New Exchange

[donnie4564]

Just started working for a company that has one site. (150+users all WXP Pro and Office 2003 Pro)

Existing messaging system: outsource pop3.

I have 30 days to implement exchange and migrate users.

My plan is: (for all clients)
1. Export mail from pop3 account to pst.
2. Remove outlook profile.
3. Create new profile connecting to exchange.
4. Import old mail (pst) to new mailbox

Perform all 4 steps at each client pc.

Since all 4 steps will be completed in a single weekend, can anyone suggest a simpler, quicker, or more automated way for the migration?


Donnie

 

[Zelandakh]

The pop account must be downloading to PST anyway.

Assuming the ISP gets their act together right, you can implement the Exchange server before time and have emails flow to it from implementation day. Exchange can be running tomorrow. Set up DLs etc.

Imp day, either exmerge the PSTs into Exchange or import PSTs via Outlook.

30 in one day should be reasonably simple as long as you have access to all username/passwords and everyone's PCs co-operate.

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[fs483]

I'm actually in the process of doing the exact same thing. I have fully configured my Exch 2003. I also created the accounts and made sure everything works in OWA. It's friday night now I just switched my MX records to point to my exch server. During the weekend I'm be checking and praying that messages start coming into my exch server. I could take up to 72 hours for the changes to propagate. On monday, the IP change should of propagated to all the DNS servers and I'll start importing each users .pst into Exchange.

 

[donnie4564]

Thanks for reply. I wanted to use the exmerge because of the automation capability but most of the mailboxes are 1 to 1 1/2 gig. I've estmated 100 gig of mail and can't be sure exmerge can import in a single weekend.

Donnie

 

[b00bies]

i've had a couple edb's just over 160GB and if you are estimating 100GB of mail i would recommend not importing it back to the server but just cut over from remote pop to local exchange and implement a mailbox size limitiaion. the users will need to have pst's anyway unless you can afford the costs associated with no restrictions on mailbox sizes (which includes more that just disk on a server). might as well start fresh and put as little of the old crap on the server as possible.

i had one mailbox that was 13GB in size. it had its own server.

good luck with your migration!

 

[wdoellefeld]

i would recommend not importing it back to the server but just cut over from remote pop to local exchange and implement a mailbox size limitiaion.

I would agreee with what b00bies is saying. You don't want to start out like this. Politics and/or pressure from the top will probably force you to do it anyway unfortunatly. Explaining the drawbacks of having all this mail on the server versus what little benefit may be your best route. In another year of growing the backup time on this could become a real struggle depending on your equipment.

 

[donnie4564]

I thought the perfect plan was external pst's added to the mailbox then start everyone with empty mailboxes. I presented this idea to the "exec's" their response was... this is why we purched the disk array, so we could have unlimited mailbox size. I hate the word unlimited!



Donnie

 

[wdoellefeld]

Yeah I figured as much since lets face it execs are all the same. I know mine are. It really sucks that they read a couple magazines now and then so they think they're savvy. The same types will go ahead and install XP SP2 on their box and then ask you "what's wrong with those $10K servers we just bought!"

Make sure and tell them the cost of the dual drive LTO you need to back all that up. With a single drive LTO and 100 gig in mail stores you are looking at 4 hours for exchange alone.

*cough* sorry for the rant. Can you tell I have the same types of issues?

 

[Zelandakh]

I agree mostly. But the mailbox restrictions hurt the execs who have never deleted an email in their lives. So you restrict it and they call to ask where all their emails are...

As to dual LTO, I'm making over 70GB an hour of mine (ok, LTO-2 Ultriums) but the fibre array is more important for speed.

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