Overview

Installing Microsoft Exchange Server can be a daunting task. There are some pre-installation decisions and preparations to be made. You will need to check to see if your version of Windows Server 2003 (32bit or 64bit), 2008, or 2008R2 is compatible with the version of Exchange Server (2007 or 2010) that you are planning to install. There are also a lot of options on how you can run your Exchange install, either using the GUI Setup Wizard, a command line install, or a scripted install.

By default Exchange Server 2007 and 2010 are 64 bit. Although you can install 2007 in 32bit for a non-production test environment. Here are my recommendations of what could work for you in the lab or at home:

• Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010 (64 bit) - The newest architecture is recommended
• Server 2008 and Exchange Server2007 (64 bit)
• Server 2003 (64 bit) and Exchange Server 2007 (64bit)
• Server 2003 (32 bit) and Exchange Server 2007 (32bit) - If you can only run 32 bit

Hardware Requirements

Exchange Server 2007/2010

• How many servers will Exchange Server roles be installed on 1, 2, 3 or 4 separate servers?
• 64 bit architecture (Yes please)
  
• 2 Gig RAM (min)
• Enough hard disc storage space to support your users. In order to achieve this you could use:
     - a local hard drive or drives
     - a SAN (storage area network) storage system
     - a IP SCSI NAS (network-attached storage)
  

Pre-Installation Checklist

For an install of Exchange Server 2007/2010 to work you will need the following things installed or added to your Windows Server platform. (3, 4, and 5 below are installed by default when installing Server 2008 or using the Exchange setup wizard):

1. Active Directory -  (add role)
   
2. DNS - (add role)
3. The server will need to be a Domain Controller (dcpromo) and Global Catalog Server
4. .NET framework
   
5. Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
6. Windows Power Shell
7. Microsoft IIS - (add role)
8. WWW Publishing Services - (add role):
         You may need to specify many of the IIS services (like IIS 6.0 and XML 6.0) and make sure the WWW server is running
9. Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service will need to be set to automatic (Go to Start > Run > services.msc > and look for Net.Tcp Port Sharing)

The Exchange Server 2007/2010 setup wizard makes the process a lot easier. The wizard will run through a checklist of items to make sure your system meets the necessary requirements. If your computer does not meet the requirements you will be prompted to search and install the necessary tools that the installation requires. 

Exchange Server Mail Roles

When installing Exchange Server you need to decide which specific mail roles or servers you will need. There are five different servers within Exchange Server that you can install:

• Mailbox Server
• Client Access Server
• Hub Transport Server
  
• Unified Messaging Server
• Edge Transport Server
  

In this class you will need to install the Mailbox, Client Access and Hub Transport servers. The Unified Messaging Server and Edge Transport Servers are typically installed on separate servers and are not needed for a small test purposes installation.

Video Tutorials 

Install Active Directory, DNS and IIS and promote the server to a DC and GCS