Microsoft-certified Consultants

Introduction to Microsoft Exchange Server Subscription Edition
Microsoft Exchange Server Subscription Edition (SE), formerly branded Microsoft Exchange Server 2019, is an on-premises version of Exchange that supports hybrid deployments with Microsoft 365 Exchange Online. A headline enhancement is support for Windows Server 2019 Core, which minimizes the surface area exposed to malware attack and eliminates unneeded services that waste resources. Improvements over legacy Exchange Server 2016 include enhanced security and compliance, higher performance and scale, and a variety of new email client features.

The Mailbox and Edge Transport server roles as well as management tools for Exchange SE require Windows Server 2019 Standard or Datacenter. Also, Exchange Server SE no longer includes the Unified Messaging (UM) role, and so does not provide voicemail or auto attendant services. If you are upgrading from Exchange 2013 or Exchange 2016 and have deployed UM services, Microsoft recommends that you move to Microsoft Cloud Voicemail Service in Microsoft 365. Skype for Business 2019 uses this voice messaging service for Exchange SE mailboxes. In general, migration to Exchange SE can require an all-out modernization effort.

Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can assist you with any facet of your migration to Exchange SE from Exchange Server 2016, Exchange 2013, or from other legacy versions of Exchange Server. Progent offers online and onsite expertise for solution design; implementing hybrid architectures; building test lab environments; deploying high availability technology including hardware load balancing (HLB) and high availability (HA) DAG groups; reviewing server and CAL licensing compliance; configuring host systems based on Windows Server 2019; setting up Windows Hyper-V virtualization; updating your voicemail services; and calculating storage requirements for VMs, databases and logs. Progent's Exchange consultants are available to provide on-demand support to help you resolve an occasional technical impasse or Progent can deliver end-to-end project management or co-management services to make sure your Exchange SE migration is carried out on schedule and within budget.

Exchange Server SE Architecture
Exchange Server SE is built on the streamlined architecture introduced by Exchange Server 2016. This design consolidates transport services, mailbox databases, and client access services in the Mailbox server. This dramatically simplifies migration, deployment, scale, administration, and troubleshooting. The optional Edge Transport Server role includes filtering agents that allow your perimeter network to manage Internet-facing mail flow and protect against data leakage, spam and viruses.

Exchange SE Mailbox and Edge Transport servers and management tools require Standard or Datacenter versions of Windows Server 2019 or later. To manage these servers from a Windows client requires Windows 10 or Windows 11. (Exchange 2016 can be run on Windows Server 2012 R2 and managed with Windows 8.1 or later.) Progent can provide online or onsite Windows Server 2022 integration expertise, Windows Server 2019 consulting, Windows 11 planning and migration consulting and Windows 10 integration expertise to help you modernize your messaging environment.

Security and Performance Improvements in Exchange Server SE
Exchange SE is optimized for running on Windows Server 2019 Core, which provides the most secure environment for hosting Exchange SE. You can also run Exchange SE on Windows Server 2019 with Desktop Experience, although this option exposes a larger attack service for malware. Out of the box, Exchange Server SE uses Transport Layer Security protocol version 1.2 (TLS 1.2) and removes legacy ciphers and hashing algorithms. Several standards organizations mandate the use of TLS 1.2. Another security improvement is the ability in Exchange SE to prevent external users from accessing the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) and the Exchange Management Shell. This means you can require that the administration of Exchange can only be performed from within the security perimeter of your network.

For improved performance and scale, Exchange Server SE can utilize 48 processor cores (vs. 24 for Exchange 2016) and 256GB of RAM (vs. 192GB for Exchange 2016). Recommended minimum in-box memory has been increased to 128GB. The proven search infrastructure used by Exchange Online has been ported to Exchange Server SE to deliver higher search performance and faster database failovers, support larger files for indexing, and simplify management. Exchange Server SE also allows larger disk drives. To counter the increased latency associated with high-capacity spinning disks, the new MetaCacheDatabase (MCDB) feature of Exchange SE enables you to set up solid state disk (SSD) caching when you configure Database Availability Groups (DAGs). Based on technology developed for Exchange Online, MCDB can dramatically enhance the responsiveness of the end user experience. Performance is further improved by changes in Exchange SE algorithms that make more RAM available for caching active database copies. These improvements in Exchange Server SE make it possible to scale each server to support more users, integrate larger disk drives, and increase the responsiveness of many end-user operations.

Changes for Exchange Server SE Clients
Exchange SE supports Outlook 2013, 2016 and 2019. Improvements to the client experience include the Do-Not-Forward feature that allows only a meeting's organizer to invite additional attendees. Out-of-Office (OOF) options have also been expanded. In addition, a new Remove-CalendarEvents cmdlet allows admins to remove calendar events organized by an employee who has left the company.

Cloud Voicemail for Exchange Server SE
Exchange Server SE does not provide the Unified Messaging (UM) services incorporated in previous versions of Exchange. These services include voicemail and auto attendant. Skype for Business 2019 relies on Microsoft Cloud Voicemail Service to provide voice messaging functions for Exchange SE mailboxes. (Skype for Business 2019 continues to support Exchange UM services for Exchange 2013 and Exchange 2016.) Microsoft recommends that customers upgrading to Exchange SE migrate to Skype for Business Server 2019 and use Microsoft Cloud Voicemail Service. Exchange Server SE and Skype for Business 2019 can be configured in a hybrid architecture with a mix of Exchange SE and Exchange Online mailboxes so that both on-premises Exchange SE users and Exchange Online cloud users have full access to advanced voice messaging services.

This voice messaging solution offers voicemail answering and deposit; voice-to-text and text-to-voice transcription; voice mail access via Outlook or Skype for Business clients; voicemail management via the M365 portal; and hybrid support for Exchange mailboxes on premises or in the cloud. Management is simplified because you have a uniform set of control tools for both Exchange SE and Exchange Online mailboxes. Progent can help you follow best practices to configure a hybrid topology that allows all your Exchange users to connect to the Microsoft Cloud Voicemail service.

How Progent Can Help You Deploy and Maintain Exchange SE
Exchange 2003 has reached end of life. Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013 and Exchange 2016 have become legacy email platforms. Exchange Server SE, Windows Server 2019, Skype for Business 2019, and SharePoint 2019 have all been revamped with Microsoft's proven cloud technology and optimized for hybrid deployments. All this makes it prudent to consider modernizing your messaging and collaboration infrastructure. Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can assist you to evaluate the business advantages and technical hurdles associated with migrating to Exchange Server SE and related modern platforms; decide whether an on-premises, cloud, or hybrid architecture works best for your organization; plan and document a deployment strategy that makes efficient use of your current resources; and carry out a migration from your existing Exchange deployment to a modern messaging solution based on Exchange SE and/or Exchange Online.

Progent's certified Exchange consultants can help businesses of all sizes to follow leading practices for designing and implementing a cost-effective migration to Exchange SE from Exchange 2016, Exchange 2013, Exchange 2010, Exchange 2007, or Exchange 2003. Progent can provide a broad range of online and onsite services such as design review; architecture planning and documentation; setting up Windows Server 2019 Core to host Exchange SE; integrating Skype for Business 2019 and Microsoft Cloud Voicemail Service; preparing the schema, domain, and forest for Exchange Server 2019; designing and configuring Database Availability Groups (DAGs) and hardware load balancing (HLB) for high availability (HA) and rapid restore; setting up DirSync; updating the firewall, creating SSL certs and resolving SSL issues; configuring IIS; writing PowerShell scripts; and verifying mail flow.

Progent's certified Windows Server 2025 consultants, Skype for Business specialists, SharePoint 2019 consultants and Microsoft 365 integration experts can help you create modern, integrated collaboration solutions based on Exchange Server SE. To support mobility with Exchange SE, Progent can provide iPhone and iPad integration and Android phone and tablet consulting. Progent's load balancing consultants are experienced in implementing and debugging affordable technology from leading vendors such as Barracuda, Cisco, Citrix NetScaler, Coyote Point/Fortinet, Kemp Technologies, and NGINX.

Progent's disaster recovery and business continuity planning experts can assist you to design, deploy and test a disaster recovery strategy for Exchange SE based on multiple physical data centers or a mix of physical and cloud resources. Progent's certified cybersecurity consultants can design and enforce email security policies that comply with business and government standards. Progent's Cisco CCIE certified network consultants can assist you to plan, configure and debug an efficient, protected, and robust network infrastructure for your Exchange 2019 deployment. Progent has more than 20 years of experience working with Microsoft's Exchange platform and can help you adhere to industry best practices to proceed smoothly through the critical stages of coexistence, proof of concept, mailbox migration, technology retirement, debugging, training, and tuning.

Microsoft 365 Integration with Local Exchange
Microsoft allows you to create seamless hybrid ecosystems that integrate Microsoft 365 Exchange Online and local Exchange deployments. This permits you to have some mailboxes located on your physical datacenter or private cloud and other mailboxes hosted by Microsoft 365. Progent's Microsoft-certified Exchange consultants can assist you with any phase of designing, implementing and debugging your hybrid Exchange solution. Progent's Exchange specialists can provide as-needed support to help you resolve stubborn technical bottlenecks and also can provide comprehensive project management outsourcing or co-sourcing to make sure your hybrid Exchange initiative is completed on time and within budget. For details about Progent's online consulting services for hybrid Microsoft 365 and local Exchange environments, see Microsoft 365 integration solutions with on-premises Exchange.

Download Progent's Exchange SE Migration Support Datasheet
To download a PDF datasheet on Progent's migration consulting services for Microsoft Exchange SE, select:
Progent's Microsoft Exchange SE Migration Consulting Services Datasheet. (PDF - 170 KB)

Progent's Consulting Services for Microsoft Technology
For businesses of any size anywhere in the United States, Progent's Microsoft-authorized experts offer affordable online computer assistance and IT consulting services for the whole family of Microsoft .NET Enterprise Servers. Progent can provide Windows Server 2022 solution design and migration help, Windows Server 2019 migration consulting, Windows Server 2016 hybrid cloud solutions, Windows Server 2012 R2 migration help, Microsoft Windows 2008 Server expertise, and Windows 2003 Server maintenance. Progent's planning, integration, update, and consulting capabilities cover network design, deployment, and administration help for project management and documentation, local and remote IT help and network repair, Help Desk Outsourcing Support, comprehensive security consulting, full-service outsourcing, and ProSight Virtual Hosting.

Progent also can deliver a broad range of online desktop support and troubleshooting services including Windows 11 system design and migration support, Windows 10 integration consulting, Microsoft Windows 8.1 consulting expertise, Microsoft Windows 7 support, moving to 64-bit computing, Office and Microsoft 365 integration, and streamlining workstation deployment.

If your business requires urgent remote help from a Microsoft certified network expert, visit Progent's Urgent Remote Technical Support.

Find out more about Progent's Support for Microsoft Servers.

If you wish to contact Progent about consulting assistance for Exchange Server technology, phone 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.