Windows Server 2008 introduced some great improvements at the network stack level. Unfortunately, some of these new functionalities don't play well with Exchange Server 2007. Here are some things you can do in order to make things run smoother
- Disable IPv6 in Windows Server 2008, because it has some known issues with Exchange Server 2007. For instance, it can break Outlook Anywhere. So, if you do not really need IPv6, disable it:
- Uncheck Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) in connection Properties
- Remove "::1 localhost" from the HOSTS file
- Open Registry and navigate to HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters; Create a DWORD (32-bit) named DisabledComponents and enter 0xFFFFFFFF (this will disable all IPv6 components, except the IPv6 loopback interface)
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Disable TCP auto-tuning. Auto-tuning is a feature that was introduced with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 in order to optimize TCP throughput. The problem is that some network devices do not support these features (most Cisco Firewall devices, Sonicwall Firewall, Check Point Firewall, some NG R55 routers, some Netgear routers), which can make things slower. To disable auto-tuning, run the following command:
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled