Upgrading to SBS2011

if you want to change domain name , perform a new clean install and move data from one server to the other you can import usernames and passwords, groups and move computers from one domain to the other with admt. (active directory migration toolkit) . you can use outlook to export /import data

other way to do is perform an upgrade from sbs2011 you must create a response file and put in a usb drive install the server sbs2011 with usb card plugged in
but the update is not always clean.

Hi – thanks for your quick response but I don’t think I made all of the facts clear.  We did a clean install of SBS2011 on a new server.  I have already added all current users and 3 terminated clients so we could capture their e-mails.   The server is in my office and will be shipped to the client’s office on Tuesday.  I know I can connect both servers to the same network so moving should not be an issue.  My question is how do I make sure mail (they both read the same email domains) goes only to the new server and not to the old one.

Thanks - i will turn off all Exchange services when i move the server.  I agree that clean installations are the best.  When the server first came in I had to rebuild SBS 2011 from scratch.  I did this 3 weeks ago and since then have applied all available updates and Installed and cleared all issues in Best Practices.  I upgraded  Exchange 2010 to SP/3 and applied SP/1 to the O/S.  I then ran the server a week just to make sure there were no errors.  We are allowing both Saturday and Sunday to complete the upgrade.   Again, thanks for the suggestion.
Rich

For the two to co-exist means shifting your edge device's SMTP inbound publishing rules to the new SBS. There is no need to muck about with the old SBS setup.

We have an excellent setup guide for SBS 2011 Standard here:
http://bit.ly/p3YbXO

As far as publishing to PST there are gotchas. The Calendar free/busy gets lost. So any data on the user's calendars will be mucked up if using the PST method.
Official SBS Blog post on the matter: http://bit.ly/1aekE7i

ExMerge is better: http://bit.ly/14padWb (our blog post - about half way down)

Also, once the crossover has completed make sure all users delete their NK2 in Outlook (cached TO/CC/BCC addresses). Otherwise calls about "They aren't getting my e-mails" will happen.

Philip

Hi Philip,

Great, Great links - I went through the first SBS Blog and pleased to say I have done just about everything listed in the blog for a new server.  I had their shared folders sent to me on an external drive and created the shared folders and GPO for disk sharing.  I’ve already added the external alerts including failed backup, Low on Space, Server Re-start , Log on Failures, etc.  Setup transport hub rules for each user for new and reply emails, and a firm wide disclaimer.  I changed the max send/receive default to 40 Megs.  Also installed a  GoDaddy Certificate (5 years), used my laptop’s host file to point the remote.domainname.com to the local server and was able to connect using RWW (I setup a test workstation used it to verify each user, copied their current desktop, documents and favorites to the test workstation)  and redirected the desktops and documents to the server.  Sent both mail and replies from each user just to verify the disclaimers.  When the server first came in the O/S was defective and it had to be wiped the machine and rebuilt from scratch.  The primary drive is 536 Gb large and the data drive is 1.5 TBytes.  Normally I move bot h the Exchange Data and WSUS Update Repository Data to the data drive.  But because these drives are so large I did not and I turned off the Shadow copy on the primary “C” drive.  Installed Trend Micro and excluded all of the directories recommended by Trend Micro and the TimeSlips folder. There is 45 Gb of mail on the current server and I have copied 30 Gigs (terminated employees and shared folders) there are 12 more users to move and most of that will be mail boxes less than 4 gigs.
The only calendar that the user cares about is a public calendar that they use for dockets and court dates (obviously a law firm) in testing I had that all public folders backed up and sent along with the external drive.   Granted their most technical person administrator access to the public folder but have already added the top levels they have today.
Fortunately(?) I am recovering from stem cell transplant for Leukemia and the client’s current server is running fine so I’ve had a lot of time to configure and test and they all felt terrible to push me.  
I will go through the 2nd post and see how I can use that.  I ordered a new server for a 2nd client and will user your terrific blogs as a guide.
Thanks
Rich

You could clean install a 12 user over a weekend no problem. Save the 400 on the kit and time learning. If you plan on doing more migrations in the future you could use it as experience, if it's just a in-house one time thing your probably wasting money on a kit

Rich,

There are two ways to get the Public Folder content:
1: Outlook 2010 or above connected to _both_ servers. Copy and paste content between them using Outlook after the Calendar PF is created on the destination server.

2: Export the PF via Outlook to PST, open it to verify then close it, import the contents into the newly configured PF Calendar on the destination server.

Either way, we always take a PST of Public Folders before running any kind of migration from one Exchange to another (on-premises to on-premises, or online).

@mahituna Glen's (Demazter) guide is a Microsoft Migration based method for migrating. There is no mention of the Swing Migration therein (www.sbsmigration.com). We've used Jeff's SwingIt methodology for years now and the skills learned are invaluable and have saved us in so many ways over the years. Best $400 we've ever spent IMNSHO.

Philip

thank you all for the input.  This became a non-event - we did a clean cut-over from one server to another.  My fear was losing mail and/or missing informatino which had to be captured for the new server.  We were able to capture all mail and I brought the server back to my office, set it up on a 2nd network/router and whenever the (only once so far) we found something missing i bring up the old server, copy the missing data and move it to the client's new server,

thanks
Rich