Under Exchange Server, system administration costs have been reduced. Each server is more powerful, so the company requires fewer pieces of equipment in its e-mail hub. In addition, security and data integrity are significantly improved. Servers are physically secured and logically based on the Windows NT Server security domain mechanism, so network access is protected. Exchange Server is integrated into the Windows NT Server security mechanism for account validation, so users are not required to remember a separate password for the network and for messaging, as with the legacy system.
Improved scalability is another important benefit.
When performance monitors indicate that a new server is required to resolve overloads or slowdowns, the system administrator simply installs the software on the server, points it at an existing server from which it pulls its setup information and waits a short time while the server automatically synchronizes itself into that site. Intergraph also makes extensive use of public folders. The creator of a folder can set accesses and restrictions, create subfolders, decide whether they are read-only, and so on. Distribution lists are also a useful tool. This added functionality has allowed Intergraph to eliminate the use of UNIX alias files, which required extensive administrative overhead and were difficult to maintain.