Exchange Server 2013 Hybrid Deployments

 
 
Posted: Posted in: Admin & Support, Bulletins, Hardware, Microsoft Office 365, Software

A new METHOD IT solution designed for organizations of all sizes who want to kick-start a move to the cloud and use Microsoft Exchange Server on-premises in the traditional manner for complete control.

What Is It?

A hybrid deployment has the seamless appearance of a single Exchange organization while using both an on-premises Exchange Server 2013 organization and the cloud-based Exchange Online in Microsoft Office 365.

The starting point is a slimmed-down version of Microsoft Office 365 focused on Exchange and not including Sharepoint Server Online, Lync Online or Office Online (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote).

Often this is a stepping stone to Office 365 Hybrid and helps control costs over a period of time.

hybrid-exchange-high-level-architecture

Why Go Hybrid?

This method gives your organization flexible options for a measured movement towards enjoying the benefits of cloud technology. This is enhanced by our hybrid deployment with mailboxes that are both on-premises and online. Messaging functionality across the on-premises deployment and the cloud deployment is seamless.

This solution will limit user disruption when mailboxes are smoothly moved across environments, and let users share calendars and schedule meetings (meeting requests), regardless of the environment their mailbox is in (cloud or on-premise).

A hybrid deployment can also include single sign-on, which lets users access all on-premises and cloud resources with their existing Active Directory credentials.

Mailboxes can be easily protected with anti-malware and anti-spam filtering and email, calendar, and contacts can be accessed across all your devices including smartphones and tablets. This allows you to work smarter, anywhere, with hosted email for business and move to the cloud on your terms.

Sample Flow

Steps undertaken by METHOD IT*

  • Register your organization with Exchange Online Hybrid
  • Configure Exchange Online Hybrid settings
  • Deploy DirSync to synchronise Active Directory users
  • Move mailboxes from on-premise Exchange to the cloud if necessary
  • Set up email archiving for executive users
  • Deploy Exchange Online Hybrid apps to all users
  • Training presentation for users to take advantages of Exchange Online Hybrid features

* This process may vary according to your organization’s needs and is fully customizable. Contact us for a free quote.

Features and Benefits

hybrid-exchange

Secure and reliable

Exchange Online Protection provides a layer of protection features that are deployed across a global network of data centers, helping you to simplify the administration of your messaging environments.

  • Eliminate threats before they reach the corporate firewall with multi-layered, real-time anti-spam and multi-engine anti-malware protection.
  • Protect your company’s IP reputation by using separate outbound delivery pools for high-risk email.
  • Five financially backed SLAs attest to a high quality of service, including protection from 100% of known viruses and 99% of spam.
  • Globally load-balanced network of datacenters helps to ensure a 99.999% network uptime.

Maintain the latest defenses against malware and spam with a service that handles hundreds of millions of messages around the world every day and is updated to address new malware and spam threats quickly.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) capabilities prevent users from mistakenly sending sensitive information to unauthorized people, while informing them of internal compliance policies.

Safeguard your data by hosting it in geographically distributed data centers, with continuous data backup, premier disaster recovery capabilities, and a team of security experts monitoring Exchange Online around the clock.

Deliver reliability, availability, and performance with a guaranteed 99.9% uptime, financially-backed service level agreement.

Easy to Control

Manage your organization efficiently with the Exchange Administration Center, an easy-to-use, web-based interface.

Run In-Place eDiscovery across Exchange data, from a single interface through the eDiscovery Center.

Mobile device policies let you create approved mobile device lists, enforce PIN lock, and remove confidential company data from lost phones.

IT-level phone support is available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Easy to maintain

Automatic patching eliminates the time and effort of maintaining and servicing your email system.

Keep all your important data in one place by giving users an In-Place Archive with a native, well-integrated user experience.

Consistent and secure anywhere access to information on all major browsers and touch-enabled devices that your users depend on.

Seamless integration with Outlook so your users can enjoy a rich, familiar email experience with offline access.

Common Concerns

Can I search across all the information in my organization from a single place?

Yes. You can use the eDiscovery Center to search across email, calendar items, contacts, instant messages, and documents, without impacting user productivity.

How can I ensure that information in Exchange is retained for a period of time?

Time-based In-Place Hold lets you retain email data immutably for a time period that you specify. This allows organizations to meet internal and external regulatory needs with regards to preservation of data.

Can Exchange protect the organizational information on mobile devices?

Yes. Exchange provides remote wipe capabilities for devices connected with Exchange ActiveSync. For organizations that want to make sure no data is stored outside of their organization, the Outlook Web App provides an experience designed for web browser access that stores no organizational data on the mobile device.

How can I protect sensitive data and inform users of internal compliance policies with Exchange?

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) features identify, monitor, and protect sensitive data through deep content analysis. Exchange offers built-in DLP policies based on regulatory standards and classifications such as PII and PCI, and is extensible to support other policies that are important to your business. Additionally, the new PolicyTips in Outlook inform users about policy violations before sensitive data is sent. These features help you keep your organization safe from users mistakenly sending sensitive company information to unauthorized people.

How does Exchange protect my organization from spam and malware?

Exchange provides an internet-based service that protects your organization’s inbound and outbound email from spam, viruses, phishing scams, and email policy violations. Financially backed SLAs attest to a high quality of service. Exchange Server 2013 also includes built-in antivirus protection.

Cloud Servers vs. Physical Servers

Cloud Servers

  • Less than half the maintenance time of physical servers
  • Uptime is better overall

Physical Servers

  • Average lifespan is five years
  • Limited upgrade options

Uptime Comparison

Office 365 – Uptime Exchange On-premise – Uptime
Uptime:
99.99%
364.635D
364D:15H:14M:24S		 Uptime:
99.657534%
363.75D
363D:18H:00M:00S
Downtime:
0.1%
8.76H
000D:8H:45M:36S		 Downtime:
0.342466%
1.25D
001D:06H:00M:00S
Source: Computerworld – Microsoft’s Office 365 uptime exceeds 99.9% Source: Official Google Blog – What we learned from 1 million businesses in the cloud

Microsoft has got the uptime numbers to back up just how stable 365 is proving to be. On-premise Exchange servers are maintenance heavy, aren’t always managed according to labor-intensive best practices, and usually don’t have the expansive infrastructure that providers like Microsoft can offer at a low cost, in scale. This explains why in-house Exchange systems average an uptime of only 99.66 percent, while Office 365 is hitting 99.9 percent month after month.

Total cost of ownership comparison

hybrid-exchange-figure-on-premise-vs-saas-cost

 

Future Options

Introducing Office 365

Office 365 gives you the familiarity and power of Office with the flexibility of the cloud. With Office in the cloud, your applications and files are with you wherever you go, whether you’re working offline at your desktop, online, or on one of your devices. Edit files at your PC or Mac. Email or share files from your tablet. Join an online meeting from your phone. What you need is accessible from anywhere, right up front, and always up to date.

Office 365 is an enterprise-grade service, designed to meet the most rigorous requirements for security, privacy, reliability, and manageability. Hosted in Microsoft’s secure, $9 billion network of state-of-the-art data centres, it brings together Microsoft’s most trusted productivity solutions — Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, and Microsoft Lync Online — with Microsoft Office across platforms and devices.

Find out more about Office 365 »

Free Quote

  • Think your organization could benefit from an Exchange Server 2013 Hybrid solution?
  • Got any further questions or concerns about this or other IT solutions for your business in Asia?

Contact us now for a free quote »

About Us

METHOD IT is a certified Microsoft partner, servicing international businesses in the Asia-Pacific region from our offices in Tokyo and Hong Kong. We specialize in the setup and migration of Microsoft infrastructure with bilingual support. We offer a wide range of tailor-made Private Cloud, Datacenter Hosting, IT Management, IT Admin and Support, and Back Office Systems solutions.

Find out more about us or get in touch.

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