Ask network administrators what their most critical computer application is, and most will say email without a moment's hesitation. If you run a network powered by Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Exchange occupies much of your time. According to Microsoft, 110 million Exchange seats have been deployed, but 60% of you are still running Exchange 5.5. That's a problem, because the difference between version 5.5 and the more efficient Exchange 2000 and Exchange Server 2003 is profound.Don't fret. Exchange Server Cookbook offers you a comprehensive how-to guide to these newer versions of Exchange. You'll find quick solutions for the most common tasks you need to perform--everything from installation and maintenance to configuration and optimization, with proven recipes for the most useful tools and utilities. The book also has solutions to some uncommon tasks (that you may not know are possible) and advanced procedures that aren't part of day-to-day operations. These include tasks for critical situations, such as using a recovery storage group.Our reliable desktop reference even shows you how to write scripts for Exchange management and deployment tasks. That's right. While not every Exchange job can be scripted, many can, and we provide lots of working VBScript examples for accomplishing particular goals. Whatever your particular need, you'll find it quickly, because chapters in this Cookbook are laid out by recipe, with cross references to other pertinent solutions in the book. With this guide, you'll learn:

• The relationship between Exchange and Active Directory
• When to use the GUI, the command line, or scripting
• How to prepare forests, domains, and servers
• How to use Group Policy to control Exchange
• Diagnostic logging, measure performance, and administrative privileges
• Recipient management: user accounts, mailboxes, mail-enabled groups
• Mailbox and public folder database management
• Message routing and transport functions
• Security, backup, restore, and recovery operations

Paul Robichaux is an experienced consultant who specializes in Exchange. Besides a dozen or so successful books, he has written regular weekly and monthly columns on Exchange for years. Microsoft recognized Paul's knowledge and community participation when the company selected him as an Exchange Most Valuable Professional (MVP), an honor given to a few dozen product-area experts each year. Paul is a prolific author who's written successful books for O'Reilly (most notably Managing Exchange Server).

Missy Koslosky has been working with Exchange server since 1997, and has been a Microsoft MVP for Exchange Server since 1999. Missy's first experience with Exchange was managing a 120-site Exchange 4.0 organization, which taught her how to fix an interesting mix of things. She has worked for the Federal government, for an Application Service Provider, and as a Technology Consultant specializing in Exchange and Active Directory for of a large services organization. She is a Product Manager in the Exchange Solutions group at Quest Software. Missy is happily married; her husbandBryan is a PGA Golf Professional who has temporarily put golfing aside to raise their two amazing daughters, Bryce and Natalie.

Devin L. Ganger, a systems administrator with over 9 years of experience in Windows and Unix networks, got his lucky break as an author when his boss at 3Sharp LLC told him to co-write the Exchange Cookbook and stop whining. Despite the work involved, he enjoys writing. He relaxes by spending time with his kids, doting on his wife, tinkering with his home network, and playing roleplaying games. In between compulsive Babylon 5 viewing sprees, he also attempts to write novels, play guitar, and learn Texas Hold'em well enough to prevent his co-workers from taking his money each week. He plans to retire from IT at the age of 40 and settle down to the comfortable life of a dilettante, science fiction novelist, and despot of a banana republic.