
If you are feeling a little overwhelmed by the 688 Ignite sessions on Channel 9, then check out this great article from the Exchange Team.
The Exchange Team collates all the Exchange, Office 365 and Outlook content into several easy to navigate lists. In the first list, you will find 20 videos on Exchange Server. The majority of the content is focused on Exchange Server 2016.
Here is what we learned about our favorite product.
Tip: For a summary of the Microsoft Ignite Keynote be sure to check out this article.
Keeping it together
The biggest announcement is that you can no longer split the Client Access and Mailbox roles. While multi-role was a recommendation in Exchange 2013, this is now mandatory in Exchange 2016. Check the screenshot below from Brian Day’s session. You will notice the absence of Client Access which has been rolled into the Mailbox role.
You’ll also notice Edge Transport is listed as an option. Ross Smith announced that Edge will ship with Server 2016 RTM.
For more information on the architectural changes, check out this post from the Exchange Team Blog.
MAPI over HTTP
We saw the introduction of MAPI over HTTP in Exchange 2013 Service Pack 1. MAPI over HTTP provides several advances over RPC, including faster reconnection times for clients and greater visibility into errors. While disabled by default in 2013, the new protocol will come enabled as default in 2016.
To quote Ross Smith
Further improvements have been made in 2016 for the new protocol. In 2013, MAPI over HTTP was turned on or off at the organization level. In 2016, this protocol is enabled on a per-user basis. This is great for a coexistence scenario.
When Outlook discovers the availability of MAPI over HTTP the change will occur the next time Outlook is restarted. The Outlook client will continue to use RPC until it is closed. This is great for the end-user. By continuing to use RPC means the user won’t receive any disruptive dialog boxes regarding admin changes.
Tip: Before deploying 2016, it is important you have the MAPI virtual directories configured on your load balancers. It is also important that MAPI virtual directory URLs are configured appropriately.
Previously, MAPI over HTTP was only available to users running Outlook 2013 SP1. In April Microsoft extended this support to Outlook 2010. But what does this mean for 2007 users?
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