• Exchange 2013
• Exchange 2013 Public Folder

Get to Know About Exchange 2013 Public Folder

Posted by Angelbrown Leka, On November 5, 2014 | Download Complete PDF

There has been a myth that Exchange Server 2013 does not contain public folders but the fact is that it does. However, its architecture has been changed completely and made even better than in previous versions. Public folders in Exchange 2013 can be termed as modern public folder as it easily supports and scales the infrastructure, overcoming most of the challenges and limits that existed in version 2007 and other releases. This blog goes into detail and makes people aware of each and every aspect of public folders in general and Exchange 2013 public folder in particular.

Public Folders

The name 'public folders' in Exchange database itself signifies that it is a kind of folder that stores data files accessible to all. It has been developed for collective access of stored data and renders a simple, efficient, systematic and effective way to gather and share information amongst all members where the Exchange server has been setup.

Public folders assist organizing content in a profound hierarchical way that is easy enough to browse. Moreover, in Exchange 2013 public folder feature exists for several purposes such as integration of MS Outlook desktop mail program, trouble-free sharing scenarios and allow large number of people to access the same data. It should be noted that many other functionalities can also be achieved with the availability of public folders in ES 2013.

Modern Public Folder Architecture of ES 2013

As said above, in Exchange 2013 public folders have been re-structured and therefore have been termed as modern public folder. The structural change that has been brought is that it has been re-engineered using mailbox; so as to take benefit of the existing high availability and storage technologies of the mailbox database. Public folder architecture uses specifically designed mailboxes that store both public folder hierarchy as well as the content. This clearly indicates that a public folder database and public folder replication has been removed and does not exist any longer.

The database availability group (DAG) provides the high availability for the public folder mailboxes. It is the DAG that replicates public folder mailboxes and their contents as it does any other mailboxes in the organization. Hence, it can be said that the chief architectural components of public folders are nothing but the public folder mailboxes; that can reside in either one or more mailbox databases. Moreover, the public folder mailboxes are normal mailboxes and Exchange considers them as users' mailboxes.

• How to Create Public Folder? - In Exchange 2013, public folders are stored on mailboxes which in turn are hosted on a mailbox database. Therefore, to create a public folder the first thing needed is the creation of a public folder mailbox to store both hierarchy as well as contents of the public folder. It should be noted that only one primary hierarchy can exist in an organization.
• How can users Connect? - Users connect to their home hierarchy that contains the copy of the primary hierarchy. However, the home hierarchy exists in read-only format only. Thereby, users can access the contents of public folder located in the mailbox with local Client Access server.

Public Folder Mailboxes & Types

There are two kinds of public folder mailboxes in ES 2013 as explained below. They are the primary hierarchy mailboxes and secondary hierarchy mailboxes. Both the kinds, be it primary or secondary mailboxes, can store content.

• Primary Hierarchy Mailbox – It is the first public folder mailbox formed in the Exchange organization, though the hierarchy can be replicated to each public folder mailbox. The primary hierarchy is a writable copy of the public folder hierarchy and has both folder structure and public folder tree hierarchy. This helps in acknowledging the permissions on the folders and the parents as well as children of the specific folder.
• Secondary Hierarchy Mailboxes - The secondary hierarchy copies contain content but are read-only and cannot be edited.

Limitations and Considerations of ES 2013 Public Folder

• The maximum suggested size of mailbox is 100 GB.
• The maximum limitation of mailbox database size is 2 TB.
• Public folder replication does not exist
• To access modern public folders Outlook 2007 or later versions must be used.
• Retention policies cannot be applied on to the public folder mailboxes.

Managing Public Folder Mailboxes

The public folder mailboxes can be managed in two ways; one by making use of Exchange Administrator Center (EAC) and the other by Exchange Management Shell (EMS). The process is explained below:

• To manage by means of EAC, go to Public folders > Public folder mailboxes.
• To manage by means of EMS, the -Mailbox set of cmdlets shall have to be used.

To Create a Public Folder Mailbox from the EAC

Step 1 ) Open EAC and browse the Public Folder Mailboxes. Click the extension sign (plus) to open the Public Folder Mailbox wizard whose interface is shown here.

Step 2 ) If it is user's first public folder mailbox, it will contain the primary hierarchy as shown in the figure below with red arrow.

Step 3 ) To make alterations to the public folder, the tab Edit should be clicked which opens the interface of public folder mailbox's properties. On the General page of the wizard as shown in the figure below, user can rename the mailbox and view the organization under the tab 'Organizational Unit' and the mailbox database that hosts the particular mailbox under the tab Mailbox database.

Via PowerShell

The cmdlets mentioned below can be used to create and manage public folder mailbox.

• New-Mailbox -PublicFolder – It makes a new public folder mailbox.
• Set-Mailbox -PublicFolder – It sets the properties of public folder mailbox.
• Get-Mailbox -PublicFolder – It retrieves list of public folder mailboxes and their properties.
• Remove-Mailbox -PublicFolder – This command deletes public folder mailbox.

New-Mailbox Cmdlet Parameters to Support Public Folder Mailboxes

Many parameters have been added to the New-Mailbox cmdlet to support public folder mailboxes and they are as follows:

• Public Folder - To create a public folder mailbox, this parameter is used with the New-Mailbox cmdlet. When a public folder mailbox is created a new mailbox gets formed with the mailbox type of Public Folder.
• Hold For Migration – The Hold for Migration parameter is used when public folders are moved from any old version of Exchange server into Exchange 2013.
• Is Hierarchy Ready - This shows whether the public folder mailbox is ready to supply the public folder hierarchy to users or not.

Note – It is set to $True only when the entire hierarchy gets synced to the public folder mailbox. If it is set to $False then users would not be able to use it for access to hierarchy. However, if the default Public Folder Mailbox property on a user mailbox is set to any particular public folder mailbox, the user shall still have the privilege to access the particular public folder mailbox even if the Is Hierarchy Ready parameter set to $False.

• Is Excluded From Serving Hierarchy - It prevents users from accessing the public folder hierarchy on the specific public folder mailbox.

Note - For balancing of load, users are dispersed equally across public folder mailboxes by default. When this parameter is set on any public folder mailbox, the particular mailbox does not get included in the automatic load-balancing and also shall not be accessed by users for the retrieval of the public folder hierarchy. However, if the default Public Folder Mailbox property on any user mailbox is set to any definite public folder mailbox, users shall still have the accessibility of the particular public folder mailbox. This is true even if the 'Is Excluded from Serving Hierarchy' parameter is set for that public folder mailbox.

A secondary hierarchy mailbox gives only the public folder hierarchy info to users if it is mentioned clearly on the users' mailboxes using the default Public Folder Mailbox property or if the below specified conditions are met:

• The 'Is Hierarchy Ready' parameter is set to $True on the public folder mailbox.
• The 'Is Excluded from Serving Hierarchy' parameter on the public folder mailbox is set to $False.

Exchange 2013 Public Folders Disaster Recovery

The public folders of Exchange 2013 are built on mailbox structure and use the same means for data availability and redundancy as previous releases. Each public folder mailbox may have multiple copies with automatic failover feature like regular mailboxes. In addition to the overall disaster recovery situation users can restore public folders in other situations as well. Some of them are mentioned below:

• Soft Deleted Public Folder Restore - The public folder has been deleted but is within the retention period. This shows that it is not permanently deleted.
• Soft Deleted Public Folder Mailbox Restore - The public folder mailbox has been deleted but is within the mailbox retention period. This is also a sign of temporary deletion.
• Public folder mailbox restore from a recovery database – Even when the deleted mailbox retention period has elapsed an individual public folder mailbox can be recovered from backup. Then the data can be restored from mailbox and copied to a target folder or merged into another mailbox.

In all the above three cases, the public folder as well as the public folder mailbox is retrievable by using the Mailbox Restore Request cmdlets of Exchange Management Shell.

Restoring Public Folders and Public Folder Mailboxes from Failed Moves

Even though a move request for a public folder or public folder mailbox results in failure, they can be restored in the following two conditions:

• Failed public folder move – This is because a soft-deleted copy of the public folder is still stored in the source public folder mailbox and is within the retention period.
• Failed public folder mailbox move - A soft-deleted copy of the public folder mailbox still remains in the source mailbox database and is within the mailbox retention period.

If the mailbox retention period gets elapsed, users can recover public folder mailbox from backup individually and then data can be extracted from the restored mailbox and copied into the target folder or merged with another mailbox.