top 10 Exchange Server administration tips of 2011
The Exchange Server virtualization hypervisor debate, Exchange 2010 annoyances and iPhone issues were all at the top of admins’ minds in 2011. Take a look at our most clicked-upon Exchange administration tips of the year. 10. Spotting the five most common iPhone and Exchange ActiveSync problems
Are your iPhone users having difficulty connecting to Exchange? Trace the connectivity problem to one of these five common causes.
9. How to build a virtual Exchange test lab
The best way to test a new version of Exchange Server is a virtual test lab. It’s extremely flexible and much cheaper than a physical lab. Here’s how to build your own.
8. Checklist for new Exchange Server administrators
If you’ve inherited an oddly configured Exchange Server infrastructure, use this checklist to correct its flaws.
7. BES 5.0.2 and Exchange 2010 SP1: What you should know
Let’s take a look at what's included in BES 5.0.2 express and find out if your Exchange 2010 setup can handle the full version.
6. Resolving three common Exchange 2010 issues
Exchange 2010 is certainly an improvement over Exchange 2007, but it isn’t perfect. Here are three common problems and their solutions.
5. Do this before virtualizing Exchange Server 2010
Virtualizing Exchange 2010 servers is a smart move and the steps involved are fairly simple. However, the actual virtualization process begins long before you create a VM.
4. Exchange Server 2010 on VMware: Why daily monitoring is a must
Properly monitoring Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere will ensure you benefit from server virtualization. Check these metrics regularly.
3. Moving from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010 in 12 steps
Migrating from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010 is a daunting task. Here are the 12 steps you need to use to get the job done.
2. Five things that annoy me about Exchange 2010
There's a lot to like about Exchange 2010 but there are also quirks that irritate IT managers. Read these five annoyances to see if you can relate.
1. Hyper-V versus VMware for Exchange Server virtualization
Deciding between VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V for Exchange Server virtualization can be tough. See how each stacks up in terms of cost, features and support.
Spotting the five most common iPhone and Exchange ActiveSync problems
Although the iPhone is designed to connect to Exchange Server with ActiveSync, administrators and users have reported a number of issues. Before you allow your users to connect their iPhones to Exchange, take a look at the five most pervasive iPhone and Exchange 2010 connectivity problems and their solutions.
1. Coexistence challenges
The most widely reported issue is an Autodiscover compatibility problem that prevents an iPhone from connecting to Exchange. It occurs if the iPhone user’s mailbox resides on Exchange Server 2007 in a mixed Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010 environment.
In this setup, mobile devices that run ActiveSync version 12.0 or lower connect to the Exchange 2010 client access server (CAS) and are then proxied to the Exchange 2007 CAS. Newer versions of ActiveSync use the Autodiscover service to determine which CAS that devices connect to.
The iPhone 4 uses a version of ActiveSync that should be able to use the Autodiscover service. Unfortunately, it does not work correctly. Users that have difficulty connecting an iPhone to an Exchange 2007 mailbox server in a mixed environment have three options:
- Wait for Apple to fix the problem.
- Move the mailbox to an Exchange 2010 mailbox server.
- Force the CAS to proxy the connection. This is done with the following Exchange Management Shell (EMS) command:
Get-ActiveSyncVirtualDirectory –Server
You can read more about coexistence at Microsoft’s TechNet site.
2. Non-provisionable devices
The Exchange ActiveSync Mailbox Policy contains a setting called Allow Non Provisionable Devices. This setting -- which is disabled by default -- controls which mobile devices are allowed to establish ActiveSync connections with Exchange. If the setting is enabled, any ActiveSync-enabled device can connect to Exchange. If the setting is disabled, devices will only connect if they can be automatically provisioned with all of your ActiveSync policy settings.
The iPhone technically qualifies as a non-provisionable device because a number of ActiveSync policy settings cannot be applied to it. If you’re having difficulty connecting an iPhone to Exchange, or if you find that some ActiveSync policy settings are being ignored, compare your company’s ActiveSync policy settings with the ActiveSync settings the iPhone supports.
3. Heartbeat intervals
ActiveSync is based on Direct Push technology. Direct Push uses heartbeats to keep an HTTPS session open even when data is not actively sent or received.
Mobile devices send requests to the CAS, asking to be notified when new items arrive. Requests are valid for a set length of time. The request validity period is also known as the heartbeat. If data is not received from the server within the request period, the device issues another request and another heartbeat occurs, keeping the session alive.
Exchange Server 2010 uses dynamic heartbeats. Exchange 2010 also defines both minimum and maximum heartbeat intervals. The mobile device usually starts with a short heartbeat interval and gradually works up to a longer interval once the session proves stable.
Normally, there’s no reason to change the minimum and maximum heartbeat interval values; Microsoft actually discourages altering the default values. According to Apple however, if an iPhone has difficulty with the existing heartbeat settings, you should set the maximum heartbeat to 59 minutes.
You can find more information on how heartbeats work at TechNet. Additionally, TechNet has instructions on adjusting heartbeat values if you need to do so.
4. Firewall timeouts
An iPhone may experience ActiveSync timeout issues unless all of the firewalls between the iPhone and the CAS are configured with a timeout period of 30 minutes or longer. The method to adjust the timeout depends on your firewall.
5. IP address settings
Some iPhone users find that their devices works well when connected to ActiveSync over the Internet, but that mail flow stops when connecting over corporate networks. This problem is usually traced to a domain name system (DNS) setting.
Your CAS must use a consistent IP address and a fully qualified domain name regardless of how the iPhone connects. If your internal DNS server provides a different IP address for the CAS than the one listed by external DNS servers, mail flow may cease until the device is no longer connected to the corporate network.
The iPhone is generally a solid ActiveSync client. However, every network is different and it’s possible that settings unique to your network may cause problems for iPhone users. If this happens, you can probably trace the problem to one of the causes described here.
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