Overview

Electronic messaging has long since ceased being a novelty and is considered mission critical for most enterprises. Competitive pressure requires a nonstop flow of communication using electronic mail. When the e-mail environment goes down, work slows (or stops), information is delayed, and money is lost.

The choices made during deployment of Exchange 2000 affect the monitoring, management, and administrative options that can be made afterwards. Administrative procedures should be planned during the design and planning stages of the project. Successful Exchange management begins before the first Exchange 2000 server is installed and continues throughout the life of the messaging system. Proactive and consistent management is the key to maintaining a successful messaging environment.

Messaging system architects and designers spend considerable time carefully selecting and configuring the hardware and software. Exchange 2000 implementations require equally careful planning for system management, administration, and monitoring to reduce messaging downtime and improve troubleshooting. Yet, monitoring, management, and administration are often an afterthought, although it is estimated that the cost of the hardware and software is far less than the lifetime cost of managing the messaging environment. Keeping Exchange servers operational requires discipline and some well-thought-out management practices.

Before you can develop your Exchange system management, administration, and monitoring plans, you must have a good understanding of Exchange 2000. A key element of this is understanding the relationship and dependencies between Exchange 2000 and the underlying operating system, Windows 2000. Just as the design decisions made during Exchange 2000 deployment affect your management...