Entourage and Exchange 2007 - Part 1 of 2

I've seen lots of posts about people having problems with Entourage not talking to Exchange 2007 via OWA (Outlook Web Access) but I haven't yet found a straight answer on how to get it working. I've just spent two day banging my head against this problem and thought I'd share.

I'll cover how I resolved the issue in two parts. The first part examines the relevant configuration for for the Client Access Service (CAS) role in your Exchange 2007 infrastructure. If you haven't got this configured yet then I've linked to a couple of articles at the bottom of this post.

The second part will look at the client side stuff. There isn't much to it and if your impatient then the quick answer is you need Entourage 2008 with the Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition add-on/upgrade.

CAS Server Role Configuration
Let's start with the server side first. We're only interested in the Client Access Service. Hopefully you have this installed on a separate box to your mailbox role, unless your running Small Business Server that is. There isn't much to it to be fair. As long as you follow any of the extremely good guides out there you should be fine. The key configuration is to get the correct authentication methods on the legacy OWA virtual directories. The three directories in question are:

• Exchange
• Exchweb
• Public

Where as you would use forms based authenticated for the main OWA directory you want Basic and Integrated for these directories. You get to those settings in the Exchange Management Console by browsing to following in the left hand pane.

Microsoft Exchange
-> Server Configuration
-> Client Access

The select your CAS server in the upper-right hand pane and you will see a list of Outlook Web Access directories in the lower-right hand pane. For each of the above three entries do the following.

1. Right button click and select Properties
2. Click on the Authentication tab
3. Select the following options and clear all others

• User one or more standard authentication methods:
• Integrated Windows authentication
• Basic authentication (password is sent in clear text)

You will then need to restart the IIS service. This can be done from the command shell using 'iisreset /noforce'.

For more information on configuring Exchange 2007 here are some excellent articles I used.

Part 1: The Exchange 2007 Client Access Server (CAS) role
Exchange 2007 Autodiscover and certificates

I do have more somewhere but not to hand. I'll see if I can dig them out.

Hopefully that has pointed you in the right direction for the server side configuration. Next time we'll look at the client side.

Si.

Virtual desktop - figures for a business case

My business is IT.  It used to be publishing, a game I was fond of, trained in and therefore could understand. I know as much about IT as I do about my anatomy, which is to say, I know which bits need refreshing and when, when I need to be turned off, and need I say, turned on again.  The reason for this preamble, is that I want to get the point put across that the virtual or hosted desktop service being discussed as the future of IT actually makes sense to me as a business case.

This in itself is a miracle. I have spent the last 5 years writing and rewriting the benefits and reasons why people should consider moving to a hosted virtual desktop as a real cost saving business case.  But the overriding reasons are these: cost and performance.  It is now necessary to be able to improve your performance and reduce your costs, this is the business mantra of the present and future, and this is what virtual or hosted desktops offer.

A couple of figures to keep in mind, hosted desktops are 30% cheaper to set-up than a traditional on site set up and 20% cheaper year on year to run.  But this is an approximation and can actually be a conservative estimate on the cost saving benefit of a hosted desktop.

Another piece of advice is that one size does not fit all.  It’s quite a leap to go from needing IT expertise in the form of an employee, partner or resource and all the on site equipment currently cluttering your environment to the slogan rich ‘only £45 per desktop’ off the shelf approach being advertised.  A serious business still needs a robust and serious network and system, it can be cheap but it must be a well thought out advice led decision.  A hosted desktop is not as off the shelf as some would have you believe. 

Seek experts with back up, recommendation, experience and guarantees.  Then sit back, enjoy the service and the improvement to your bottom line. For any more IT layman type advice please call me direct  07760 396488, or if you want the technical low down visit our website www.onebyte.net or call the technical team on 0845 034 7760.