But lately I buy very few books, and almost none of them are of the “training kit” style. I spend more time in TechNet and reading white papers instead.

The simple reason is that I got tired of wading through the novice-level materials in most books to get to the good stuff. I’m not trying to big note myself here, its just a fact that I learn new things differently now than when I first started in IT due to experience and being able to build on prior knowledge.

So when I started looking through Windows Server 2008 R2 Secrets, I realised this is the type of book I would prefer to read these days.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Secrets

You see I spend most of my days working with Exchange Server and PowerShell, and aside from using some of the management tools on the servers themselves I don’t spend very much time dealing with the other network and infrastructure roles that Windows Server 2008 R2 can perform.

For example, I’m familiar with the process of provisioning SSL certificates for Exchange, but setting up PKI infrastructure from scratch is less familiar to me, as are the more advanced workings of IIS, Group Policy, or Terminal Services.

What I need in those situations is something more like an expert briefing that moves quickly through the fundamentals and then demonstrates some practical examples, without me having to piece it together from scattered sources on TechNet and other websites.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Secrets does exactly that for me. By assuming a level of existing knowledge the author, Orin Thomas, is able to dive quickly into the more interesting parts of the technologies and deliver you a rapidly acquired skill that you can put to use immediately.

Covered in this book (from the Amazon description):

• Choosing the edition of Windows Server 2008 R2 that is right for you
• Knowing how to use new features such as Hyper-V dynamic memory
• Learning how to leverage advanced features including Windows System Resource Manager and File Server Resource Manager
• Securing the network and keeping data private
• Implementing Windows Server 2008 R2 data protection
• Understanding how to optimize the deployment of updates
• Configuring and deploying remote access

If these are topics you want to learn more about, but you don’t have time to waste on novice-level material, then Windows Server 2008 R2 Secrets.

Related posts:

• Review: Microsoft Exchange 2010 PowerShell Cookbook
• How to Change the Log File Directory in IIS7
• Exchange Server 2010 Training
• Outlook 2010 Inside Out for Exchange Server Pros
• The Ultimate Exchange Server 2007 Toolkit

This article Review: Windows Server 2008 R2 Secrets is © 2012 ExchangeServerPro.com

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

1. System administrator has recently started at a new job
2. Something goes wrong – an Exchange server crashes or somebody deletes some emails they didn’t mean to
3. System administrator looks into it, and discovers that the Exchange server is not being backed up
4. They don’t know what to do next

I’ve seen that a lot. I’ve also had my fair share of phone calls with customers dealing with Exchange server problems and asked them when was their last successful backup. Sadly the answer is often “I don’t know”.

Exchange Server Backups – Serious Business

Sometimes I really do wonder if people realise how important Exchange Server backups are. Often the people that do realise it are those that have been burned by a serious disaster in the past.

Nobody wants to be the IT guy who has to explain why data has been lost forever. But a stunning number of people I meet really don’t know that much about backup and recovery, particular for Exchange servers.

I suspect that one of the reasons is that there is no Microsoft certification for backup and recovery. With no exam to study for, and no credential to earn, it just isn’t a topic that many people seem to proactively learn.

But take it from me, Exchange Server backup and recovery skills are among the most important ones that you can have as an IT professional.

Exchange Server 2010 Backup and Recovery Training

Because of how important these skills are, and because of how many nights I’ve lost trying to recover data for customers, I’m very glad to see that TrainSignal has come out with an Exchange Server 2010 Backup and Recovery training course.

The instructor for this course is J. Peter Bruzzese, the same guy who teaches the 70-662 and 70-663 training courses from TrainSignal. As an Exchange MVP, MCT, and long time consultant J. Peter is the right person to teach this subject, and he has delivered yet another high quality training program.

The training goes into more depth on the concepts of Exchange Server 2010 backup and recovery than most other training I’ve seen. Backups tend to get shoe horned into a single module of broader product training. This is the first training program I’ve seen that sticks to just the topic of backup and recovery – deep dive training at it’s best.

There is a good mix of theory and practice in the 16 lessons. To give you an example of why the theory is so important here is the overview for Lesson 5: Storage Architecture and Backup/Recovery Basics.

If you truly want to be able to recover your data, you need to understand the storage architecture in Exchange. That may sound deeper than it is, but ultimately we are looking at how Exchange takes an email and puts it in a database, and the steps along the way. Then we will discuss some best practices and theory with those databases, along with an understanding of Exchange provides some built in resiliency to help you avoid having to restore from a backup (because that is the LAST thing you really want to do).

That is the kind of deep understanding that is hard to pick up just from on the job experience.

The practical lessons are also very useful. It would be difficult to create a practical training course that covers everything about backup and recovery because there are just too many different backup products out there.

In this training program you’ll learn how to use Windows Server Backup and Microsoft Data Protection Manager to backup and restore Exchange Server 2010. Those are fine, but probably aren’t going to be the most common backup solutions you encounter in the real world.

However they do teach you the most important side of Exchange Server 2010 backup and recovery – the Exchange server side of it. Those are the most important skills to have, and you can carry them between different backup solutions as you need to.

What You Get with TrainSignal’s Exchange Server 2010 Backup and Recovery Training

When you buy the training package you get instant online access to the lessons, as well as a set of physical DVD’s that are shipped out to you. I’ve always enjoyed how quickly they show up at my door, usually within 7 days and for me they have to be shipped all the way to Australia. I’m used to waiting weeks for stuff to arrive from overseas.

There are nearly 8 hours of video lessons. This is focussed training that you can sit down and work through in a few days or a week and quickly achieve a result.

The DVD’s also include MP3 audio versions of the lessons. I’m a big fan of audio based learning, especially for the more theory-based lessons. Listening to them multiple times while travelling or doing other tasks really helps the information sink in.

Like I said earlier, there is no certification exam for this topic. You won’t earn an MCP or MCTS by completing the training. But you will learn some of the most valuable, and unfortunately the most rare, technical skills for IT professionals working with Microsoft Exchange Server.

Click here to find out more about TrainSignal’s Exchange Server 2010 Backup and Recovery Training.

Related posts:

• Exchange 2010: Are Passive Database Copies Included in Backups of DAG Members?
• Some Recent Articles
• How to Set Up an Automated Exchange 2010 Database Backup Alert Email
• Avoid Running Out of Transaction Log Disk Space on Exchange Servers
• PowerShell Script: Check Exchange 2010 Database Backups

This article Review: Exchange Server 2010 Backup and Recovery Training is © 2011 ExchangeServerPro.com

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

My first contact with PowerShell was when Exchange Server 2007 was released. I dipped into the shell only when absolutely necessary, preferring to stay in the GUI whenever possible.  As time went on I found myself using the shell more and more, and developing a few scripts in my tool kit for some of the repetitive tasks that came with working primarily on Exchange deployments and migrations.

Today I’m working on a team that manages an Exchange Server environment of over 80,000 mailboxes, so using PowerShell on a regular basis is pretty much mandatory. Because of this I’ve been on the lookout for a good book that deals specifically with PowerShell for Exchange Server 2010.

Well it looks like that book has finally arrived in Microsoft Exchange 2010 PowerShell Cookbook by Mike Pfeiffer.

Mike is an Exchange MVP, a Microsoft Certified Master on Exchange 2010, and someone whose blog I’ve followed for quite a while now. When my copy of his book arrived I decided to have a quick look at it just before I went to bed. Over an hour later I was still reading, it is just that good!

PowerShell Key Concepts

The first chapter of the book dives into the fundamentals of PowerShell and how they apply to Exchange Server 2010. Back when I first started learning PowerShell I started with a book that was about the topic in general, rather than being specifically written about Exchange. I think that is one of the reasons I was not immediately enthusiastic about learning PowerShell, because I wasn’t learning skills that I could use immediately.

Mike has done well to introduce PowerShell for the reader in an interesting way and kept it on topic for Exchange through the entire first chapter. I really like the way it delivers value straight away with this approach.

Routine Exchange Server Administration

The next few chapters of Microsoft Exchange 2010 PowerShell Cookbook go through the use of PowerShell to perform the sorts of tasks an Exchange Server administrator would encounter on a daily basis – mailboxes, distribution groups, public folders and so on.

Next Mike dives into each of the Exchange 2010 server roles. Every section of these chapters delivers a useful command or sample script, such as creating an ActiveSync device report, performing message tracking log searches on multiple Transport servers at once, or reporting on average mailbox sizes.

The style of delivery is perfect for these chapters, following a simple but effective “What we want to do”, “How to do it”, and “How it works” pattern.

Advanced Exchange Server Administration

The last few chapters of Microsoft Exchange 2010 PowerShell Cookbook get into more advanced territory. Mike has written some in-depth advice on topics such as:

• Scripting the deployment of Exchange Server 2010 high availability
• Compliance and auditing
• Monitoring and troubleshooting

There is also a closing chapter on scripting with the Exchange Web Services API, so that guys like me can throw away our dusty old VBS scripts for sending emails and use PowerShell with EWS instead, and create scripts for deeper reporting on mailbox content.

Summary

Like I said earlier I’ve been looking for the perfect book for using PowerShell with Exchange Server 2010, and this book has finally filled that need. If you’re an Exchange Server administrator looking to be more efficient, or you want to learn the skills to win you a job in bigger Exchange Server environments, then I definitely recommend you pick up a copy of Microsoft Exchange 2010 PowerShell Cookbook.

Related posts:

• How to Set Up an Automated Exchange 2010 Database Backup Alert Email
• Dealing with Exchange Server Update Rollups and Forefront Protection for Exchange
• Reporting Exchange Server 2010 Message Tracking Event IDs with PowerShell
• Searching Exchange Server 2010 Message Tracking Logs with PowerShell
• The User Hasn’t Logged on to Mailbox So There is No Data to Return

This article Review: Microsoft Exchange 2010 PowerShell Cookbook is © 2011 ExchangeServerPro.com

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

To understand how CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro works think of it like an add-on for the Transport Rules feature of Exchange Server 2010/2007.

There are a whole lot of things you can do with Transport Rules. But the problem is that Transport Rules are pretty awkward to work with due to the very basic configuration wizard in the Exchange Management Console.

Basically CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro takes the capabilities of Transport Rules and makes them easier to work with, enhances them in highly useful ways, and even adds a few new capabilities to the mix.

Each rule that you configure in Exchange Rules Pro has the following attributes:

Conditions – the criteria that trigger the rule, such as email to or from particular users, or containing certain keywords.

Actions – the action that you want the rule to take, such as adding a disclaimer, removing profanity, or responding with a pre-configured message.

Exceptions – any specific criteria that the rule should not apply to.

Options – extra details such as whether to continue processing additional rules after this one, or specific time ranges that the rule applies to.

With such fine-grain controls over rules it is pretty easy to configure rules for just about any business scenario I can think of.

Installing CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro

I installed CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro on a Windows Server 2008 R2 server running Exchange Server 2010 SP1. The Exchange Server was installed with the typical server roles of Mailbox, Client Access, and Hub Transport.

The installation was very quick and simple. It will restart the Transport services on the server, so you just need to be aware of that and perhaps schedule your installation for outside of business hours.

When the install is finished the administration console opens and you’ll see a series of pre-configured example rules (that are disabled) to help you get started.

Features of CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro

Although there is a long list of features for CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro in this review I’ll focus on just a few of the ones I found the most interesting.

Email Disclaimers

Disclaimers are one of the most useful features of CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro. Almost every customer I work with would like to standardize their corporate email signatures, but find that the built-in Transport Rules are too cumbersome to deal with and don’t make it easy to create good looking disclaimers.

CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro solves this problem with it’s easy to use HTML editor for email disclaimers. A simple WYSIWYG interface lets you create very attractive email disclaimers without having to know any HTML code. You can add dynamic fields such as Active Directory user attributes, and even use the photos stored in Active Directory as part of the email signature you create.

The HTML editor includes a library with a few dozen sample disclaimers, including disclaimers designed to appear at the top, side and bottom of email messages. I would bet that there is a sample design in the library that would suit almost any business, with just the simple step of swapping out the place holder logo for your own company logo.

There is also an image library with useful graphics for situations such as customer support autoresponders and legal disclaimers.

As you’re configuring rules you can use the handy Rule Tester to see whether they are working as you want them to before you apply them to your production users.

There is also the option to have CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro automatically update the sent items in user mailboxes so that they look the same as after they have been processed by rules. There is a real benefit to your users being able to see exactly the same email message in their sent items that the recipients received, complete with all of the changes made by rules.

Auto-Responders

I’ve been asked many times in the past whether Exchange can be configured to automatically respond to certain emails with a pre-configured message. The usual scenarios for this are for example a marketing team who wants to promote an email address that people can send a message to requesting an information pack, or a jobs inbox that needs to automatically acknowledge each job application email that it receives.

There are various ways to achieve some of this using Outlook rules but they usually require an Outlook client logged in somewhere to actually process the rules.

Exchange Rules Pro makes this possible with auto-response rules that can be configured centrally on the server and work regardless of whether a user is logged on or not.

Removing Profanity

This scenario has come up a few times as well, the problem of staff having to deal with profanity in emails. They’re all grownups, and aren’t too sensitive to the occasional bad word, but a few contact centers that I’ve worked with receive a constant stream of abusive email for various reasons.

Believe it or not, this has actually resulted in some lawsuits because of the working conditions that it creates for staff.

Once again CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro solves this problem with a handy content filter. This feature comes with a series of pre-configured dictionaries, including an obscene language dictionary. But rather than just block emails with bad language in them, the program can be configured to replace those words with some harmless text, allowing the email to be dealt with by staff without them having to read the profanity.

Time Ranges

The last feature I’ll describe in this review is the Time Range settings. These can be applied to every rule you create so that they will only apply at certain times of day, or for certain days.

Being able to pre-configure a rule to start and stop at specific times takes a lot of pressure off the IT staff and removes human error from the equation.

I know a lot of customers who will enjoy this feature for situations such as:

• Adding short-term marketing campaign information to disclaimers
• Automatically turning on and off the Christmas office closure message
• Replying to overnight support emails with details of the standard support hours

Summary

It is pretty clear that CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro solves a lot of common business problems, and adds several enhancements and ease of administration to the standard Transport Rules capabilities of Exchange Server 2007/2010.

It’s nice to see such a useful product comes at a reasonable price as well. Licensing is user-based, not –server-based, and a small business of less than 50 staff only has to pay $330 USD for the software and $67 USD for each year of support.

I recommend checking out CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro for yourself by downloading the trial here, or by watching the demonstration videos on the CodeTwo Youtube channel.

Click to Show Screenshot Gallery »

Related posts:

• Exchange 2007/2010 Transport Rule Logging
• Avoiding Infinite Loops with Internal Relay Domains in Exchange 2007/2010
• How to Migrate a Relay Connector from Exchange Server 2007 to 2010
• How to Share an Email Domain Between Two Mail Systems
• Block Users Sending to Specific Domains with Exchange Server 2010

This article Review of CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro is © 2011 ExchangeServerPro.com

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

I tried GFI MailArchiver in an Exchange Server 2010 environment to see how easy it would be to deploy email archiving. You can also use it for Exchange 2003 and 2007 organizations.

Installing GFI MailArchiver

I installed GFI MailArchiver on a Windows Server 2008 R2 server that also had SQL Server 2008 installed on it.

The GFI MailArchiver setup detects that the pre-requisite components are not installed and offers to install them automatically for you. Although it uses the deprecated ServerManagerCMD.exe to do this it works fine, and makes installing the server a much simpler task.

However the one component that I needed to manually install was the MAPI Client and Collaboration Data Objects, something that most Exchange-integrated applications need. The setup wizard provides a handy link to download the MAPI CDO install files from Microsoft.

Configuring GFI MailArchiver

After GFI MailArchiver has installed the web-based administration console opens and the server can be configured. A wizard appears that steps you through the process of setting up the first archive store.

I chose to use Microsoft SQL Server as the archive store, and there are also options for high-volume environments as well as a choice of SQL Express or Firebird database for smaller environments. Depending on which option you choose email data will either be stored in the database or on the file system, however headers and other email details are always stored in a database.

Between the different database options and the ability to store databases, email data, and indexes in different locations it is quite clear that GFI MailArchiver can be easily configured for high performance in very large environments.

How GFI MailArchiver Works

GFI MailArchiver works by integrating with Microsoft Exchange journaling. Whether the Exchange environment is configured for Standard Journaling or Premium Journaling it will work with GFI MailArchiver.

Though you might think this means GFI MailArchiver will grab every single email sent or received in the organization, you can actually still apply some exclusions such as only archiving emails sent internally, and by excluding certain mailboxes or groups of users.

Journaling takes care of all email sent from the time GFI MailArchiver is installed, but what about all the email already in Exchange databases? This is taken care of by GFI MailArchiver’s Import and Export tool, which can import email from existing databases as well as PST files and previous versions of GFI MailArchiver.

Using the Import and Export tool you can even choose to import email message within certain date ranges into different archive stores, for example if you are using a different archive store each calendar year.

Reducing Exchange Server Database Load

After looking at the journaling integration and the import utility you may be wondering how exactly GFI MailArchiver reduces the storage and performance load on the Exchange server.

Because GFI MailArchiver does not remove any items from mailboxes this has to be handled using other methods. An organization can either configure mailbox storage quotas, or they can configure retention policies.

This might seem like a burden compared to other archiving products that remove items from the database automatically and leave stubs behind, but GFI adheres to Microsoft’s “no stubbing” guidance instead and does not do this.

Once you have configured quotas or retention policies your Exchange databases will be able to be maintained at a smaller size and perform better.

End User Archive Access

End user access to the archives is provided in two ways; using a simple web interface, and via an Outlook add-in that also handles offline caching of the archive.

Both of these options make it easy for end users to search for archived items and perform actions such as exporting them, or restoring them to the mailbox. The offline caching is also very useful for mobile staff such as a roaming sales team.

Summary

Overall I think GFI MailArchiver is a good solution for SMBs that need email archiving, particularly when I think of businesses such as law firms that need reliable records of email communication and in some cases have strict compliance requirements. Having all email messages in a centralized, indexed, and easily searchable archive database makes any kind of discovery exercise much easier.

Considering the benefits the pricing is very reasonable and the option to use free databases if a full SQL Server instance is not available make GFI MailArchiver an accessible product for businesses on a budget.

You can download a trial of GFI MailArchiver here.

Disclosure: GFI is a paid advertiser on this website.

Screenshot Gallery:

Click to Show »

Related posts:

• Review of GFI MailEssentials
• Generate SMTP Error Statistics using Log Parser and Exchange Server 2010 Protocol Logs
• Calculate Hourly Email Traffic using Message Tracking Logs and Log Parser
• Calculate Daily Email Traffic using Message Tracking Logs and Log Parser
• Reporting Exchange Server 2010 Message Tracking Event IDs with Log Parser

This article Exchange Server Archiving: Review of GFI MailArchiver is © 2011 ExchangeServerPro.com

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

modusGate by Vircom is an email security product that includes anti-spam and anti-virus protection, as well as a range of other useful security and administrative features that are configurable to an impressive depth.

Installing modusGate

For this review I installed modusGate on a Windows Server 2008 32-bit server running in my virtual test lab environment. Virtualizing modusGate is supported but it can also run comfortably on low-spec servers for smaller deployments.

One of the first things I like to do with new software is just run the installer to see how it handles pre-requisites. So I was immediately pleased to see the modusGate installer offer to install missing system requirements for me.

After the license agreement there is the usual Standard and Custom install options. I allowed the Standard installation to run and chose to use SQL Express, but there is also the option to use a SQL Server if you have one available in your network.

After the installation wizard completed a HTML page opened with the next steps to take to configure modusGate.

Configuring modusGate Email Routing

Adding routes for your email domains to the modusGate server is fairly simple thanks to a wizard.

I thought a few of the settings it needed were a little ambiguous in their meaning but the documentation quickly cleared up my confusion and kept me moving. But anyone with some basic understanding of LDAP and Active Directory would have no trouble with this process.

Although modusGate supports Exchange Server 2010 it only displays Exchange 2007 as an option for configuring mail routing. It does work fine though and a later configuration screen includes Exchange 2010 in the list.

The only issue I encountered during setup was the IP address I specified for a domain controller somehow switched back to the IP of the Exchange server. Initially this meant that test emails didn’t work but once I corrected the IP address it began working correctly.

Configuring modusGate Protection

modusGate comes with all of the protection features that you want to see in an email security product such as RBL filtering, Sender Reputation, and dictionary attack prevention, as well as whitelisting options for trusted IP addresses and senders.

Anti-virus/malware protection is also built-in to modusGate.

Although a few settings need to be enabled and configured by the administrator most of the sensible protection options for spam and malware are turned on by default. So modusGate will begin protecting your environment immediately, but also has plenty of options for tuning and tweaking the protection to suit the unique characteristics of your organization’s email.

One other thing I’ll mention is the neat Smail utility that Vircom provides for testing email traffic to the modusGate server. Just a simple tool that will help a lot of administrators who don’t know how to use Telnet to test SMTP, and for those that do know it is a lot faster using Vircom’s tool anyway.

I also like that modusGate includes a feature for encrypting email in transit. Email encryption between specific networks is something that several customers I’ve worked with in the past have wanted, so that they can securely transmit sensitive email between trusted partners. On more than one occasion the limitations of a particular email server or security product at one end or the other has prevented this from being deployed.

modusGate Web Reporting

In my strong opinion good reporting capabilities are a must have for any email security product. modusGate covers this off nicely with a web reporting interface that comes with a series of useful standard reports.

You can also have reports emailed to people on a scheduled basis which is a good way to distribute email security reports to non-administrators.

modusGate and directQuarantine

A challenge for IT departments when implementing an email security product is to balance the protection of the email environment with the need to reduce false positives. When IT administrators are burdened with quarantine management it can create problems for the business – the users do not realize they haven’t received an important email, and when they finally do realize it then takes more time for the IT administrators to respond and release the item from quarantine.

End user quarantine access is the solution to this problem. modusGate does come with a web interface for end user quarantine, as well as scheduled email notifications to alert end users about quarantined items. But these are still not the best solution.

So Vircom has developed a new feature for modusGate called directQuarantine, which installs as an Outlook add-in and gives the end user simpler and more immediate control of their quarantine.

Deploying the add-in was quite simple thanks to Vircom providing a surprisingly detailed guide for deploying via GPO. Some vendors simply provide the MSI files and leave you to it, which is not good for administrators who aren’t experienced in automating software installation.

Summary

I’ve worked with a lot of different email security products, and overall I found modusGate to be quite easy to install, configure and administer. Like most products modusGate has its own unique take on administrative interfaces but I quickly became familiar with it.

I found the modusGate documentation to be actually quite good, a step above most other products out there. This is important because as I mentioned earlier most email security products have their own unique way of doing things, so having clear documentation is important.

The pricing for modusGate and directQuarantine make them both cost effective choices even for small businesses. And the different deployment models make modusGate scalable to large organizations as well.

I contacted Vircom Support once during my review and got a speedy response from a knowledgeable person.

Overall I would certainly recommend modusGate and directQuarantine for businesses who are looking for an email security product to protect their Exchange Server environment.

Disclosure: Vircom is a paid advertiser on this website.

Screenshot Gallery:

Click to Show »

Related posts:

• Exchange 2010 Edge Transport Server: Configuring IP Block List Providers
• Understanding the Exchange Server Spam Confidence Level
• Review of GFI MailEssentials
• How to Prevent Meeting Requests Appearing in Delegate’s Outlook Calendars
• Restricting Room Mailbox Bookings to Specific Groups in Exchange Server 2010

This article Vircom modusGate and directQuarantine Review is © 2011 ExchangeServerPro.com

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

• Skills needed to operate and maintain Exchange 2010
• Skills needed to design and deploy Exchange 2010

Anyone running an Exchange Server 2010 environment would naturally tend to go for the skills to operate and maintain it. Those skills are assessed by Microsoft exam 70-662.

But it may not occur to them to also train themselves on design and deployment of Exchange Server 2010. I see a lot of value in those skills even for someone who is managing an established Exchange environment, for these simple reasons:

• You need to understand the design fundamentals of your Exchange environment (in other words, why it is the way it is)
• You learn a lot about the inner workings of a product by deploying it yourself in a training lab (multiple times if necessary, since you don’t risk breaking a production environment)
• You may need to design and deploy expansions for the Exchange environment as the business grows

And of course if you want to work as a consultant who designs and deploys Exchange Server 2010 for customers then it’s a no-brainer; you need these skills.

I recently sat (and passed) Microsoft Exam 70-663. Yes, I’d worked with Exchange Server 2010 already.  And yes, I’d deployed it in my training lab and for customers.  I figured I knew enough to get by with a pass.  But I didn’t want to just pass the exam, I wanted a good score too.

I used to be a reader of big technical training books. But having learned how impractical it is to carry those around on public transport, not to mention every time I’ve had to pack them up to move house, I started looking at different training materials.

Let’s face it, these days most of us are carrying iPhones, iPads, or at least our laptops with us, and thats a lot more convenient then a 1000+ page book. So now I mostly go for training kits that come with video and audio lessons. Being able to watch a video on the train ride to work, or listen to the audio lessons while driving around on weekends, really helps me absorb the info a lot faster.

For exam 70-663 (Designing and Deploying Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010) I used this training kit from Train Signal.

Aside from the excellent coverage of the exam topics I also benefited a lot from going through some design and deployment scenarios that I hadn’t encountered in the real world yet.

The training is delivered by J Peter Bruzzese, an Exchange MVP who really knows the product in depth as well as being a great trainer.

Did this training help me pass?  No doubt about it.  And I scored 962 too!

If you want to pass exam 70-663 order the Train Signal Exchange Server 2010 Design and Deployment Training Kit.

You can also get free beginner’s training on Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 in the Exchange 2010 Boot Camp.

Related posts:

• Exchange Server 2010 Training
• Training for Exchange Server 2010 70-662 Exam
• Microsoft Exchange Server Training Portal
• PowerShell Script to Generate Email Traffic in a Test Lab Environment
• Free Exchange Server Technical Education Videos

This article Training for Exchange Server 2010 70-663 Exam is © 2011 ExchangeServerPro.com

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

I’ve sat and passed Microsoft exam 70-662, which earns you the MCTS credential for configuring Exchange Server 2010. When I sat the exam I had been using Exchange 2010 already, and was writing about it here on this website, but I still wanted to make sure I had all of the exam requirements covered.

To prepare for the exam I used the Exchange Server 2010 training kit from Train Signal.  There were a few strong points about this training package that attracted me.

First, the training kit includes video, audio and written lessons.  This was perfect for me because it meant I could watch the videos while I was at a computer, then listen to the lessons on my iPod when I was driving or taking the train to work.

I also knew that the lessons would be first class because they are written and delivered by Exchange MVP J Peter Bruzzese.

When I ordered the kit I actually started working through the lessons before the DVDs had arrived at my house thanks to the instant online access you’re given to the videos.

I was really impressed by the depth of coverage of the lessons.  Even though I’d already been working with Exchange 2010 there were some concepts that I hadn’t yet looked at, and some of the ones I had only gone a little way into on my own.

For me this kind of training has real value.  I don’t have a lot of free time, and even though I like self-training and discovering how to use technology on my own, when it comes to exam preparation I want to get ready fast and know that I’ve covered everything that I need to know.

By the way, I scored 978 on the exam, so I know this training helped.

If you want to pass exam 70-662 order the Train Signal Exchange Server 2010 training kit.

You can also get free beginner’s training on Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 in the Exchange 2010 Boot Camp.

Related posts:

• Exchange Server 2010 Training
• Training for Exchange Server 2010 70-663 Exam
• Microsoft Exchange Server Training Portal
• PowerShell Script to Generate Email Traffic in a Test Lab Environment
• Free Exchange Server Technical Education Videos

This article Training for Exchange Server 2010 70-662 Exam is © 2011 ExchangeServerPro.com

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

The trouble is that Exchange 2010 isn’t very good at this task.  Sure it has the capability built in with Transport Rules, but this doesn’t meet the needs of most of the customers I work with.  They tend to be disappointed with the limitations that Exchange has, or frustrated whenever they wish to make changes, for example during seasonal times like Christmas when the business shuts down.

Exchange Rules 2010 is a solution from CodeTwo allows you to create email signatures and disclaimers centrally on the Exchange server.  Signatures can be personalized using Active Directory attributes such as phone numbers, and rules can be configured so that different scenarios have separate disclaimers added to them.

Installing Exchange Rules 2010

There are versions of CodeTwo Exchange Rules available for Exchange 2003, 2007 and 2010.  For this review I am demonstrating CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010.

CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010 is a 64-bit application that is installed on Hub Transport servers in your organization.  If you have multiple Hub Transport servers you can install Exchange Rules 2010 only on the server that deals with incoming and outgoing email.  You could also install it on all of the Hub Transport servers and configure the rules to prevent duplicate signatures and disclaimers.

For this review a single Hub Transport server is being used.

Installation of CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010 is very simple.  The default options will be fine for most servers.  After the install is complete one of the first configuration items that appears is the option to enable Sent Item update, which allows CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010 to update sent items in user mailboxes with the signatures or disclaimers that were added while the message was in transit.

Not only is this a useful feature but it is also easy to enable because CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010 configures a service account for you automatically.

There are basically three rule scenarios that a business would want to configure signatures or disclaimers for:

• Mail sent to internal recipients
• Mail sent to external recipients
• Mail sent to either external or internal recipients

Configuring an Email Signature with CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010

Let’s look at configuring an CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010 rule for mail sent to internal recipients.  The default sender scope for this type of rule is “Internal Users”.  However this sender scope can be narrowed down and configured in some very useful ways.

For example, emails sent from teams such as Payroll or the Help Desk can have signatures that display the general phone number for that team rather than an individual’s own phone number.

The disclaimer itself can be created using a simple editor that CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010 provides.

Signatures and disclaimers can be created using static text, images, and attributes from Active Directory along with many other options.

It took me just a few seconds to configure this simple email signature for internal emails, containing the sender’s name, title, department, and contact details.  Adding images such as logos is also very easy.

After the rule is configured a handy preview feature lets you see how the results will look for different senders in your organization.

An important option that is also available is where the disclaimer should be placed (eg directly below the email content itself for signatures or at the very bottom of the message for legal disclaimers).  You can also prevent multiple disclaimers from being added which cuts down on clutter and message sizes quite a lot.

You can quickly get a feel for the power of this application, and the CodeTwo website also has some excellent examples of the sort of rich, detailed email signatures and disclaimers that Exchange Rules 2010 makes possible.

Conclusion

When I was reviewing CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010 I was impressed at how simple it is, and yet also how powerful it is.  In fact I couldn’t think of a single situation involving signatures and disclaimers that a customer has asked me for in the past that CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010 doesn’t handle with ease.

The pricing is excellent even for very small businesses.  I have no hesitation in recommend CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010 to businesses who want to create high quality, branded email signatures and disclaimers that are consistent across all of their email users.

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Disclosure: CodeTwo is a paid advertiser on this website.

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This article Exchange Server 2010 Signatures and Disclaimers: Review of CodeTwo Exchange Rules 2010 is © 2011 ExchangeServerPro.com

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com

SPAMfighter Exchange Module

SPAMfighter Exchange Module is an Exchange Server antispam product for Exchange 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2010, and also for Small Business Server.

SPAMfighter is installed on Exchange servers to perform its scanning, but also uses cloud capabilities to quickly detect new spam based on reports from over 7,000,000 SPAMfighter customers around the world.

It does this by creating an encrypted signature of incoming email messages and sending that signature to the SPAMfighter servers for comparison.  Thanks to this approach SPAMfighter customers get fast detection of new spam outbreaks without relying on scheduled signature updates.

Installing SPAMfighter Exchange Module

For my test I installed SPAMfighter Exchange Module on a Windows Server 2008 R2 server with the Exchange Server 2010 Client Access and Hub Transport server roles.

Installing SPAMfighter Exchange Module

With Exchange already installed SPAMfighter only needed the additional pre-requisite of Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime 8.0 Service Pack 1, which it will automatically download and install for you.

SPAMfighter automatically downloads pre-requisites

The setup process is very simple and straightforward, and SPAMfighter downloads the latest virus definition updates as part of the setup process.

Configuring SPAMfighter Exchange Module

SPAMfighter has a web-based administration console that is simple and intuitive to use.  There are three main sections to the admin console.

Configuration

The configuration section is where you configure each of the different SPAMfighter filters and their policy settings.  I found this section to be quite easy to follow and understand, unlike some other similar products.

SPAMfighter Policy Configuration page

All of the features you would expect of an Exchange antispam product are easily configurable, including sliders to adjust the aggressiveness of different filters, whitelists/blacklists, and filtering of file extensions.  I also liked the option to filter based on languages, which is very useful considering the amount of spam I see that is written in a foreign language.

One of the strengths of SPAMfighter is the community filter, which uses spam reports from the millions of SPAMfighter users around the world to detect and block new spam variants quickly.

SPAMfighter Community Filter settings

Administrators are given granular control over how the filtering policies are configured, and this can be made even more specific with the use of Usergroups, allowing different policies to apply to different areas of the business.

Usergroups allow different SPAMfighter policies to be applied

Filter settings can also be configured on individual mailboxes, for example to blacklist or whitelist a certain email address for just one user in the organization.

Statistics

To me a critical feature of email security products is the reporting.  Without useful reporting it is impossible to know whether a product is performing well or not.  Fortunately SPAMfighter has very good reports that are easily accessed in the administration console.

SPAMfighter statistics reporting

Scheduled reports can also be sent to any user via email, which makes them easily available to non-administrators.  This saves the Exchange Server administrator a lot of time since they don’t need to manually generate reports for managers.

Administration

The administration section is where you can configure product and definition update schedules, diagnostic logging, performance tuning, and who can access the administrative console.

SPAMfighter integrates with Active Directory for security settings

SPAMfighter Exchange Module is integrated with both Exchange Server and with Active Directory, so you can use Active Directory groups to manage access to the administrative console, and let those admins login with their regular user credentials.  No need to create and manage any special admin accounts and passwords.

Performance of SPAMfighter Exchange Module

After installing SPAMfighter on my test Exchange server I redirected a few different email accounts and domains towards it to see how it performed.

None of the clean mail that was sent to SPAMfighter was blocked as spam, so there were zero false-positives during this test.  Spam that is detected gets moved to a folder in the user’s mailbox, so they are always able to check in case they think something has been blocked in error.

SPAMfighter sends spam to Junk Email or to a custom folder

I preferred to use Junk Email for this instead of the default SPAMfighter folder (note you can also specify your own custom folder name) because Outlook disables risky content such as hyperlinks and remote images in the Junk Email folder.

SPAMfighter Documentation and Support

Though there wasn’t a PDF user manual included with SPAMfighter Exchange Module the installation process was simple enough, and the administration console quite intuitive.

Anyone who has used an Exchange anti-spam product before should have no trouble configuring SPAMfighter the way that they want it.  For people who are new to this type of technology each of the settings that you can configure in SPAMfighter has its own built in Help page to explain in more detail what the settings do.

SPAMfighter has detailed help documentation built in

I was able to experience SPAMfighter’s customer support when I had a minor issue in my testing environment.  Their responses were fast and helpful and we were able to solve my problem quickly.

Conclusion

Overall I am impressed with the simplicity and effectiveness of SPAMfighter Exchange Module.  It is an easy product to install and configure, and provides just enough flexibility in its configuration options without getting too complicated.  More importantly, it blocked all of the spam that was sent to the server without a single false positive during my tests.

The SPAMfighter pricing page lists the license costs from 5 users up to 2500 users and I would easily recommend it for Exchange Server environments of that size range.

Disclosure: SPAMfighter is a paid advertiser on this website.

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Related posts:

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This article Exchange Server AntiSpam: Review of SPAMFighter Exchange Module for Exchange Server 2010 is © 2010 ExchangeServerPro.com

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com