There are three options to choose from when using a Microsoft Exchange Server and it is to your advantage to understand the benefits of one over the other. These are self hosted, private and shared installation option.
Many large industries and companies have Microsoft exchange server as their mail server and usually host their own exchange server. This is due to the cost associated with installing and maintaining exchange servers. Large companies have the resources to implement and foresee the setup of the hardware and maintenance issues. Self hosting can be a good option especially if the company has more centralized users and a well trained IT staff to respond to downtimes.
Self hosting an exchange server is expensive and are not practical solution for companies with less than a hundred users.
Microsoft Exchange environment requires two dedicated Active Directory Domain Controllers and at least one dedicated Exchange Server to properly function. The cost quickly piles up as each of the software requires a separate license. One is licensed for Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and the mail server must be licensed for Microsoft Exchange. You are also required to obtain license for each user of both Windows Server and Exchange Server. A 20 user system can costs between $5000 & $6000 in licensing fees alone and that does not includes hardware and implementation costs. It is hard to conceive you could get the entire system installed for less than $6000 even with a less robust hardware system.
The cost stipulated is just the basic messaging system not including other components needed for proper functioning in a real time environment.
Other components such as web hosting, anti virus, firewall and other security measures like data backup and archiving.
To put it mildly, one should have a fair estimate of at least $10,000 to have the system run at the bare essential.
For large companies with many users, self hosting can be a viable option. The greater the number of users, the greater the cost is divided among the users. The email accounts of many users can spread the equipment and licensing cost, significantly reducing the cost per user. Not only that, large companies usually have well trained IT staff to handle the maintenance and proper functioning of an email system throughout the year.
For those companies who cannot afford the high cost of installing and maintaining an exchange server, there are several shared hosted exchange servers that are commercially available. This type of hosting provides large Microsoft Exchange Server infrastructures capable of supporting thousands of users. Commercial Exchange servers offer small companies the capabilities of a large scale exchange server setup of big companies at a fraction of the cost. Exchange server providers usually charge per user account. For a nominal fee per user, their plans include a specific amount of storage for each user account per month.
A shared hosted Exchange Server environment has many benefits. Firstly, the operating cost is much lower. Large enterprise can keep up with the cost of maintaining and operating an exchange server due to the large volume of users it handles. The cost is distributed among the users and the greater the number of users, the more economical the server will be. Small companies will truly benefit from a shared hosting. Most companies that offers shared hosting fees charged a flat rate to its customers. One advantage of having an exchange server over free email servers is the support given by Microsoft and access to services like Blackberry Enterprise Server and Good Link Server.
However, Shared Hosted Exchange has also its share of drawbacks. Depending on the number of users, email accounts might have a slight delay since the bandwidth is spread across multiple users of the exchange server. There are also server farms that linked the exchange server into many different servers and this might mean a slight delay in receiving and delivering mails.
You can forget about configuring these types of servers since most Exchange server companies have a cookie cutter approach and disallow any further customization by its users. There are a lot of great plugins and add-ons for the exchange server and works well with its application client outlook. Getting other email client to work can be a real problem especially if you are on a shared hosting environment. Features such as anti-spam plugins and other protocols are useless at this point since administrators of an exchange server have a one-for-all approach preventing users to further enhance their mail -collaboration experience
Basic web control panels that are limited to the most basic chores are only what is available. Using Active Directory Users Management system and other integrated management tools are restricted and can not be configured.
One great Exchange server feature that will be sorely missed is the Single Sign-on. A single-sign on feature means that the users’ login credentials for their Active Directory user account and their email account can be used interchangeably. This is a great setup since the workflow is much simplified and organized. Unfortunately, Shared Hosted Exchange does not offer this type of integration.
To get around the limitations of shared exchange server hosting, web hosting companies offer a cross breed between the two. It is called the Privately Hosted Exchange, the third installation option. You can get the benefits of Self Hosted Privately Hosted Exchange at an affordable price. This is done by using a virtual server that emulates the process for a fully loaded exchange server and yet resides on the same bandwidth as shared hosting thus preserving cost. Every customer is arranged with a complete messaging system, including two dedicated Active Directory Servers and a dedicated Exchange server. Private Exchange hosting server is also offered at a fixed monthly price.
Access to management utilities can be delegated to users assigned by customers. With a private exchange server hosting plan, customization to every aspect of Active Directory and Exchange Server is allowed much like that of a self hosted server. All the restrictions to shared server are lifted such as plugins and other third party applications.
Dedicated virtual private hosting exchange server can support single sign on and VPN. If you have an existing active directory structure and wish to incorporate your system to a PHE, it can be done by joining the active directory object to the host’s datacenter. These migration is as easy as entering a few information on your part and a few click of the mouse.
