Outlook Anywhere

Outlook Anywhere is a special service that allows Outlook clients to connect via SSL/HTTPS protocols to their mailboxes from remote locations. Previously this method was known as RPC-over-HTTPS, but it was renamed into Outlook Anywhere in Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, or Outlook 2007.

Outlook Anywhere advantages

The main advantage of Outlook Anywhere is that normal Outlook requests are "hidden" in HTTPS, and thus they are able to pass through firewalls via standard SSL/HTTPS ports (so no need to open special RPC ports).

Another attractive aspect of Outlook Anywhere solution for individual users and companies is that it is not required to create a VPN connections. All that is needed is open 80 and 443 ports (these ports are usually open for other web applications).

Authentication method in Outlook Anywhere

Selecting of Authentication method will depend on several factors.

• Basic Authentication. Outlook users must enter their username and password each time they connect to Outlook Anywhere. Data sent is "open", therefore it′s critically important to establish connection via SSL/HTTPS.
• NTLM Authentication. This is the ideal method for users who are members of a domain. It is not necessary to enter user name and password each time. The minus is NTLM doesn′t work with some types of firewalls and ISA Servers (depends on ISA settings).

Outlook anywhere in Exchange 2010

There are several innovations introduced in Exchange Server 2010:

• Exchange 2010 has only one common path for data transmission. It simplifies the correct work with the client during Outlook backup process or server failure.
• The number of simultaneous connections and mailboxes on the mail server has been significantly increased. In Exchange 2010, this number reached 250,000.