Key Factors About Earlier Versions Of Exchange Server

Microsoft Exchange Server is an adroit and efficient mail server application. Windows Messaging which was also known as Microsoft Exchange was in effect with Windows 95, 98 and NT 4.0. The Exchange server replaced XENIX based messaging system in late 1996, although the replacement process started form April 1993. Let us understand various versions of MS Exchange server:

Exchange Server 4.0

Exchange Server 4.0 was the original version of Exchange Server sold to the public, although it took very long to make it suitable for the release. It was entirely new X.400 (primary messaging protocol) based client server architecture which has a single database capacity. The directory utilized by Exchange Server further became famous as Active Directory services.

Exchange Server 5.0

It was new Exchange Administrative consol which is capable of working with advance messaging protocol technology known as SMTP. The distinguished feature involves the introduction of an add-in known as Internet Mail Connector. The add-in allows user to communicate directly with the server using SMTP, which was not possible in earlier version. It also introduced a new interface or Web based email known as Exchange Web Access, which was further named as Outlook Web Access in later service pack. In-order to support the new feature of the Exchange server 5.0, Microsoft launched 8.01 version of Outlook, 5.0 version of Exchange client and 7.5 version of Microsoft Schedule+. It also introduced few other new features like new version of Outlook Web Access which can support calendars, IMAP4 and LDAP v3 clients, also it introduced a feature of recovering deleted items.

Exchange Server 5.5

With the launch of Exchange Server 5.5, Microsoft launched 8.03 version of Outlook. However no new modifications were made in Exchange client and Schedule+. The Exchange Server 5.5 was sold in two editions, which differ in database store capacity, mail transport connectors and clustering capabilities.

Standard Edition:
It has similar 16 GB database like previous versions of Exchange server. It has site connector, MS mail connector, Internet mail connector now known as Internet mail service and have Internet news service. It also has software to interrelate with cc:Mail, Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise.

Enterprise Edition:
It has storage capacity of 16TB and has X.400 connector, also have interoperability software with SNADS and PROFS.

Exchange 2000 Server

The Exchange Server 2000 was named as Platinum, Microsoft overpower many setbacks with the launch of this version. It posses the maximum capacity of the database also it increased the number of server in cluster to four. It has no built-in directory like the Exchange Server 5.5, it totally dependent on Active Directory. Exchange Server 2000 also includes the support for instant messaging, but the facility was later continued with Microsoft Office Live Communication Server.

Exchange Server 2003

The Exchange Server 2003 was nicknamed as Titanium, this version was feasible with Windows 2000 SP4 and 32 bit Windows Server 2003. The compatibility modes in Exchange Server 2003 allows user to slowly migrate to new system. Because of this feature the organization prevent them from downtime issue during the time of complete migration. Hence the up-gradation from earlier to later version became quite easy for the Exchange users. The disaster recovery feature of the Exchange Server proved quite handy to the users in crucial situations. The modified recovery feature allows user to continue their work on Exchange, meanwhile the recovery application performs the recovery process on the message stores.

 
Exchange Server is the one of the most important aspect of IT industry. The responsibility of managing user’s data, sharing information over various channels is a sole responsibility of Exchange Server. The Server and Client collaboration of Exchange and Outlook is considered to the best till date. Although user is provided with number of options like IBM Domino and Lotus Notes, GroupWise, but Microsoft created entity is considered to be all time favorite. The main reason behind the wide popularity of MS Exchange Server is stated below:

• The MS Exchange Server is easy to maneuver, due to the presence of easy and simple User Interface. Unlike other application like Lotus Notes, user does not required to go through dedicated training program.
• There is very less installation and maintenance cost involve as compared to other Server application.

The abovementioned were some highlighted causes that prompt user to switch to Exchange user. With the release of latest version the user is provided with new and more advance features. The Exchange and Outlook collaboration is providing a desirable platform to enhance the business opportunity. It allows interacting with large number of similar and different domain user via a channel of social media.

Talking about analogy of Exchange Server, the file format used to store data is known as EDB. Like other data formats, EDB is also prone to number corruption issues. The corruption of Exchange data can result into much worse situation when user loses his data on permanent basis. There are large numbers of cause available that can result in inaccessibility of data. In-order to avoid such unpleasant scenario, the wise user or network administrator maintain a regular backup of Exchange EDB into Outlook supported PST format. Let us discuss the possible scenario when user looks for EDB to PST conversion:

• The sudden or accidentally shutdown of Exchange Server can seriously damage the file which was in use at that point.    
• Sometime user needs archive data on urgent basis, in-order to access archive data he has to dismount the current file from Exchange Server and mount the desired file. This particular task clearly hampers the normal flow of work. Hence the archive EDB data can be converted into PST format and can be further used in MS Outlook.
• If user specially needs to convert Exchange data into PST format in-order to maintain backup. The main advantage of backing up data into PST format is that the data can be further preserved into desired location on the local system or any other storage devise.

The Exchange Server holds data on daily basis, hence it is not difficult to guess that not all but most of the data are extremely crucial to the user. Also there is large number of threats associated with files like virus attack, Trojan or any other malicious program. These harmful programs can severely damage the data files and can also lead to permanent inaccessibility. Therefore it is wise to backup data on regular basis.

Let us have a close look over Outlook supported PST format. The PST stands for Personal Storage Table, it is basically a file format which is used to store information like messages, calendars and other crucial items. The Outlook supports two types of file format, OST (Offline Storage Table) and PST. The OST file format can be consider as an exact replica of Exchange EDB format. The OST files allow user to work in and off-line mode and get automatically synchronized when Exchange becomes active. On the other hand PST format is used for backing up of data. The advantage of PST formatted data is that it can be stored at user desired location. 

So it must be quite clear that why most of the user plan to convert their Exchange EDB data into PST format. But in-order to carryon the conversion process user has to go for EDB to PST converter tool. There are large numbers of converter tool available in the market. But it is the matter of your crucial data, hence never blindly follow any third party converter tool. After doing proper research one must finalize any product, however the best way to judge a tool is buy using a demo version. The authentic and genuine tool always provides an option to the user so that they can verify it.

I came across one such tool widely known as Stellar EDB to PST converter tool. The software helped in converting all my data into PST format without any hazel. Initially I used the free demo version of the tool and got fully satisfied by its extremely user-friendly interface and the result provided after conversion. I immediately purchased the key online which was also very simple.