Share via

Installation Guide Template - Mailbox Server

  • Article

 

Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP3, Exchange Server 2010 SP2

This topic provides you with an installation guide template that you can use as a starting point for formally documenting your organization's server build procedures for Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 servers that will have the Mailbox server role installed.

The template includes the following key sections:

  • Executive Summary

  • Server Configuration

  • Verification Steps

  • Exchange Server Role Installation

  • Exchange Server Role Configuration

  • Appendix: Server Configuration

For purposes of providing an example, the template uses the fictitious company name of Contoso. Also, you can download this template, along with templates for other server roles, as a download package in .zip file format at Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Install Guide Templates (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=187961).

Executive Summary

The purpose of this document is to explain the installation and configurations necessary to install the Exchange 2010 Mailbox server role on the Windows Server 2008 platform.

Business Justification

By having an installation guide, Contoso will be able to ensure standardization across the enterprise, reducing total cost of ownership (TCO), and easing troubleshooting steps.

Scope

The scope of this document is limited to installation of an Exchange 2010 Mailbox server for Contoso on the x64 version of the Windows Server 2008 (SP2 or R2) operating system.

Prerequisites

The administrator should have working knowledge of Windows Server 2008 concepts, Exchange 2010 concepts, the Exchange Management Console and Exchange Management Shell, the command line, and various system utilities. This document does not elaborate on the details of any system utility except as necessary to complete the tasks within.

In addition, before implementing the server role, the administrator should review the Overview of the Mailbox Server Role topic in the Exchange Server 2010 Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=187526).

Assumptions

This document assumes that Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition is installed on the intended Client Access server per company baseline regulations which include the latest approved service pack and hotfixes. In addition, the following system prerequisites have been installed:

This document assumes that forest and domain preparation steps have been performed as described in the Prepare Active Directory and Domains topic in the Exchange Server 2010 Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=187262).

This document assumes that the account you will be using for the Exchange tasks has been delegated the Server Management management role, as described in the Server Management topic in the Exchange Server 2010 Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=187265).

This document also assumes that both Exchange 2010 Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 will be secured following the best practices found in the Windows Server 2008 Security Guide (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122593).

Important

The procedures within this document should be followed sequentially. If changes are made out of sequence, unexpected results may occur.

Server Configuration

The following media are required for this section.

  • Windows Server 2008 installation files

The following procedures are in this section:

  1. Additional Software Verification

  2. Network Interfaces Configuration

  3. Drive Configuration

  4. Windows Server 2008 Hotfix Installation

  5. Domain Membership Configuration

  6. Local Administrators Verification

  7. Local Administrator Account Password Reset

  8. Debugging Tools Installation

  9. Page File Modifications

  10. Drive Permissions

Additional Software Verification

  1. Verify that Remote Desktop is enabled.

  2. As an optional process, install Microsoft Network Monitor (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=86611).

Network Interfaces Configuration

  1. Log on to the server with an account that has been delegated at least local administrative access.

  2. Click Start > Control Panel, and then double-click Network and Sharing Center.

  3. Click Manage Network Connections.

  4. Locate the connection for the internal network and rename it according to your organization's naming standards.

  5. Right-click the connection and then select Properties.

  6. For Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), add the following:

    1. Static IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Gateway

    2. DNS Server IP Addresses

    3. Select the check box to Append parent suffixes of the primary DNS suffix.

    4. WINS IP Addresses (if using WINS)

  7. If you are using Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6), configure the IPv6 settings according to your organization's network standards.

Drive Configuration

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop and log on with an account that has local administrative access.

  2. Click Start, Administrative Tools, and select Computer Management.

  3. Expand Storage and click on Disk Management.

  4. Using the Disk Management snap-in of the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), format, rename, and assign the appropriate Drive Letters so that the volumes and DVD drive match the appropriate server configuration. Refer to the Database Log LUN appendix at the end of this document for the actual drive configuration that should be used.

    Drive configuration

    LUN Drive letter Usage

    1

    C

    Operating system, Exchange binaries, and tracking logs

    2

    E

    Exchange databases

    4

    L

    Exchange transaction logs

    5-x

    --

    Additional drives for databases and logs

    6

    Z

    DVD drive

Windows Server 2008 Hotfix Installation

  1. Connect to the server via Remote Desktop and log on with an account that has local administrative access.

  2. Obtain the latest hotfixes approved by your company for your version of Windows Server 2008 x64 (SP2 or R2) and copy them to the server.

  3. Launch the hotfix setup via one of two ways:

    1. Double-click the file and follow the GUI instructions.

    2. Perform a silent installation using the following command from an administrative command prompt:

      <hotfix>.msu /quiet /norestart

  4. Click Yes for any Digital Signature not Found dialog boxes that may appear.

    Note

    These dialog boxes will not appear in environments that have not deployed the Windows Security templates.

  5. Wait for all file copies to complete, and then restart the server. You can use the Processes tab in Windows Task Manager to monitor the hotfix installation progress. When the wusa.exe process has exited, the hotfix installation is complete.

Domain Membership Configuration

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access.

  2. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then select Properties.

  3. Under the Computer Name, domain, and workgroup settings, click Change Settings.

  4. Click Change.

  5. Choose the Domain option button, and then enter the appropriate domain name.

  6. Enter the appropriate credentials.

  7. Click OK and OK.

  8. Click OK to close System Properties.

  9. Restart the server.

Local Administrators Verification

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access.

  2. Verify (or add if not already there) that the Domain Admins account and the user account that will perform the Exchange installation are members of the local Administrators group on this server.

  3. Verify that your user account is a member of a group which is a member of the local Administrators group on the Windows Server 2008 server. If it is not, use an account that is a member of the local Administrators group before continuing.

Local Administrator Account Password Reset

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access.

  2. Click Start, right-click Computer, and then select Manage.

  3. Expand the nodes to find Configuration\Local Users and Groups\Users.

  4. Right-click Administrator, and then select Set Password. Change the password so that it meets strong complexity requirements.

Debugging Tools Installation

This section describes several useful tools that aid administrators in Exchange administration and in troubleshooting support issues.

Debugging Tools for Windows allow administrators to debug processes that are affecting service and determine root cause.

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access.

  2. Download and install the latest 64-bit Debugging Tools from Install Debugging Tools for Windows 64-bit Version (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=123594).

Page File Modifications

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access.

  2. Click Start, right-click Computer, and then select Properties.

  3. Select the Advanced System Settings.

  4. Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings.

    1. Under Write Debugging Information, select Kernel Memory Dump from the memory dump drop-down list.

    2. Click OK.

  5. Under Performance, click Settings.

  6. Click the Advanced tab.

  7. Under Virtual Memory, click Change.

  8. On servers that have a dedicated page file drive, follow these steps:

    1. In the Drive list, click C:, and then click Custom size.

    2. For the C: drive, set the Initial Size (MB) value to a minimum of 200 MB. (Windows requires between 150 MB and 2 GB page file space, depending on server load and the amount of physical RAM that is available for page file space on the boot volume when Windows is configured for a kernel memory dump. Therefore, you may be required to increase the size.)

    3. For the C: drive, set the Maximum Size (MB) value to that of the Initial Size.

    4. In the Drive list, select the page file drive (for example, the P: drive), and then click Custom size.

    5. In the Initial Size (MB) box, type the result of one of the following calculations:

      If the server has less than 8 GB of RAM, multiply the amount of RAM times 1.5.

      If the server has 8 GB of RAM or more, add the amount of RAM plus 10 MB.

    6. In the Maximum Size (MB) box, type the same amount that you typed in the Initial Size box.

    7. Delete all other page files.

    8. Click OK.

  9. On servers that do not have a dedicated page file drive, follow these steps:

    1. In the Drive list, click C:, and then click Custom size.

    2. For the C: drive, in the Initial Size (MB) box, type the result of one of the following calculations:

      If the server has less than 8 GB of RAM, multiply the amount of RAM times 1.5.

      If the server has 8 GB of RAM or more, add the amount of RAM plus 10 MB.

    3. Delete all other page files.

    4. Click OK.

  10. Click OK two times to close the System Properties dialog box.

  11. Click No if prompted to restart the system.

    Note

    For more information about page file recommendations, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles: How to determine the appropriate page file size for 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=889654); and Overview of memory dump file options for Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=254649).

Drive Permissions

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access.

  2. Click Start, and then select Computer.

  3. Right-click D Drive, and then select Properties.

  4. Click the Security tab.

  5. Click Edit.

  6. Click Add, and then select the local server from Locations.

  7. Grant the following rights as outlined in the following table.

    Drive permissions

    Account Permissions

    Administrators

    Full Control

    SYSTEM

    Full Control

    Authenticated Users

    Read and Execute, List, Read

    CREATOR OWNER

    Full Control

  8. Click the Advanced button.

  9. Select the CREATOR OWNER permission entry, and then click View/Edit.

  10. Select Subfolders and Files Only from the drop-down list.

  11. Click OK two times.

  12. Click OK to close the drive properties.

  13. Repeat steps 3-12 for each additional drive (other than the C drive).

Verification Steps

The following procedures are in this section:

  1. Organizational Unit Verification

  2. Active Directory Site Verification

  3. Domain Controller Diagnostics Verification

  4. Exchange Best Practices Analyzer Verification

Important

The procedures within this document should be followed sequentially. If changes are made out of sequence, unexpected results may occur.

Organizational Unit Verification

Submit a change request to the appropriate operations group and have the computer object moved to the appropriate organizational unit (OU).

Active Directory Site Verification

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access.

  2. Open a Command Prompt window.

  3. Verify that the server is in the correct domain and Active Directory site. At the command line, type the following:

    NLTEST /server:%COMPUTERNAME% /dsgetsite

  4. The name of the Active Directory site to which the server belongs will be displayed. If the server is not in the correct Active Directory site, submit a change request to the appropriate operations group and have the server moved to the appropriate Active Directory site.

Domain Controller Diagnostics Verification

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access.

  2. Open a Command Prompt window, and then change paths to the C drive.

  3. Run the following command:

    dcdiag /s:<Domain Controller> /f:c:\dcdiag.log

    Note

    Change <domain Controller> to a domain controller contained within the same Active Directory site as the Exchange server.

  4. Review the output of C:\dcdiag.log file, and verify that there are no connectivity issues with the local domain controller.

  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each domain controller in the local Active Directory site.

    Note

    Domain Controller Diagnostics (DCDiag) is a Windows support tool that tests network connectivity and DNS resolution for domain controllers. If the account being used does not have administrative privileges, several tests under the Doing primary tests heading may not pass. These tests can be ignored if the connectivity tests pass. In addition, the log file may report that some service validation tests did not pass. These messages can be ignored if the services do not exist on the domain controller.

Exchange Best Practices Analyzer Verification

The Microsoft Exchange Analyzers help administrators troubleshoot various operational support issues. Connect to a server in the environment that either has the Exchange 2010 SP1 (or later) Management tools installed through Remote Desktop and log on with an account that has local administrative access.

  1. Click Start > All Programs > Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, and then select Exchange Management Console.

  2. Open the Toolbox node.

  3. Double-click Best Practices Analyzer.

  4. Check and apply any updates for the Best Practices Analyzer engine.

  5. Provide the appropriate information to connect to Active Directory and then click Connect to the Active Directory server.

  6. In the Start a New Best Practices Scan, select Health Check, and then click Start Scanning.

  7. Review the report, and take action on any errors or warnings that are reported by following the resolution articles that are provided within the Best Practices Analyzer.

Exchange Server Role Installation

The following media are required for this section.

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 installation files

The following procedures are in this section:

  1. Exchange 2010 Prerequisites Installation for:

    • Windows Server 2008 SP2

      -or-

    • Windows Server 2008 R2

  2. Exchange 2010 Installation

  3. Exchange 2010 Update Rollup Installation

  4. Product Key Configuration

  5. System Performance Verification

  6. Test Mailbox Creation

Important

The procedures within this document should be followed sequentially. If changes are made out of sequence, unexpected results may occur.

Exchange 2010 Prerequisites Installation for Windows Server 2008 SP2

  1. Connect to the server via Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access.

  2. Open an administrative command prompt window.

  3. Install the Microsoft Filter Pack. For details, see 2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=137042).

  4. Open an elevated command prompt, navigate to the \Setup\ServerRoles\Common folder on the Exchange 2010 installation media and use the following command to install the necessary operating system components:

    ServerManagerCmd -ip Exchange-MBX.xml -Restart

Exchange 2010 Prerequisites Installation for Windows Server 2008 R2

  1. Connect to the server via Remote Desktop and log on with an account that has local administrative access.

  2. Install the Microsoft Filter Pack. For details, see 2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=137042).

  3. On the Start Menu, navigate to All Programs > Accessories > Windows PowerShell. Open an elevated Windows PowerShell console, and run the following command:

    Import-Module ServerManager

  4. Use the Add-WindowsFeature cmdlet to install the necessary operating system components:

    Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server -Restart

Exchange 2010 Installation

This document uses the command-line method for installing the Exchange 2010 server roles; however, you can also use a GUI called the Setup Wizard. For more information about how to use the Setup Wizard to install an Exchange 2010 server role, see the Perform a Custom Exchange 2010 Installation topic in the Exchange Server 2010 Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=187220).

Important

If this is the first Mailbox server role being installed into an organization that does not contain any version of Microsoft Exchange, and you have client computers running Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, you must also specify the optional /EnableLegacyOutlook setup parameter. In addition, if this is the first Exchange 2010 server role being installed into an environment that does not contain any version of Microsoft Exchange, you must also specify the /OrganizationName setup parameter.

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access. If the Exchange server has been provisioned for delegated setup, the account must be delegated the Server Management or the Delegated Setup role (or higher).

  2. Follow the procedure detailed in the Install Exchange 2010 in Unattended Mode topic in the Exchange Server 2010 Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=187229). For example, the following command installs the Mailbox server role, provides a custom database name, database path, and transaction log file location.

    setup.com /r:M /mdbName: "<Server Name> MBX DB1" /dbfilepath: e:\MBXDB1\priv01.edb /logfolderpath: l:\log01

  3. Do not restart the server, even if required.

Exchange 2010 Update Rollup Installation

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has local administrative access.

  2. Obtain the latest company approved rollup, and then copy it to the server.

  3. Launch the Windows Installer patch (the MSP file) setup via one of two ways:

    1. Double-click the MSP file, and then follow the GUI instructions.

    2. Perform a silent installation using the following command from an administrative command prompt:

      msiexec /i <Path and filename of MSP file> /q

  4. Click Yes for any Digital Signature not Found dialog boxes that may appear.

    Note

    These dialog boxes will appear only in environments that have deployed the Windows Security templates.

Product Key Configuration

  1. Launch the Exchange Management Shell with an account that has been delegated the Server Management role.

  2. Follow the procedure documented in the Enter Product Key topic in the Exchange Server 2010 Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=187234).

Exchange Search Configuration

  1. Connect to the server via Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access.

  2. Follow the procedure documented in the Register Filter Pack IFilters with Exchange 2010 topic in the Exchange Server 2010 Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=187516).

  3. Optional: If you want the ability to search PDF files, install the Adobe PDF iFilter (http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5542) and follow the Configuring PDF iFilter for MS Exchange Server 2007 (http://www.adobe.com/special/acrobat/configuring\_pdf\_ifilter\_for\_ms\_exchange\_server\_2007.pdf) documentation.

Note

The third-party Web site information in this topic is provided to help you find the technical information you need. The URLs are subject to change without notice.

System Performance Verification

By default, Exchange 2010 optimizes the server’s processor scheduling management for background services.

  1. Connect to the server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has local administrative access.

  2. Click Start, right-click Computer, and then select Properties.

  3. Select the Advanced System Settings.

  4. Under Performance, click Settings.

    1. Click the Advanced tab.

    2. Verify that Processor Scheduling is set to Background Services.

  5. Click OK.

Test Mailbox Creation

Several of the diagnostics tasks used to monitor Exchange require that you create test mailboxes on the mailbox servers.

  1. Connect to the Exchange 2010 Mailbox server through Remote Desktop, and then log on with an account that has been delegated local administrative access and was also delegated the Server Management role (or higher).

  2. Click Start > All Programs > Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and then select Exchange Management Shell.

  3. Change the directory path to <Exchange Server Install Path>\Scripts.

  4. Type New-TestCasConnectivityUser.ps1 and press Enter.

  5. Enter a temporary password, and then follow the prompts to create the test mailboxes.

Exchange Server Role Configuration

The following procedures are in this section:

  1. First Database Configuration

  2. Second Database Configuration

  3. Records Management Configuration

  4. Message Tracking Server Configuration

  5. Additional Databases

Important

The procedures within this document should be followed sequentially. If changes are made out of sequence, unexpected results may occur.

First Database Configuration

If you provided the /mdbname, /dbfilepath, and /logfolderpath parameters when you installed the mailbox server, you can skip this section.

  1. Launch the Exchange Management Shell with an account that has been delegated the Server Management role.

    Important

    The values in the following table are example values, not recommended values. Revise these values to reflect the actual values for your organization.

    First database configuration at Contoso

    Database parameter Old New example

    Name

    Mailbox Database <GUID>

    <ServerName> MBX DB 1

    Log Path

    %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\v14\Mailbox\Mailbox Database <GUID>

    L:\LOG01

    Database Filename and Path

    %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\v14\Mailbox\Mailbox Database <GUID>\Mailbox database <GUID>.edb

    E:\MBXDB1\Priv01.edb

  2. To dismount the database, run the following command:

    Dismount-Database "Mailbox Database <GUID>"

  3. To change the mailbox database name, run the following command:

    Set-MailboxDatabase "<Old DB Name>" -Name "<New DB Name>"

  4. To change the location of the database's transaction logs and the location of the database file, run the following command:

    Move-DatabasePath "<Database Name>" -LogFolderPath "<New Log Location>" -EdbFilePath "<New DB Path and FileName>"

  5. To mount the database, run the following command:

    Mount-Database "<New DB Name>"

Second Database Configuration

If a public folder database was created during the installation of the Mailbox server role, the public folder database will be placed in the default location. If there is no public folder database, you can skip this section.

  1. Launch the Exchange Management Shell with an account that has been delegated the Server Management role.

    Important

    The values in the following table are example values, not recommended values. Revise these values to reflect the actual values for your organization.

    Public folder database configuration at Contoso

    Database parameter Old New example

    Name

    Public Folder Database <GUID>

    <ServerName> PUB Store 2

    Log Path

    %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Mailbox\Public Folder Database <GUID>

    L:\LOG02

    Database Filename and Path

    %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Mailbox\Public Folder Database <GUID>\Public Folder database <GUID>.edb

    E:\MBXDB2\Pub02.edb

  2. To dismount the database, run the following command:

    Dismount-Database "Public Folder Database <GUID>"

  3. To change the public folder database name, run the following command:

    Set-PublicFolderDatabase "<Old DB Name>" -Name "<New DB Name>"

  4. To change the location of the database's transaction logs and the location of the database file, run the following command:

    Move-DatabasePath "<Database Name>" -LogFolderPath "<New Log Location>" -EdbFilePath "<New DB Path and FileName>"

  5. To mount the database, run the following command:

    Mount-Database "<New DB Name>"

Records Management Configuration

You can skip this section if the default schedule for the Managed Folder Assistant to apply messaging records management (MRM) settings does not need to be changed.

  1. Launch the Exchange Management Shell with an account that has been delegated the Server Management role.

  2. To enable the Managed Folder Assistant, run the following command:

    Set-MailboxServer <MailboxServerName> -ManagedFolderAssistantSchedule <AssistantSchedule>

    Note

    Refer to the "Records management configuration for Contoso" table in the Server Configuration Appendix at the end of this document for the information that you need for the commands.

Message Tracking Server Configuration

You can skip this section if the default message tracking parameters are appropriate for the environment.

  1. Launch the Exchange Management Shell with an account that has been delegated the Server Management role.

  2. To configure message tracking settings, run the following command:

    Set-MailboxServer <MailboxServerName> -MessageTrackingLogPath <LogPath> -MessageTrackingLogMaxAge <MaxAge> -MessageTrackingLogMaxDirectorySize <LogDirSize> -MessageTrackingLogMaxFileSize <LogFileSize> -MessageTrackingLogSubjectLoggingEnabled <SubjectLogEnabled>

    Note

    Refer to the "Message tracking configuration for Contoso" table in the Server Configuration Appendix at the end of this document for the information that you need for the commands.

Additional Databases

  1. Launch the Exchange Management Shell with an account that has been delegated the Server Management role.

  2. Use the appropriate tables in Database / Log LUN Appendix and Database Configuration Appendix at the end of this document for information that you need for the commands.

  3. To create the database, run the following command:

    New-MailboxDatabase -Name "<DB Name>" -LogFolderPath <Transaction Log Location> -EdbFilePath <Database Path and FileName> -OfflineAddressBook <OfflineAddressBook> -PublicFolderDatabase <PFDatabase> | Set-MailboxDatabase -IssueWarningQuota <WarningQuota> -ProhibitSendQuota <SendQuota> -ProhibitSendReceiveQuota <SendReceiveQuota> -MailboxRetention <dd.hh:mm:ss> -DeletedItemRetention <dd.hh:mm:ss> -MaintenanceSchedule <MaintenanceSchedule> -QuotaNotificationSchedule <QuotaSchedule> -RetainDeletedItemsUntilBackup <RetainDeletedItemsUntilBackup>

  4. To mount the database, run the following command:

    Mount-Database "<Database Name>"

  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each database that needs to be created.

Appendix: Server Configuration

The following information is included in this section:

  • Records Management Configuration

  • Message Tracking Configuration

  • Database / Log LUN Appendix

  • Database Configuration Appendix

Records Management Configuration

The following table is an example configuration that can be applied to the Mailbox server, depending on requirements.

Important

The values in the following table are example values, not recommended values. Revise these values to reflect the actual values for your organization.

Records management configuration for Contoso

Parameter

Default value

Contoso value

Server Name

<ServerName>

<ServerName>

Managed Folder Assistant Schedule

Sun.1:00 AM-Sun.9:00 AM, Mon.1:00 AM-Mon.9:00 AM, Tue.1:00 AM-Tue.9:00 AM, Wed.1:00 AM-Wed.9:00 AM, Thu.1:00 AM-Thu.9:00 AM, Fri.1:00 AM-Fri. 9:00 AM, Sat.1:00 AM-Sat.9:00 AM

“Sun.6:00 PM-Sun.7:45 PM”, “Mon.6:00 PM-Mon.7:45 PM”, “Tue.6:00 PM-Tue.7:45 PM”, “Wed.6:00 PM-Wed.7:45 PM”, “Thu.6:00 PM-Thu.7:45 PM”, “Fri.6:00 PM-Fri.7:45 PM”, “Sat.6:00 PM-Sat.7:45 PM”

Message Tracking Configuration

The following table is an example configuration that can be applied to the Mailbox server, depending on requirements.

Important

The values in the following table are example values, not recommended values. Revise these values to reflect the actual values for your organization.

Message tracking configuration for Contoso

Parameter

Default value

Contoso value

Server Name

<ServerName>

<ServerName>

Message Tracking Log Path

<Exchange Install Path>\TransportRoles\Logs\MessageTracking

L:\exchsrvr\MessageTracking

Message Tracking Log Enabled

True

True

Message Tracking Log Max Age

30.00:00:00

45.00:00:00

Message Tracking Log Max Directory Size

1 GB

20 GB

Message Tracking Log Max File Size

10 MB

10 MB

Message Tracking Log Subject Logging Enabled

True

True

Database / Log LUN Appendix

With mailbox resiliency, you do not have to perform daily full backups because the mailbox database copies and other features provide the first line of defense against physical corruption and data loss. Therefore, there are two approaches to how backups can be performed in an environment enabled for mailbox resiliency:

As a result of the backup methodology selected, the LUN layout has to be altered.

Exchange 2010 supports the following LUN layout architectures:

  • One LUN per database   A single LUN per database architecture means that both the database and its corresponding log files are placed on the same LUN. To deploy this architecture, you must have two or more copies of your databases, and you must not be using a hardware-based VSS solution.

  • Two LUNs per database   With Exchange 2010, in the maximum case of 100 databases, the number of LUNs you provision will depend upon your backup strategy. If your recovery time objective (RTO) is small, or if you use VSS clones for fast recovery, it may be best to place each database on its own transaction log LUN and database LUN. This approach will exceed the number of available drive letters; therefore, volume mount points must be used.

  • Two LUNs per backup set   A backup set is the number of databases fully backed up in a night. A solution that performs a full backup on 1/7th of the databases nightly (for example, using a weekly or bimonthly full backup with daily incremental or differential backups) can reduce complexity by placing all of the databases to be backed up on the same log and database LUN. This approach can reduce the number of LUNs on the server.

Two LUNs per Database / LUN Layout

Exchange 2010 uses VSS included in Windows Server 2008 to take volume shadow copies of Exchange 2010 databases and transaction log files. For basic information about VSS, including both clone and snapshot techniques, review the white paper, Best Practices for Using Volume Shadow Copy Service with Exchange Server 2003 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122556).

Exchange 2010 enables you to make software-based VSS snapshots of both the active and passive database copies. Taking a VSS snapshot of the passive copy offloads the disk I/O from the active LUN during both the checksum integrity (ESEUTIL), and subsequent copy to tape or disk.

Creating two LUNs (log and database) for a database was the standard best practice for Exchange 2003. With Exchange 2010, in the maximum case of 100 databases, the number of LUNs you provision will depend on your backup strategy. If your recovery time objective (RTO) is very small, or if you use VSS clones for fast recovery, it may be best to place each database on its own transaction log LUN and database LUN. Depending on the number of LUNs required, volume mount points may need to be used.

Some benefits of this strategy include the following:

  • Enables hardware-based VSS at a database level, providing single database backup and restore.

  • Flexibility to isolate the performance between databases when not sharing spindles between LUNs.

  • Increased reliability: A capacity or corruption problem on a single LUN will only affect one database.

  • This is also the recommended strategy for databases that do not participate in mailbox resiliency.

Some concerns with this strategy include the following:

  • 100 databases using mailbox resiliency could require 400 LUNs which would exceed some storage array maximums. 100 databases without mailbox resiliency could require 200 LUNs which would exceed some storage array maximums.

  • A separate LUN for each database causes more LUNs per server increasing the administrative costs and complexity.

Note

In the following table, the reference to MP stands for Mount Point. X and Y refer to unique databases.

LUN design approach: Two LUNs per database

Database

Database name

Database location

Database file name

Transaction log location

Anchor LUN

--

E:\

--

L:\

DBx

<DAGName> MBX DB x

MP:\MDB0x

Priv0x.edb

MP:\LOG0x

DBy

<DAGName> MBX DB y

MP:\MDB0y

Priv0y.edb

MP:\LOG0y

…

…

…

…

…

One LUN per Database / LUN Layout

Single LUN per database architecture means that both the database and its corresponding log files are placed on the same LUN. To deploy this architecture, you must have two or more copies, and you must not be using a hardware-based VSS solution.

Some of the benefits of this strategy include:

  • Simplifies storage administration with fewer LUNs to manage.

  • Reduces (potentially) the number of backup jobs.

  • Provides flexibility to isolate the performance between databases when not sharing spindles between LUNs.

A concern with this strategy is that it limits the ability to perform hardware-based VSS backup and restore procedures (for example, clone snapshots). For VSS details, review the white paper, Best Practices for Using Volume Shadow Copy Service with Exchange Server 2003 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122556).

Note

In the following table, the reference to MP stands for Mount Point. X and Y refer to unique databases.

LUN design approach: One LUN per database

DB

Database name

Database location

Database file name

Anchor LUN

--

E:\

--

DBx

<DAGName> MBX Store X

MP:\

\MDBx

\LOGx

PrivX.edb

DBy

<DAGName> MBX Store Y

MP:\

\MDBy

\LOGy

PrivY.edb

…

…

…

…

Database / LUN Layout

Exchange 2010 uses VSS included in Windows Server 2008 to take volume shadow copies of Exchange 2010 databases and transaction log files. For basic information about VSS, including both clone and snapshot techniques, review the white paper, Best Practices for Using Volume Shadow Copy Service with Exchange Server 2003 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122556).

Exchange 2010 enables you to make software-based VSS snapshots of both the active and passive database copies. Taking a VSS snapshot of the passive copy offloads the disk I/O from the active LUN during both the checksum integrity (ESEUTIL), and subsequent copy to tape or disk.

Creating two LUNs (log and database) for a database is the standard best practice for Exchange 2003. With Exchange 2010, in the maximum case of 100 databases, the number of LUNs you provision will depend on your backup strategy. If your recovery time objective (RTO) is very small, or if you use VSS clones for fast recovery, it may be best to place each database on its own transaction log LUN and database LUN. Depending on the number of LUNs required, volume mount points may need to be used.

Some benefits of this strategy include the following:

  • Enables hardware-based VSS at a database level, providing single database backup and restore.

  • Flexibility to isolate the performance between databases when not sharing spindles between LUNs.

  • Increased reliability: A capacity or corruption problem on a single LUN will only affect one database.

  • This is also the recommended strategy for databases that do not participate in mailbox resiliency.

Some concerns with this strategy include the following:

  • 100 databases using mailbox resiliency could require 400 LUNs which would exceed the maximum capacity of some storage arrays. 100 databases without mailbox resiliency could require 200 LUNs which could also exceed the maximum capacity of some storage arrays.

  • A separate LUN for each database causes more LUNs per server increasing the administrative costs and complexity.

    Note

    In the following table, the reference to MP stands for Mount Point.
    DB2 may contain either a mailbox database or a public folder database, depending on the configuration.

VSS approach LUN design for Contoso

Database Database name Database location Database file name Transaction log location

Anchor LUN

--

E:\

--

L:\

DB1

<ServerName> MBX DB 1

MP:\MBXDB1

Priv01.edb

MP:\LOG1

DB2

<ServerName> MBX DB 2

MP:\MBXDB2

Priv02.edb

MP:\LOG2

PF2

<ServerName> PUB DB 2

MP:\PFMDB2

Pub02.edb

MP:\PFLOG2

DB3

<ServerName> MBX DB 3

MP:\MBXDB3

Priv03.edb

MP:\LOG3

DB4

<ServerName> MBX DB 4

MP:\MBXDB4

Priv04.edb

MP:\LOG4

DB5

<ServerName> MBX DB 5

MP:\MBXDB5

Priv05.edb

MP:\LOG5

DB6

<ServerName> MBX DB 6

MP:\MBXDB6

Priv06.edb

MP:\LOG6

DB7

<ServerName> MBX DB 7

MP:\MBXDB7

Priv07.edb

MP:\LOG7

DB8

<ServerName> MBX DB 8

MP:\MBXDB8

Priv08.edb

MP:\LOG8

DB9

<ServerName> MBX DB 9

MP:\MBXDB9

Priv09.edb

MP:\LOG9

DB10

<ServerName> MBX DB 10

MP:\MBXDB10

Priv10.edb

MP:\LOG10

DB11

<ServerName> MBX DB 11

MP:\MBXDB11

Priv11.edb

MP:\LOG11

DB12

<ServerName> MBX DB 12

MP:\MBXDB12

Priv12.edb

MP:\LOG12

DB13

<ServerName> MBX DB 13

MP:\MBXDB13

Priv13.edb

MP:\LOG13

DB14

<ServerName> MBX DB 14

MP:\MBXDB14

Priv14.edb

MP:\LOG14

DB15

<ServerName> MBX DB 15

MP:\MBXDB15

Priv15.edb

MP:\LOG15

DB16

<ServerName> MBX DB 16

MP:\MBXDB16

Priv16.edb

MP:\LOG16

DB17

<ServerName> MBX DB 17

MP:\MBXDB17

Priv17.edb

MP:\LOG17

DB18

<ServerName> MBX DB 18

MP:\MBXDB18

Priv18.edb

MP:\LOG18

DB19

<ServerName> MBX DB 19

MP:\MBXDB19

Priv19.edb

MP:\LOG19

DB20

<ServerName> MBX DB 20

MP:\MBXDB20

Priv20.edb

MP:\LOG20

DB21

<ServerName> MBX DB 21

MP:\MBXDB21

Priv21.edb

MP:\LOG21

DB22

<ServerName> MBX DB 22

MP:\MBXDB22

Priv22.edb

MP:\LOG22

DB23

<ServerName> MBX DB 23

MP:\MBXDB23

Priv23.edb

MP:\LOG23

DB24

<ServerName> MBX DB 24

MP:\MBXDB24

Priv24.edb

MP:\LOG24

DB25

<ServerName> MBX DB 25

MP:\MBXDB25

Priv25.edb

MP:\LOG25

DB26

<ServerName> MBX DB 26

MP:\MBXDB26

Priv26.edb

MP:\LOG26

DB27

<ServerName> MBX DB 27

MP:\MBXDB27

Priv27.edb

MP:\LOG27

DB28

<ServerName> MBX DB 28

MP:\MBXDB28

Priv28.edb

MP:\LOG28

DB29

<ServerName> MBX DB 29

MP:\MBXDB29

Priv29.edb

MP:\LOG29

DB30

<ServerName> MBX DB 30

MP:\MBXDB30

Priv30.edb

MP:\LOG30

DB31

<ServerName> MBX DB 31

MP:\MBXDB31

Priv31.edb

MP:\LOG31

DB32

<ServerName> MBX DB 32

MP:\MBXDB32

Priv32.edb

MP:\LOG32

DB33

<ServerName> MBX DB 33

MP:\MBXDB33

Priv33.edb

MP:\LOG33

DB34

<ServerName> MBX DB 34

MP:\MBXDB34

Priv34.edb

MP:\LOG34

DB35

<ServerName> MBX DB 35

MP:\MBXDB35

Priv35.edb

MP:\LOG35

DB36

<ServerName> MBX DB 36

MP:\MBXDB36

Priv36.edb

MP:\LOG36

DB37

<ServerName> MBX DB 37

MP:\MBXDB37

Priv37.edb

MP:\LOG37

DB38

<ServerName> MBX DB 38

MP:\MBXDB38

Priv38.edb

MP:\LOG38

DB39

<ServerName> MBX DB 39

MP:\MBXDB39

Priv39.edb

MP:\LOG39

DB40

<ServerName> MBX DB 40

MP:\MBXDB40

Priv40.edb

MP:\LOG40

DB41

<ServerName> MBX DB 41

MP:\MBXDB41

Priv41.edb

MP:\LOG41

DB42

<ServerName> MBX DB 42

MP:\MBXDB42

Priv42.edb

MP:\LOG42

DB43

<ServerName> MBX DB 43

MP:\MBXDB43

Priv43.edb

MP:\LOG43

DB44

<ServerName> MBX DB 44

MP:\MBXDB44

Priv44.edb

MP:\LOG44

DB45

<ServerName> MBX DB 45

MP:\MBXDB45

Priv45.edb

MP:\LOG45

DB46

<ServerName> MBX DB 46

MP:\MBXDB46

Priv46.edb

MP:\LOG46

DB47

<ServerName> MBX DB 47

MP:\MBXDB47

Priv47.edb

MP:\LOG47

DB48

<ServerName> MBX DB 48

MP:\MBXDB48

Priv48.edb

MP:\LOG48

DB49

<ServerName> MBX DB 49

MP:\MBXDB49

Priv49.edb

MP:\LOG49

DB50

<ServerName> MBX DB 50

MP:\MBXDB50

Priv50.edb

MP:\LOG50

Database Configuration Appendix

The following table is an example configuration that can be applied to each database that is created or customized for each database on the server, depending on requirements.

Important

The values in the following table are example values, not recommended values. Revise these values to reflect the actual values for your organization.

Database configuration for Contoso

Parameter

Default value

Contoso value

Database Name

<ServerName> MBX DB xx

<ServerName> MBX DB xx

Offline Address Book

[None]

Default Offline Address List

Public Folder Database

<ServerName> PUB DB xx

<ServerName> PUB DB xx

Warning Quota

1991680 KB

1700000 KB

Send Quota

2097152 KB

1900000 KB

Send Receive Quota

2411520 KB

2090000 KB

Maintenance Schedule

Sun.1:00 AM-Sun.5:00 AM, Mon.1:00 AM-Mon.5:00 AM, Tue.1:00 AM-Tue.5:00 AM, Wed.1:00 AM-Wed.5:00 AM, Thu.1:00 AM-Thu.5:00 AM, Fri.1:00 AM-Fri.5:00 AM, Sat.1:00 AM-Sat.5:00 AM

“Sun.12:00 AM-Sun.4:00 AM”, “Mon.12:00 AM-Mon.4:00 AM”, “Tue.12:00 AM-Tue.4:00 AM”, “Wed.12:00 AM-Wed.4:00 AM”, “Thu.12:00 AM-Thu.4:00 AM”, “Fri.12:00 AM-Fri.4:00 AM”, “Sat.12:00 AM-Sat.4:00 AM”

Quota Notification Schedule

Sun.1:00 AM-Sun.1:15 AM, Mon.1:00 AM-Mon.1:15 AM, Tue.1:00 AM-Tue.1:15 AM, Wed.1:00 AM-Wed.1:15 AM, Thu.1:00 AM-Thu.1:15 AM, Fri.1:00 AM-Fri.1:15 AM, Sat.1:00 AM-Sat.1:15 AM

“Sun.12:00 AM-Sun.12:15 AM”, “Mon.12:00 AM-Mon.12:15 AM”, “Tue.12:00 AM-Tue.12:15 AM”, “Wed.12:00 AM-Wed.12: 15 AM”, “Thu.12:00 AM-Thu.12:15 AM”, “Fri.12:00 AM-Fri.12:15 AM”, “Sat.12:00 AM-Sat.12:15 AM”

Mailbox Retention

30.00:00:00

30.00:00:00

Deleted Item Retention

14.00:00:00

14.00:00:00

Keep Deleted Items Until Backup

False

True

 © 2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.