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An Exchange server is Microsoft’s proprietary e-mail server software. (See Wiki)
The purpose of an Exchange server is to centralize control of all e-mails in the business. Small businesses usually outsource their e-mail services
to their webhost, like
Register.com,
Godaddy.com,
Network Solutions etc.
This means that your webhost has an e-mail server, possibly an
Exchange server, but probably a Linux, Apache or Unix based
e-mail server. Most small businesses use Outlook or Outlook
Express to access the e-mails on their webhost’s e-mail server by configuring POP3 and SMTP information in Outlook.
Here are some links that show how to configure Outlook for POP3 and Microsoft Exchange. The settings will vary depending
on your webhost requirements for POP3 accounts or your server requirements for Microsoft Exchange servers. If you are
unsure what these settings should be contact your webhost or Systems Administrator.
Configure Outlook for POP3 web-hosted accounts
Configure Outlook to connect
to your company's Exchange server
Advantages of an Exchange server vs. Outsourcing your e-mails to a webhost.
1. An Exchange server will allow you to add as many e-mails as your company needs.
2. With an Exchange server, you can give others access to your Outlook. For example others can view your calendar, contacts or inbox if you grant them access.
3. With an Exchange server you can create company-wide calendars and contacts that everyone can easily view in their Outlook.
4. Your Outlook can be accessed securely through a website with Outlook Web Access.
5. Exchange provides for centralized storage of all e-mails in your company. All e-mails can be backed up. You can even
recover deleted e-mails. Many companies are required to save all e-mails for up to five years.
6. Exchange allows for the full functionality of Outlook.
For example, you can easily configure Out-of-Office replies.
You can also forward or view e-mails of employees who are no longer with your company.
7. Exchange allows for creation of distribution lists that everyone can use in order to send one e-mail off to many people.
Exchange 2003 vs. Exchange 2007
Microsoft recently released the newest version of Exchange,
Microsoft Exchange 2007. If you currently have Exchange 2003,
you may consider upgrading to Exchange 2007.
Some of the key features in Exchange 2007 are:
1. Exchange 2007 allows for voicemail integration so you
can receive your voicemail messages and listen to them
through Outlook.
2. Exchange 2007 comes with a better Outlook Web Access interface. The 2003 version of OWA
showed a considerably toned down Outlook, whereas the 2007
version looks very similar to Outlook on your computer.
3. 2007 comes with improved security.
At WitzEnd Computing, we’re recommending to wait until Windows
server 2008 comes out before upgrading to Exchange 2007.
However, some of our clients do not currently have an
Exchange server and are ready to make the move now. In those
cases, we are definitely recommending purchasing a 64-bit
Windows server and installing Exchange 2007 on it. In our
testing of Exchange 2007, we found it to be a reliable
product with some key advantages over Exchange 2003.
However, it must be installed on a 64-bit server and we
recommend at least 4GB of memory. In most cases, this
requires the purchase of a new server along with Exchange
2007 instead of upgrading your current server.
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- Steve Fink MCSE, MCSA, A+, Network+, Witzend Computing -
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