Event
Summary
Atlanta
Oct. 4, 1999
Today at the
fourth annual Microsoft Exchange Conference, Microsoft Corp. announced the
availability of Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server beta 3, the message and collaboration
server previously code-named "Platinum." Beta 3, a prerelease version of the
product designed for testing and evaluation by customers and partners, will
be distributed to conference attendees and will be publicly available from the
Microsoft Web site in English, German, French and Japanese versions today. (Source:
Microsoft)
Market
Impact
Microsoft Exchange
2000 Messaging Server is interwoven with the company's new release of Windows
2000 server. Due to Microsoft's entrance into the Active Directory Structure
(ADS) users will be driven to upgrade not only their existing NT Servers, but
also their existing Exchange Servers, while new users will implement the 2000
Back Office Suite directly. ADS is Microsoft's attempt to catch up to Novell
NetWare's NDS. Microsoft's ADS utilizes the X.500 Standard, an enhanced communication
Protocol " Lightweight Directory Access Protocol" (LDAP) coupled with Domain
Name Resolution (DNS). The implementation of " Directory Services " will allow
a single administrator to control all messaging and network resources from a
single point. Lotus's premier Messaging Server Domino also allows for LDAP access
and includes a suite of Internet utilities, similar to those found in Microsoft's
Exchange 5.5 Server, but is not designed to integrate into Windows 2000 Server
and take full advantage of the Active Directory. Novell's GroupWise, also LDAP
enabled, is designed to run on NetWare NDS servers and is synchronized with
Novell's Directory Service, allowing for greater control over the GroupWise-messaging
environment.
Some of the
added functionality in Microsoft's New Release of Exchange are:
-
Multiple Message Databases: Having multiple Databases
enables administrators to split a single logical database across multiple
physical disks, thus improving performance, enhancing stability and enabling
faster restores. Even with the advent of multiple databases Microsoft does
not include a backup product which will restore to the mailbox level. The
NTBACKUP utility which is shipped with Microsoft Windows NT Server is made
" Exchange Aware" upon the installation of the exchange server, yet only
allows for a " all or nothing " back up and restore of the two primary exchange
databases, priv.edb and pub.edb. One may take note that neither Lotus Domino
nor Novell GroupWise includes a packaged backup system specific to e-mail.
Third party vendors, such as Computer Associate's ArcServe Backup for NT
coupled with the Microsoft Exchange Agent, acquired separately, allow backups
and restores to the mailbox level.
-
Single-seat Administration: Microsoft's Management
Console (MMC), part of the current NT Server 4.0 and Windows 2000 server,
allows applications to function as "snap-ins". This allows for a single
console for managing all Microsoft servers, whether that function is adding
a server, user, Distribution List or setting security rights.
-
Instant Messaging: Whether or not instant messaging
is needed is up for debate. None the less the Internet population flocks
to it in herds. Microsoft is targeting Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
to create a larger market share. Exchange will attempt to do this through
the advent of high-availability clustering servers combined with a multiple
database architecture and an enhanced suite of Internet tools. Neither the
current release of Lotus Domino nor Novell's GroupWise offers support for
instant messaging. But with AOL's acquisition of Netscape, one can place
a safe bet on seeing it in the next release of GroupWise (probability 90%).
User
Recommendations
Neither Windows
2000 nor Exchange 2000 have been officially released and are not expected to
ship until the second quarter of next year (probability 80%). Users should be
cautious on the path to upgrading. Microsoft's initial releases tend to contain
flaws within the code, (often referred to as ' bugs ') therefore it would be
best to wait for the product to be fully "production tested" before jumping
onto the bandwagon. For smaller companies (>500) the improvements contained
within the next release offer few enhancements to satisfy current administration
and networking needs. For larger organizations the flexibility of database and
service paths coupled with simplified administration and faster backups make
this product extremely desirable. The forthcoming release of Exchange 2000,
once officially distributed, will be an overall positive for users either upgrading
or considering a new messaging system.