Purchasing Considerations for Exchange 2010

The move to Microsoft’s newest iteration of Exchange Server shouldn’t be taken lightly. This special issue of Exchange Insider highlights numerous upgrade benefits, hardware requirements and potential savings via low-cost storage.

Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Requirements for Exchange

2010

Low-Cost Storage for

Exchange Server 2010

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2 Exchange Insider E-zine • Purchasing Considerations for Exchange 2010

Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Requirements for Exchange

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Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010Many organizations have held off on deploying Exchange Server 2010. Good news if you fall into that category, but there has never been a better time to make the move. By Matt Gervais, site editor, searchexchanGe.coM

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Is your company still waiting to move to Exchange Server 2010? Wait no longer. There are now more reasons than ever to push for an upgrade.

Exchange Server administrators are hesitant to move off Exchange Server 2003 or Exchange 2007. Some are not interested in preparing Active Directory, and others have already invested heavily in Exchange 2007 high-availability solutions. No matter your reasons for delaying, you may want to re-evaluate them, because enterprises can benefit in numerous ways by moving to the current version of Microsoft’s messaging platform.

Specific technical improvements include a vastly evolved Outlook Web App (which delivers Web-based email) and a new high-

availability model known as database availability groups. Microsoft also added the Exchange Control Panel (ECP) and Role Based Access Control (RBAC) administration tools.

No matter your reasons for delaying Exchange Server 2010, you may want to re-evaluate them, because enterprises can benefit in numerous ways from the current version of Microsoft’s messaging platform.

Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Requirements for Exchange

2010

Low-Cost Storage for

Exchange Server 2010

3 Exchange Insider E-zine • Purchasing Considerations for Exchange 2010

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In addition to the new features that Microsoft and industry observers typically highlight are major security and auditing enhancements.

It always makes sense for com-panies that focus on compliance

and security to keep up with new releases. Exchange Server 2010 is no different. E-discovery has gained new legal-hold and message-retention features, for example. In addition, the RBAC model lets admins create roles and assign permissions. This can help organizations lock down access so that users have only the permissions they need.

Improved auditing functionality is another benefit. New auditing tools can save capital and man-hours. Exchange administrators needn’t be

bogged down in e-discovery search-es, because permissions can be del-egated to a third-party auditor to per-form the discovery for organizations.

Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 has been available for more than a year and has gone through several rollup updates. While there were hiccups in two of those updates, many internal and customer-reported bugs have been fixed, and it is clear that Exchange 2010 SP1 has matured into a solid product.

“The final rollup put the finishing touches on [Exchange 2010] SP1. It’s clear that Exchange 2010 is stable,” said Rob Sanfilippo, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, a consulting firm in Kirkland, Wash.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways for an organization to benefit from upgrading to Exchange Server 2010. Now that you’re familiar with the reasons to migrate, find out which hardware you need for an Exchange 2010 deployment and how can you further save money by deploying inexpensive storage options.

Want to chat about Exchange 2010? Email me at editor@search exchange.com. n

While there were hiccups in two rollup updates, it is clear that Exchange 2010 SP1 has matured into a solid product.

Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Requirements for Exchange

2010

Low-Cost Storage for

Exchange Server 2010

4 Exchange Insider E-zine • Purchasing Considerations for Exchange 2010

as wIth other software products, Microsoft specifies the hardware requirements for Exchange Server 2010. Every organization’s needs are different, however, and the gen-eral requirements that Microsoft provides may be inadequate or over-kill. Organizations preparing to deploy Exchange 2010 for the first time should consider memory, pro-cessing power and I/O storage to make the most of their hardware budgets.

In its Exchange 2010 hardware requirements, Microsoft provides guidance on various hardware requirements, from the amount of disk space required to the minimum screen resolution. Certain hardware characteristics should take prece-dence over others, however.

memory requIrementsThe amount of memory that Exchange 2010 requires depends on which server roles you choose to install. Microsoft recommends 4 GB for any of the Exchange 2010 server roles. For a single Exchange server running the hub transport, client access and mailbox server roles, the minimum amount of memory supported is 8 GB.

The amount of memory you ac-tually need depends on how heavily you use your server. For example, the minimum supported memory for running the hub transport, client access and mailbox server roles is 8 GB. But small Exchange deploy-ments with fewer than 10 users (or lab deployments) often get by with as little as 4 GB of memory. Of

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Hardware Requirements for Exchange 2010Microsoft specifies Exchange 2010’s hardware requirements, but are they in line with your organization’s current and future needs? By Brien Posey

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Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Requirements for Exchange

2010

Low-Cost Storage for

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5 Exchange Insider E-zine • Purchasing Considerations for Exchange 2010

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course, Microsoft does not support this setup.

For optimal performance, Micro-soft recommends basing memory on the number of cores in the server. For the edge transport and hub transport server roles, Microsoft recommends 1 GB per core, with a 4 GB minimum. For the client-access and unified messaging server roles, Microsoft recommends 2 GB per core, with an 8 GB minimum for the client-access role and a 4 GB minimum for the unified messaging role. In my expe-rience, 4 GB of memory is usually inadequate for a production unified messaging server.

Microsoft recommends that mail-box servers be equipped with a minimum of 4 GB of memory plus 3 MB to 30 MB of extra memory for each mailbox. That’s a big range. The actual amount of memory you need depends on how heavily company workers use Exchange.

If each user sends and receives only a few messages each day, then 3 MB per user may be realistic. However, users who send and receive high vol-umes of mail or who work with large attachments require more memory. The same can be said for users who rely heavily on features like calendar-ing and unified messaging.

When deciding how much memory to equip your server with, remember to account for future growth. Base your calculations on the number of

mailboxes you expect to host in three years, calculate the memory require-ments, then add 10% to account for unanticipated growth. Another option is to purchase a server whose memory can be upgraded when the need arises.

processIng requIrementsExchange 2010‘s CPU requirements are more straightforward than its memory requirements. As a rule, each server role requires a minimum of two CPU cores, save for the edge transport and hub transport server roles, which can be run on a single core.

The minimum number of CPU cores for servers hosting multiple Exchange Server roles is also two. Keep in mind that these are minimum requirements. I recommend never using fewer than four cores.

Although these are Microsoft’s pri-mary guidelines for Exchange, there are three other aspects you should take into account when shopping for a server.

First, while it’s possible to improve Exchange 2010’s performance by

The amount of memory you need depends on how heavily company workers use Exchange.

Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Requirements for Exchange

2010

Low-Cost Storage for

Exchange Server 2010

6 Exchange Insider E-zine • Purchasing Considerations for Exchange 2010

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adding CPU cores, the server’s per-formance will suffer if you have too many CPU cores. You should use a maximum of two physical CPUs and 12 CPU cores (total). The exception to this rule is that servers hosting the client access, hub transport and mail-box roles can use up to four physical CPUs and up to 24 cores (total).

Second, clock speed is another important consideration. If two CPUs have the same number of cores, the one with the higher clock speed will almost always be faster. Higher clock speeds mean better performance.

Third, Microsoft recommends that administrators disable hyperthread-ing. This Intel technology allows a single processor core to be treated as two separate cores, and hyper-threading provides an easy boost to the number of logical cores within a system. In the case of Exchange Serv-er, however, hyperthreading adds CPU overhead and actually hurts the

server’s performance, which is why Microsoft recommends disabling it.

storage I/o requIrementsMicrosoft places a lot of emphasis on the amount of disk space required by Exchange 2010, but disk I/O is just as important. I recommend using one physical disk for the Windows Server OS and another for Exchange Server binaries. With this installation, Exchange consumes roughly 1.4 GB of space, plus another 500 MB for each unified messaging language pack.

You should also dedicate a disk to the Windows page file. This should be a physical disk, not a volume on the disk containing the system vol-ume. Placing the page file on a dedi-cated disk offloads paging-related I/O from the system disk, resulting in better performance.

In addition, you’ll need a separate location to store Exchange Server 2010 data. Microsoft’s recommenda-tions vary depending on server roles and how heavily the server is used. When it comes to hub transport and edge transport servers, you need a disk to store the message queues.

If your organization doesn’t have a lot of users, it can probably get away with a standard 10,000-rpm hard drive. Low-end environments can use cheap, almost consumer-grade hard-ware. In environments with large vol-

While it’s possible to improve Exchange 2010’s performance by adding CPU cores, the server’s performance will suffer if you have too many.

Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Requirements for Exchange

2010

Low-Cost Storage for

Exchange Server 2010

7 Exchange Insider E-zine • Purchasing Considerations for Exchange 2010

umes of mail, however, it’s better to place the message queues on a stripe set because it increases available I/O to meet demand.

A mailbox server will ideally have two RAID 1+0 arrays (stripping + mirroring) attached to it. One array stores the transaction logs, while the other stores the mailbox database.

If this configuration is beyond your budget, you can opt for a lower-end solution. In any case, the transac-tion logs and the mailbox database should be stored on separate physi-cal disks. That way, if the volume containing the mailbox database fails, your transaction logs will not be lost. Transaction logs are essential to bringing the mailbox database back to a current state after restoring a backup.

Exchange Server 2010 does not have the same disk I/O requirements as previous versions of Exchange, and Microsoft states that you can use low-cost SATA drives. Even so,

a stripe set—preferably with mirror-ing—is almost always necessary for the mailbox database in midsize and large organizations.

Don’t take the process of shopping for hardware to run Exchange 2010 lightly. Although Microsoft provides some good guidelines, it is important to consider your own unique needs and to account for any anticipated growth. n

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Store transaction logs and the mailbox database on separate physical discs. That way, if the volume containing the mailbox database fails, you won’t lose transaction logs.

Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Requirements for Exchange

2010

Low-Cost Storage for

Exchange Server 2010

8 Exchange Insider E-zine • Purchasing Considerations for Exchange 2010

mIcrosoft eliminated single-instance storage in Exchange Server 2010 to decrease database I/O, but the loss of single-instance storage means data stores that were migrated from previ-ous versions of Exchange consume more storage space than before.

Instead of single-instance storage, Exchange Server 2010 uses database compression technology and new tools that purge mailboxes and keep database sizes down. But database size will increase for some custom-ers, and they will need larger disks and larger backup systems.

To overcome that problem, Micro-soft now approves of using less-expensive storage. For example, Microsoft condones the use of SATA drives with Exchange mailbox servers.

When I heard Microsoft was advo-

cating the use of low-cost hardware, my initial reaction was that it was a marketing ploy. I didn’t think any Exchange shop worth its salt would ever consider low-cost hardware to run Exchange 2010. However, I’ve

seen numerous companies success-fully use cheaper hardware—particu-larly low-cost storage. A few small businesses have even successfully

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Low-Cost Storage for Exchange Server 2010 Now that Microsoft condones inexpensive storage, you can use it to combat bloated databases in Exchange Server 2010. Find out how much you can save and how DAGs factor into the pricing model. By Brien Posey

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I didn’t think that any Exchange shop worth its salt would ever consider low-cost hardware to run Exchange 2010.

Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Requirements for Exchange

2010

Low-Cost Storage for

Exchange Server 2010

9 Exchange Insider E-zine • Purchasing Considerations for Exchange 2010

configured PCs that were equipped with SATA arrays to act as Exchange 2010 mailbox servers.

If you’re running Exchange 2010 in an enterprise, I don’t recommend using low-end storage for anything other than personal archive mail-boxes. However, for those not in enterprise environments, low-cost

hardware is a realistic option. For example, I decided to see what it would take to run Exchange on low-end hardware and how much money you can save by implementing low-cost storage.

Before I begin comparing server hardware, let’s review Microsoft’s Exchange 2010 mailbox server

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ExCHaNgE SERvER 2010 HaRdwaRE REquIREMENTScoMPonent Microsoft recoMMendation required hardware

Processor

A minimum of two processor cores consuming no more than two sockets. Microsoft recom-mends a maximum of 12 cores for mailbox servers.

Four CPU cores

Memory 4 GB, plus an additional 3 MB to 30 MB per mailbox

Roughly 10 GB of memory is required to support 200 mailboxes.

Database storage

Microsoft does not provide firm guidelines regarding storage requirements for mailbox servers. It does indicate that the Mail-box Server Role Requirements Calculator should be used. The hardware the calculator recom-mends is based on mailbox usage patterns and disaster recovery requirements.

Because each organization’s mailbox usage patterns are different—resulting in differing I/O requirements—let’s look at just database space require-ments. Here are hardware configura-tions that will result in acceptable I/O for an example server. The server would require approximately 2.5 TB. The data-base should never grow beyond 1 TB or 200 mailboxes with a 5 GB quota, but an organization needs enough space for a full copy of the database in case it ever needs to be repaired. Also, provide an extra 20% for overhead.

Operating system N/A

Assume that a dedicated hard drive is used for booting the operating system and for storing the page file.

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Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Requirements for Exchange

2010

Low-Cost Storage for

Exchange Server 2010

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recommendations. For the sake of this article, let’s assume that we need to create a mailbox server that can host 200 mailboxes and that each

mailbox has a 5 GB quota. Let’s also assume that the server will host only the mailbox server role. With that in mind, here are the hardware require-ments:

To see how low-end storage affects costs, I priced a typical server that meets the requirements stated

above. I chose a Dell PowerEdge R515 because it is designed for small and midsize businesses. I based my estimate on the following specifications:

ppSingle AMD Opteron 4130 four- core CPUpp 16 GB of memory (4 x 4 GB)ppFive 1 TB 7.2k-rpm Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS) drives. One drive is for the OS; the other four are config-ured as a RAID 5 arrays, providing 3 GB of storage.

The estimated cost of this server is $4,458. This estimate includes only hardware. It does not take software licensing costs into account.

After establishing the cost of a typ-ical Exchange 2010 mailbox server, I reconfigured the specifications to see what the server would cost if I used five 1 TB SATA drives instead. After making the switch, the price dropped to $4,058, saving me $400.

pp Do This Before Virtualizing Exchange Server 2010

pp What You Need to Know Before Virtualizing Exchange 2010

pp Best Practices: Standardizing Client Deployment

pp More on Microsoft Exchange Server Storage Management

pp Get Help From the Community

pp Powered by ITKnowledgeExchange.com

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After establishing the cost of a typical Exchange 2010 mailbox server, I reconfigured the speci-fications to see what it would cost if I used five 1 TB SATA drives instead. The price dropped.

Now Is the Time to Move to Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Requirements for Exchange

2010

Low-Cost Storage for

Exchange Server 2010

11 Exchange Insider E-zine • Purchasing Considerations for Exchange 2010

A savings of $400 doesn’t sound like much, especially when you con-sider that the total price of the server is going to be roughly $10,000 after you include the cost of software licenses. But there are two important things to keep in mind.

Exchange 2010 mailbox serv-ers operate as a part of a database availability group (DAG). DAGs can consist of up to 16 servers. When you multiply the $400 savings by the total number of mailbox servers you will need, they start to add up.

The second point is that hard drives tend to be replaced more fre-quently than any other server com-ponent. Even if you save only a little bit of money on each drive, consider how many times you will need to replace the drive over the course of the server’s lifetime. n

Brien posey is an eight-time Microsoft MVP with two decades of IT experience. Before becoming a freelance technical writer, Posey worked as a CIO at a national chain of hospitals and health care facili-ties. He has also served as a network administrator for some of the nation’s largest insurance companies and for the Department of Defense at Fort Knox.

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Even if you save only a little bit of money on each drive, consider how many times you’ll need to replace it over the server’s lifetime.

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