 200 MB for system files and 500 MB where Exchange Server installation.
• File System - NTFS

7. What are the steps involved in Exchange Server installation?

1. Prerequisites Installation – ASP .Net, IIS, SMTP, NNTP and WWW services Installation
2. Forest Preparation
3. Domain Preparation
4. Exchange Server 2003 Installation

8. Why not install Exchange on the same machine as a DC?
The main reason behind not to install Exchange Server is, when we used to restart the Exchange server for any reason it will take lot of time to shut down the Exchange Server services.

9. Which Services must be installed and running for Exchange Server installation?

Following are the services that should be installed before installing Exchange Server 2003

1. ASP .Net
2. Internet Information Service
3. SMTP
4. NNTP
5. WWW

10. What can you do and what will be the effect if ASP.NET service is not available while installing Exchange Server 2003?

ASP .Net files are important for authentication, delegation and securing the web publication. Before installing exchange Server 2003 ASP .Net should be installed

11. What are Exchange Server 2003 deployment tools?

The Exchange Server 2003 Deployment Tools are a compilation of old and new Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) support tools that you can use to prepare Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 and the Microsoft Active Directory directory service infrastructure for the installation of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.

• Installation and Upgrade Prerequisites
• Enabling Windows Services
• DCDiag Tool
• NetDiag Tool
• ForestPrep
• DomainPrep

12. What are the Windows versions supported by Exchange Server 2003?

1. Windows 2000 Service pack 3 ( Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Edition)
2. Windows 2003 Service pack 1 ( Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Edition)

13. In which domains domainprep must be run?

1. The Forest root Domain
2. All domain that will contain Exchange Server 2003
3. All Domain that will contain Exchange Mailbox enable objects.

14. What is ForestPrep?

Forest prep updates the schema and configuration partition in Active directory. Extend the schema to include Exchange server 2003 specific classes and attributes. To run the Forest Prep, Administrator should have Schema and Enterprise Admin permission over the Domain

15. What is DomainPrep?

Domain Prep prepares the Domain partion in Active Directory. Forest prep should be run only once in forest where Domain Prep should be run in following Servers.

1. The Forest root Domain
2. All domain that will contain Exchange Server 2003
3. All Domain that will contain Exchange Mailbox enable objects