You can use the Exchange Pre-Deployment Analyzer (ExPDA) to perform an overall topology readiness scan of your environment. This scan focuses on overall topology readiness and not the ability to run Exchange 2010 on the local computer. ExPDA provides a detailed report that will alert you if there are any issues within your organization, which could prevent you from deploying Exchange 2010. For example, ExPDA will notify you if you haven't deployed the minimum required Exchange service pack on all your Exchange servers. If your organization passes the ExPDA readiness scan, you can go ahead and use the Exchange Deployment Assistant.

To get ExPDA from the Microsoft Download Center, see: Exchange Pre-Deployment Analyzer

Exchange 2010 requires different permissions to install and to manage your server roles. When you're installing Exchange 2010 servers in your organization, the account you use might not be the same account that you use for administering and managing your server roles. To manage your server roles, Exchange 2010 uses the Role Based Access Control (RBAC) permissions model.

Exchange 2010 uses RBAC to manage permissions on an Exchange 2010 server. With RBAC, you can control what resources administrators can configure and what features users can access. The RBAC model in Exchange 2010 is flexible and provides you with several ways to customize the default permissions.

RBAC has two primary ways of assigning permissions to users in your organization, depending on whether the user is an administrator or specialist user, or an end-user: management role groups and management role assignment policies. Each method associates users with the permissions they need to perform their jobs. The following sections list the tasks found in the Deployment Assistant and the permissions required to complete the task.

Note:
Some features may require that you have local administrator permissions on the server you want to manage. To manage these features, you must be a member of the Local Administrators group on that server.

Installation Permissions

Exchange Management Permissions

The table below lists the configuration permissions that you need to successfully use the Deployment Assistant and the Hybrid Configuration wizards. Some tasks need to be performed only in the on-premises organization while some tasks also need to be performed in the Office 365 tenant organization. If a task needs to be performed in the Office 365 tenant organization, you must ensure that you have the required permissions in that organization. Permissions in the on-premises organization aren't replicated to the Office 365 tenant organization.

Note:
The user account used to create the Office 365 tenant organization has all the permissions required to perform the tasks in this checklist. Additionally, you must use an on-premises account that’s a member of the Organization Management role group for the on-premises section in the Credentials page in the Manage Hybrid Configuration wizard for these tasks to complete successfully.

Learn more at: Understanding Hybrid Deployment Permissions with Exchange 2010 SP3

Task	Permissions required	On-premises or Office 365 tenant organization
Import digital certificates	Local Administrator	On-premises organization
Configure settings on virtual directories	Server Management	On-premises organization
Configure virtual directories	Organization Management Server Management	On-premises organization
Create accepted domains	Organization Management	On-premises and Office 365 tenant organization
Create and modify Send and Receive connectors	Organization Management	On-premises organization
Create routing group connectors	Organization Management Server Management	On-premises organization
Create a federation trust	Organization Management	On-premises organization
Create organization relationships	Organization Management	On-premises and Exchange Online organization
Move mailboxes	Organization Management Recipient Management	On-premises and Exchange Online organization
Configure Exchange 2010 authentication	Local Administrator	On-premises organization
Configure Exchange 2010 e-mail address policies	Exchange Administrator	On-premises organization

Here are the requirements for the directory servers in your organization:

• Schema master   The latest 32-bit or 64-bit edition of the Windows Server 2003 SP2 Standard or Enterprise operating system or the Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise operating system.
  
  
• Global catalog server   In every Active Directory site where you plan to install Exchange 2010, you must have at least one global catalog server that is either the latest 32-bit or 64-bit edition of: Windows Server 2003 SP2 Standard or Enterprise; Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise; or Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise.
  
  
• Active Directory Forest   The Active Directory forest must be Windows Server 2003 forest functional mode or higher.
  
  
• Domain Controller   You must have the latest 32-bit or 64-bit Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 2 (SP2) operating system or the latest 32-bit or 64-bit edition of the Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise operating system or the Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise operating system.
  
  

The recommended hardware requirements for Exchange 2010 servers vary depending on several factors including the server role(s) that are installed and the anticipated load that will be placed on the servers.

• Processor   x64 architecture-based computer with processor that supports 64-bit architecture
  
  
• Memory   Minimum 4GB with a recommended maximum of 2GB per core (8GB minimum). Learn more at: Understanding Memory Configurations and Exchange Performance
  
  
• Disk space   At least 1.2 GB on the drive on which you install Exchange and additional 200 MB of available space on the system drive.
  
  
• Drive   DVD-ROM drive, local or network accessible
  
  
• File format   Disk partitions formatted as NTFS file systems
  
  

Here are the supported operating systems for Exchange 2010:

• 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Standard Service Pack 2
  
  
• 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Service Pack 2
  
  
• 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Standard R2
  
  
• 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise R2
  
  

Exchange 2010 Management tools can use the operating systems listed above plus:

• 64-bit edition of Windows Vista
  
  
• 64-bit edition of Windows 7
  
  

Install Hotfixes for Windows Server 2008 SP2

Install Hotfixes for Windows Server 2008 R2

The following hotfixes are required for Windows Server 2008 R2:

Important:
The following hotfixes only apply to Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM. If you’re installing Exchange on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, you don’t need to apply these hotfixes.

• Install the update described in Knowledge Base article 979099, An update is available to remove the application manifest expiry feature from AD RMS clients. Without this update, the AD RMS features may stop working.
  
  
• Install the update described in Knowledge Base article 979744, A .NET Framework 2.0-based Multi-AppDomain application stops responding when you run the application.
  
  
• Install the update described in Knowledge Base article 983440, An ASP.NET 2.0 hotfix rollup package is available for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2. For more information, see these MSDN Code Gallery pages:
  
  
  • For additional background information, see KB983440 - Win7 rollup package (PR for QFE 810219).
    
    
  • For the available downloads, see KB983440 - Win7 rollup package (PR for QFE 810219).
    
    
• Install the update described in Knowledge Base article 977020, FIX: An application that is based on the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 and that invokes a Web service call asynchronously throws an exception on a computer that is running Windows 7.
  
  

Install Hotfixes for Windows 7 and Windows Vista

Install the Windows Server 2008 SP2 prerequisites

Install the Windows Server 2008 R2 prerequisites

• Windows PowerShell V2.0
  
  
• Windows Remote Management V2.0
  
  
• .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
  
  
• Internet Information Services (IIS)
  
  

An Exchange 2010 SP2 language pack contains the necessary resources for a supported Exchange language. Language packs are installed automatically during deployment of Exchange 2010 SP2. Client and server language packs come grouped into a single bundle containing both client and server resource and support files. There are no performance issues with installing all the languages because they're just stored when not in use.

Learn more at: Exchange 2010 Language Support

The Exchange Management Shell, built on Windows PowerShell technology, provides a powerful command-line interface for Exchange 2010 that enables automation of administrative tasks.

With the Shell, you can manage every aspect of Exchange 2010; the Shell can perform every task that can be performed by the Exchange Management Console (EMC) and the Exchange Control Panel (ECP) in addition to tasks that can't be performed in those interfaces. In fact, when a task is performed in the EMC or the ECP, those interfaces use the Shell to perform the task.

Learn more at: Overview of Exchange Management Shell

The Exchange Management Console (EMC) is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0-based tool that provides you with a GUI to manage the configuration of your Exchange 2010 organization. You can also add the EMC snap-in to custom MMC-based tools.

Learn more at: Exchange Management Console