1. In a Exchange 2007 / Outlook 2007 only environment, what role, if any, do the virtual directories circled in red (below) play? http://umxo8g.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pR7gH9q-Z_CVS_ZENmJeRDMKL95wsAhjFfnJ-vdACOk6G1DOXkZEBgeLGM4L32UIJh7kgsgrSq8TCUreT_k0_FbmdCj3Wk-QI/Autodiscover1.jpgI believe they are simply "legacy"directories for compatibility with Outlook 200/3 users, for example, correct? 2. What is the role of the EWS directory? Exchange Web Services, right? Doesn't this manage: - Availability - (relates to the calendar, shows when person has appointment)- OOF (Out of Office)- OAB ??? OK, but OAB has it's own virtual directory as well (the folder).Is there a reason for that?(just trying to understand so I can better troubleshoot when I have to)Thank you

Hi, Yes EWS VD is for Exchange 2007 Web Services, Availability service and OOF but not for OAB. Other ExchWeb and Exchange are VDs for legacy servers ex2003 and ex2000. More details are here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998849(EXCHG.80).aspx OAB directory is used for Web based OAB distribution for OL 2007. This is a new feature in Ex2007. Previous OL versions download the OAB from public folders, which are hosted on Mailbox server, and Web based OAB distribution is available in CAS role of Ex2007 Regards,Laeeq Qazi|Team Lead(Exchange + Sharepoint + BES + DynamicsCRM) www.HostingController.com

I'll consider your response as an answer (and the link useful), but first I'd like to followup before marking it as such (so it is not ignored because apparently already answered).I see here...http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124509(EXCHG.80).aspxthat Test-OutlookWebServices includes:The following code example verifies the service information that is returned to the Outlook 2007 client from the Autodiscover service for a user who is named monika@contoso.com. The code example verifies information for the following services:- Availability service- Outlook Anywhere- Offline Address Book- Unified MessagingAnd also (at the very top of the article):Use the Test-OutlookWebServices cmdlet to verify the Autodiscover service settings for Microsoft Outlook...So are all these services considered web services?- Autodiscover- Availability service (OK, consensus here)- Outlook Anywhere- Offline Address Book (No?)- Unified Messaging- OOFI'm guessing there is some distinction between EXCHANGE and OUTLOOK web services?Could someone from MS clarify?

that Test-OutlookWebServices includes:The following code example verifies the service information that is returned to the Outlook 2007 client from the Autodiscover service for a user who is named monika@contoso.com. The code example verifies information for the following services:- Availability service- Outlook Anywhere- Offline Address Book- Unified MessagingAnd also (at the very top of the article):Use the Test-OutlookWebServices cmdlet to verify the Autodiscover service settings for Microsoft Outlook...So are all these services considered web services?- Autodiscover- Availability service (OK, consensus here)- Outlook Anywhere- Offline Address Book (No?)- Unified Messaging- OOFI'm guessing there is some distinction between EXCHANGE and OUTLOOK web services?Could someone from MS clarify? Yes there is a clear difference in Exchange and Outlook Web Services, but little overlapping exists as EWS VD is used by Outlook too for Availability service. Exchange Web Services is a single entry point to manage Exchange client related features such as retireving Emails, managing contacts, calenders etc. It is exposed through EWS virtual Directory on the Exchange 2007/10 CAS server. This web service is openly available for Exchange Clien-side Programmers. Outlook Web Services are the Sevices which OL client needs to manage different mailbox related features and are provided through different VDs on CAS server like AutoDiscover, EWS, Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync, Unified Messaging, OAB etc. OL is configured either via AutoDiscover service (we give email address and pwd and then OL gets all OL Webservices URLS using a single entry point) OR manually by entering the host name of Outlook Anywhere server (and MBX server too if it is a separate server). So both Autodiscover or OAW returns some Urls, so that Outlook connect to those URLs and get different mbx related info, e.g OAB VD returns the content of the OAB of the mbx, EWS is contacted to get Availability information, and ActiveSyn VD (URL) is used to configure mailbox connection in ActiveSync enabled mobile devices. So these all VDs have InternalUrl and ExternalUrl properties which are URLs to connect to these web services internally or externally over internet. Hope this clarifies more, but for more understanding u have to research over it. Plz have a look into this article too. http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2007/management-administration/configuring-exchange-server-2007-web-services-urls.html Regards,Laeeq Qazi|Team Lead(Exchange + Sharepoint + BES + DynamicsCRM) www.HostingController.com