Currently I have Two Exchange 2003 BE servers in an active/passive cluster. I am installing two Exchange 2003 FE servers configured for load balancing. Users are currently point to the BE servers for OWA and Active Sync. I would like to go ahead and install and configure Exchange on the two FE servers but leave them out of production until I set an offical cutover date. Is it possibel to have the two servers waiting without effecting users access to OWA and Active Sync? Also, how would I get users to move from OWA and Active Sync on the BE to the FE? Any help or suggestions would be great.

Yes, you can go ahead and install 2 FE servers, it will not have any impact on users accessing owa/activesync from BE. To move the services from BE to FE you have to tell us how these services are currently published. Options can be:Change the publishing that is from internet if you are using some firewall like ISA then you will have to change the publishing rule or if you have some other firewall you'll have to change the rule to point to FE NLB IP. Or you may have to change the DNS entries to point to FE NLB IP.From internal NW change your webmail record for e.g. webmail.company.com to point to FE NLB IP.-V

Hi MyKul,Whether you have any further question based on V-beta's response?For more information regarding FE/BE configuration, you can refer to following articles:Front-End and Back-End Server Topology Guide for Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange 2000 Serverhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996980(EXCHG.65).aspxMike

Mike,I have read through the FE\BE Configuration Guide that you mention in your post.I do have more questions though.When I look at one of the front end servers I cannot figure out how to make the HTTP exchange virtual server on the front end talk to the back end server. Is there something that I a missing?

Hi,I don't think that any such configuration exists. You should have same directory structure on the front-end and back-end, which by default is there, if you have not made any customizations that is creating additional virtual directories etc.Rest Exchange will take care. It will redirect the HTTP traffic to appropriate virtual directory on backend server.-V

Hi,Please understand that the Front End Server is able to query AD to locate the home server (Backend Server)which contains the user's mailbox. Then, the Front End Server will proxy the request to Backend Server through HTTP. Would you please let me know whether any error is encountered when you attemps to access user malbox by usng OWA though Front-End Server?Mike

Mike,Thats what I understood from what I have read but I was getting confused about configuration setting while reading the MS Exchange 2003 Resource kit. On the cd they have examples of setting up an FE\BE environment and a few configuration steps have confused me. I will test the OWA mailbox access and post my findings.

When I try to access OWA from the new front end server I get and error message stating that 'Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site https://exchfe/exchange/ Operation aborted'.Also, when I look at the Authentication settings for HTTP I noticed that everything is grayed out and I am not able to edit the settings. Is is supposed to be like this by default?

Hi, Thanks for your response. Regarding the when I look at the Authentication settings for HTTP I noticed that everything is grayed out and I am not able to edit the settings. Is it supposed to be like this by default? I would like to explain that it is by default on the Front End Server after installing Certificate and enable Form Based Authentication. Regarding the error encountered when accessing OWA through Front End Server: 1. I would like to know when the error is encountered, when accessing the URL or after providing credential? 2. Please let me know whether you access the URL on Front End Server directly. I suggest you access OWA URL on the FE server directly to bypass firewall. 3. On the Front End Server, please access the https://localhost/exchange to check whether the issue persists 4. Please check the IIS log and Application Log on the Front End server for any related issue Mike

Mike,I did some more reading after I last posted and I figured out why the FE was grayed out. Thanks for helping me out with that.The error is encountered after logging on. I can get to the FE's website, enter my credentials and log on. Then the page goes to OWA and shows a scrambled page that resembles OWA. Nothing populates on the screen and shows the message 'Loading..'. I have tried this from the URL and directly on the server with the same results.I looked at the IIS log but I do not understand what the log is telling me. I looked at the Application log in the Event Viewer but there were no errors. Do you have any suggestions for troubleshooting?

Hi, Please check whether following two articles apply to your problem: Users receive a "Loading" message when they use OWA to access their mailbox after you apply a hotfix or a service pack to Exchange Server 2003 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/910119/en-us Troubleshooting OWA when the contents frame displays Loading http://support.microsoft.com/kb/280823/en-us If the issue persists, please capture a screenshot to me when the issue occurs at v-mishen@microsoft.com Mike

Yes. After some searching I found that the FE's OS was not up to date. After installing Exchange on the FE's I installed Exchange service pack 2 and then ran theupdate process from the MS website. So I am at a loss as to why the servers were not as up to date as the backend servers. I had to download a hotfix from MS to get the FE's to get to the same level as the BE's. After that I was able to access OWA internally and externally.The only issue I am having now is that when I try to access the FE externally using active sync I get a certificate error. I am currently looking into this issue.

Hi, I am glad to know the FE/BE OWA access is able to work after upgrading the Front End server. Regarding the certificate error when using activesync, as it is a seperate issue, I recommend that you submit a new thread in order to have more Exchange Experts to help you troubleshooting the issue. Thanks for your understanding.Mike

Thanks for your help.