PROS and CONS in implementing Exchange 2000 1

[mmaxx]

TO ALL WHO HAVE IMPLEMENTED E2K:

Will anybody pls. SHARE their defining moment of triumph, frustrations, GOTCHAS, regrets etc. etc. in implementing Exchange 2000. I just want to give an "unbiased" presentation to my boss before he go ahead and buy GroupWise or worse use LINUX mail, or String & Cans for our 5,500 user university campus...

 

[SteveTheGeek]

What network operating system are you running? I've found that using the same vendor outweighs most strengths/weaknesses of the mail service products, so if you're running Win2k, use Exchange, Netware use Groupwise, and *Nix use Sendmail or whatever. Besides, Exchange2000 requires Win2k Active Directory.

My favorite thing about Exchange2000 is Outlook Web Access, which does a pretty good impersonation of Outlook2000.
-Steve

 

[mmaxx]

We are a mixed bag...

3 Red Hat servers running external DNS and SMTP
1 BIND on NT 4.0 for internal DNS
13 Netware 5.1 servers running file and print services
3 SQL 7 servers on NT 4.0
2 Exchange 5.5 servers on NT 4.0
6 servers for misc Apps, DC, web servers on NT 4.0
1 OWA on Win2K

I know, I Know... this is not probably an optimum mix due to a lot of bandaging around here...we have to make do with whatever $$ trickles down from the treasury...and it's too late for us to be mastering Linux...

Yeah, we agree that we need to have a consistent platform and we are at the crossroad whether we ditch all our Novell servers and take the plunge with Uncle BillG or ....

 

[SteveTheGeek]

For what it's worth, I've done several Netware-to-NT/2k migrations, and none in the reverse direction (and I'm qualified to do both). Since almost anything can do file/print and the NT servers are doing the tougher-to-migrate app services, (and notably assuming no major differences in your NT vs Netware administration skill levels) I'd recommend moving Billward, but perhaps gradually. I haven't explored competitive upgrade licensing in the SoftwareAssurance era (coming soon to a theater near you), you ought to check it out early in your planning.
-Steve