Remote Access to Exchange

Accessing Exchange Remotely

Excerpts from the Exchange Server Section of www.microsoft.com

Exchange Server 2003 has built-in mobile features to help drive greater worker productivity by facilitating mobile and remote computing scenarios. New and enhanced mobile and remote access features in Exchange Server 2003 include: 

Outlook 2003

Mobile and remote workers can communicate and collaborate on the go, and coupled with the new user interface and security and support features, can communicate and collaborate more productively.  

Ø Cached Exchange Mode. Outlook 2003 clients using Cached Exchange Mode perform most e-mail-related tasks from the local client computer, reducing the number of requests to the server for data. After the full copy of a user mailbox is downloaded, Cached Exchange Mode significantly reduces network bandwidth consumption between the client and server and removes the need to restart Outlook to an offline profile when network interruptions occur.

Ø HTTP access from Outlook. When used with the Windows Server 2003 RPC Proxy Service and Exchange Server 2003, Outlook 2003 clients can connect simply using HTTP or HTTPS, thereby reducing the need for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) or dial-up remote access service (RAS). If your remote users only need to access corporate messaging information, you may not need to deploy VPN infrastructure.

Ø Performance enhancements. Enhancements like MAPI compression and buffer packing reduce the number of requests to and from the Exchange servers. Overall lower bandwidth consumption can lead to site consolidation and render savings for the IT department. 

Outlook Web Access

Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access 2003 has been improved for easier use and a closer look-and-feel to Outlook 2003.

Ø Usability improvements in the user interface. Outlook Web Access has been greatly improved with Exchange Server 2003, providing a new user interface and features such as a spelling checker, additional views, S/MIME encrypted e-mail messages, auto signatures, right-click mouse functionality, quick flagging, the ability to create e-mail message rules, and junk e-mail folder capabilities.

Ø Performance improvements to accommodate low-bandwidth situations. These improvements are linked to a better user interface design, reduced bandwidth requirements, and gzip compression between Internet Information Server (an underlying component of Exchange Server 2003) and the browser client. Core changes in Outlook Web Access greatly improve the performance of managing e-mail by reducing the traffic needed to refresh views after the most common operations.

Ø Enhanced security when connecting over the Internet. New features include:

Session inactivity timeout using forms-based authentication provides support for secure logoff and timed logoff after a period of inactivity, even if the browser is left open with a current session to the server. S/MIME support (Internet Explorer 6.0 and Windows 2000 or later is required).Web beacon blocking makes it more difficult for senders of spam to confirm e-mail addresses. When a user clicks a hyperlink in the body of an e-mail message, Outlook Web Access helps protect private information from being revealed to the visited Web site. Customers can block access to all attachments or specific file types and can allow attachment access only through specific servers. Additional security and deployment improvements can be offered when using Exchange Server 2003 with Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004. For more information, see the Better Together: Using ISA Server 2004 with Exchange Server 2003 page. 

Exchange ActiveSync

Mobile and remote workers can also stay connected while on the move. With ActiveSync built into Exchange Server 2003, Windows Mobile 2002 and later–based devices can synchronize with an Exchange Server mailbox with very little configuration. Synchronization is over-the-air, can be on demand or scheduled, and provides rich access to e-mail messages, schedules, and contacts. New devices that are not Windows Mobile–based and are from companies that have licensed Exchange ActiveSync also provide this capability.