[hdawg]

Hello,

I'm new to the whole BES thing. My apologies in advance if there are any stupid questions here. I'm more or less trying to establish the basics and the borders/limits of a BES installation. I hope somebody could either answer them for me or give a link to the appropriate docs.

So here it goes...

Welcome to BBF! A good list of questions for a first post. Most of them can be easily answered through reviewing RIMs documentation but I'll hit upon them all ...

1. What are the hardware requirements for running BES? Is BES more processor hungry or more RAM hungry? What are the minimal requirements and the recommended ones? How does it behave in an environment with 500 mailboxes? And what if another 500 are added?

Check out the Guides on the BTSC

2. Does the number of mailboxes in an Exchange server have any major effect on the BES server load when compared to the actual number of devices used? For example if I have an environment with 1000 mailboxes but only 100 of those have Blackberry devices?

Yes, but not a direct impact on BES. It indirectly impacts BES with regards to response. If Exchange can handle the demands of the BES (MAPI connectivity & RPC responses) then you won't have issues. The key thing to do is to try to minimize the number of Exchange servers interacting with a single BES to ensure that the BES can best optimize its MAPI threading .

3. BES integrates with Exchange which in turn integrates with Active Directory. Is there anything more to AD integration? Any additional features? Or anything to watch out for?

The only thing(s) to be concerned with are:

1) BES has virtually the same limits as Exchange ... meaning all of your users must be in the same Exchange Organization, to be in the same GAL that BES can access via RPC / MAPI.

2) If you use multiple BES servers, you're best served if possible sharing the same Configuration database in the event that you need to fail a server over or load balance users. It is a recommended best practice anyway.

4. Is it possible to run more than one BES (with different SRP id's) in one AD domain (one exchange server)?

Absolutely! see above ... and share Configuration databases too

5. It is possible to install the Attachment service on a remote machine. Are there any other services that could be installed on a remote machine?

Yes, absolutely. You can also install the Router, all MDS Services, and Collaboration (IM) services remotely. You can also install the BlackBerry Manager on a remote machine too.

6. BES needs Exchange System Manager installed on the same machine. But what I don't understand is how does BES check mailboxes. Which protocol and which port does it use?

BES Uses MAPI / RPC; it communicates much the same as an Outlook client communicates with Exchange.

7. If I understand correctly, the connection between BES, Balckberry NOC and the handheld is encrypted. But what about the connection between BES and the Exchange server? Also is the e-mail downloaded from the mail server and then encrypted; or BES encrypts the data while streaming it to the handheld?

BES <> NOC = Encrypted

BES <> Exchange = Not encrypted. If you wanted this encrypted you could create an IPSec tunnel ... Remember, BES <> Exchange is much the same as Outlook Client <> Exchange.

The BES grabs what data from the mail server it needs and then encrypts it and sends it out. It is then decrypted on the handheld and stays encrypted its entire way through transit over the carriers & RIMs network.

8. Are there any limits to the number of users added to a BES besides the hardware and licensing limits?

RIMs documentation indicates up to 2000 users / BES ... but it really depends on several external factors. When we review environments with thousands of users we generally board no more than 1200 users / BES. This allows for some expansion if needed, but also carries a significant user load. With proper optimization / configuration you can easily load more users ... but your environment needs to be optimally setup from both a BES and Exchange/AD configuration standpoint.

9. Are there send and delivery timestamps (on the BES server) for e-mails send to handhelds?

Yes, the best way to review these is to download the BlackBerry Resource Kit and review the logs with the included tools.

Bugger, the more I wrote, the more questions I thought of. ;)

Questions are good! Excellent post.