I’m in the process of spec’ing out a new exchange server and could use some advice. We have about 20 users and they need to store a large amount of email (50K – 100K+ items per mailbox) and be able to very quickly search through all these emails. Outlook is accessed via Terminal Server so Cached Exchange Mode isn’t used (all searches are performed on exchange server) Currently I’m looking at 4xSAS 15K RPM hard drives in a RAID 10 configuration w/ 16GB of RAM, Quad Core Xeon, Running SBS 2008 (Exchange 2007). The ultimate goal is for very fast searching. Any thoughts on specs for the new server, budget for the box is 10K. *Currently our “real” problem is the under performing RAID array. We are using GFI Mail Archiver & Mail Retention Policies to keep the server running semi-smoothly but would like to eliminate both. The server is next in rotation to be replaced (Two 3Ghz Xeons, 4GB memory, SBS 2003, 4 Scsi 320 drives (2x RAID1, 2xRAID0)) Thanks

Why don't you go for Exchange 2010. With that you can use SATA disks which are very cheap considered to SAS 15k. The memory specs for your new servers seems OK, but you can use the Exchange calculator: http://msexchangeteam.com/files/12/attachments/entry453145.aspxElie B. MCITP: EMEA|EA|SA Blog: http://blog.elieb.info

Your going to get a performance hit no matter what with that size of folders. http://almostdailytech.com/2008/10/09/recommended-mailbox-size-limits-in-exchange-2003/Mark Morowczynski|MCT| MCSE 2003:Messaging, Security|MCITP:ES, SA,EA|MCTS:Windows Mobile Admin|Security+|http://almostdailytech.com

“With Exchange Server 2003, the recommended maximum item count per folder was 5,000 items. In Exchange 2007, improvements in I/O, larger page size, and increased cache can help enable an increase in the recommended maximum item count. With properly architected hardware, an acceptable user experience can still be maintained with item counts as high as 20,000 items” ---------------Refer to <Understanding the Performance Impact of High Item Counts and Restricted Views> Just don’t put all items in one folder. By the way, Exchange 2010 has increased the limit to 100,000James Luo TechNet Subscriber Support (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/ms788697.aspx) If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com

We were planning on using Small Business Server 2008 which ships with Exchange 2007, is it possible to use Exchange 2010 w/ SBS?

It hasn’t been decided if the exchange 2010 will contain with the next version of SBS server Resources: Exchange Server 2010 Information Protection and Control (06-29-09) Questions and Answers LogJames Luo TechNet Subscriber Support (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/ms788697.aspx) If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com

We have about 20 users and they need to store a large amount of email (50K – 100K+ items per mailbox) and be able to very quickly search through all these emails. Outlook is accessed via Terminal Server so Cached Exchange Mode isn’t used (all searches are performed on exchange server) Currently I’m looking at 4xSAS 15K RPM hard drives in a RAID 10 configuration w/ 16GB of RAM, Quad Core Xeon, Running SBS 2008 (Exchange 2007). The ultimate goal is for very fast searching. Budget for the box is 10K. *Currently our “real” problem is the under performing RAID array. We are using GFI Mail Archiver & Mail Retention Policies to keep the server running semi-smoothly but would like to eliminate both. The server is next in rotation to be replaced (Two 3Ghz Xeons, 4GB memory, SBS 2003, 4 Scsi 320 drives (2x RAID1, 2xRAID0)) Perhaps you in addition should asked this question in the SBS 2008 news group:https://connect.microsoft.com/sbs08/content/content.aspx?ContentID=8333SBS 2008 is a disk and memory hug. You must also take the other SBS services and the usage pattern of those in consideration.Just my thoughts: You should be fine with those specs for SBS 2008. Perhaps you should consider RAID 1 for the system volume. Take a look here:Disk Management Concepts:Allocating disk spacehttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc527518(WS.10).aspxGuess you should be fine with 16 GB RAM. Microsoft's recommended 6 GB to 8 GB is a bit low.We are two medium and one heavy user with 8 GB, I would have liked 12 GB.Hardware requirementshttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc527594(WS.10).aspxFor moving from SBS 2003, either check out Microsoft whitepapers or Swing MigrationSBS Swing Migrationhttp://www.sbsmigration.com/Migrate to Windows Small Business Server 2008 from Windows Small Business Server 2003 Updated: November 19, 2009http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc546034(WS.10).aspxMCTS: Messaging | MCSE: S+M | Small Business Specialist