Before You Begin
To complete the lessons in this chapter, you must have done the following:
- Have access to a computer running the 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2003 SP1 or R2 and access to the Exchange Server 2007 installation media.
No additional configuration is required for this chapter.
Real World
Orin Thomas
Installing any version of Exchange can be intimidating, though Exchange Server 2007 vastly simplifies the process. Exchange has always required an exhaustive amount of preparation prior to installation, and even when you have performed the task several times, a little voice at the back of your mind always asks you, “Have I forgotten something important?” The first Exchange environment I worked on had been installed by someone who had a “throw it in, run install, and figure it out later” approach to deployment. The deployment functioned only with the assistance of an elaborate series of workarounds. Those workarounds could have been avoided if the person who made the original deployment had spent some time with the documentation prior to attempting installation. Because of my experience having to manage a not-quite-right deployment, I was rather nervous when I first fully deployed Exchange in a production environment. I did not want future IT pros taking my name in vain the way I’d muttered in the server room about the guy who’d put together that original Exchange 5.5 box.
The best way to deal with these sorts of concerns is to perform multiple practice deployments. I do not mean running a pilot program at your organization, though you should do that as well. I mean using virtual machine software to repeatedly build up and tear down Exchange Server 2007 deployments until the process itself becomes second nature. Exchange Server 2007 is, if not the heart of an organization, the circulatory system that keeps everything moving. Virtual deployments give you a chance to learn from your mistakes and work out the kinks in any deployment plan long before any real e-mail gets put through the system.
Virtual machines also can be used as an excellent study tool. If it has enough RAM and hard disk space, a computer that meets the system requirements spelled out for this book is capable of running Exchange Server in a virtual machine rather than natively on the hardware. When you use this technique, you will be configuring a 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2003 to run within a virtual environment hosted on a 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2003. Just remember, though, that you can not run a 64-bit virtual machine on a 32-bit host operating system!
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