Exchange 2007 - Mixed Mode Requirements
I have found some information, but has anyone seen any white papers that show detailed info on setting up and requirements of running one office on Exchange 2007 and others being on 2003?
Also does the schema or anything with AD need to be upgraded to do this?
Also does the schema or anything with AD need to be upgraded to do this?
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The biggest concern is with Active Directory, does anything need to be upgraded to upgrade one office to 2007? Trying to avoid that until beginning of next year. This is a single domain only.
Upgraded?
As you haven't provided any information, that is impossible to answer other than to read the requirements.
imon.
As you haven't provided any information, that is impossible to answer other than to read the requirements.
imon.
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All locations run AD 2003, have 5 offices with an exchange server; each location have a primary SMTP connector and backup SMTP connector - for failover in case of a failure at one location. This is a single domain environment. Pretty basic setup, any thing else?
Its a supported scenario, so you shouldn't have any problems. I cannot say that you will not have issues for sure, because that is impossible to say.
Obviously you have to consider implications of Exchange behaviour when Exchange is installed on a domain controller. Also consider that the first Exchange 2007 server will setup a RGC to the other servers and therefore unless changes are made to the RGC, all email between Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2003 servers will go via a single Exchange 2003 server.
However all of this is documented on Technet, so I suggest that you spend some time reading on it. Exchange 2007 is very different in behaviour to Exchange 2003, and just throwing it in may cause you problems. I have cleaned up many many sites where it has just been thrown in without thought - in two of those where I warned the client to get me to consult on the process, but they wouldn't pay and then had to ask me to fix it afterwards (at greater cost).
There are many many factors that would be best discussed with a good Exchange consultant with experience of dealing with multiple site environments.
Simon.
Obviously you have to consider implications of Exchange behaviour when Exchange is installed on a domain controller. Also consider that the first Exchange 2007 server will setup a RGC to the other servers and therefore unless changes are made to the RGC, all email between Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2003 servers will go via a single Exchange 2003 server.
However all of this is documented on Technet, so I suggest that you spend some time reading on it. Exchange 2007 is very different in behaviour to Exchange 2003, and just throwing it in may cause you problems. I have cleaned up many many sites where it has just been thrown in without thought - in two of those where I warned the client to get me to consult on the process, but they wouldn't pay and then had to ask me to fix it afterwards (at greater cost).
There are many many factors that would be best discussed with a good Exchange consultant with experience of dealing with multiple site environments.
Simon.
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Ok, planning to go thru training, research prior to deploying. Also, if using AD 2003, is that completely companible without any changes to schema, etc?
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I wouldnt think this would cause major issues if its researched, tested and done correctly. I have to agree with you Mestha.
If you already have Exchange 2003 then you will need to ensure that you have an SMTP Connector in Exchange 2003 before installing Exchange 2007. If you are going to have multiple domains then you need to prep each domain before installing Exchange 2007. Otherwise Exchange does most of the work for you.
It would help if you outlined any specific concerns, because it is a fully supported scenario.
Simon.