According to IDC, No online application is more widely used than email. Even the smallest companies have embraced this technology as a critical communication tool.  Businesses count on having 24x7 email access to communicate with employees, customers and partners, so they need to ensure email servers have effective security solutions in place. And the more your business depends on Microsoft Exchange as your email server, the more important it is to have a complete Exchange Server protection strategy in place.

Protection considerations
Microsoft’s Exchange Server is popular with small and mid-sized businesses because it offers a single infrastructure for communication, messaging and collaboration. Not only does it provide email capabilities, it also features shared calendars and tasks, mobile and Web-based access to information, as well as large amounts of data storage. Another important benefit of the Exchange Server is that it allows users to also have Microsoft Outlook Web Access so they can access their email via the Web from wherever they are. If your business uses Exchange servers for email, then it is vital to keep them online, because the loss of even one message may result in hours of unnecessary labor for IT staff, lowering your business' overall productivity.

However tight your security measures may be, unforeseen circumstances may lead to your Exchange Server being brought down for a period of time. This is why having a disaster recovery plan is so important. One of the most critical components of any disaster recovery plan is to make sure your backup window is not too short, and that regularly scheduled backups are performed as a part of your overall network protection routine. Time and space are always a concern when it comes to backups, so finding ways to reduce the amount of disk space and tape media required to fully protect Exchange is a challenge. Eliminating redundant copies of backups not only saves space, but it also cuts back on the time required to perform backups. Technology is advancing to enable continuous protection of Exchange, eliminating backup windows entirely. There is also new technology which eliminates the need for mailbox level backups, while still providing the ability to make granular recoveries of emails, folders and mailboxes.

Think about it — the loss of a single message may generate hours of unnecessary labor for administrators, lowering productivity within organizations. The ability to recover a single message quickly and easily can be a boon to your operations.

New rules regarding e-discovery of email are also going to dramatically affect the need for performing complete and timely backups of your Exchange server due to legal implications. Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are scheduled to take effect December 1, 2006 and will govern the discovery of electronically stored information, also known as e-discovery. These amendments require retention policies to ensure the availability of electronic documents. As part of any disaster recovery plan, consideration now needs to be given on how to ensure the retention of Exchange data to reduce the exposure to legal risks.

New Exchange 2007
November 2006 was a major month for Microsoft. At an invitation-only event in New York at the end of the month, CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Exchange Server 2007 (the follow up to Exchange 2003). Exchange 2007’s new features include voicemail integration, better search functionality and support for Web services. One major system requirement change is that the 2007 version can only run on the 64-bit version of Windows. Microsoft cites the major performance enhancements that 64-bit can lend to Exchange 2007 as the basis for this requirement. However, this means that businesses that are currently using Exchange 2003 on 32-bit equipment will be forced to replace or add hardware if they wish to upgrade to Exchange 2007.New protection for Exchange November was also an important month at Symantec: Backup Exec 11d for Windows Servers software was released. Developed primarily for small- and medium-sized businesses, this new version expands continuous data protection beyond Microsoft Windows file servers and workstations to include Microsoft Exchange, eliminating the need for daily Exchange backups and time consuming mailbox backups. Backup Exec 11d also introduces new granular recovery technology (patent pending) enabling

quick recovery of emails, folders and mailboxes. Using Backup Exec with continuous protection and automatic disk to disk to tape backups can also provide for retention of data to meet legal requirements.

Conclusion
If your Microsoft Exchange server goes down for any reason, all email communications will cease, and meetings, schedules and contacts will become inaccessible. This scenario requires fast action and a quick remedy to bring things back online, keeping all information and data intact the whole time. Backup and recovery is a crucial aspect of email server security to keep your business up and running. Having a backup and retention solution in place for your Exchange Server now will save you headaches down the road.

from Symantec