Geoff Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 We are considering moving to Exchange 2007 for our internal email needs. I'm interested to know what sort of spec Exchange needs to run these days? I am aware of the 64bit OS requirement.
Diello Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 Exchange 2007 System Requirements Running here on 2008 x64, dual Intel X5450, 4GB RAM - serving 2000-odd users, quite heavily used, running like a dream. Amazing migration from Ex 2003 to new box, in new AD forest, was absolute dream as well.
achedgy Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 My setup is just for a few users: Windows Server 2008 64bit Dual Intel Quadcore 2.4Ghz 4Gb - more the better,take this as minimum RAID5 3x 146gb SAS 15k hot swap drives - suspect you will need a bit more than this
Divaldo Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 we're running server 2003 on a dual intel quad core 2.33ghz, 8GB of RAM, 500gb log partition and 2tb store partition. This is for 2500 mailboxes, it's running pretty well, but could do with a little more RAM.
Theblacksheep Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 (edited) Ours is CA/HUB/MB on Server 2008 64bit 4 GB ram 2 vCpu C= Windows 25GB D= ProgFiles 10GB E= TLs 10GB F= Store 80GB Might add disk another for LCR. Edited June 2, 2009 by Theblacksheep
FN-GM Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 A side note. If you see that allot of RAM is not being use dont assume you need more. With Exchange the more RAM you will give it the more it will use. It would put the whole mailbox store in RAM if it could. 1
Geoff Posted June 2, 2009 Author Posted June 2, 2009 Cheers guys. Off to the Dell Server Config wizard for a play now
DrPerceptron Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 Not as the destroyer of ideas etc - since we're only just moving up into EX2k7 (we bought licenses etc already) But, Have you thought about skipping it and going to EX2010? From what I can see, it's got something like 70% IOps requirements over 2k7 and plenty more things...
Theblacksheep Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 But, Have you thought about skipping it and going to EX2010? From what I can see, it's got something like 70% IOps requirements over 2k7 and plenty more things... It took exchange 2007 a service pack to sort itself out, I imagine 2010 will take a little while too... I know its in beta, but whens RC scheduled for?
DrPerceptron Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 Haven't heard anything, haven't looked for anything either though, just skimming over interesting info.
Geoff Posted June 2, 2009 Author Posted June 2, 2009 What are you moving from Geoff? and why? Zimbra. New head situplating 'Industry Standard' software.
FN-GM Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 Zimbra. New head situplating 'Industry Standard' software. Thought it would be something out of your hands that you are not using linux
Geoff Posted June 3, 2009 Author Posted June 3, 2009 I see some of you have posted your partition (disk?) configurations. What's best practice in this regard?
Duke Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 Not as the destroyer of ideas etc - since we're only just moving up into EX2k7 (we bought licenses etc already) But, Have you thought about skipping it and going to EX2010? From what I can see, it's got something like 70% IOps requirements over 2k7 and plenty more things... We're also considering skipping Exchange 2k7 and going straight to 2010. The last I'd heard we were looking at a release around the end of the year, it looks like most people are still suggesting late 2009 or early 2010. Yes, we'd probably want to wait a little while, maybe even for SP1, before going to 2010, but I'd rather have to stick with 2003 a little longer than have to make two Exchange migrations in the space of a year or two. Does anyone know what the upgrade path from 2003 to 2010 will be? As far as Exchange 2007 goes, the MS docs are comprehensive but take a while to go through: Exchange 2007 TechNet Exchange 2007 Deployment Cheers, Chris
spc-rocket Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 I see some of you have posted your partition (disk?) configurations. What's best practice in this regard? Ideally you want the transaction logs on a seperate disks to the information stores. The way we have it at our place is: C:\ 40Gb or so D:\ CD-ROM/DVD Rom drive E:\ Transactions logs on local disks (SAS 10K) F:\ Information stores (on the Storage Area Network NetApp Storevault S500) I would advise 8GB RAM for the server as 4Gb for exchange 2007 is considered a mimimum so if you can afford it spec it for 8Gb i.e. 4 x 2G modules. Ash.
nicholab Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 Why is Zimbra not industry standard software also you would get better support?
Geoff Posted June 3, 2009 Author Posted June 3, 2009 (edited) Ideally you want the transaction logs on a seperate disks to the information stores. The way we have it at our place is: C:\ 40Gb or so D:\ CD-ROM/DVD Rom drive E:\ Transactions logs on local disks (SAS 10K) F:\ Information stores (on the Storage Area Network NetApp Storevault S500) I would advise 8GB RAM for the server as 4Gb for exchange 2007 is considered a mimimum so if you can afford it spec it for 8Gb i.e. 4 x 2G modules. How does one calculate the size required for E: and F:? Why is Zimbra not industry standard software also you would get better support? I've noted that arguing with ones head teacher, even when you think they are wrong, isn't worth it. Besides, it's not like I've been told to upgrade everything to Vista. Exchange isn't that bad and to be fair it does do things Zimbra currently can't. Edited June 3, 2009 by Geoff
Duke Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 Exchange isn't that bad and to be fair it does do things Zimbra currently can't. Is there really much dislike for Exchange around? Don't get me wrong, MS have made some pretty bad stuff from time to time, but I always thought Exchange was a pretty solid product. If you're paying educational pricing then it's cheap as well. It's not the best solution for every environment by any means, but for those running a primarily Windows domain I would have thought it made the most sense? Cheers, Chris
Theblacksheep Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 How does one calculate the size required for E: and F:? You Had Me At EHLO... : Exchange 2007 Mailbox Server Role Storage Requirements Calculator Although our students are on tiny mailboxes and wouldn't count even as a light user, so the MS calculator comes out well over priced/specified.
nicholab Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 I would have thought that at least presenting the option and cost would make them pause. What is your head doing sticking his nose in any way your are delivering the IT to the objective he has set. I just think that running exchange should not be taken in isolation.
Geoff Posted June 3, 2009 Author Posted June 3, 2009 (edited) You Had Me At EHLO... : Exchange 2007 Mailbox Server Role Storage Requirements Calculator Although our students are on tiny mailboxes and wouldn't count even as a light user, so the MS calculator comes out well over priced/specified. Shame I don't have office 2007... I would have thought that at least presenting the option and cost would make them pause. What is your head doing sticking his nose in any way your are delivering the IT to the objective he has set. I just think that running exchange should not be taken in isolation. Well I've already calculated the licensing costs and as you can see I'm working on the hardware requirements. Once I've got some numbers; the business manager/head can decide if it's worth £XXX for the extra 5% or so functionality - that we're likely to use - Exchange offers over Zimbra. As for sticking his nose in, he isn't. Our NM left recently and the new Business manager had not started. As a result Technical Support ended up being directly line managed by the Head for a month or so, when this issue was discussed. Quite a unique set of circumstances I think. Edited June 3, 2009 by Geoff
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now