• Chart: Exchange 2007 SP1 Replication Options

Despite its "service pack" designation, Exchange Server 2007 SP1 is an important update that supports the planned Windows Server 2008 OS, delivers a useful new high availability feature, and restores capabilities that were missing from the initial Exchange 2007 release. Consequently, many organizations will see SP1 as the starting signal for Exchange 2007 deployments. Organizations already on Exchange 2007 will have to test SP1 as they would a new minor release of the product. SP1 was released in beta form to MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers in Aug. 2007, with production release planned by the end of 2007.

Compatibility for Windows Server 2008, Communications Server

Other than bug fixes, the most important updates in SP1 support compatibility between Exchange 2007 and other Microsoft products. In particular:

• SP1 is required to run Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008, an OS update that will deliver a variety of file system, networking, clustering, and management improvements
• SP1 is required to use Exchange 2007's unified messaging feature with Communications Server, Microsoft's just-released instant messaging, voice and video calling, and conferencing product
• SP1 updates the Exchange management console and other client tools so that they will run on Windows Vista, which shipped around the same time as Exchange 2007.

SP1 also delivers support for running Exchange 2007 on Internet Protocol version 6 networks, something rare today, but which could become increasingly common for government agencies and network service providers.

New and Revived Features

SP1 delivers one especially notable new feature: a mechanism called Standby Continuous Replication, which is designed to reduce downtime after a server or data center outage. The feature enables Exchange to replicate mailbox and public folder data from a production server to one or more remote standby servers, which can be manually brought online if the production server fails. Standby Continuous Replication resembles the Cluster Continuous Replication features delivered in the initial Exchange 2007 release, but it does not require use of the Windows Cluster Service, which eases setup and hardware requirements. Consequently, the new feature could prove useful to organizations that can't justify the cost and complexity of clustering but want to maintain one or more standby servers to take over for failed ones. (See the chart "Exchange 2007 SP1 Replication Options".)

SP1 also delivers features that were supported in earlier versions of Exchange but didn't make the cut for Exchange 2007's initial release. These restored features are concentrated in two main areas:

Outlook Web Access. In SP1, the Outlook Web Access browser-based client supports a variety of capabilities missing from Exchange 2007 at launch, including editing of server-side mailbox rules, public folder access, recovery of items previously removed from the Deleted Items folder, and support for encrypted, authenticated mail using S/MIME (important for many government and military customers). SP1's browser client also delivers one notable new feature: HTML previews of attached Office 2007 documents.

Management console. The SP1 management console provides a graphical user interface for some administrative tasks that required PowerShell scripting in Exchange 2007, including public folder configuration, Post Office Protocol (POP) configuration, and configuration of delegates (users who can send mail on behalf of others).

Other notable new features include the following:

• The Exchange remote device wipe feature, which enables organizations to erase data from lost or stolen mobile devices, now sends a confirmation e-mail to a user when the remote wipe has been completed
• The Web services APIs for mailbox access (introduced in Exchange 2007) have been extended to support public folder access, delegation configuration, and folder and mailbox permissions changes
• The SP1 Move Mailbox and cross-mailbox search functions can export PST files, useful for migration, backup, and capturing data to comply with legal requests.

A New Baseline

Existing Exchange 2007 installations can be upgraded to SP1, but SP1 has also been "slipstreamed" into the Exchange 2007 media: an organization can perform a clean install of Exchange 2007 with SP1 already applied. Hence, SP1 should be viewed as the new baseline of Exchange 2007, and organizations that have not already migrated to Exchange 2007 should plan to migrate to Exchange 2007 SP1.

SP1 has new features and significant updates, so organizations already on Exchange 2007 should test it as they would a minor product release before upgrading. Microsoft and third-party Exchange extensions will require particular scrutiny: for example, Microsoft's Forefront Security for Exchange requires a service pack (also called SP1) to work with Exchange 2007 SP1 systems. However, system requirements have not changed—like Exchange 2007, Exchange 2007 SP1 runs only on x64 64-bit processors, although 32-bit editions are available for testing.

Resources

A virtual machine preview of Exchange 2007 SP1 is available at www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=bc381af4-9bd0-49dd-be1a-0c6ee49cd2bc.

Windows Server 2008 is previewed in "Next Windows Server Takes Shape" on page 3 of the May 2007 Update.

Exchange 2007 high-availability features and their usage are outlined at www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/07/Exchange/default.aspx.

Standby Continuous Replication is explained in more detail at msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/06/28/445538.aspx.

SP1 developer changes are summarized at msdn2.microsoft.com/en-US/library/bb608442.aspx.