Exchange Administration Center: The
EAC
brings to mind the quote, "You're riding it, dude!" Yes, I cannot help
but think of the line from "Finding Nemo" whenever I think of the new
admin console for Exchange. But seriously, the GUI-based EMC (Exchange
Management Console) and the Web-based ECP (Exchange Control Panel) are
being replaced by a single Web-based UI that is, frankly, my least
favorite of all the new Exchange 2013 features. I don't like Web-based
consoles for administration; they always feel clunky and unfriendly.
Plus, it has that Metro look, which leaves me cold. We'll see if I can
get used to it.
Exchange architecture revisions: Exchange 2007 and
2010 are broken into five server roles, mainly to address performance
issues like CPU performance, which would suffer if Exchange were running
as one monolothic application. But Microsoft has made progress on the
performance side, so Exchange 2013 has just two roles: Client Access
server role and Mailbox server role. The Mailbox server role includes
all the typical server components (including unified messaging), and the
Client Access server role handles all the authentication, redirection,
and proxy services. Gone is the Edge Transport role, but you can deploy
Exchange 2013 with an Exchange 2010 Edge Transport server role.
A new managed store: The store service has been
completely rewritten in managed code (C#). Although this change bodes
well in terms of higher availability and resiliency, it doesn't mean the
ESE (Extensible Storage Engine) database engine has been replaced with
SQL, as many admins would like. Exchange 2013 continues to use ESE as
the database engine. But now each database runs in its own dedicated
worker process, so a hung process in one database will not cause
problems in other databases. Fast Search (an
add-on to SharePoint 2010) is also integrated into the managed store for improved search and indexing.
Modernized public folders: Rather than just getting
rid of public folders (something promised for future releases),
Microsoft has embraced them once again. They are no longer managed
through the separate Public Folder Management Console; instead, they are
managed via the EAC. That makes them public folder mailboxes, which
means they use regular mailbox databases. In turn, this means they can
be made part of a data availability group for disaster recovery.
Lots o' PowerShell cmdlets: Although 13 cmdlets have been removed (many having to do with the old public folder management), Exchange 2013 brims with
187 new PowerShell cmdlets.
That may not be the final tally when the final version ships next year,
but it shows that command-line management tools are still growing. I
wasn't kidding years back when I told everyone to learn PowerShell. It's
not going away.
DLP (data loss prevention): DLP is new in Exchange
2013's transport rules, but it's also a continuation of Mail Tips in
that it warns users when they may be violating policies meant to prevent
disclosure of sensitive data. Such disclosures are usually inadvertent,
so the use of DLP-fired reminders lets users be aware when they are
putting something like a credit card number or Social Security number in
an email. The built-in DLP policies are based on
regulatory standards like PCI.
Outlook Web Access enhancements: The whole of OWA is
redesigned -- yay! One awesome feature is support for offline access,
which lets users write messages in their browser when offline, then have
the messages delivered when they connect to the Internet. OWA supports
this feature in Microsoft's Internet Explorer 10, Apple's Safari 5, and
Google's Chrome 16 (or later), all of which support the HTML5 local data
storage feature. There's also a new set of UI layouts that users can
choose from for desktop, tablet, and smartphone use -- a smart approach.
Built-in antimalware: Exchange has had antispam
capabilities for quite some time; as of Exchange 2007 you could even
choose whether to turn on antispam in the Edge role or in the Hub
Transport role. Exchange 2013 extends antispam to a broader set of
antimalware capabilities, such as to block phishing attempts.
In addition to these highly visible changes, Exchange 2013 will also
show improvements in high availability and site resilience with DAG, as
well as in
its unified messaging capabilities, but no large overhauls are expected in those areas.
For Exchange admins who work with the GUI management console daily,
the biggest challenge will be the new Web-based UI. But whatever your
feelings are about Web-based consoles, I believe you'll like the overall
changes in Exchange 2013, especially with enhanced integration with
SharePoint and Lync 2013.
