MS Exchange at SLAC

Dennis Wisinski

13 September 2001

Overview

The way we were Convergence of needs Search for UNIX solution Summary of UNIX server tests Exchange met needs Planning and design Client program rollout Initial user reaction Staffing level

The way we were

PMDF mail gateway UNIX mail spool

NFS volume POP/IMAP Pine, Eudora, Netscape clients Meeting Maker calendar

Convergence of needs

Replace the existing POP/IMAP server With a more robust one With one allowing password encryption With one easy to support and maintain

Replacement for Eudora e-mail client (Network share)

Replacement for Meeting Maker enterprise calendar

Convergence diagram

Decision point Pilot

Secure transport e-mail server

Prevent clear-text passwords from appearing on the network Kerberos or SSL encryption

Use existing Unix or NT account/password Provide secure web access to mail for

travelers Deal with corruption of UNIX mail spool

Replacement for Eudora client

Eudora did not provide a robust solution for use in a distributed environment – numerous instances of mailbox corruption when saved on a shared volume.

No support for SSL (at that time) Client change would be major

disruption for POP/IMAP users

Meeting Maker replacement

Meeting Maker was not scaling well: Lock-step upgrade of client and server

software Groups are ineffective (not dynamic)

No integration with email systems No integrated contact management Limited third party development

Search for UNIX solution

Jan 98 – Sun Internet Mail Server Aug 98 – PMDF POPstore Jan 99 – Simeon Execmail Mar 99 – Mirapoint Aug 99 – PMDF MessageStore Jan 00 – Sun/Netscape Webtop

Summary of UNIX server tests

AFS Kerberos capable servers could not be found; this left us with SSL servers

Unix POP/IMAP servers required local mod for our AFS passwords; this tended to favor NT servers/clients

Also: no calendar or contacts support Various features missing in each

Exchange server test

SLD group had an Exchange server for a couple years

Rutherford and DESY had deployed Exchange servers

A small group within SCS started testing Exchange in Nov 99

Exchange server met needs

Encrypted passwords (SSL) Secure web access Calendar, contacts Single instance message store Speed (large mailbox access) Standard backup methods Virus scanner Well supported product

Other reasons for Exchange

Had site license for Exchange mailboxes and Outlook email clients

Supported a variety of access methods Integrated e-mail, calendar, contacts, and

tasks Third party application enhancements One of the two leading messaging systems Leverage expertise of NT Group

Planning and design

Design of Exchange environment for SLAC influenced heavily by Tony Redmond’s “Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 – Planning, Design, and Implementation”

Additional advice culled from Exchange Discussions mailing list and associated web site.

Discussions with administrators at Stanford, CERN, US Air Force

Planning and design (cont.)

Notable deviations from accepted practice: Mailbox quota 500 MB (vs. 20-100 MB) Deleted items retention 30 days (vs. 3-7) Use of SAN for message store was not

widely used at that time UNIX mail spool users would not be

affected

Client program rollout

Approval of ADCC in March 00 Early deployment with about 100 users “Town Hall” meeting in early May User conversion completed in Dec 00 Expected 900 users; had 1300 after

conversion (1500 now)

Initial user reaction

General aversion to (any) change Most were satisfied after conversion Some said Outlook was the best client A few unhappy Eudora enthusiasts Unhappy Meeting Maker enthusiasts

lack of color in new calendar – remedied in Outlook 2002

lack of native UNIX client – functionality provided by Citrix client

Staffing levels

~1 FTE for Exchange and PMDF gateway (parts of 3 different people)

Two Exchange experts and one trainee in App Group (one expert in NT Support)

Only one PMDF expert and one trainee

Reduced client support cost