Exchange Server 2013 Previewed

Exchange Server 2013 was announced in July 2012 as part of a wave of product updates (formerly code-named Office 15) that also includes the Office 2013 applications, SharePoint Server 2013, and Lync Server 2013. A public preview of Exchange 2013 is now available, showcasing the messaging server’s simplified architecture, consolidated administration console, enhanced messaging policy tools, built-in antimalware, and support for new client capabilities in Outlook Web App (OWA) and Outlook 2013. Exchange customers planning an upgrade should consider that Exchange 2013 cannot coexist with Exchange 2003 or earlier or work with clients using Outlook 2003 or earlier.

Architecture Simplified, Administration Consolidated

Exchange 2013 delivers architectural changes that could simplify infrastructure and configuration and a new Web-based management console that consolidates administration into one tool while allowing role-based access control.

Fewer Server Roles

The Exchange 2013 architecture relies on fewer server roles than earlier versions. Server roles group related services that can be installed on each physical computer or virtual machine included in an Exchange deployment. Exchange 2010 offers five roles: Mailbox, Client Access Server, Hub Transport, Edge Transport, and Unified Messaging. A large Exchange deployment may have each role installed on a separate server and have multiple instances of roles deployed for scalability, while a small deployment can consolidate roles on the same server.