exchange 2000 server setup offline or not?

[350ztn]

I have an existing exchange 2000 server, and am putting a new exchange server in to replace the old one. When I build the new server, do I need to install Exchange 2000 with the server offline or attached to the network that has the pre-existing exchange server on it or does it matter?
After the new Exchange server is setup, what all will need to be moved besides the mailboxes. The new exchange server will have a different servername as well since the old server will not be shut down.

 

[350ztn]

also, how can I make sure that I get the .edb and .stm files moved to the new server in a consistent state as well as the log files, so that when the new exchange server is brought online there should be no errors.

 

[jbud]

Since you're using a new server name, you shouldn't have any big issues.

Working sort of backwords, the mailbox move is the easiest part. Once you have the new server online, you can move the mailboxes over using the Move Mailbox feature under Exchange Tasks in ADU&C. There's no need to worry about moving the actual database files, although, theoretically, you _may_ lose some storage due to the loss of the single instancing of items once you move mailboxes.

As for getting the new server up and running, since your Exchange org is already set up, you won't need to modify your schema (setup /forestprep|domainprep). You will have the choice of installing into the same or a new administrative group. Since I suspect that you want to keep things simple, you should probably use the existing one. Remember, Ex2000 servers can't be moved between admin groups.

If the 2 servers will be on the same location, you won't have to worry about routing groups. If you have an SMTP connector set up to the outside world, you'll want to make your new server a local bridgehead before retiring the old one (this would apply to any connectors you may have configured).

Let us know if you need more details.

 

[350ztn]

Thanks Jbud, very helpful. I wondered about the forstprep and domainprep. I thought Exchange did this automatically though in it's setup if you didn't run it on the server you were installing it to? So, if I set this up attached to my network and start the Exchange install, the setup will know not to run these 2 utilities, or will it ask me if I want to run them? the last thing I was wondering about was, how do I go about shutting down the old exchange server once everything is running on the new one.