An Overview of Microsoft Exchange Server Roles

With Exchange Server 2007 edition, a new term called Server Role was introduced by
Microsoft. It is a logical concept that is designed in order to utilize and organize Exchange
features across one or more Servers. While in Exchange 2003, there were only two roles
played by the Server: BackEnd and FrontEnd. In this segment, we will have an overview of
the new Server roles for Exchange 2007, 2010, and 2013.

Mailbox Server Role

Hub Transport Role
Client Access Server Role
Edge Transport Server Role
Unified Messaging Server Role

Mailbox Server Role: This is the backend Server that is responsible to host the mailboxes
and the public folder database along with address list, room/equipment scheduling etc.
Mailbox Server has straight support with MAPI clients and consumes highest amount of
resources (RAM, CPU) of the set up. For email send and receive, an instance of Hub
Transport should be installed with this Server role. The mailbox role (MR) can be
configured simultaneously with Hub Transport, Client Access, and Unified Messaging
Server role.
A mailbox Server can hold a limited number of storage groups per Server (for example 50
in case of Exchange 2007) where each storage group has its own set of transaction log. For
high availability of database on mailbox Servers, replication Services can be adopted that
includes Single-Copy Clustering (SCC) (where an active and passive copy of DB is
maintained on different Servers), Continuous Copy Clustering (CCR), and some smaller
enterprise adopt Local Continuous Replication (LCR).

Hub Transport Role: This Server is responsible for delivering messages. Even of an email
is being sent to same mailbox database; it will first pass through hub transport (HT) Server.
An Active Directory with MR Server should also have HT role installed in same site.
A hub transport Server is allowed to deliver messages out of an organization like to antispam system or to Edge Transport Server or to HT Server that on different AD site. A Hub
Transport Server handles following responsibilities:

 SMTP Communication: This feature is responsible for delivering messages to and

from other organizations. If Servers hosing the Hub Transport role does not work
within a domain, no mail can enter or move out of an organization.
Message Delivery and Routing: An important but the most complex task of Hub
Transport Role. When an email is sent within an organization, it first rolled up at
Store Drive (part of mailbox role). It then joins the Hub Transport Queue for further
processing. If there is more than a MR within a site, the HT Server will find the most
efficient route to get the mail delivered to desired destination.
Antivirus/Anti-Spam Control: Although this job is being primarily performed by
Edge Transport Server, the HT Server ensures that no mail with virus is being sent
within Exchange environment.

The Hub-Transporter can be installed in conjugation with Client Access, Unified

Messaging, and Mailbox roles. Nevertheless, for load balancing and failover, many
organizations prefer to install mailbox and hub transport role separately.

Client Access Server Role: MS Outlook can directly connect to Mailbox Servers for
accessing the user-email account and public folders. Non- MAPI clients like IMAP, POP3,
web based clients etc connect to Exchange Server through Client Access Server. We can say
the CAS is like a front end Server that was used in previous versions of Exchange.
However, the only different we could notice here is rather than proxying the requests, the
Server process the requests directly.
Together with proving Exchange database access to non-MAPI clients, CAS provides
features like Auto-discover where a user do not need to provide Server name and mailbox
information at the time of configuring the profile. Installing Client Access Server role is not
important but it proves helpful in sites where there is no direct access to internet.
Meanwhile, CAS should be a part of Active Directory domains and should be a part of
organizations network.

Edge Transport Server Role: This is an optional Server role and is designed for DMZ
(Demilitarized Zone) LAN network. The main job of this Server role is to control the SMTP
gateway for emails that enter or leave an organization. When an unbound mail is being
received by Edge Transport Server, it first scans it, and take necessary actions if the mail if
found to be virus-infected or seems to be a spam message. So, setting up a HT Server role
ensures that a clean message is delivered to the recipient within Exchange environment.

However, this Server role cannot be installed with any other role on the Server. Its
installation has to be done on separate Sever which ascertains internal security of the
network. Moreover, what makes this role different from other Server roles is it is not a part
of Active Directory.

Unified Messaging Server Role: This Exchange Server role allows users merging the e-mail
and voice messaging together. Unified messaging gives a platform for mailboxes to receive
emails and voice messages in the inbox so that it is easy for the users to access them and
administrators to backup. This helps the IT admins to manage their data networks and the
telephony networks together. Once Unified Messaging Servers are deployed on a network,
the messages can be accessed via OWA, telephone or mobile device, MS Outlook.

Things to Remember before Installing Mailbox Server!

Before installing mailbox Server role in conjugation with any other Exchange roles, keep
following facts in mind:
FACT #1: If clustering (CCR or SCR) of Exchange mailbox Server has to be done, then no
other role can be installed on the Server.
FACT #2: When Mailbox and Hub Server role are played by same Server, local hub
transport will be used against the remote hub transports by the constituents of the
mailbox.
FACT #3: Mailbox Servers uses large portion of RAM and processing power. Also, it should
be ensured that it is connected with fastest storage data centre. In order to improve
efficiency of mailbox Server role, it is recommended to install other roles on different
Server with less resource.
FACT #4: Mailbox Server role uses Intranet of organization. It uses MAPI and RPC protocols
to interact with Hub transport, unified messaging, Client Access roles, and with MS
Outlook.
FACT #5: Mailbox role creates offline address book for users that can be utilized in
situations when Outlook and Exchange Server are not connected.

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