Exchange 2003 Front End Server Outlook Web Access

Your Exchange Server 2003 generally behaves as Backend Server and every user has HTTP as an allowed protocol. So you do not have to configure anything on your Backend Servers unless you want to prevent some of your users from accessing their mailbox using OWA. This can be done quite easily via Active Directory Users and Computers in the user properties. The next step is installing and configuring your Frontend Server. The easiest way to do this is to install it as a second Exchange Server in your organization. After that we should enable it to act as a Frontend Server. This can be generally done in the properties of your Exchange Server in Exchange System Manager. 

If you have successfully implemented your Exchange Front-End Server constellation for providing Outlook Web Access for your users, you may be concerned about security matters. HTTP connectivity is not very secure and authentication information is always on the net as clear text. In addition to this, Outlook Web Access authentication is generally session based. This means if you do not logoff and close your browser you remain logged in. Especially in public web access areas where users are unable to close the browser window it becomes quite easy for other users to read and send emails in the name of a company user. Providing a secure HTTPS connection with an SSL server certificate is quite easy to implement. The most interesting decision is whether to use a web server certificate from an internal certificate authority or to buy one from a well-known trust center like Verisign or anyone else. This certificate must then be installed on your OWA server.