Exchange 2010 Move

When you say it is maxxed out where is your bottleneck? network/cpu/disk?

Based on you concerns, I will recommend to think about how many users are in the organization and what resources the exchange server has.

Despite was Microsoft says, I will not put an Exchange 2010 or higher with less than 16GB of RAM.  I had one with 8GB with only 80 users and it was running out of memory.

Now, on the other hand... having less databases on the same server lower the amount of memory needed on that server.

For the other part of your question, you can have only one server with all main roles and have as many mailbox servers as you may need or have the databases somewhere else if you have a Datacenter version.  No you don't need to add connectors if you have only 1 server taking care of your "mail flow".

In other words, if you have not reach the total capacity of your actual server find out what is more cost effective: (including time) move to another server, upgrade current server, split roles across the organization with multiple servers or use multiple servers for mailbox only.

If you plan to stay with 2010 and you have the possibility of installing it in either VM or PM try to install just the mailbox role and create some new db and move mailboxes there then remove the empty databases from the previous server, reboot and check performance, mail flow and resources consumption.

Hello Simon, thanks for the update, I guess its a different scenario but previously I have migrated an organisation from Exch 2003 to Exch 2010, and when completing the mailbox move the client automagically connected to the new Exch Server. I was hoping this would be a tad more straight forward. The main reason for the upgrade is because the customer wants a ready; offline Server should this Server die using VM. The Server is running very slow with various SQL DB's, Exch and is the AD FSMO, this is why I've decided to start from scratch with a new Exch Server and move roles across. A previous expert claimed that you cant have more than 1 Exch Server with all the roles, yet I have seen forums on MSoft claiming that when moving Exch to another server you need to install the new Exch with all roles? If not I guess there will be a method of transferring the roles before decommissioning the original Exch Server.

When you move from Exchange 2003 to 2010 then yes, the Outlook client is updated correctly with the new location.
However with Exchange 2010 to 2010 moves that doesn't happen. That is because of the change of model in Exchange 2010. The client does not connect to the mailbox role any longer, it connects to the client access role. The fact that they are on the same server is completely irrelevant - they are in effect separate components. If you had three CAS role holders in the same AD site then a client could connect to any one of them and it would work.
The same applies to Hub transport role. You can have two users on the same database and the an email between them could use any of the hub transport servers in the AD site.

As such it is always best practise to have an RPC CAS Array in place from day 1 of Exchange 2010, it makes life a lot easier if you move to additional servers, migrate, add in a load balancer etc.

" A previous expert claimed that you cant have more than 1 Exch Server with all the roles"

Whoever that "expert" was wrong - you can have as many servers as you like. I haven't done a design with the roles on separate servers for some time. I am currently in the middle of an implementation for one of the UK's largest restaurant chains and that is all multi role servers (12 of the things).

You don't really "transfer" the roles around either. Most Exchange settings are org wide, not server specific, therefore when you add in a new server it gets the existing settings. The server specific settings are very easy to change in most cases.

Simon.

I never said: "You can't have more than 1 Exch Server with all roles", I said : "You can have only one server with all main roles and have as many mailbox servers as you may need.

Meaning, not all your server "must" have all the roles in an organization, they can have all or just 1 in my example I put mailbox.

Please!!... when you are migrating you always can have at least 2 servers with full roles.

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough!!! my bad!!!

Hello Simon, I like the idea of adding a CAS array albeit after the mailbox DB and Outlook profiles have been setup. I've had a look around and the process seems reasonably straight-forward, but I do have one or two questions if you can oblige? Once the CAS array is created and you configure the RPCClientAccessServer attribute on the database, does this affect user access to their mailboxes once the DB is linked to the CAS array? Or its it the case that users will still connect their mailboxes, you then reconfigure their local Outlook Profile to connect to the CAS Array at your leisure, then create the mailbox DB on the new Server, link this to the CAS Array, then run the mailbox migration wizard to move mailboxes to the new Server/DB?

A lot of questions I know just want to make sure I’m on the right page. Also if I choose not to add a CAS Array retrospectively I’m guessing it would just mean having to edit/add an Outlook profile for each client once the mailbox move has been complete?

Regards,

Mark.

Implementing a CAS array has no effect on any of the existing mailboxes. The only clients that will use the CAS Array address are those that have new profiles created, or those that have their profile repaired. Therefore unless you touch every client the CAS array is not fully in use.

Therefore you usually would set the CAS Array address on all databases, then either repair the profile or allow the implementation to happen naturally. If you don't enable a CAS Array then you are correct, every client would have to be modified manually.
However there is no guarantee that they will connect to the "right" server - the CAS array is the only option there.

Simon.

Thanks again Simon, a couple more questions, when either re-pointing the client profile to a new DB or CAS Array, is it a matter of editing or creating a new Outlook profile, the reason I ask is because a new profile could mean the creation of a new ost file and a re-sync of the mailbox again.

Also, from your last reply you're saying that if I do move a mailbox, re-point the Outlook profile to the new CAS/Mailbox Server there's no guarantee Outlook will use the correct/new Server? What about after the old Server is removed and uninstalled from AD?

Regards,

Mark.

Just go in to Outlook and choose to repair the profile. You don't need to recreate the profile.

When the old server is removed as an Exchange server then the clients will no longer use it and they will be directed to another server by Autodiscover. Furthermore, in theory, any clients that are still using the old server will be directed to another by Autodiscover as well. However that is impossible to test beforehand because it is dependant on the original server being no longer valid by its removal. Stopping the services is not enough.

Simon.

And you cant hard-code the new Exch Server details in the Outlook profile, rather than relying on autodiscover?

Why would you want to do that?
Hard coding anything is just building yourself a future problem, either for you or your successor.

What is the problem with using a CAS array? Use that and the problem goes away because you simply change the DNS entry. Job done.

Simon.

Hello Simon, OK you’ve convinced me to go down the CAS Array route. I did manage to replicate the scenario an a lab environment and it didn’t quite work. Basically, once I completed a mailbox-move, the Outlook profile was still pointing to the original Server, I then ran a “repair” and it then after restarting Outlook and putting back online, it then updated the profile to point to the other/new Exch Server, so this looks like a way out. I then created a Cas Array, gave it DNS name and a unique IP address, and linked it to both Exchange DB's on both Exch Servers. I then ran the Outlook repair on another test/lab client and the profile updated to the CAS Array but wont ever connect. I then tried changing the IP address of the Cas Array to a CAS Server but still no connectivity. My concern is creating a Cas Array, repairing existing profiles to find users cant connect. The process seems simple enough,not sure if I'm missing something here?

I must admit though that I couldn’t find clarification on which IP address should be assigned to the CAS Array, as most posts assume some type of DAG/NLB.

Regards,

Mark.