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May 4 8, 2015
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BRK3197

Exchange Server 2016

Architecture
Ross Smith IV
Principal Program Manager
Microsoft

Agenda
Fundamentals
Client connectivity
Namespace planning and principles
Preferred architecture

Exchange
fundamentals

Exchange 2016 server role

architecture
Client access proxy
components
Includes core server
protocols
Database availability
group

Loosely coupled
Functionality
Versioning
User partitioning
Geo affinity

Exchange
Online
Protection

External
SMTP
servers

Edge
Transport
Routing
and AV/AS

DAG

MBX
MBX
MBX
MBX

Mobile
phone
Web
browser
Outlook
(remote
user)

AD

MBX

Load Balancer

Single building
block

ENTERPRISE
NETWORK

Outlook (local
user)

Office
Web
Apps
Server
farm

Phone
system
(PBX or
VOIP)

Every server is an island

EWS protocol

MRS proxy protocol

SMTP

PROTOCOLS,
SERVER AGENTS

MRS
MRSProxy

EWS

Transport

Custom WS

Transport

MRS
MRSProxy

RPC CA

Assistants

Assistants

RPC CA

XSO

Mail item

XSO

Mail item

CTS

Other API

CTS

Other API

Store

Content
index

Store

Content
index

ESE

File
system

ESE

File
system

BUSINESS LOGIC

STORAGE

Server1
(Vn)

Banned
E2010

Server2
(Vn+1)

EWS

The key to enlightenment

For a given mailboxs
connectivity,
the protocol being used is always
served by the protocol instance
that
is local to the active database
copy
Each MBX determines the right end
point for the traffic, and so all sessions
regardless of where they startedend up in
the same place
This means that the rendering for clients
like OWA occurs on the mailbox server,
transport transcoding is occurring on the
mailbox server, etc.

USER

MBX CAS
COMPONENTS

DAG1

MBX-A

MBX-B

Topology requirements
Exchange 2016 supports coexistence with
Exchange 2010 SP3 RU11 and later*
Exchange 2013 CU10 and later*

Exchange 2016 is supported on

Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows Server 10

Exchange 2016 requires

Windows Server 2008 R2 FFM/DFM and later
Windows Server 2008 R2 AD servers and later

Desktop Outlook client requirements

Outlook 2010 SP2 (with KB2956191 and KB2965295)* or later
Outlook 2013 SP1 (with KB3020812)* or later
Outlook 2016

* Subject to change

What is the Mailbox server role?

A server that houses the logic to route a specific
protocol request to the correct destination end
point
A server that hosts all the componentsthat
process,
render, and store the data
Clients do not connect directly to MBX2016 backend end points; connectivity is through client
access services
Evolution of E2010 DAG
Collection of servers that form a HA unit

Announcing
The Exchange storage engine moves to

SQL

uea

Just Kidding.
Remember kiddos, SQL squeals like a pig, while our

Search architecture improvements

MBX2016

MBX2016

Transport

Transport

Content transformation
Service

Mailbox

Store

Mailbox

Local delivery

ExSearch

CTS

Index node

Passive

DB

Log

DB

Reliabl
e
event

Read
content

Log

Idx

Idx

Lagged copy enhancements

When ReplayLagManager is enabled, lagged
copies play down under the following condition:
Copy health status

Lagged copies also play down under the following

conditions:
Capacity concerns
Physical corruption detected

In Exchange 2016, play down is now tied to the

health of the disk (IO latency)
Enabled by default
Ensures active copies on the same disk are not impacted by play down
Delay is enacted if latency is above 20ms
Delay is deactivated when latency is 20ms or less, or if capacity is a concern

What is the Office Web Apps Server

role?
Exchange server now
leverages the Office web
apps
Users get rich browser based viewing in Word,
Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote web apps

Delivered via Office Web

Apps infrastructure
Cannot coexist on Exchange servers

Enables side-by-side
viewing and edit & reply
capabilities for OWA
Access to the document

The extensibility future: REST APIs

REST APIs simplify programming against
Exchange 2016 and Office 365
Mail API provides ability to read, compose, and send messages, as well as, manage folders and
attachments
Calendar API provides access to calendar data
Contacts API provides access to contacts

Enables access from solutions across all mobile,

web, and development platforms
Based on open standards (JSON, OAUTH 2.0, ODATA 4.0)
Development platforms: .NET, iOS, Android, NodeJS, Ruby, Python, Cordova, etc.

Provides granular, tightly scoped permission to

access user data

Where art thou, MAPI/CDO?

The MAPI/CDO library has enjoyed a
long life, but all good things must
come to an end
Exchange 2016 will not support
connectivity via the MAPI/CDO library
Told you at MEC 2012, did I. Yes, hmmm.

App development should utilize

either:
REST APIs
Exchange Web Services

Client connectivity

Client protocol architecture

OWA

Outlook

EAS

EAC

PowerShell

IMAP

SMT
P

Telephony

Load
balancer

Redirect

IIS

POP
IMAP

HTTP Proxy

MBX16

HTTP

SMTP

POP
IMAP
IIS
RpcProxy

RPS
RPC CA

SMTP
POP IMAP

OWA, EAS, EWS, ECP, OAB,

MAPI

UM

MDB

Transpo
rt

UM
Mail
Q

SIP
+
RTP

MAPI/HTTP baby!
The default connectivity
mechanism

Provides more reliable

connection

No longer uses intermediary RPC components

(on client or server)

80% of users connect in 5s or less

ROPs are still used, just sent to Exchange directly

overHTTP
Standard HTTP pattern instead of two long-lived
HTTPconnections

Removes RPC stack

dependency
Better diagnostics

Advertised via Autodiscover

Header information

Client advertises support and server returns

configuration settings

Common authentication
scheme across protocol
stack

Enabled by default (E2016)

Per-user settings control

Requires

Outlook MAPI/HTTP connections

Outlook

Only one wrapper:

yay!
HTTPS
HTTPS
Req/Response Req/Response

LB

HTTPS
Req/Response

HTTPS
Hanging Notification

IIS

MAPI

HTTP

HTTP Proxy

MBX
2016

HTTP

IIS
MAPI HTTP Handler

MDB

Client protocol connectivity flow

Exchange 2010 coexistence
HTTP

LOAD BALANCER

MBX2016

CAS2010

LOAD BALANCER

Site
boundary

LOAD BALANCER

CAS2010

IIS

IIS

HTTP proxy

Middle tier layer

MBX2010

IIS
Middle tier layer

MBX2010

Protocol head

DB

DB
Legacy proxy request

DB
Cross-site legacy proxy request
Cross-site OWA redirect request

Client protocol connectivity flow

Exchange 2013 coexistence (phase 1)
HTTP

LOAD BALANCER

LOAD BALANCER

CAS2013

MBX2016

MBX2016

IIS

IIS

HTTP proxy

HTTP proxy

Site
boundary

LOAD BALANCER

IIS
HTTP proxy

MBX2013
Protocol head

Protocol head

Protocol head

DB

DB

DB

Proxy Request

Cross-site proxy request

Cross-site OWA redirect request

Client protocol connectivity flow

Exchange 2013 coexistence (phase 2)
HTTP

LOAD BALANCER

MBX2016

CAS2013

LOAD BALANCER

Site
boundary

LOAD BALANCER

CAS2013

IIS

IIS

HTTP proxy

HTTP proxy

MBX2013

IIS
HTTP proxy

MBX2013

Protocol head

Protocol head

Protocol head

DB

DB

DB

Legacy proxy request

Cross-site OWA
legacy
redirect
proxy request
request

Outlook Web Apps Server connectivity

flow
1. Exchange uses discovery URL to ask
OWAS which files types it can view and
edit
2. OWAS returns table of supported file
types
3. User opens mail with attachment that
matches one of the file types OWAS
supports and OWA requests document
URLs for supported types
4. Exchange builds URL with Auth token,
app URL, and Attachment ID and returns
it to OWA
5. User clicks attachment within OWA and
spawns an iFrame on client to load the
URL returned by Exchange
6. OWAS retrieves document content from
Exchange

Exchange
2016

3
4

OWA

1 2 6

5
7

Office Web Apps

Server

Namespace
planning principles

Exchange namespace planning

Exchange 2016 no longer needs all the
namespaces that Exchange 2010 required
Two namespace models you can deploy
Bound model
Unbound model

Can still deploy regional namespaces to

control traffic
Can still have specific namespaces for
protocols
Leverage split-DNS to minimize namespaces

Bound model
Sue
(somewhere in NA)

DNS Resolution

west VIP

east.contoso.com
west.contoso.co
DNS Resolution
m

east VIP

DAG1

Active

Passive

Passive

Active

DAG2

Jane
(somewhere in

NA)

Unbound model
Sue

mail.contoso.com

(somewhere in
NA)

DNS resolution

Round robin between # of VIPs

VIP #1
DAG

DAG

VIP #2

Load balancing Exchange

Like 2013, Exchange 2016 does not require
session affinity at the load balancing layer
For a given protocol session, MBX now maintains a 1:1 relationship with
the server hosting the users data

Remember to configure health probes to

monitor healthcheck.htm, otherwise LB
and MA will be out of sync
Load balancer configuration and health
probes will factor into namespace design
Single Namespace / Layer 7 (No Session Affinity) is the preferred approach

Exchange connection management

Recommendation is to use one of two types
Round robin
Least connections

Least connections has fast convergence time

Least connections can lead to server
instability if
least server in the pool is inundated with
requests
Use slow start feature to mitigate this

Round robin has slow convergence time with

Single namespace/layer 4
MBX
health check

OWA
ECP

mail.contoso.com
autodiscover.contoso.
com

Layer 4LB

USER

EWS
EAS
OAB
RPC
MAP
I
Auto
D

Single namespace/layer 7 (no session

affinity)
MBX
health check

OWA
ECP

mail.contoso.com
autodiscover.contoso.
com

Layer 7LB

USER

EWS
EAS
OAB
RPC
MAP
I
Auto
D

Health check
executes against
each virtual
directory

Multiple namespaces/layer 4
USER

MBX
mail.contoso.com

OWA

ecp.contoso.com

ECP

ews.contoso.com

oab.contoso.com
oa.contoso.com
mapi.contoso.com
autodiscover.contoso.
com

Layer 4LB

eas.contoso.com

EWS
EAS
OAB
RPC
MAP
I
Auto
D

Exchange load balancing options

WHOS
IT FOR?

Generalist IT admin

Those with
increased network
flexibility

Those who want

to maximize
server availability

TRADEOFFS

Plus(es):
+ Simple, fast, no
affinity LB
+ Single, unified
namespace
+ Minimal networking
skillset

Plus(es):
+ Simple, fast, no affinity
LB
+ Per protocol availability

Plus(es):
+ Per protocol
availability
+ Single, unified
namespace

Minus(es):
FUNCTIONALITY
Per server availability

Minus(es):
One namespace per
appprotocol
One VIP per protocol

Minus(es):
SSL termination at LB
Requires increase
networking skillset
SIMPLICITY

OWAS namespace planning and load

balancing
Always deploy a
mail.contoso.com

separate namespace for

OWAS
For site resilience, follow
a bound namespace
model for OWAS
Even when Exchange leverages an
unbound namespace

Wes
t

mail VIP

East

mail VIP

DAG

OWAS

OWAS

Namespace manipulation during

datacenter activation is not required

Requires persistence at
the load balancer

owaswest.contoso.com

owaseast.contoso.com

The 2016 preferred

The only on-premises architecture we want you to
deploy
architecture

Preferred architecture
Namespace design

For a site resilient datacenter pair, a single

namespace / protocol is deployed across
both datacenters
autodiscover.contoso.com
HTTP: mail.contoso.com
IMAP: imap.contoso.com
SMTP: smtp.contoso.com

For Outlook Web Apps Server, a namespace is

deployed per datacenter
Load balancer configuration
For Exchange VIPs: no session affinity, one VIP/datacenter,
per-protocol health checking
For OWAS VIPs: session affinity

Round robin, geo-DNS, or other solutions

areused to distribute Exchange traffic equally

DC1

mail
VIP

DC2

mail
VIP

Preferred architecture
DAG design

Each datacenter should be its own Active

Directory site
Increase DAG size density before creating new
DAGs

DC1

mail
VIP

DAG

DAG configuration
Unbound, symmetrical DAG model spanning across
datacenters
No administrative access point
Single network for replication and client traffic
Utilize a third datacenter or Azure for Witness server
placement, if possible

Database configuration
Deploy four copies, two copies in each datacenter
Distribute active copies across all servers in the DAG

DC3/Azure
Witnes
s
Server

DC2

mail
VIP

Preferred architecture
Server design

Servers are deployed on

commodity hardware
Dual-socket systems only (20-24 cores total, mid-range
processors)
Up to 196GB of memory

All servers handle both client

connectivity and mailbox data
JBOD storage
Large capacity7.2k SAS disks
Battery-backed cache controller (75/25)
Multiple databases/volume
AutoReseed with hot spare
Data volumes are formatted withReFS
Data volumes are encrypted with BitLocker

mail VIP
DAG

Preferred architecture
Sue
(somewhere in
NA)

DNS Resolution

na VIP

DAG

na.contoso.com
mail.contoso.co
eur.contoso.co
m
DNS Resolution
m
na VIP

eur VIP

DAG

Jane
(somewhere
in Europe)

eur VIP

Large mailboxes for the win!

Large mailbox size 100 GB+

TIME

ITEMS

MAILBOX SIZE

Aggregate mailbox = primary mailbox +

archive mailbox + recoverable items
12 years of mail (minimum)
1 million items/folder

1 day

150

11 MB

1 month

3300

242 MB

1 year

39000

2.8 GB

2 years

78000

5.6 GB

4 years

156000

11.2 GB

Increased knowledge worker

productivity
Eliminate or reduce PST reliance
Eliminate or reduce third-party
archive solutions
Outlook 2013+ allows you to
control OST size!
Gives more options around mailbox deployments

Summary
Building block architecture provides
flexibility in load balancing, namespace
planning, and high availability
Exchange 2016 coexistence rocks
Take advantage of large, low-cost mailboxes
by utilizing large capacity 7.2k RPM disks
Simpler is better!

Sessions to attend
BRK2189
BRK3102
BRK3125
BRK3129
BRK3138
BRK3147
BRK3160
BRK3163
BRK3173
BRK3178
BRK3180
BRK3186
BRK3206
BRK4105
BRK4115

Desktop Outlook: Evolved and Redefined

Experts Unplugged: Exchange Server High Availability and Site Resilience
High Availability and Site Resilience: Learning from the Cloud and Field
Deploying Exchange Server 2016
Exchange Design Concepts and Best Practices
Meeting Complex Security Requirements for Publishing Exchange
Mail Flow and Transport Deep Dive
Making Managed Availability Easier to Monitor and Troubleshoot
Experts Unplugged: Exchange Server Deployment and Architecture
Exchange on IaaS: Concerns, Tradeoffs, and Best Practices
Tools and Techniques for Exchange Performance Troubleshooting
Behind the Curtain: Running Exchange Online
Exchange Storage for Insiders: Its ESE
Under the hood with DAGs
Advanced Exchange Hybrid Topologies

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