Server Roles

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 introduces role-based deployment. This kind of deployment lets you deploy specific server roles that provide the messaging functionality you want for your organization. A server role is a unit that logically groups the required features and components that are required to perform a specific function in your messaging environment. Each server role includes:

Components to support the specific function.
Related configuration and security settings.
A list of pre-defined tasks to manage and configure that component.

Exchange Server 2007 supports the following five server roles:

Mailbox
Hub Transport
Edge Transport
Client Access
Unified Messaging

For more information about Exchange Server 2007 server roles, see Exchange product document Server Roles.

Note:
Hosted Messaging and Collaboration version 4.5 solution only suggests deployment of four server roles. Edge Transport Server is replaced with an Interface Facing Hub Server deployment because there is lag time for both newly created and updated accepted domains and accepted users on the Edge server. For more information about why we suggest Internet facing Hub transport server and related antivirus and anti-spam protection, see section Hub Transport Role.

Note:

Hosted Messaging and Collaboration version 4.5 solution only suggests deployment of four server roles. Edge Transport Server is replaced with an Interface Facing Hub Server deployment because there is lag time for both newly created and updated accepted domains and accepted users on the Edge server. For more information about why we suggest Internet facing Hub transport server and related antivirus and anti-spam protection, see section Hub Transport Role.