Exchange Server 2010 provides a collaboration environment that delivers secure messaging capabilities to recipients inside and outside an organization. Besides a powerful email server, it supports group scheduling capabilities, discussion groups, team folders, mobile and web access, and a host of other features.

Exchange Server 2010 Standard Edition is designed for small-to-medium-sized organizations. It is limited to five databases, each with a database storage limit of 16 TB. Larger organizations should consider Exchange Server 2010 Enterprise Edition.

Enhancements in the 2010 edition include:
•   Integrated email archiving, retention policies, and search capabilities
•   A new unified mailbox resilience model that provides high availability, disaster recovery, and backup capabilities
•   New self-service capabilities to help users perform common tasks without calling the help desk

Service Pack 1 includes improvements to archiving and retention policy functionality, enhancements to the Outlook Web Access (OWA) e-mail client, and support for multiple client organizations.

Here are some notable features of this product:
•   With unified messaging, users can receive their email, voice mail, and faxes through a single inbox that can be accessed from anywhere.
•   Integrated antivirus, anti-spam and anti-phishing technologies stop the latest threats.
•   New database availability groups of up to 16 mailbox servers can be configured by administrators for automatic, database-level recovery from failures.
•   Advanced management tools help administrators save time and reduce effort.

Important: The 2010 version requires a 64-bit system.

Licensing: This product includes a server license. Every user or device accessing Exchange Server must have a standard Exchange Server user or device client access license (CAL). Enterprise Exchange Server CALs (user or device) are needed for certain server functions; they can be used only in conjunction with standard Exchange Server CALs.

Features:

• Under the Software Assurance programme, customers acquire the right to install any new release of products covered in the agreement during the term of their coverage.

Requirements:

Hardware:
•   x64-architecture-based computer with Intel processor that supports Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel EM64T) or AMD processor that supports the AMD64 platform; Intel Itanium family IA64 processors are not supported
•   4 GB or more RAM per server plus 5 MB of RAM recommended for each mailbox
•   Hard disk:
o   1.2 GB free space on the hard disk where you install Exchange Server 2010
o   200 MB of free space on the system drive
o   Additional 500 MB free space per language if installing language packs for Unified Messaging beyond those included in the default installation
o   Disk partitions formatted for the NTFS file system, not the FAT file system
•   DVD drive, local or network accessible
•   800x600-pixel (or higher) display

Software:
•   Windows Server 2008 SP2 x64 Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter; Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter; Enterprise or Datacenter editions of Windows Server 2008 are required for Mailbox Resiliency features
•   For installing Exchange Server 2010 management tools: Windows Vista; Windows 7; Windows Server 2008

If the following required prerequisites are not already installed, the Exchange Server 2010 setup process prompts and provides links to the installation location:
•   Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
•   Windows PowerShell v2.0