Exchange moves to 64bit path

But users could face security problems

Many firms are considering new mail server options now that Microsoft has ended support for its aging Exchange 5.5 mail server. Microsoft’s move followed the start of beta testing of what is unofficially known as Exchange version 12, which is expected to ship before the summer of 2007.

Jeff Ressler, director of product planning for Exchange, said Microsoft is reconsidering plans to replace the Exchange datastore with a forthcoming version of the SQL Server database. Microsoft had thought SQL Server would be popular with IT managers because many Exchange datastores currently require too much effort to maintain. However, Ressler said improvements in the Exchange datastore and the switch to 64bit code in Exchange 12 mean that a move to SQL Server would not deliver much improvement.

In the longer term, Microsoft might still replace the Exchange database with technology derived from its SQL Server product. The existing Exchange datastore is based on the Jet database technology, which was acquired and then marketed by Microsoft as the Access database, and was subsequently also used as the underlying datastore for Active Directory.

However, IT managers have criticised Exchange because they say it suffers many security problems. Some of these difficulties could be linked to the Jet database. One poster to an online discussion argued against Exchange 12, citing “problems arising from the fact that Exchange is neither robust nor secure”.

In separate news, users of an open-source spam filter are eagerly awaiting a forthcoming release because beta testers say new features have removed virtually all spam from their users’ mailboxes.

A poster to the web-based support forum for open-source spam filter ASSP said, “When I upgraded to [a beta of] 1.1.2 that version was so much more effective that spam has literally gone to dead-zero. The ‘new’ greylist feature (called delaying) is extremely effective.”

Another user said, “[The upgrade is] 100 percent stable, and the delaying feature has reduced the amount of spam arriving to my ccAllSpam folder by 75 percent without ever blocking legitimate senders.” The new version is expected to be released this spring.