Exchange 2003

Exchange Information Store Service

It manages the mailbox store and public store. It is the foundation of Exchange 2003.

Microsoft Exchange MTA Stacks-- Responsible for all non-SMTP message transfer

• External X.400 messaging systems
  Exchange servers connected through X.400 connectors.
• Message transfer to non-Exchange messaging systems, such as Lotus Notes and Domino or Microsoft Exchange Connector for Novell GroupWise, is controlled by the Exchange MTA through MAPI-based connectors, such as Microsoft Exchange Connector for Lotus Notes or Microsoft Exchange Connector for Novell GroupWise.

Exchange MTA is also responsible for remote procedure call (RPC)-based communication with Exchange Server 5.5. It is best to implement Exchange MTA on all servers running Exchange Server 2003.

Test:

Stop "Exchange MTA Stacks" service.

I could still send e-mail to gmail.com, which is SMTP message transfer.

Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service includes many components. It is the real core service.

• DSAccess Component--communicating with Active Directory,
• Offline Address Book Generator--generating offline address lists,
• Free/Busy Component --publishing free/busy information in Outlook Web Access,
• The mailbox manager component--enforces message retention policies and mailbox quotas that you can use to manage mailbox store sizes,
• The Recipient Update Service --monitors all mail-enabled user objects and recipient policies, and applies recipient policies to mail-enabled user objects.

And so forth

Exchange 2007

Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Topology service 

• locating the domain controllers and global catalog servers that Exchange 2007 can use to retrieve configuration and recipient data from Active Directory.
• keeping Active Directory site affinity for an Exchange 2007 server up to date.

Microsoft Exchange File Distribution service   

runs on Client Access servers and gather OAB and keep the content synched with the content on the Mailbox server (after mailbox server generates the OAB).An offline address book (OAB) is a copy of a collection of address lists. After OUTLOOK user downloads the OAB, it can use it in a disconnected state.

Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service

Monitoring, Maintenance, and directory lookup for exchange server.

Microsoft Exchange Service Host

Outlook Anywhere relies on this service.

Microsoft Exchange Transport

It provides SMTP server and transport stack.

Microsoft Exchange Replication Service

It provides log shipping functionality for local continuous replication (LCR) and cluster continuous replication (CCR).

Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Assistants

It provides functionality for Calendar Attendant, Resource Booking Attendant, Out of Office Assistant, and Managed Folder Mailbox Assistant.

Microsoft Exchange Information Store

It manages Exchange Server databases, which host mailboxes.

Microsoft Exchange Mail Submission Service

It notifies the Hub Transport server to that messages are ready for retrieval from a sender's outbox.

Active Directory Schema

Active Directory Schema Console

regsvr32 C:\WINDOWS\system32\schmmgmt.dll

15 custom attributes—

From ADSIEdit.msc,

You could use the custom attributes for your own needs. When you create a new mailbox, it includes Microsoft defined generic attributes, such as First Name, Last Name, etc. It is likely that you want the mailbox to have special attribute, e.g. SIN, which is not defined by default. You could use the custom attributes to accomplish your tasks.

From Microsoft Exchange Management Console,

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