Exchange Server 2010 provides a collaboration environment that delivers secure messaging capabilities to recipients inside and outside an organization. Besides a powerful email server, it supports group scheduling capabilities, discussion groups, team folders, mobile and web access, and a host of other features.

Exchange Server 2010 Standard Edition is designed for small-to-medium-sized organizations. It is limited to five databases, each with a database storage limit of 16 TB. Larger organizations should consider Exchange Server 2010 Enterprise Edition.

Enhancements in the 2010 edition include:

Integrated email archiving, retention policies, and search capabilities
A new unified mailbox resilience model that provides high availability, disaster recovery, and backup capabilities
New self-service capabilities to help users perform common tasks without calling the help desk

Here are some notable features of this product:

With unified messaging, users can receive their email, voice mail, and faxes through a single inbox that can be accessed from anywhere.
Integrated antivirus, anti-spam and anti-phishing technologies stop the latest threats.
New database availability groups of up to 16 mailbox servers can be configured by administrators for automatic, database-level recovery from failures.
Advanced management tools help administrators save time and reduce effort.

Important: The 2010 version requires a 64-bit system.

Licensing: This product includes a server license. Every user or device accessing Exchange Server must have a standard Exchange Server user or device client access license (CAL). Enterprise Exchange Server CALs (user or device) are needed for certain server functions; they can be used only in conjunction with standard Exchange Server CALs.

Software Assurance: Under the Software Assurance program, you have the right to install any new release of products covered in the agreement during the term of your coverage.

Requirements:

Hardware:

x64-architecture-based computer with Intel processor that supports Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel EM64T) or AMD processor that supports the AMD64 platform; Intel Itanium family IA64 processors are not supported
4 GB or more RAM per server plus 5 MB of RAM recommended for each mailbox
Hard disk:
- 1.2 GB free space on the hard disk where you install Exchange Server 2010
- 200 MB of free space on the system drive
- Additional 500 MB free space per language if installing language packs for Unified Messaging beyond those included in the default installation
- Disk partitions formatted for the NTFS file system, not the FAT file system
DVD drive, local or network accessible
800x600-pixel (or higher) display

Software:

Windows Server 2008 SP2 x64 Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter; Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter; Enterprise or Datacenter editions of Windows Server 2008 are required for Mailbox Resiliency features
For installing Exchange Server 2010 management tools: Windows Vista; Windows 7; Windows Server 2008

If the following required prerequisites are not already installed, the Exchange Server 2010 setup process prompts and provides links to the installation location:

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
Windows PowerShell v2.0

Restrictions:

Microsoft Program Guidelines