Microsoft forgoes radical for familiar with next Exchange
Margie Semilof, Senior News Writer
Microsoft's latest plan for Exchange Server is to offer customers some substantive new features,
but no major
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| David Thompson, corporate VP, Microsoft |
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architectural changes, as had been part of earlier
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plans for the
messaging platform.
The next version of Exchange Server, dubbed "E12," will contain database
replication features that will let customers have two synched copies of the Exchange database
for better backup, 64-bit support for improved scalability, support for unified messaging and the
ability to more clearly define the roles of various Exchange elements. Microsoft also plans to add
a set of Web services APIs to improve the programmability of business applications to Exchange
Server, according to David Thompson, corporate vice president for Microsoft's Exchange Server
product group.
Exchange will retain the Jet data store, which has been improved over the years and is custom
designed for messaging. The E12 version of Jet will be 64 bits, and scalability will be improved by
the larger address space, Thompson said. "And 64-bit hardware will be the commodity server
hardware," he said. "It will go in places where it makes a difference, and this is where it will
make a difference."
There is no formal timetable set for E12, but sources have pegged it as likely to come in the
latter part of 2006, or around the same time Office 12 ships.
Moving to a new data store was the largest element in the previous Exchange roadmap, code-named
Kodiak. In fact, Microsoft had built a prototype of Exchange running on the upcoming version of SQL
Server database, code-named Yukon. But Thompson said customers had expressed concern that the move
to a new database implied a big database migration, which would have been too disruptive.
New data store not a 'must-have'
Some customers also said they believed that improvements in Exchange Server 2003 covered a lot
of
gaps, which means that not having a common data store is less of
an issue for them. "At one point, I was very interested [in a new data store], but [Microsoft] has
given me enough tools, so for now, I'm comfortable," said Jim Thomas, senior business systems
manager at Pella Corp., a Pella, Iowa-based window and door manufacturer.
Thomas said improvements to message hygiene and to data replication may be enough of an
incentive to upgrade from Exchange Server 2003 when the time comes.
Experts said they believe Microsoft will benefit from giving customers an easy migration to a
new version of Exchange rather than presenting them with a more radical shift in architecture.
"The pain of moving to a new store would lead people to reflect on their entire messaging
strategy," said Yankee Group analyst Dana Gardner, who expects E12's features to appeal to
"rock-solid Exchange administrators."
Migration path should be easier
Lee Benjamin, a messaging expert and principal with Exchange Guy Consulting Services, said that
by basing E12 on the same architecture as Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft extends
the life of its product, and he agrees that it makes the
transition less of a hassle for its customers.
"Without beating a dead horse, at some point there are technical reasons to move to a new
database design," Benjamin said. "But with 10 years of track record with the existing database,
customers are happy and it's working for them."
Benjamin said the realistic size of an Exchange Server database is between 30 GB and 50 GB, but
the number is not hard and fast and depends on how long an administrator wants to take to do a
backup. Microsoft provides a range as unlimited or 16 TB, Benjamin said. Locally, the practical
limitation for Exchange Server 2003 is roughly 20 GB, he said.
