The Email Admin - Major Changes in Store with Exchange 2013
Microsoft recently announced the Exchange Server 2013 Preview, and admins everywhere should be very excited about the next generation in Exchange technologies. While I am very excited myself about the possibilities, I can foresee a few things about Exchange 2013 that may come as a surprise to many, and might require some others to make a sea change in the way they think, so better to discuss these now.
Bye-bye MAPI
In Exchange 2013, clients can connect using POP3, IMAP, SMTP, and the various HTTPS protocols, including Outlook Anywhere, Exchange ActiveSync, and Exchange Web Services. However, old-school MAPI connections are gone. I’ve worked with a number of customers who have a strange fear of Outlook Anywhere, and this may cause them some heartburn.
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Ah, MAPI I knew you well. From your earliest days when you were competing with VIM (Vendor Independent Messaging, put forth by Lotus in the cc:Mail days) through today with the Outlook Connector which put a MAPI face on Hotmail. Still I guess time moves forward, technology changes and needs morph. Still it's a little weird to see you getting the boot...
Dear Greg,
ReplyDeleteIsn't Outlook Anywhere basically MAPI over HTTP(s)?
But this is going to stay?
What exactly is Exchange Web Services? Thought this is some kind of MAPI, too.
Best regards
Tobias
As I understand it, conceptually for Outlook Anywhere yes [but then again not really]. Very different in their plumbing, in the 0's and 1's, etc.
ReplyDeleteExchange Web Services, no, not really even close to "real" MAPI
This is not true. We have not dropped MAPI. In fact, we just introduced a new protocol called MAPI over HTTP in Exchange 2013 SP1. And Outlook Anywhere is a MAPI implementation. MAPI commands are wrapped in RPCs, which are then wrapped in HTTPS packets. In MAPI over HTTP, we eliminate the use of RPCs in this conversation, so it is simply MAPI commands wrapped in HTTPS. So please don't post things that say we have dropped MAPI support when we have not done that. What we have done is removed support for RPC over TCP connections. This is where MAPI commands are wrapped in RPCs and sent via TCP. This method is historically used by internal, domain-joined Outlook clients. Now all Outlook clients use Outlook Anywhere, or, if using Outlook 2013 SP1 and Exchange 2013 SP1, MAPI over HTTP instead.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarification Scott...
ReplyDeleteLike Scott said, it ain't dead Jim!
ReplyDeleteMAPI ain't dead, it's MAPI/HTTP!
Like Scott said, it ain't dead Jim!
ReplyDeleteMAPI ain't dead, it's MAPI/HTTP!