Topic Last Modified: 2005-07-08

The Microsoft® Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool is a diagnostic tool that performs the following functions:

• It gathers configuration information from a Microsoft Exchange Server organization.
  
  
• It performs specific tests on the Exchange Server organization.
  
  
• It reports the findings from the tests.
  
  

You can use the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer to perform the following tasks:

• It proactively verifies that the configuration is set according to recommended best practices.
  
  
• It reports all settings that are different from the default settings.
  
  
• It reports recent changes in the Exchange Server organization. This functionality helps you diagnose problems that are caused by changes in the Exchange Server organization.
  
  
• It helps you identify the source of problems in unhealthy Exchange Server organizations.
  
  
• It compares a set of servers to a baseline configuration, and it reports all differences in configuration.
  
  

The Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer uses a configuration file to determine what information to gather from the Exchange Server organization. It compares the data that it gathers to a set of predefined rules for Exchange Server settings and configurations. It then reports issues.

For every issue, the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer provides three kinds of data:

• It reports what it found in the Exchange Server organization that it scanned.
  
  
• It provides a recommended configuration.
  
  
• It provides links to more detailed information about the issue and related topics.
  
  

We welcome your comments, suggestions and feedback on the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer. You can send us your feedback a number of ways:

• Microsoft public newsgroups   Members of the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool development team frequently monitor the microsoft.public.exchange.tools newsgroup at news.microsoft.com. For details about how to participate in this and other Microsoft newsgroups, see the Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=33938) and the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups Web site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=50219).
  
  
• Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer documentation feedback   If you have any comments, questions or feedback on any of the documentation and articles included with the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer, please send your feedback to exbpadoc@microsoft.com.
  
  

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