Exchange Session Abstracts
Following is a sampling of the sessions that will be offered at The Experts Conference for Exchange 2010. We will be adding additional sessions and abstracts as speakers are selected. And you can look forward to seeing the agenda posted at the start of the New Year!
Keynote Session:
Exchange 2010 Enterprise Deployment and Architecture at Microsoft
Speaker: Konstantin Ryvkin
In the last several years the evolution of enterprise e-mail software and systems has taken a giant leap forward – not only in user facing features, but also in the core elements of messaging infrastructure, deployment, scalability and operations. This is especially true for Exchange 2010, which opens new capabilities in nearly every area — from cost effective e-mail storage designs and disaster recovery options through scalable client connectivity and integration with cloud based services. All these new capabilities can be best observed on the example of one of the world’s largest Exchange 2010 enterprise deployments – Microsoft’s own. This keynote will provide an overview and a series of deep dives into the most interesting aspects of Exchange 2010 enterprise deployment and architecture at Microsoft. Come and join this session for a discussion around challenges, implemented solutions, best practices and lessons learned during the design and transition of the nearly 200,000 seat Microsoft’s messaging environment to Exchange 2010. Topics include: Exchange storage selection and design, disaster recovery solutions, scaling client access services, integrating with outlook.com hosted e-mail services and many more.
Pre-Conference Workshop:
Migrating Exchange 2007 to Exchange Online via Microsoft Online Services (BPOS) – 4 Hour Workshop
Speaker: Justin Hiedeman
Microsoft Exchange is available both as on-premise software and as a hosted service, and you can now choose the right deployment option for your organization, whether you deploy Exchange Server on-premises or host your mailboxes with Exchange Online. Exchange Online services help enterprise IT departments effectively reduce management and capital cost while still maintianing the ease of adminstration and providing users with a robust enterprise mail platform.
In this hands-on lab, you will configure directory synchronization services for a mock enterprise to sync user information to the Microsoft Cloud (BPOS/Exchange Online). Administrators will experience the intricacies of migrating on premise users the the cloud (BPOS). Lastly, administrators will learn the basics of managing users in the online-cloud environment and what the end user experience will be.
Exchange 2010 High Availability: Hands-on Workshop
Speaker: Michael B. Smith
In this workshop we will cover what high-availability (HA) and site resilience mean from an IT Professional’s perspective and compare/contrast that to the perspective of a CxO. The various levels of HA available to Exchange Server 2010 will be examined in detail, including HA for Edge Servers, Client Access Servers (CAS), Hub Transport (HT)Servers, and Mailbox servers. This workshop will also delve into the infrastructure requirements to provide a truly HA and resilient solution, including a discussion on load balancers, routing protocols, switches, and teamed NICs. We will also look at how HA and Disaster Recovery (DR) differ and how to build DR into an Exchange Server 2010 solution. Participants will gain hands-on experience building — in a virtual environment, a 4-server Exchange infrastructure that provides a good level of HA for the CAS/HT and mailbox roles of Exchange 2010. All equipment will be provided.
General Sessions:
Building Exchange 2010, Managing and Integrating with Exchange Online via Microsoft Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS)
Speaker: Justin Hiedeman
Microsoft Exchange 2010 is available both as on-premise software and as a hosted service, and you can now choose the right deployment option for your organization, whether you deploy Exchange Server on-premises, host your mailboxes with Exchange Online, or combine these two options in a hybrid deployment.
In this hands-on lab, you will configure an on premise Exchange Server 2010 environment for a mock enterprise. An existing Exchange Server 2007 environment will also be part of the lab from which we will migrate users to on premise Exchange 2010 servers as well as to Exchange Online. Administrators will experience the integration and complexities of managing on premise users and cloud users from the same tools. Lastly, administrators will learn the basics of managing users in a mixed on-premise/online-cloud environment.
Communications Server 14: What’s New
Speaker: Martin Isaksen
This session will provide an overview of OCS 2007 R2 architecture along with a sneak preview of the high-level architectural changes and new features in Communications Server “14”. Topics will include reviewing the current OCS 2007 R2 architecture, the new W14 Architecture, contact cards, location services, E-911, CAC, and new W14 IP phone models. Understand how W14 OCS is a capable low-cost PBX replacement.
Exchange 2010 Archiving & E-discovery, and the Last Mile of Compliance
Speaker: Keri Farrell
Exchange Server 2010 includes many enhancements to retention and search for organizations requiring more advanced compliance and e-mail discovery functionality than prior versions of Exchange included. This session will break down this new functionality and identify specific use cases for Archiving, e-Discovery and compliance for organizations of all sizes in different industries.
Exchange 2010 – Planning for an Exchange 2010 Deployment
Speaker: Nicolas Blank
This session aims to cover some of the essential questions when planning and deploying Exchange Server 2010 – where do I start, what tools are available, how do I size Exchange for my current and future workload, how do I understand my current workload, what if I’m migrating from something else, how do I choose an SMTP border solution, how do I know which features of Exchange are right for me, where do I begin with High Availability and Disaster Recovery, and MORE. This session is aimed at all levels, including the non-exchange savvy person all the way up to the seasoned administrator/architect with questions on Exchange 2010. We will ramp up from an introductory level 200 and finish at a level 400
Exchange Administration Experience: Moving Beyond Exchange 2010
Speaker: Karl Bystrom
Are you passionate about influencing the next wave of Exchange Server? Want to tell us what we oughta do with PowerShell? Clamoring for more (or less) web UI? As Exchange evolves, in addition to continuing to improve the features we also continue to refine the management experience. This highly-interactive session will provide you the opportunity to give feedback and input to the Exchange User Experience team regarding your use of Exchange in your organizations, and the things you think we should focus on in future versions. You’ll have an opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions regarding tasks, features, priorities, and design directions—what works well, what works not-so-well, and what you think should be changed. We’ll focus on work practices, usage patterns, and user needs; this will not be a technical deep-dive. A consent form will be required to participate in this session.
Exchange & Rights Management Services
Speaker: Ilse Van Criekinge
In this session you will see how you can secure your mail environment, by using the power of Rights Management Server (RMS). You will get an overview of RMS, and you will see what efforts have been done to integrate it in Exchange 2010 to allow you to offer a secure messaging environment.
Exchange On-premises or In the Cloud?
Speaker: Ilse Van Criekinge
In this session you will be provided with an overview of what differences you need to keep in mind when deciding to go on-premise or in-the-cloud with your messaging environment.
Exchange Server 2010 – An Experts Guide to Authentication, ACLs and Attributes
Speaker:Nicolas Blank
Exchange 2010 introduces new features as well as new roles. New ways of managing permissions are introduced via Roles Based Access Control (RBAC). Authentication changes have also been introduced, as well as a new version of Internet Information Server (IIS). Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2010 both require consistent permission and attribute sets to function correctly. Symptoms of missing or broken permissions may include broken, inconsistent or empty Microsoft Management Console (MMCs)’s, conflicting error messages in the Exchange GUI, mail flow issues, and client issues amongst others.
In this session Nicolas Blank will cover how to find and correct issues with permissions, authentication and attributes.
Exchange Server 2010 – Architecture
Speaker: Ross Smith IV
This session describes the overall architecture of Exchange Server 2010 and key considerations for the scalability and performance of each server role. This session provides the background and framework for the other Exchange 2010 sessions, serving as a bridge between the overview session and drill-downs in each product area.
Exchange Server 2010 – Backup & Recovery Using VSS
Speaker: Juergen Hasslauer
Microsoft deemphasized the streaming backup API with Exchange Server 2007. With Exchange Server 2010 you have to use Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) because the streaming API is deprecated. In this session we will explain the architecture of VSS and provide an overview how the VSS components interact during a backup / restore of an Exchange database. You will learn what you have to consider during your storage design. Should I use a hardware provider or a software provider solution? What tools are available to troubleshoot VSS? These are the questions we will discuss in the session. This will help you to better plan your backup infrastructure and understand what happens in the background during a backup / restore of an Exchange database.
Exchange Server 2010: Design Validation Using Jetstress & LoadGen
Speaker: Juergen Hasslauer
You finished the design concept of your new Exchange Server environment. Are you confident that it will fulfill the requirements of your users? Are you sure that the latency of the storage subsystem is within the supportability boundaries defined by Microsoft? How can you verify if your Client Access Server is able to handle the predicted number of concurrent connections from your mobile workforce using Outlook Web Access and Outlook Anywhere? We will discuss how you can use Jetstress to test your storage subsystem. You will learn how to use LoadGen to simulate users accessing the Exchange environment with different protocols. This will enable you to validate your design and be confident that you identify issues before you move the Exchange environment to production.
Exchange Server 2010: Mailbox Replication Service: The Robot Who Makes Mailbox Migrations Less Painful
Speaker: Dmitri Gavrillov
This talk will concentrate on the Mailbox Replication Service (MRS), a new agent in E2010, responsible for performing mailbox moves asynchronously and reliably. It will examine such topics as online mailbox moves, automatic error recovery, distributed throttling, and controlling MRS with *-MoveRequest cmdlets. We will also discuss cross-org migrations, both Remote through MRSProxy webservice and RemoteLegacy through LDAP and MAPI. We will talk about cross-org move prerequisites and how to avoid deploying GalSync.
Exchange Web Services (EWS) in PowerShell
Speaker: Michael B. Smith
Exchange Web Services (EWS) is the only approved solution for accessing Exchange data using managed languages (e.g., C#). The original release was difficult to work with, because each developer or script writer was required to write their own XML class factory. With Exchange 2010 and Exchange 2007 sp2, Microsoft released the EWS managed API which makes EWS easily accessible and usable within PowerShell (and, of course, any other solution based on the .NET CLR). In this session, you’ll learn how to use the EWS Managed API and perform several common tasks; including sending e-mail, iterating through a mailbox, and a few other things that the Exchange administrator often needs to do. Come join for this fun and fast-paced session. PowerShell knowledge is assumed!
Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) “Database Cache” (real name Buffer Manager)
Speaker: Brett Shirley
This session, led by the Microsoft developer for this component, will dive into a deep technical analysis of the ESE Buffer Manager (aka “The Database Cache”). We will cover all the basics of cache management in general terms: latch acquisition, faulting, eviction, sizing, and destaging (terms that will all make sense by the end of the talk!) This is a complex subject so the content will be made more approachable via analogies — i.e., the Socratic method, contrasting to the OS Memory Manager (which is essentially the same thing), and low impact aerobics. This is not a talk for the shy. This IS a talk for those who want to know the most in-depth details about ESE ever made externally available outside of Microsoft. While this will not require programming skills, having done some programming in something more sophisticated than batch is recommended.
Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) Database Corruptions (and what to do about them)
Speaker: Brett Shirley
Hardware sucks, you’re hosed! Or are you? Just kidding, you probably are. In contrast to the useless talk on the ESE Buffer Manager, this talk will have a set of material / proscriptive steps and options for what to do in seemingly hopeless situations. While this will be a talk in generic ESE terms, we will of course have a lot of specific scenarios for the critical databases in the Windows systems infrastructure: such as Certificate Authority (CA), WINS, DHCP, Active Directory, Exchange, and all the Windows Home/Pro databases (CatDB/CryptSvc, Windows Update, and Desktop Search).
High Availability in Exchange Server 2010
Speaker: Scott Schnoll
Welcome to the future! The future of Exchange high availability, that is. In this session, we reveal the changes and improvements to the built-in high availability platform in Exchange Server 2010. Exchange 2010 includes a unified framework for high availability and disaster recovery that is quick to deploy and easy to manage. Learn about all of the new features in Exchange 2010 that make it the most resilient, highly available version of Exchange ever
Migration from Exchange 2003/7 to Exchange 2010: Notes from the Field
Speaker:Andrew Ehrensing
Learn what you can and cannot do when migrating from earlier versions of Exchange to Exchange Server 2010. This session has notes and lessons learned from the TAP/RDP programs, MSIT’s move to Exchange 2010, and customer experience production deployments. Understand the throttling factors and how you can increase the pace of migrations to 2010.
OCS 2007 R2 Deployments – Notes from the Field
Speaker: Anthony Vitnell
Dimension Data began deploying Office Communications Server 2007 in live internal and customer environments long before the final RTM versions where available. This presentation covers Dimension Data lessons learned and deployment notes from the field that have been developed from deployments to over 800,000 seats of OCS 2007/R2 including disaster recovery and availability scenario’s, telephony integration requirements, network planning and sizing just to name a few. This must see session will provide you with the information that Dimension Data brings to each implementation of OCS 2007 R2.
OCS & Exchange 2010 UM integration
Speaker: Martin Isaksen
This session will provide an overview of OCS and Unified Messaging integration Topics will include architecture and integration, subscriber access, auto-attendant, certificates, configuration, and troubleshooting. New features in Exchange 2010 UM will also be discussed.
Office Communications Server 2007 R2 – Integration with the Cisco Telephony platform – Notes from the Field
Speaker: Anthony Vitnell
To achieve Unified Communications with Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Cisco Unified Communications Manager produces countless integration scenarios that each provide different capabilities and benefits. Achieving telephony integration with Cisco Unified CallManager is a complex task, dependent on the versions implemented and additional Cisco/ 3rd party software is often required. We will walk you through what level of integration can be achieved for each version of Cisco Unified CallManager, discuss the configuration requirements, and creative strategies to remove some of the limitations with older versions. This session will provide you with the information to determine the appropriate solution for your organization, and successfully integrate Office Communications Server 2007 R2 with your Cisco Telephony environment.
Panel Discussion: Ask the Exchange Experts
Facilitator:David Sengupta
At TEC 2010 you’ll find more Exchange experts in one place at one time than anywhere else. We’ll get some of the best and brightest on stage and will give you plenty of time to ask your toughest questions. Whether you’re new to Exchange, or have been working with Exchange since its inception – and whether you’re working with on-premises installation or considering a move to the cloud – we’ve got you covered. We’ll take any of your questions – be they on storage, transport, compliance, e-discovery and archiving, migration & deployment, mobility, certificates & security, Outlook, Exchange Online or anything else.
Site Resilience in Exchange Server 2010
Speaker: Scott Schnoll
Are you or your customers interested in multi-datacenter site resilience but aren’t clear about how Exchange 2010 provides it? Are you interested in understanding everything that has to be done and that happens when you activate a standby site and failback? This is your opportunity to get the deep dive on site resilience deployments and activation.
Sound off: Influence the Next Version of Exchange!
Speaker: David Sengupta
This year at TEC we will be collecting your feedback on what makes Exchange great, and what you’d like to see changed, and we will be passing this on to the Technical Product Management folks on the Exchange Product Group at Microsoft. We know that y’all can go directly to Microsoft with your feedback any time, but we thought it’d be fun to get together and do this as a group while we’re at TEC. We’re looking for your active participation and hard feedback on what you like and don’t like — what parts of Exchange you think rock, and what parts don’t … and why. We’ll cover both the on-premises (traditional) Exchange Server product and the Exchange Online (BPOS) based offering, and we’ll consider all aspects of Exchange ranging through transport, high availability, archiving & e-discovery, mailbox & store, migrations, setup, management and more. And we’d like to hear your feedback about Exchange versus competing messaging platforms — Gmail, Lotus Live, Cisco, and more. Come join us for what will undoubtedly be a spirited discussion!
Storage in Exchange Server 2010
Speaker: Ross Smith IV
Exchange Server 2010 carries on the tradition begun in Exchange Server 2007 of dramatically reducing mailbox storage costs. Come and learn how we’ve enabled new levels of storage flexibility in Exchange Server 2010, and find out the technical details that will help you select the right storage for your Exchange Server 2010 environment. This session focuses on how the storage architecture in Exchange Server 2010 has evolved and goes beyond the investments previously made to positively impact our customers.
What’s New in the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) in Exchange 2010
Speaker: Brett Shirley
In this session we will peel back the hood of the Microsoft Exchange Information Store (IS) and of the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) to take a look at what’s new in Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange 2010. We will focus on two areas — changes that increase the robustness and reliability in the engine and changes that affect the protection of the data underneath. We will explore changes that increase the performance, scalability and make the reduction in I/Os per Second (IOPS) possible.
