Lab: Configuring Mailbox Servers

Scenario

MCT USE ONLY. STUDENT USE PROHIBITED

2-28 Planning and Configuring Mailbox Servers

After performing a test deployment, A. Datum is now planning the deployment of Exchange Server 2013
in a production environment. First, they want to summarize all requirements and all available resources,
and then plan for the Mailbox server deployment. After the deployment, you need to configure the
storage attached to the servers, and then configure the mailbox databases. After the configuration tasks,
you need to export data from the users mailbox to the .pst file.

Objectives

Plan configuration for the mailbox servers.

Configure storage for the mailbox servers.

Create and configure the mailbox databases.

Lab Setup
Estimated time: 75 minutes

Virtual machines

20341B-LON-DC1
20341B-LON-CAS1
20341B-LON-MBX1
20341B-LON-CL1

User Name

Adatum\Administrator

Password

Pa$$w0rd

For this lab, you will use the available virtual machine environment. Before you begin the lab, you must
complete the following steps:
1.

On the host computer, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Hyper-V Manager.

2.

In Hyper-V Manager, click 20341B-LON-DC1, and in the Actions pane, click Start.

3.

In the Actions pane, click Connect. Wait until the virtual machine starts.

4.

Sign in using the following credentials:

5.

User name: Adatum\Administrator

Password: Pa$$w0rd

Repeat steps 2 to 4 for 20341B-LON-MBX1, 20341B-LON-CAS1, and 20341B-LON-CL1.

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Core Solutions of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 2-29

Exercise 1: Planning Configuration for Mailbox Servers

Scenario

Use the Mailbox server role calculator to design the Exchange infrastructure for A. Datum. You must fulfill
the following requirements:

A. Datum has to provide mailboxes for 5,000 users. The number of mailboxes grows by a factor of 5%
per year.

All users must be provided with 1-GB mailboxes. In addition, each user must have an online archive of
2 GB.

The average message size is 75 KB, and the total number of sent/received messages per mailbox per
day is 150.

All deleted messages should have a retention period of 30 days, with single-item recovery enabled.

A. Datum plans to deploy four Mailbox servers.

Mailbox databases should be highly available.

Each database should have three total instances: 1 active instance, 1 passive instance, and 1 lagged
copy with 24 hours delay.

Approximately 2% of mailboxes are moved per week.

Databases and logs should be separated.

A. Datum plans to implement a third-party backup solution. Backups will be performed on a weekly
full/daily incremental schema.

Currently, A. Datum has only one datacenter, and at this time the company is not planning for a siteresilient solution. Servers for Exchange currently have 1,000-GB disks for databases, 500-GB disks for
transaction logs, and 1,500-GB disks for Restore LUN. A. Datum also plans to leverage virtualization as
much as possible.
Note: This lab uses a modified version of the Exchange Server 2010 Exchange Mailbox
Server Role Requirements Calculator. Ensure that you download and use the Exchange Server
2013 version when calculating hardware requirements for Exchange Server 2013 servers.
The main tasks for this exercise are as follows:
1.

Analyze requirements for the A. Datum Exchange Server deployment.

2.

Use the Exchange Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator.

3.

Analyze output from the Exchange Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator.

4.

Discuss the solution with the instructor and the class.

Task 1: Analyze requirements for the A. Datum Exchange Server deployment

Read the Lab and Exercise scenario. Summarize the requirements from the exercise scenario.

Task 2: Use the Exchange Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator

1.

On LON-CL1, open File Explorer, navigate to C:\Files and open the E2013Calc.xlsm file. On the
Security warning, click Enable Content.

2.

Based on requirements from lab and exercise scenario, fill in the appropriate fields on the Input sheet
in E2013Calc.

 Task 3: Analyze output from the Exchange Mailbox Server Role Requirements
Calculator
1.

In the E2013Calc, click on Role Requirements tab.

2.

Review calculated requirements provided in this sheet.

3.

Click the Distribution sheet.

4.

Click the Fail Server button for each server. Observe where databases will be distributed.

5.

Click Export DAG Scripts.

6.

In the Storage Calculator Export Scripts window, click OK twice.

7.

Click the LUN Requirements sheet. Review the calculated requirements provided in this sheet.

8.

Click the Backup Requirements sheet. Review the calculated requirements provided in this sheet.

9.

Click the Replication Requirements sheet. Review the calculated requirements provided in this
sheet.

10. Click the Storage Design sheet. Review the calculated requirements provided in this sheet.
11. Open File Explorer, and navigate to C:\Files.

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2-30 Planning and Configuring Mailbox Servers

12. Right-click the CreateMBDatabases.ps1 file, and select Edit. Review the content of the script that is
generated.
13. Right click the CreateMBDatabaseCopies.ps1 file, and select Edit. Review the content of the script
that is generated.
14. Right-click the Diskpart.ps1 file, and select Edit. Review the content of the script that is generated.
15. Close the Windows PowerShell ISE window.

Task 4: Discuss the solution with the instructor and the class
1.

Discuss the solution provided by the Exchange Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator with
other students and with the instructor.

2.

Change the values on the Input tab of the Exchange Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator,
and see how that reflects on results that this tool provides.

Results: After completing this exercise, the students will have created a plan for their mailbox server
configuration.

Exercise 2: Configure Storage on the Mailbox Servers

Scenario

Currently, the Mailbox server has no locally attached storage for the mailbox database. You have available
iSCSI storage that should be used for the mailbox databases and logs. These drives will be sufficient for
the initial deployment at A. Datum, but the organization expects to add several additional iSCSI drives
during the deployment.
You need to configure Windows Server 2012 to connect to the iSCSI drives, and configure storage for the
mailbox databases and logs.

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Core Solutions of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 2-31

The main tasks for this exercise are as follows:

1.

Create and configure iSCSI target and drives.

2.

Connect Exchange Server to the storage.

3.

Configure storage.

Task 1: Create and configure iSCSI target and drives

1.

On LON-DC1, open Server Manager, start the Add Roles and Features Wizard, and install the
following roles and features to the local server, and accept the default values:
o

File And Storage Services (Installed)\File and iSCSI Services (Installed)\iSCSI Target Server

2.

On LON-DC1, in Server Manager, in the navigation pane, click File and Storage Services, and then
click iSCSI.

3.

Create a new iSCSI Virtual Disk with these settings:

o

Storage location: C:

Disk name: iSCSIDisk1

Size: 2 GB

iSCSI target: New

Target name: lon-mbx1

Access servers: LON-MBX1

4.

On the View results page, wait until the creation is completed, and then click Close.

5.

Create a new iSCSI Virtual Disk with these settings:

6.

Storage location: C:

Disk name: iSCSIDisk2

Size: 2 GB

iSCSI target: lon-mbx1

Create a new iSCSI Virtual Disk with these settings:

o

Storage location: C:

Disk name: iSCSIDisk3

Size: 500 MB

iSCSI target: lon-mbx1

Task 2: Connect Exchange Server to the storage

1.

On LON-MBX1, open Server Manager, and then from the Tools menu start the iSCSI Initiator.

2.

Connect to the portal at address 172.16.0.10.

3.

Add the connection to the list of favorite targets.

Task 3: Configure storage

1.

On LON-MBX1, from Server Manager, open Disk Management.

2.

Bring online and initialize the three new disks.

3.

Make a simple volume on each disk, and format it with NTFS.

4.

Name the volume on Disk 1 as DB1.

5.

Name the volume on Disk 2 as DB2.

6.

Name the volume on Disk 3 as Logs.

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2-32 Planning and Configuring Mailbox Servers

Results: After completing this exercise, the students will have configured iSCSI storage for their mailbox
databases and logs.

Exercise 3: Creating and Configuring Mailbox Databases

Scenario

When installing the Mailbox server role, a default mailbox database is created on the server. You need to
modify the location and configuration of the default mailbox database to meet the corporate standards.
The database should have a warning limit set to 0.9 GB, prohibit send at 1.0 GB, and prohibit send and
receive at 2.2 GB.

In addition to the default mailbox database, you also need to create a new mailbox database to meet the
deployment requirements. The new mailbox database should be placed on the iSCSI drive, and it should
have circular logging enabled. You also need to set different limits and retention time periods from the
default database. After setting the limits and retentions, you need to export the mailbox of Aidan Delaney
to a .pst file.
The main tasks for this exercise are as follows:
1.

Configure mailbox settings for the existing mailbox database.

2.

Create and configure additional mailbox databases.

3.

Export mailbox data to the .pst file.

4.

To prepare for the next module.

Task 1: Configure mailbox settings for the existing mailbox database

1.

On LON-MBX1, open Internet Explorer and type https://lon-cas1.adatum.com/ecp, and press

Enter.

2.

Sign in as Adatum\Administrator with the password Pa$$w0rd.

3.

Set the properties for Mailbox Database 1 as follows:

o

Issue a warning at (GB): 0.9

Prohibit send at (GB): 1

Prohibit send and receive at (GB): 1.3

Keep deleted items for (days): 30

4.

Open the Exchange Management Shell.

5.

Note the database names by executing the Get-MailboxDatabase cmdlet.

6.

Move the database by executing the cmdlet: Move-DatabasePath Identity Mailbox Database 1
EdbFilePath E:\DB1\DB1.edb LogFolderPath G:\Logs\DB1.

7.

Verify that both the database file and logs are moved to the new location.

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Core Solutions of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 2-33

Task 2: Create and configure additional mailbox databases

1.

In the EAC window, create a new mailbox database with the following properties:
o

Database name: DB2

Database file path: F:\DB2\DB2.edb

Log folder path: G:\Logs\DB2

2.

Set the properties for the new database by executing the following cmdlet: Set-MailboxDatabase
identity DB2 DeletedItemRetention 20.00:00:00 CircularLoggingEnabled $true
ProhibitSendQuota 2.2GB.

3.

Dismount and remount the DB2 database.

Task 3: Export mailbox data to the .pst file

1.

On LON-MBX1, in the Exchange Management Shell window, execute the following cmdlet:
New-ManagementRoleAssignment Role "Mailbox Import Export" User Administrator.

2.

Restart the Exchange Management Shell.

3.

Export Aidans mailbox by executing the following cmdlet: New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox

aidan -FilePath \\lon-dc1\MailboxExport\aidan.pst.

4.

Make sure the status is complete by using the Get-MailboxExportrequest cmdlet.

5.

Verify that aidan.pst file exists in the shared folder.

Task 4: To prepare for the next module

When you finish the lab, revert the virtual machines back to their initial state. To do this, complete the
following steps:
1.

On the host computer, start Hyper-V Manager.

2.

In the Virtual Machines list, right-click 20341B-LON-DC1, and then click Revert.

3.

In the Revert Virtual Machine dialog box, click Revert.

4.

Repeat steps 2 to 3 for 20341B-LON-CAS1, 20341B-LON-MBX1, and 20341B-LON-CL1.

5.

In Hyper-V Manager, click 20341B-LON-DC1, and in the Actions pane, click Start.

6.

In the Actions pane, click Connect. Wait until the virtual machine starts.

7.

Sign in using the following credentials:

8.

User name: Adatum\Administrator

Password: Pa$$w0rd

Repeat steps 5 to 7 for 20341B-LON-MBX1. When you have successfully signed in to LON-MBX1,
repeat steps 5 to 7 for 20341B-LON-CAS1 and 20341B-LON-CL1.

Results: After completing this exercise, the students will have their mailbox databases created and
configured.
Question: What is the purpose of the Exchange Mailbox Server Role Requirements
Calculator?
Question: Can you move existing mailbox databases to a different path by using the EAC?
Question: What must you do before you can export the users mailbox to the .pst file?