Exchange 2010 integrates high availability into the core architecture of Exchange to enable customers of all sizes and in all segments to economically deploy a messaging continuity service in their organization.

Exchange 2010 includes many changes to its core architecture. In Exchange 2010, new features such as incremental deployment, mailbox database copies, and database availability groups work with other features such as shadow redundancy and transport dumpster to provide a new, unified platform for high availability and site resilience.

For more information about high availability features, see New High Availability and Site Resilience Functionality.

The following is a list of core store functionality that's included or has been changed in Exchange 2010:

• Deprecated storage groups
  
  
• Mailbox databases no longer connected to the server object
  
  
• Improvements in Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) for high availability, performance, and database mobility
  
  
• Flattened Outlook store schema
  
  
• Enhanced reporting with public folders
  
  

For more information about Exchange store and mailbox database features, see New Exchange Core Store Functionality.

In Exchange 2010, Role Based Access Control (RBAC) replaces the permissions model used in Exchange 2007. Using RBAC, you can define extremely broad or extremely precise permissions models based on the roles of your administrators and users.

For administrators and specialist users, management role groups define what these users can manage in the organization. Role groups associate role group members to a set of management roles that define what the members can do. By adding or removing users as members of role groups, and adding or removing role assignments to or from a role group, you can control what aspects of the organization the members can manage.

For end users, management role assignment policies define what users can configure on their own mailbox. Assignment policies are applied to every mailbox either by default or manually, and enable you to control whether users can change their personal information, contact information, distribution group membership, and so on.

Both role groups and role assignment policies are assigned management roles. Management roles control access to the cmdlets and parameters required to perform a task. For example, if a cmdlet exists on a management role, and that role is assigned to a role group, the members of that role group can then use that cmdlet.

For more information about RBAC features, see Understanding Permissions.

The following is a list of new transport and routing functionality included in Exchange 2010:

• Shadow redundancy
  
  
• MailTips
  
  
• Moderated transport
  
  
• Federated delivery
  
  
• Latency service level agreement (SLA) management
  
  
• End-to-end message tracking
  
  
• Incremental EdgeSync
  
  
• Transport rules integration with AD RMS
  
  
• Transport dumpster improvements
  
  
• Transport database improvements
  
  

For more information about transport features, see New Transport Functionality.

Exchange Server 2010 introduces the Exchange Server Deployment Assistant, or ExDeploy, a new Web-based tool that can help you with your Exchange deployment. ExDeploy asks you a few questions about your current environment and then generates a custom checklist and procedures that help simplify your deployment.

For more information, see Exchange Server Deployment Assistant.

The following is a list of the new core Exchange Management Console (EMC) features included in Exchange 2010. The core EMC refers to new functionality that affects how you use the EMC, and not how you use specific features:

• Ability to add Exchange forests to the console tree
  
  
• Customer Feedback start tab
  
  
• Community and Resources
  
  
• EMC command logging
  
  
• Property dialog box command exposure
  
  
• RBAC permissions aware for the EMC
  
  
• Online Exchange Help
  
  

For more information about EMC features, see New Administrative Functionality in the Exchange Management Console.

The following is a list of features available in the new Exchange Management Shell:

• Remote administration   With the new Shell, you can connect to remote servers running Exchange 2010 across the network with only Windows Management Framework installed, which includes Windows PowerShell. For more information, see Overview of Exchange Management Shell.
  
  
• RBAC integration   The Shell works with RBAC to give you and your users access only to the cmdlets and parameters you and they are allowed to use. If your permissions don't allow you to configure a certain feature, you aren't given access to the cmdlets, parameters, or both, that manage that feature. For more information, see Understanding Role Based Access Control.
  
  
• Administrator audit logging   Actions that result in the modification of Exchange organization configuration and other object properties in the EMC, the Web management interface, and the Shell can now be logged for later review. For more information, see Overview of Administrator Audit Logging.
  
  
• Improved multiple-valued property syntax   Instead of running multiple commands to add and remove values from a single property, you can now add and remove values with a single command. For more information, see Modifying Multivalued Properties.
  
  

Administrators can use the Exchange Control Panel for Outlook Web App to manage some on-premises tasks. The following is a list of the administrative features available:

• Text messaging integration
  
  
• Voice messaging integration
  
  
• Multiple mailbox search
  
  
• Additional proxy addresses for mailboxes
  
  
• Moderation and approval for distribution list submission
  
  

In addition, users have self-service capabilities in that they can perform administrative tasks via the Exchange Control Panel. The ECP enables users to perform common tasks without having to call the help desk. This allows your users to be more productive and allows IT staff to deliver more, while reducing support costs.

For more information, see Configure ECP Virtual Directory Properties.

The following is a list of the new mailbox and recipient functionality that's included or has been changed in Exchange 2010:

• Ability for users to share information, such as calendar free/busy information and contacts with users who reside in a different organization
  
  
• Improved scheduling and configuring for resource mailbox calendar processing
  
  
• Ability to move a mailbox while the end user is still accessing it
  
  
• Additional parameters added to distribution group cmdlets to allow users to create and manage their own distribution groups in Outlook Web App and Exchange 2010
  
  
• Ability to appoint a moderator to regulate the flow of messages sent to a distribution group
  
  
• Ability to manage folder-level permissions for all folders within a user's mailbox
  
  
• Expanded bulk recipient management to allow you to bulk manage recipient properties
  
  
• Ability to send mail to recipients from the EMC
  
  

For more information about mailbox and recipient features, see New Mailbox and Recipient Functionality.

The Microsoft Exchange Web Services (EWS) Managed API 1.0 provides a managed interface for developing client applications that use Exchange Web Services. Beginning with Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1), the EWS Managed API simplifies the implementation of applications that communicate with Exchange. Built on the Exchange Web Services SOAP protocol and Autodiscover, the EWS Managed API provides a .NET interface to Exchange Web Services that's designed to be easy to learn, use, and maintain.

For more information, see Introducing the Exchange Web Services Managed API 1.0 and Microsoft Exchange Web Services Managed API 1.0.

Exchange 2010 uses client throttling policies to manage the performance of your Exchange organization. To do this, Exchange tracks the resources that each user consumes and enforces connection bandwidth limits as necessary.

Some of the benefits of client throttling include making sure that:

• Users aren't intentionally or unintentionally taxing the system.
  
  
• Users of various connectivity methods are proportionally sharing resources.
  
  

You manage client throttling policies with Shell cmdlets. For more information about client throttling policies, see Understanding Client Throttling Policies.

The following is a list of new Unified Messaging features included in Exchange 2010:

• Call answering rules
  
  
• Additional language support included in Outlook Voice Access
  
  
• Enhancements to name lookup from caller ID
  
  
• Voice Mail Preview
  
  
• Message Waiting Indicator
  
  
• Missed call and voice mail notifications using text messaging
  
  
• Protected Voice Mail
  
  
• Incoming fax support
  
  
• Addressing to groups (personal distribution lists) support
  
  
• Built-in Unified Messaging administrative roles
  
  

For more information about Unified Messaging and voice mail features, see New Unified Messaging Functionality and Voice Mail Features.

The following is a list of new features in Outlook Web App included in Exchange 2010:

• Favorites in the navigation pane
  
  
• Search folders
  
  
• Message filtering
  
  
• Ability to set categories in the message list
  
  
• Options in the Web management interface for Outlook Web App
  
  
• Side-by-side view for calendars
  
  
• Multiple client language support
  
  
• Ability to attach messages to messages
  
  
• Expanded right-click capabilities
  
  
• Integration with Office Communicator, including presence, chat, and a contact list
  
  
• Conversation view
  
  
• Ability to send and receive text messages from Outlook Web App
  
  
• Outlook Web App mailbox policies
  
  

For more information about Outlook Web App features, see Understanding Outlook Web App.

The following is a list of new Exchange ActiveSync features included in Exchange 2010:

• Conversation grouping of e-mail messages
  
  
• Ability to synchronize or not synchronize an entire conversation
  
  
• Synchronization of SMS messages with a user's Exchange mailbox
  
  
• Support for viewing of message reply status
  
  
• Support for availability information for contacts
  
  

The following is a list of new text messaging features included in Exchange 2010:

• Missed call and voice mail notifications
  
  
• Calendar and agenda updates
  
  
• Text messages sent and received through Outlook Web App and Outlook 2010
  
  
• Text message synchronization with a mobile phone
  
  

Cross-site POP3 and IMAP4 client connectivity is supported by default in Exchange 2010. For more information about POP3 and IMAP4 client connectivity features, see Understanding POP3 and IMAP4.

Exchange 2010 compliance features make retention independent of users' mailbox management and filing habits, and ensure retention policies are applied continuously. The following is a list of new messaging and compliance features included in Exchange 2010:

• Additional messaging records management (MRM) functionality to apply message retention policies
  
  
• Personal Archive feature to provide users with online archive mailboxes and help eliminate .pst files
  
  
• Mailbox search features for cross-mailbox search with Advanced Query Syntax (AQS) support
  
  
• Additional transport rules predicates and actions
  
  

For more information about messaging policy and compliance features, see New Messaging Policy and Compliance Functionality.

The following is a list of new Information Rights Management (IRM)-protected e-mail functionality with Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) included in Exchange 2010:

• Microsoft Outlook protection rules, to apply IRM-protection to messages in Outlook 2010
  
  
• Transport protection rules, to apply IRM protection to messages based on rule conditions
  
  
• Persistent protection of attachments in IRM-protected messages
  
  
• Support for AD RMS templates
  
  
• Support for IRM in Microsoft Office Outlook Web App
  
  
• Transport decryption, to decrypt IRM-protected messages to apply messaging policies
  
  
• Journal report decryption, to attach a decrypted copy of IRM-protected messages to journal reports
  
  
• AD RMS protection for Unified Messaging voice mail messages
  
  

For more information about IRM features, see Information Rights Management.