Migrations are both exhilarating and exasperating, but once they are completed, the improvements in your messaging system prove well worth the hassle and headaches. This is especially true when migrating to Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003.

Among the reasons to migrate to Exchange 2003:

• RPC over HTTP allows Outlook clients to connect to Exchange 2003 with only port 80 open on the firewall
• Outlook Web Access (OWA) has a number of improvements
• Outlook Mobile Access (OMA)
• Outlook 2003 Cached Mode
• Better overall support for mobile users thanks to RPC over HTTP, cached mode, OWA, and OMA
• Enhanced junk mail filtering on both client and server
• Query Based Distribution Groups. Create dynamic distribution lists, based on the users department or office
• Improved message queue management
• Single mailbox restore
• Volume Shadow Copy
• Greater server availability
• Reduced number of servers, less fragmentation
• Clustering - 4 or 8 Node Active / Passive clustering
• Improved replication traffic, thanks to Windows Server 2003

While the improvements in OWA are impressive, RPC over HTTP and Outlook 2003's cached mode makes it much easier for users to work disconnected from the network and still have full access to their mailbox. When the network connection is interrupted, local users will be able to continue working with Outlook. Because Exchange 2003 is more efficient at processing messages, it is capable of handling four times as many users on the same machine. If you are migrating from Exchange 5.5, this will allow you to reduce the number of servers in use, which in turn, simplifies the topography, is easier to administer, and reduces the potential for security holes. For these reasons, upgrading to Exchange 2003 will show a good return on investment.

The golden rule for a successful migration is to thoroughly plan the migration. Exchange server can be one of the most complex applications to migrate. Proper planning will help to insure the migration goes smoothly, with minimal downtime and eliminate many of the hassles and headaches which often occur in a poorly planned migration.

The reasons an Exchange 2003 migration can be difficult are the number of different components coupled with need to keep the email flowing during the migration. But, done properly and with sufficient testing beforehand, you'll have fewer problems during the actual migration. Remember: when you plan for the worst case scenarios, you will be prepared for anything.

The first step in planning your migration is to evaluate your business requirements, including the administrative, user, and security needs. Also evaluate the existing hardware and determine the optimal Exchange messaging system design-you'll need to know how many servers you'll need and which topology best suits your business needs.

The information you should document during migration planning includes:

• The servers that host mailboxes
• The servers that host collaborative applications or public forums
• The existing directory synchronization topology
• The structure of the messaging backbone
• Backup and restore procedures
• The client environment

In each case, you'll want to include specifics about each item, such as server names and locations, the installed messaging systems, the number of mailboxes, and the administrators, passwords, and other information. On the client side, you'll need to know what messaging clients are used, the methods used to access mailboxes and public folders, as well as the messaging habits of your users. Where the users store their messaging data is also important, because migration procedures are different when users store messages on their desktop computers instead of on the server.

You'll also need to take into consideration any workgroup or workflow applications that depend on the existing messaging system. Knowing the current storage requirements and number of messages generated by the users in each location is also important when you are planning a migration.

Finally, you should create infrastructure diagrams. While this degree of planning is less important in a single sever environment, any size organization will benefit when the migration is well planned.

Once this step of the planning is complete, you should run test migrations in a lab environment. This will help you to discover problem areas and help you avoid mistakes in the actual migration. It will also give you a chance to learn how to use the different migration tools.

It's important to keep in mind is that Exchange 2003 relies on the Active Directory for everything, including integrated user authentication and mailbox security. While this means it's easier for the administrator to manage user accounts, it also means that a problem with the Active Directory means Exchange is going to have problems. For this reason, you want to be sure the Active Directory is migrated correctly.

Each Active Directory user object has Exchange properties such as mailbox and address properties and not stored separately as they were in Exchange 5.5. In addition to creating users with their mailboxes, Active Directory is also used for your distribution groups and contacts as well as providing the search mechanism used to locate recipients in the address book.

The Active Directory schema contains definitions for the properties of the user object, including password, group membership, department, etc. When you install Exchange, the schema is extended to hold some 100 additional properties such as mailbox, email address and mail server. Fortunately, Exchange 2003 will take care of the Active Directory when you use the /forestprep and /domainprep switches during setup.

If you are migrating from Exchange 5.5, you need to get the directory information from Exchange 5.5 into Active Directory before you can move the mailboxes to your new Exchange 2003 server. You'll use the Active Directory Connector (ADC) to move user information. This service allows you to create connection agreements that dictate how the user information is transferred to the Active Directory. Alternatively, you can use the Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT) wizard to copy user information and paste it into Windows Server 2003 active directory. The benefit to using ADC is that you also migrate public folder information.

After the mailbox owner and security information has been added to Active Directory, you can turn your attention to moving the message stores from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003. Unlike an Exchange 2000 migration, when you upgrade Exchange 5.5 you have move mailboxes, since an in-place upgrade is not an option.

The Exchange server 2003 CD includes a number of useful utilities, including ExDeploy. This wizard is new to Exchange 2003 and leads you through the steps required for a successful upgrade from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003. If you haven't yet created the ADC agreements, the wizard will even create them for you. Note that ExDeploy is not just for migrating from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003, you can use it to guide you through an upgrade from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003.

Why would you want to upgrade from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003? Since Exchange 2000 is working fine, is the cost of upgrading really worth it?

Yes, it is. From the administrator's point of view, you'll have improved security, including security enhancements to IIS v.6. A new backup method is available: Volume Shadow Copy. A host of new or improved tools are available, including ExDeploy and pfMigrate, a public folder migration utility.

Users will like it. When they are working outside the network, users can check their email using RPC over HTTP instead of using VPN or OWA. Both Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003 offer improved Junk email filters. While you probably won't want to remove third party spam filters from your firewall, the capability of the Internet Message Filter (IMF) and Outlook 2003's junk email filter will help to insure very little spam is left in the Inbox.

Even though Exchange 2000 uses Active Directory, making it easier migrate, you still need to plan your Active Directory upgrade strategy. Exchange 2003 is designed to run on Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2000 is not supported on Windows Server 2003. To get around this problem, upgrade the Exchange 2000 servers to Exchange 2003 before upgrading the Active Directory.

Before installing Exchange 2003, you need to make sure that you have applied at least SP3 to the Exchange 2000 server. You will also need to upgrade the ADC connectors. To do this, navigate to setup\adc\i386\ and run setup.exe.

You'll also need to remove any Exchange 2000 services that are not supported in Exchange 2003, including the instant messaging server, MMIS Mobile Exchange Event Sink, and the Lotus cc:mail and MS Mail connectors.

Once these services are uninstalled, you are ready to begin an in-place upgrade. Logon as the administrator and put in the CD and follow the prompts. That's all there is to it.

It seems there are many organizations still running Exchange 5.5 Server, even as Microsoft's free extended support expires in December 2004, after which support can be purchased. There are many reasons for not making the jump to a newer version. They may be financial, logistical, or perhaps political. Or maybe the horror stories of migrations to Exchange 2000 Server have companies considering staying with their dependable, modest Exchange 5.5 Server implementation.

Well, Exchange Server 2003 has proven to be a very solid version which was further improved with the recent release of Service Pack 1. Microsoft listened to the feedback from Exchange 2000 customers and partners and improved Exchange where it hurt the most - migration and deployment. The Exchange Deployment Tools and the Active Directory Connector Tools should ease the fears of those remaining customers that need a little push.

The Exchange Deployment Tools (exdeploy.hta) run as an HTML application which itself is a comprehensive checklist and utility portal designed to make typical migrations almost foolproof. The Deployment Tools will recommend you get the latest version, which is available at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/downloads/2003/default.mspx. The current version is 6.5.7408 dated September 21, 2004. In addition to the basic installation and migration steps, this version adds a checklist for the new Site Consolidation Tools for Exchange Mixed Mode. This functionality was not available prior to Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1.

The Exchange Deployment Tools walk the implementer through the phases of deployment - Planning, Prerequisite Checking, Installation, and Migration. The checklists have brought comfort to many anxious administrators saddled with projects limiting the time they can dedicate to an Exchange migration. While moving from Exchange 5.5 is very common, the Deployment Tools also assist with migrations from Exchange 2000 as well as simple installations of Exchange Server 2003 where there is no previous Exchange deployment. The many tools and switches used by the Deployment Tools either provide their own log file or append their results to an exdeploy.log, so the implementer has a good audit trail of the steps as they go.

While larger and more complicated Exchange organizations might be better served by one of the third party migration applications on the market, the Exchange Deployment Tools provide a solid process for most basic Exchange deployments to move to the most recent version without significant loss of productivity.

After migrating to Exchange all that is left to do is move your users from their previous email client to Outlook 2003. If they used a previous version of Exchange and Outlook, it's often a good idea to create new profiles, or at the very least, remove the Exchange service from the profile and recreate it.

If your organization allowed users to archive messages or keep personal address books on the local computer, you'll need to migrate the messages to Outlook's personal message stores and convert personal address books to Outlook's contacts. While you may be able export the data to a format Outlook can import, this is one area where a third party tool can insure the data is migrated completely, including preserving flags, date stamps, and read/unread status. Such utilities can also handle converting email addresses into standard Internet address formats and preserve personal distribution lists.

Finally, don't overlook the value of training users on the basics of using Outlook. The time spent teaching them how to use Outlook is a good investment when you add up the time they'll waste as they try to figure out how to do common and not so common tasks as they become familiar with a new mail client.