Tip - To make OWA URLs easier for your end users

Ehlo All,

Did you always want to know how to get your OWA to be http://mail.domain.com? Well, now you can. This is called IIS redirection (all Exchange versions supported). There are 2 major methods to achieve. Option 1 (article below) modifies IIS to do it, and Option 2 is a very short html file. I prefer option 2 (this is what I use for my clients).

1) SearchExchange article explaining the IIS redirection technique. They fail to mention when you enable this it asks if you want to change the configuration for all sub-folders. The answer is NO!
http://searchexchange.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid43_gci1363286,00.html

2) Simple html code on your Exchange Server. How I deploy for all my clients.
- within the inetpub directory (default is C:\inetpub\wwwroot), open with notepad "iisstart.html" on your OWA server (front-end, Client Access, all-in-one, etc).
- replace the contents with the following code (blog doesn't allow html code, hence the screen shot below or download it):
- save file and you're done. This URL I used obviously requires an SSL cert, but if you don't (you should), you could make the URL http://mail.domain.com/owa or http://mail.domain.com/exchange depending on your Exchange version.

Enjoy,
-Ben

Article - Quick Tip to improve OWA caching on Exchange 2007

Ehlo All,

Quick tip to improve OWA caching on Exchange 2007. Most admins have plenty of CPU on their Exchange Server and not enough bandwidth. So, this enables more compression (gzip baby) and reduces bandwidth usage. A win win for the vast majority of us.

OWA 2007 configuration tricks to boost performance
http://searchexchange.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid43_gci1371540,00.html

-Ben

Blog Post - Quick Look at Exchange 2010 SP1 OWA Differences

Ehlo,

Came across a good blog post comparison of a few improve views of Exchange Server 2010 OWA versus SP1 OWA. I'm not running 2010 yet (on 2007) since the CDP backup application (AppAssure Replay) I use does not support it yet, but should when Outlook 2010 ships (or I can hope).

Enjoy,
-Ben

Article - Discussing cleaning up AD for Exchange 2010

Ehlo All,

If you plan to upgrade to Exchange 2010 from 2007, read this good article by Exchange MVP Brien Posey to learn how to clean up your Active Directory during the upgrade process.

Article - SearchExchange AD Clean-up from Exchange 2007 to 2010

I'm planning an Exchange 2010 deployment for a client in January, but it's a clean install with no pre-existing Exchange, so I won't need this, but for my own upgrade from 2007 to 2010, this would come in handy.

-Ben

Exchange 2010 is now supported by BlackBerry Enterprise Server

Ehlo All,

There was talk RIM would not release a BES compatible version for Exchange Server 2010 until Q1 2010. Well, RIM & Microsoft released updates to make it happen sooner. 3 updates are needed, 2 from Microsoft (MAPI update and Exchange Roll-up) and 1 from RIM (MR update). Specific details are here. Enjoy your BlackBerry functionality on 2010 now.

RIM Details on Exchange 2010 Support
http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/server/exchange/2010support.jsp

Microsoft's Exchange Team's Exchange 2010 BES Support
http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2009/12/09/453486.aspx

-Ben

Exchange 2010 DAG has a weakness and it's Public Folders

Ehlo All,

One of Exchange Server 2010's best new features is Database Availability Groups. This is a high availability solution for mailbox servers. So, while Microsoft advertises how you can use JBOD and no RAID for disk subsystems for Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox Servers (see the Microsoft User Group presentation on this topic), there is one weakness with this. DAG does not work for Public Folders. So, do not put your Public Folder database on a non-RAID Mailbox Server. Plan on deploying a mailbox server that runs the Public Folder database with a well protected and appropriate disk subsystem. This is unfortunate especially since every Exchange environment deployment I've seen and worked on uses Public Folders. Maybe a future service pack or E15 can fix this. This isn't an easy fix though due to how Outlook clients communicate with Exchange 2010 though. Stay tuned.

-Ben

Exchange Server 2010 OWA - Missing Feature (adding notes) and Clarifcation of Multi-Browser Support

Ehlo All,

During last night's NY Exchange Server User Group meeting after Angi Livermore's excellent Exchange Server 2010 HA technical presentation and demo, I gave a demo comparing Exchange 2007 Outlook Web Access to Exchange 2010 Outlook Web App and found a missing feature. I initially called it a bug, but I bet you Microsoft omitted the feature to release the product sooner. So, while 2010 OWA add some new features (below), the loss of adding notes is a major pain point. Also, a clarification of the multi-browser support.

Some New Features for OWA 2010

• Premium mode for non-IE browsers. Firefox on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Safari on the Mac. Safari does NOT work on Windows. I tested this with Safari 4.0.3 (531.9.1) on XP SP3. Safari on Windows is OWA Light only.
  
• Favorite Folders. Ability to add a Favorite folder. These are shown in the top left. Favorite Folders from Outlook to OWA are not shared.
• Ability for end user's to view email delivery reports. No more end users saying "did my email arrive yet?". The delivery report shows date and time the email left the Exchange Server organization and was delivered to an outside email server.
  
• Threaded email message conversations. All related emails are saved under one message (thread) in your Inbox. This is similar to how gmail's email conversation work or will exist in Outlook 2010 when it's released.
  
• Multiple Calendars. You can view multiple calendars in OWA and send a calendar share request from within OWA.
  
• Ability for the end user to change AD attributes [phone #, address, etc]. As per Angi, admins can disable this functionality.
  

Missing Feature for OWA 2010

• Unable to post a note. This existed in OWA 2003 and 2007. Below are screen shots showing this. This was tested using Microsoft's Exchange Server 2010 UC Trial Service. I debated replicated this with the RTM, but haven't had a chance. I mentioned this to a Microsoft rep to confirm this issue. If you notice, the only 2 drop-down options when in the Notes folder is to create an email message or meeting request.
  

Exchange 2010 OWA Premium Mode - attempting to add a Note. Click to view full image.

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Exchange 2007 OWA Premium Mode - adding a Note is possible. Click to view full image.























I'm a big fan of OWA and the new support for Firefox, but the lack of adding notes is a pain since I heavily use notes. Hopefully Microsoft fixes this as soon as possible.

-Ben