Microsoft Exchange Server 2003
Providing thorough coverage of implementation, migration and management issues for Exchange 2000 and 2003, this book also describes the best practices of one of the largest Exchange consulting groups outside Microsoft.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Microsoft Exchange Server 2003
Chapter 1: A Brief History of Exchange
Overview
All applications have their own unique history, which has influenced their design and functionality, and Exchange is no different. The events that have shaped Exchange include Microsoft's corporate directions and strategy, hardware performance and capability, the needs of customers, the actions of competitors, and the evolution of the Internet. All of these inputs have helped to bring Exchange to the shape it is today. You can expect that similar events will drive future development.
Predicting the future is always difficult, especially when computer software or hardware is involved. Given what we know of Microsoft's strategic direction for Exchange, you can divide the history of Exchange past and future into three generations of product. Microsoft has delivered two product generations, and the third will not arrive in fully functional form until 2006 at the earliest.
1.1 Exchange first generation
Microsoft delivered the first generation of Exchange in March 1996 as Exchange 4.0, and it is still running on many servers as Exchange 5.5, suitably equipped with the latest service pack. You can characterize the first generation of servers through the use of proprietary technology and protocols. The Exchange 4.0 to 5.5 products were part of Microsoft's push into the enterprise application market. While SQL/Server showed signs of being a player in the database market, it still had not made the grade in 1996, and Exchange 4.0 was Microsoft's first enterprise application that truly achieved widespread deployment.
By one measure, Exchange 4.0 was extraordinarily late in shipping, as it debuted some 39 months...
Copyright Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. 2004 under license agreement with Books24x7
