[roei]

Hello,

I have one SBS 4.5 with Exchange 5.5 on and AD.
I want to remove the exchange 5.5 from the SBS
(I can even format the SBS server at the end of the project) and
Upgrade the Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003 (on a different and regular 2003 server).
At the end of the project, I need the have Exchange 2003 on a regular 2003 server.

1. What is the best way to do so?

2. Is it possible to join a second exchange server (2003) to the exchange (5.5) in a SBS 4.5 environment, and then simply move mailboxes?
Could this work?
Would I need to upgrade the s SBS 4.5 to SBS 2003 first? Will I need special Licenses

3. My original thought was:
install the EX 2003 on a different (and separate) server,
then exporting every mailbox (manually by .pst or by EXMERGE) to the new server.
The problems with that way are:
it’s slow, it’s offline, it will bake the old connection (like meeting at the calendar).

Thank,
Roei.

[teiger]

You could do one of two things actually, but first let me say that I absolutely hate using Exmerge for the following reasons:
It breaks Single Instance Storage (If I had one mail pointing to 10 mailnoxes, I know have 10 separeate mails
I have to move my Public folders to a temporary mailbox as Exmerge doesn't move my public folders
I lose all my permissions, delegates, views, assigned tasks and server side rules
It doesn't deal well with Hebrew/Japanese/Russian fonts

That said if there is no choice there is no choice.
Choice 1: Forklift the databases from your old server to your new server: priv.edb goes to priv1.edb and pub.edb goes to pub1.edb. You have to name your new server exactly the same way as your old one (which, if it is called WIN_NT1 or anything with an underscore can be problematic). There may still be some difficulties which can be taken care of by a utility called LegacyDN (google is your friend).
Choice 2: it's called Swing It!! migration where you transfer your users to a TempDC then swing them back to your final computer with the same name, then just drop the databases into the relevant directories as before. Basically your tempDC is entered into your domain as a BDC. Then it is taken offline and promoted to a PDC. Once it is a PDC you can upgrade it to Win2K server to create AD with the same users as NT. (You cannot go direct to Win2K3 as Ibelieve that upgrade path is blocked). You can then upgrade to Win2K3. Now you install your "final" server into this domain with the original Server name as a member server in the Domain, then DC promo as an additional DC.
There are a few more steps that I cannot (nor do I want to) detail here because they are part of a commercial kit available from www.sbsmigration.com. It sounds more complicated than it is, but the beauty of it all is you end up only working on the server. The workstations (which are my pain point) don't have to be touched - after all what was \\server\clientapps before the migration is still \\server\clientapps after teh migration; all users still have their same desktop/profiles and the printers are the same printers. On top of that, your Exchange works EXACTLY as it did before you migrated.
Professional help recommended!

[Eric1972]

Hi Roei,

Since i have a similar situation on my hands with an SBS 4.5 server which i want to replace for a standard windows 2003 server and exchange 2003 Std, i found that the normal procedure of migrating the exchange DB doesn't work.(Q155216)
Could you tell me how you migrated your server?
Hope to hear from you soon,

Sincerely,

Eric Brekelmans
Etymon Network Projects
the Netherlands