With the release of Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft has re-engineered the architecture of its enterprise-class email and communications services to better support scalability, reliability, and high availability. But these changes have consequences on existing installations, and Microsoft recommendations regarding the use of hardware load balancers have been made after extensive internal testing using a variety of high-availability techniques.

Implementing a hardware load balancer can enable a simpler management and deployment infrastructure capable of supporting both Exchange 2003/2007 and 2010 deployments during migration. Plus, it allows a smoother transition to a unified access and application delivery architecture that better supports the Exchange Server 2010 architecture.    A complete load balanced implementation supporting Exchange Server 2010 can enhance the performance, availability, reliability, and security of the organizational email infrastructure—protecting both capital and operational investments.