Exchange Server 2016 RTM, build number 15.01.0225.42, was officially released on 1st October 2015 building upon and improving the architecture introduced with Exchange Server 2013. Whilst this release doesn’t have any ground breaking enhancements there are still many reasons to upgrade which I’ll provide details of in this article.
Traditionally, Exchange administrators adopt the best practice of deploying into their test labs, waiting for Microsoft to iron out all the bugs and the release of Service Packs before installing into their production environments. This trend is no longer the case as Office 365 customers have been utilizing Exchange online for many months which already include the Exchange Server 2016 enhancements which have now been fully tested and refined where required for Exchange Server 2016 on premise deployments.
Having said that, Exchange administrators running 3rd party applications on their Exchange Servers should always fully test these applications first with any new version of Exchange.
Getting ready for Exchange Server 2016 There are some pre-requisites for existing on premise deployments to ensure their environments are suitable to have Exchange Server 2016 installed into. Exchange Server 2016 is only supported on the following operating systems:
The operating system itself will require the following pre-requisites software and features installed:
From an Active Directory perspective, Exchange Server 2016 requires:
Before attempting to install it’s important to know that Exchange Server 2016 will only support coexistence with Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3 with Rollup Update 11 and Exchange Server 2013 with Cumulative Update 10. If you are running Exchange 2007 you’ll need to perform a 2 step migration going to either Exchange 2010 or 2013 first, then another migration to Exchange 2016, remembering that Exchange 2007 cannot co-exist with 2016 and so will need decommissioning before the second migration can take place. The alternative would be to purchase one of the 3rd party software tools which can bypass this process and enable you to migrate directory to 2016, however, this can be costly in terms of the software and specialist skills required.
For clients, they can utilize the following versions of Outlook or obviously access the new version of Outlook Web Access now rebranded as Outlook on the Web via a browser:
Exchange Server 2016 Roles As with Exchange server 2013 the roles have been consolidated again and now only 2 roles are available making deployments even easier for Exchange administrators. The roles:
Exchange Server 2016 Database Availability Group (DAG) The Database Availability Group (DAG) continues the high availability architecture for Databases however some enhancements that improve the performance, stability and functionality, these include:
Be aware that DAG’s cannot contain servers running different operating systems or versions of Exchange. Should you require redundancy for your mailboxes then a new DAG and databases will be required and mailboxes moved accordingly.
Outlook On the Web Outlook Web App is now known as Outlook on the web, which continues to let users access their Exchange mailbox from almost any Web browser. In Exchange 2016, the former Outlook Web App user interface is updated and optimized for tablets and smart phones, in addition to desktop and laptop computers with many new features.
MAPI over HTTP in Exchange 2016 Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) over HTTP is a transport protocol that improves the reliability and stability of the Outlook and Exchange connections by moving the transport layer to the industry-standard HTTP model. This allows a higher level of visibility of transport errors and enhanced recoverability. Additional functionality includes support for an explicit pause-and-resume function. This enables supported clients to change networks or resume from hibernation while maintaining the same server context. Implementing MAPI over HTTP does not mean that it is the only protocol that can be used for Outlook to access Exchange. Outlook clients that are not MAPI over HTTP capable can still use Outlook Anywhere (RPC over HTTP) to access Exchange with MAPI-enabled Client Access services.
Exchange 2016 versus Office 365\Exchange Online With increased bandwidth and more reliable internet connections cloud based infrastructure is becoming increasingly more viable to businesses with Microsoft Office 365 being a popular choice which includes Exchange online. There are obviously advantages and disadvantages for on premise or online options and the choice will depend on the current systems deployed, how they are integrated, the businesses security and control practices. At a high level here are the Advantages of deploying on premise Exchange:
Disadvantages as follows:
Advantages of Office 365 for Exchange Online:
Disadvantages of Office 365 for Exchange Online:
Summary As you can see there are the obvious pro’s and con’s as detailed above but ultimately it will be the requirements of the business, cost and the ability to integrate with existing systems which will determine the choice of on premise or cloud deployment of exchange. The other option which would cater for all scenarios would be a hybrid deployment whereby you’re on premise Exchange can be integrated and co-exist with the Office 365 deployment and mail flow, calendar sharing and the user experience working transparently between the 2 environments. This option can be ideal allowing the business to have the flexibility of moving, for example, their satellite remote users to the cloud and any office based users kept on premise as required. What is clear, cloud is here to stay and will start to become normal practice and integral to businesses IT needs be that Exchange, or any other part of the IT eco system.
If you have any questions about this article or Exchange Server 2016 in general, please feel free to email us.