MS: Exchange 2007 and Active Directory

There are also several other significant changes involved with Exchange 2007 that will affect Active Directory more than ever before. Here are some currently known issues:

• The Schema Master and GCs need to be at Windows Server 2003 SP1. Of course, most DCs and GCs are probably at SP1 now anyway.
• All domains must be at domain functional level, Windows 2000 Server native level or higher.
• A GC must be in each site where there are Exchange servers holding the Hub Transport, Client Access Server and Mailbox roles. These roles could be held by one or more servers. A new utility is used to upgrade the schema: Setup /PrepareAD. This replaces the DomainPrep and ForestPrep utilizations previously used.
• Mailboxes will be configured from the Exchange Management Console or the new Exchange Management Shell, but not from the Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC) snap-in. In fact, the mailbox attributes are not even visible in the ADUC snap-in. However, Exchange admins can create new AD users in the context of creating mailboxes from the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell. This will probably cause some redesigning of administration delegation.