OWA 2000 or 2003 with front-end Exchange Server

In the following configuration is for OWA 2000 or 2003. There is one Exchange Server configured as a front-end Exchange Server and two Exchange Servers configured as back-end Exchange Servers.

Figure: Front-end/back-end OWA 2000 or 2003 example configuration

Front-end/back-end OWA 2000 or 2003 example configuration

OWA client browser sessions connect to the front-end Exchange Server.

Enterprise Vault OWA 2000 or 2003 Extensions are installed on all front-end and back-end Exchange Servers.

If the front-end Exchange Server is running Exchange Server 2003 and the back-end Exchange Server is running Exchange 2000, clients will only have the Enterprise Vault functionality available with OWA 2000 Extensions, in the same way as OWA functionality will be limited.

In configurations with front-end Exchange Servers it is advisable to check that Enterprise Vault works correctly when users are connected to the back-end Exchange Servers. When OWA works correctly in this configuration, then you can add the Enterprise Vault OWA Extensions to the front-end Exchange Servers. If Enterprise Vault does not work correctly when the OWA clients are connected to the front-end Exchange Server, then the problem lies in the front-end server.

Typically, users connect to the front-end server using basic authentication wrapped in an SSL connection. Integrated Windows Authentication (IWA) is used for the connection between Exchange Servers and anonymous authentication is used for the connection between the back-end Exchange Server and the Enterprise Vault server. On the Enterprise Vault server, the Data Access account is configured to manage the anonymous connections.

See Configuring Enterprise Vault for anonymous connections.

An Enterprise Vault Exchange Desktop policy setting (Client connection) can be used to enable OWA 2003 clients to connect directly to the Enterprise Vault server when users start Archive Explorer or an archive search from their OWA client.

If your environment is configured as follows, then the Exchange Server 2003 front-end server and the Enterprise Vault Web Access application must be published to clients:

If direct connections are not configured (which is the default for OWA 2003), then only the Exchange Server 2003 front-end server needs to be published.

See Using ISA Server with Enterprise Vault.