Windows Server 2019 Support, Including Server Core!

Exchange 2019 must be installed on Windows server 2019. One of the key points here is that Exchange 2019 now supports Windows Server Core, something that Admins have been waiting for. Installing Exchange on Windows Core lowers the attack surface and frees up additional server CPU and memory resources.

Email Address Internationalization (EAI)

Exchange 2019 also includes EAI address support so you can use non-English characters in email addresses. In the RTM version, however, you still cannot add EAI proxy’s to the Accepted Domains so you may need to wait and see if this ability is included in a future update.

Dynamic Database Cache (DDC)

Previously, each Exchange database, actively mounted or passive, received the same amount of cache memory assigned from Exchange. The DDC now allocates additional cache memory to active databases and reduces memory of passive ones. This allows the server to service more reads from cache memory, thus providing better overall server performance.

MetaCache Database (MCDB)

This new feature updates the Exchange database engine when MCDB is enabled to allow support for larger JBOD disks (up to 16TB) with the added feature of using an SSD to store mailbox meta information like mailbox folder structure and items metadata. Using this feature allows for faster logon times, reduced latency, and faster overall response times. Although you do not need to install an SSD if you just want to host Exchange Databases, you will need an SSD (1 SSD disk for each 3 JBOD disks is recommended) in order to enable the MCDB feature.

Additional Hardware Support

Exchange 2019 can now support up to 48 CPU cores and 256GB of memory. This is a major increase compared to Exchange 2016, which supports 24 CPU cores and 192GB of memory.

Improved Search Experience

Microsoft has incorporated Bing search technology to improve the end user search experience. The search index is now part of the mailbox database, which eliminates the need to manage log files and requirements to rebuild indexes. This will decrease database failover times which we all can appreciate.

Summary

It’s great to see that Microsoft is still showing support for On-premises enterprise customers even with all the focus on migrating to the cloud. It’s really going to be a case-by-case basis as to feasibility of making the upgrade to Exchange 2019. Please contact our team if you need assistance with an upgrade or migration from any version of Exchange to Exchange server 2019.