Exchange 2010 to 2016 migration plan

nachtmsk
nachtmsk used Ask the Experts™
on
Hi,
I am currently running Exchange on two boxes, each box is also a DC and GC. I've been told many times this isn't a good idea and I understand why though I've never had a problem with it.
Still, I'm looking for an upgrade scenario that would take the DC off the exchange box. We can only afford two physical servers and one cloud server from our hosting company. I'm also considering full virtualization as suggested by an EE member. But right now I'd like some experts to look over the migration plan I have with two physical servers and one cloud server (to act as a backup DC). I know I lose the DAG in this scenario but I think I can live with that.
Please look over my diagram and steps and tell me if anything looks wrong. I should add that Exchange 2010 is running on Server 2008 and Exchange 2016 will be running on Server 2012.
Thanks!
Nacht
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AmitIT Architect
Distinguished Expert 2017

Commented:
Here what you can do in current situation. Say you have Sever1 and Server 2. Remove Server 2 from dag, remove Exchange 2010 from Server 2. Then install 2016 on Server 2. Then move users to Server2, Decom Exchange 2010 from Server 1, Install 2016 and now you have Exchange 2016 on two server.
nachtmsk

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Commented:
Hi Amit,
I can't install Ex2016 on Server2 because server2 is running Windows 2008.

Does my plan look good?

Thanks
IT Architect
Distinguished Expert 2017
Commented:
You can format the server and install it. If it meets hardware requirement. Or if Sever 1 you want to use you can use that. In any case, you need one server for 2016. Plan looks fine to me. However check if it meets 2012 and 2016 hardware requirement. Both need high end hardware to run.

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