It’s easy to criticize the appearance and functionality of
EAC by saying that EMC was so much better and more powerful. This
statement is doubtful in any case, but the real point is that MMC-based
consoles and the operating model they embrace, which is to log on to
servers to perform management tasks, is rapidly becoming an outdated
mode for Windows server administration, especially in large
deployments. Microsoft has acknowledged that this is the case by
incorporating so much potential for automation through Microsoft
Windows PowerShell in Windows Server 2012.
Exchange adopted
Windows PowerShell as the basis for management much earlier than any
other Microsoft server application and then went on to introduce
browser-based management. EAC combines the two procedures as shown in Figure 1.
This console is different in terms of layout and capability from
previous consoles, but it is capable of running on many types of
devices, from Apple iPads to Surface RT tablets to Android smart
phones. The parts of EAC that aren’t quite as functional as previous
consoles will improve through future software releases, just as any
other piece of software improves over time. In the interim, EMS is
always available to handle the most difficult and complex tasks.
Figure 1 shows how EAC organizes its view of management of the Exchange organization into the following major parts:
Recipients. Management of mailboxes, groups, contacts, room mailboxes, shared mailboxes, and mailbox migration (move).
Permissions. Management of RBAC-controlled administrative and user roles and Outlook Web App policies.
Compliance Management. Management
of in-place hold (for mailboxes), discovery management, retention tags
and policies, mailbox and administrator auditing, data loss prevention,
and journaling.
Organization. Management
of federated trusts for sharing with other organizations, third-party
apps for use with Outlook Web App, and address lists.
Protection. Management of the Exchange 2013 anti-malware filter.
Mail Flow. Management
of transport rules, delivery reports, accepted domains, email address
policies, receive connectors, and send connectors.
Mobile. Management of ActiveSync quarantined devices, device access rules, and ActiveSync mailbox access policies.
Public folders. Management
of modern public folders and public folder mailboxes. Management of
traditional public folders is done through EMS or the Public Folder
Management Console. You can’t install or create traditional public
folders if you haven’t used them prior to the deployment of Exchange
2013.
Unified Messaging. Management of dial plans and IP gateways.
Servers. Management
of Mailbox and Client Access Server (CAS), Database Availability Groups
(DAGs), databases, virtual directories, and Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
certificates.
Hybrid. Management of the connection between Exchange on-premises and Exchange Online (Office 365).
Like
EMC, EAC is capable of operating in a multi-forest environment,
assuming that the necessary trusts are in place to allow authenticated
cross-forest access.
Many
also prefer the way EAC presents information required to accomplish
tasks because they think the EAC approach is easier to understand than
the multistage wizard structure often employed by EMC. Building
transport rules is one example of when EAC is arguably easier to
understand than EMC.
Like EMC, there are always parts of
the administrative task list that can’t be handled through an option
presented through the graphical user interface (GUI). These tasks are
usually in the “rare and uncommon” category and require a reasonable
degree of product knowledge before they can be addressed. For example,
there’s no option to view mailboxes the Store has quarantined because
of a suspected corrupt item. Likewise, no option exists to run the
Store fix-up-in-place cmdlets to resolve minor logical corruptions in a
database’s tables. You might never find options for these tasks
presented through a GUI, if only because it’s a way of underlining that
you really need to know what you’re doing when you take risks.
