Mastering Exchange Hybrid Deployments – Hands On

Overview

With the continued growth of companies with both on-premise Exchange environments and Office 365 Exchange Online, many companies are deploying a Unified Exchange Environment between both platforms for rich coexistence. Benefits of a hybrid environment include:

  • Exchange Online users and on-premises users can share free/busy calendar.
  • Secure mail routing between on-premises and Exchange Online organisations.
  • Administrators can use powerful and familiar Exchange management tools to move users to Exchange Online.
  • OWA redirection allows for redirection from the on-premises environment to the Office 365 Outlook Web App environment.
  • MailTips, out-of-office messages, and similar features understand that Office 365 and on-premises users are part of the same organisation.
  • Delivery reports and multi-mailbox search work with users who are on-premises and those working in Exchange Online.
  • Authentication headers are preserved during cross-premises mail flow. So, all mail looks and feels like it is internal to the company (for example, recipient names resolve in the GAL).
  • With the help of Directory Synchronisation you get Unified GAL.
  • If necessary, administrators can easily move mailboxes back to the on-premises Exchange environment.
  • Cloud-based message archiving for on-premises Exchange mailboxes.
  • Administrators do not have to manually reconfigure Outlook profiles or resynchronise.OST files after they move users’ mailboxes.

This unique 3-day course is for delegates who are interested in both learning and getting hands-on experience of deploying an Exchange Hybrid Configuration.

Prerequisites

Delegates should meet the following pre-requisites:

  • A familiarity with Messaging basic concepts, eg SMTP, messaging Connectors, mailboxes, public folders
  • A familiarity with the Exchange Admin Center (either On Premise or Office 365)
  • A familiarity with concepts of Cloud environments and Office 365
  • A knowledge and understanding of basic networking concepts, eg TCP/IP, DNS name resolution
  • A knowledge and understanding of basic Powershell concepts and command structure.

If Students do not have this knowledge, they can obtain these skills for free by watching the following videos from Microsoft MVA:

 

Learning Outcomes

In this hands-on course delegates will:

  • Understand the requirements, functionality and benefits of an Exchange Hybrid Configuration
  • Build their own Exchange On-Premise Environment
  • Sign up for a free trial Exchange Online Environment
  • Deploy Azure AD Connect for Directory Synchronisation
  • Use the Hybrid Configuration Wizard to deploy a hybrid environment
  • Examine mail flow options in a Hybrid Configuration
  • Migrate Mailboxes and Public Folder Contents

 

Course Outline

Introduction: Introduction Hybrid Deployments Overview

This module reviews the concepts, functionality and benefits of an Exchange Hybrid environment along with looking at an example of a Hybrid Deployment. The objectives and setup of the course environment is explained

Module 1: Preparing to Install Exchange 2013/2016

This module looks at the pre-requisites for a successful Exchange installation, with specific reference to hybrid deployments

      Lab 1: Preparing to Install Exchange

Module 2: Installing Exchange 2013/2016

In this module uses the Microsoft Exchange Server 2013/2016 Setup Wizard to install the Exchange 2013/2016 Mailbox and Client Access roles on a server.

Module 3: Configure SSL Certificates for Exchange 2013/2016

This module examines SSL requirements to enable each Exchange organisation to trust the identity of the other in the two-way trust relationship.

      Lab 3: Configure SSL Certificates for Exchange 2013/2016

Module 4: Configuring Required Internal and External DNS Records for Exchange 2013/2016

This module configures the required DNS records in both internal DNS zones and on the public facing DNS zone on the external provider’s website

      Lab 4: Configuring Required Internal and External DNS Records for Exchange 2013/2016

Module 5: Creating a Public Folder Hierarchy in Exchange 2013/2016 and Creating OUs, Users, Mailboxes, and Public Folders

This module reviews the change in architecture of public folders and builds a Public Folder hierarchy in order to see hybrid functionality in later modules. In addition Active Directory OU’s and Users are created for later hybrid configuration

      Lab 5a – Creating a Public Folder Hierarchy in Exchange 2013/2016

      Lab 5b – Creating OUs, Users, Mailboxes, and Public Folders in Exchange 2013/2016

Module 6: Signing Up for an Office 365 Enterprise E3 Trial/p>

This module involves signing up for an E3 Office 365 trial for the Hybrid configuration

      Lab 6 – Signing Up for an Office 365 Enterprise E3 Trial

Module 7: Adding the On-Premises AD Domain to the O365 Tenant

In this module in order to facilitate directory synchronisation readiness and the hybrid configuration tasks, the on-premises Active Directory domain is added to the Office 365 tenant using the Office 365 admin centre portal.      

      Lab 7 – Adding the On-Premises AD Domain to the O365 Tenant

Module 8: Configuring Directory Synchronisation for a Hybrid Exchange 2013/2016 Environment

This module looks at the functionality and deployment of the Azure AD Connect tool for directory Synchronisation

      Lab 8 – Configuring Directory Synchronisation for a Hybrid Exchange 2013/2016 Environment

Module 9: Examining the Mail Flow Options for a Hybrid Exchange Environment

This module looks at the mail flow options available and configuration steps in a Hybrid Configuration

Module 10: Configuring the Hybrid Configuration Wizard for a Hybrid Exchange 2013/2016 Environment

This module looks at the pre-requisites, functionality and deployment of the Hybrid Configuration Wizard

      Lab 10 – Configuring the Hybrid Configuration Wizard for a Hybrid Exchange 2013/2016 Environment

Module 11: Verifying the Hybrid Configuration Settings in the On-Premises Exchange 2013/2016 Environment

This module looks at various ways to confirm Hybrid Configuration is correctly deployed via the on-premise Exchange environment

      Lab 11 – Verifying the Hybrid Configuration Settings in the On-Premises Exchange 2013/2016 Environment

Module 12: Verifying the Hybrid Configuration Settings in the Exchange Online Environment

This module looks at various ways to confirm Hybrid Configuration is correctly deployed via the Office 365 Exchange Online environment

      Lab 12 – Verifying the Hybrid Configuration Settings in the Exchange Online Environment

Module 13: Migrating and Managing Mailboxes

This module looks at on-boarding Mailboxes to Exchange Online

      Lab 13 – Migrating and Managing Mailboxes

Module 14: Configuring On-Premises Public Folder Access in Exchange Online

This module looks at public folder hosting options in a Hybrid configuration and Public Folder Migration to Exchange Online

      Lab 14 – Configuring On-Premises Public Folder Access in Exchange Online