Introduction to Exchange 2003 Hardware
I would like to stress that firstly I am an independent advisor. Secondly that my approach to Exchange 2003 hardware,
is from a software perspective.
Let me explain, my key question is: 'What hardware does Exchange 2003 need to
do a good job?' Rather than asking: 'How do you over clock the Xeon Processor?'.
Topics for Hardware in Exchange 2003
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Your first hardware decision is: How many Exchange 2003 servers do we need? Should we go for lots of small servers, say one in each branch office, or do we favour one big server with 10 mailbox
stores? Incidentally, the latest fashion is for fewer bigger Exchange 2003 servers.
One argument that I have heard floated, is the belief that computer evolution will mimic animal evolution. What happened with animal evolution is that creatures developed a central nervous system with one big brain, rather
than mini brains at each limb. So this theory predicts that one big, protected, pampered, Exchange 2003 server is the way in which email systems will evolve.
Hardware strategy: When buying a new server it's common to over specify and so make the machine future proof. In 2 years time you will be thinking about updating the software, perhaps your
organization will have more users
and they are likely to by producing more email data. These factors have one thing in common, they will all benefit from a high spec machine.
What you seek in a new Exchange 2003 server is balance. Take this system as an example: Quad Processor - plenty of horsepower , 4GB RAM - lots of memory, 4 x 60 GB IDE disks using software
raid 5. That disk configuration would not
make sense given the rest of the spec. What you really need is SCSI or even SAN storage, with hardware RAID 5 or 1+0.
Where ever possible I would install Exchange 2003 on its own member server - even for a small company. It always pays to have a dedicated mail server away from Active Directory, file and print or SQL
databases. Just think ahead to the logistics of dealing with a virus attack, or having to restore a mail store from backup.
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Remember that the fault-tolerance is you watchword. One hardware tactic that I recommend is to pick the brains of the hardware manufacturer. Vendors have specialist Techies who can advise on an extra disk controller here, more memory there. These extras do not cost much
but can remove a bottleneck on your Exchange Server. If you go with a top brand then, there is less need to worry about the HCL (Hardware Compatibility List), but if you ask a small company to build a
server then ask for a guarantee that Exchange 2003 is fully supported. In particular choose a disk caching system that is designed for a database.
If you are preparing to ask the financial director for money, then it's always easier to ask for the moon and then revise downwards, than to ask for the minimum then have to go back in 3 months and beg for more RAM
or another disk.
Also, remember to ask for the Enterprise Edition of Exchange 2003. The worst thing about the standard edition is that it only supports a 16GB store for all your email. Even if you apply SP2
there is still a 75GB limit. (The Enterprise Edition
also supports multiple storage groups and clustering.)
Calculate roughly how many Exchange 2003 users there will be at each site. From that figure you can determine the specification for the servers. Realistically, if you are migrating from
Exchange 5.5 then expect to have to upgrade the existing hardware so that Exchange 2003 will run efficiently.
Up to 1,500 users / server
Processor 2 GHz, Memory 1GB minimum
Over 1,500 users / server
Quad Processor, 4 GB memory (/3GB
boot.ini switch)
Disk Space - Guy's hobby horse
Exchange 2003 uses a minimum of 200 MB on the system partition, however my advice is
to make the system partition at least 10 GB, this is because there are more and more programs
requesting disk space. For example, SP1, pagefile, and
spooling.
'Best Practice' dictates that Exchange 2003 is installed on its own partition. Consider splitting the mail database files from the Exchange executables and DLLs. Place the log files on yet
another partition. It is always best to calculate how big the priv1.edb is likely to be,
and whether you wish to place each storage group on a separate disk.
Will your budget stretch to SAN and clustering? What you really
need here is a sketch of your server partitions showing the Exchange storage
groups, logs, and \bin folder.
 Guy Recommends:
The SolarWinds Exchange Monitor
Here is a
free tool to monitor your Exchange Server. Download and
install the utility, then inspect your mail queues, monitor the Exchange
server's memory, confirm there is enough disk space and check the CPU
utilization. This is the real deal - there is no catch. SolarWinds
provides this fully-functioning product for free, as part of their commitment to
supporting the network management community.
Free Download of SolarWinds Exchange Monitor
Checklists
- Number of Users. Mailbox size / limit
- Number of Servers
- Number of Processors
- Memory - Watch out as Memory is traditionally the bottleneck
- Number of Disks
- SCSI or SAN
Seek advice from the hardware experts. Make sure that the server will run Exchange 2003 effortlessly. To help you decide on the best specification put some figures next
to these checklists:
See Also
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