How HPE hardware brings out the best in Microsoft Exchange Server 2019

[StorageExperts]

Why wait to upgrade to Exchange Server 2019? New hardware benefits plus migration services make it fast and easy to get improved performance, security, and administration for your email system today.

Microsoft recently released Exchange Server 2019—and the big news is how it takes advantage of the latest hardware. The timing couldn’t be better, as HPE just rolled out the Apollo Gen10 platform which is tailor-made for demanding, capacity-oriented workloads like Microsoft Exchange.

The new Microsoft Exchange Server 2019 will take advantage of hardware improvements and be capable of running twice as many processors as Exchange 2016, up to 48 processor cores and 256GB of RAM. This latest version of the leading email software enables improved performance and security, and even simplifies administration of common tasks. 

Microsoft is touting the installation of Exchange Server 2019 on the Server Core option of Windows Server as being the most secure platform for Exchange. So if you’re looking for the utmost in security, performance, and efficiency, you should look into the new Exchange Server 2019 on HPE Apollo storage.

Best email solution for do-it-yourselfers

Believe it or not, many customers have yet to adopt cloud, or are moving selectively and are choosing to keep email on premises. This is especially true for large enterprises who can achieve scale and low cost per mailbox due to their size, as well as organizations concerned about data sovereignty and security.

The HPE storage solution for Microsoft Exchange is trusted by some of the world’s largest organizations, including Fortune 25 financial services companies, central banks, and government ministries. The customers we expect to move to Exchange 2019 are large companies who are especially interested in security, reliability, and "always there" availability. 

For a more in depth look at the current Microsoft Exchange on HPE Apollo solution, read my recent blog that hits on the benefits of this valuable joint solution: Expand your Microsoft Exchange universe with HPE Apollo Gen10

The new HPE Apollo Gen10: Just right for data storage-intensive workloads

The new HPE Apollo 4200 Gen10 Server builds on years of proven leadership with an architecture designed for big data and analytics, software-defined storage, backup and archive, and other data storage-intensive workloads.

Key new features of this leading storage system include new Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, support for high-performance NVMe solid state drives, higher bandwidth, and firmware-level security plus chassis anti-intrusion options.

The enhanced Apollo storage system provides a dense storage platform for Exchange and other capacity-oriented workloads.

Exchange on Apollo: Bringing out the best in each other

What’s especially valuable for Exchange is how the new HPE Apollo 4200 Gen10 storage system is optimized for storage density and performance. The new HPE Apollo 4200 Gen10 provides high density storage to support the largest of Exchange environments. It delivers a space-efficient boost to Exchange in three key ways:

1. Scalable platform for enterprises—This high-capacity system scales to 414.7 TBs per server or 8.3 PBs per rackaccommodating 1000s of users and mailboxes of 10s of GBs or more.
2. High-density capacity—The Apollo Gen10 can fit up to 28 large-form-factor (LFF) or 54 small-form-factor (SFF) drives in just a 2U system, minimizing email system administration,  related cost of space and energy.
3. Enhanced performance—The Gen10 system uses new Intel chip sets with more processor cores and memory transfers per second improving Exchange user experience.

Why hardware makes a difference for Exchange 2019

Amid all the news about the new Exchange, you may have caught the Microsoft Ignite session, “Microsoft Email Search in a Flash! Accelerating Exchange 2019 with SSD.” (And if not, it’s available online here). The new version of Exchange makes the most of hardware benefits such as leveraging high-performance SSD or NVMe drives to speed access to Exchange index files. The new Meta cache Database feature enables faster email searches, as much as 50% faster as evidenced in that Ignite session.

Microsoft provides guidance for optimal configuration of SSD, suggesting a mix of 5-to-6% SSD out of the total storage pool, up to a maximum of 10%. HPE will be sharing its expanded research around optimal SSD/HDD configurations in upcoming technical whitepaper publications and sizing guidance.

The easy button for Exchange 2019

HPE Pointnext has an established Microsoft Exchange transformation service which has worked with some of the largest IT organizations in the world. The HPE Pointnext team has developed a methodology that helps ensure consistent and timely benefits.

HPE Transformation Services for Microsoft Exchange start with an evaluation of project ROI as part of the initial upgrade and migration assessment, including mobility requirements. It provides the flexibility to plan appropriately,  and choose the best service package.

The HPE Pointnext team performs email transformations using a repeatable, high-quality methodology. Onsite consultants execute the migration in sync with customer IT plans. The optimal mix of proven methodologies, templates, and pre-tested tools has shown to reduce time, cost, and project risk.

With more than 23,000 Microsoft-trained and 11,000-plus Microsoft-certified professionals worldwide, HPE has one of the largest, most specialized forces of consultants and support professionals for today’s enterprise productivity environments. Today, HPE has more than 19 million Microsoft Exchange Server seats deployed or under support. Microsoft’s largest OEM and Gold Certified Partner, HPE has been named five times as “Microsoft Global Enterprise Partner of the Year.” Learn more about HPE Pointnext – Digital Workplace services online.

How to bring it all together

Now is a great time to try out the shared solution of the new Microsoft Exchange Server 2019, all-new HPE Apollo Gen10 storage, and HPE Pointnext transformation services. Together, you’ll get the leading email system on fast-performing, high-density storage plus expert migration services. 

Catch up here on the latest Exchange 2019 news from Microsoft and learn why now is the time to upgrade from earlier versions of Exchange to the newest version—and get the best out of your on-premises Exchange Server environment.

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Meet Around the Storage Block blogger Mike Harding, Head of Product Management for Microsoft Storage solutions, HPE. Mike leads the product management of HPE Storage Solutions for Microsoft. He came to HPE via Nimble Storage, and prior to that led the marketing of the NetApp Converged Infrastructure effort, including the multi-billion dollar FlexPod solution. Mike has over 25 years of product management and marketing experience at both start-ups and larger tech companies and tweets regularly under the handle @mhardi01.