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exch2003 Consolidation - 7.Jul.2008 12:47:35 PM

DWiDo

Posts: 6
Joined: 10.Jun.2008
Status: offline

Hello,

I am currently working on a project to consolidate multiple Exch2003 in on place.

Today, the Exchange Servers are located in each of the 8 offices in Europe, the goal is to get only one hosting all mailboxes.

The current deceided process is :
1 - Go on site with a laptop running 2003Srv+ Exch2003
2 - Move the mailbox to the laptop (mailbox move)
3 - Fly to the central server
4 - Move the mailbox to it...
start again for each office.

The reasons are:
- poor bandwidth beetween the offices (4Mbit)
- big mailbox size (from 500MB to 7GB)

Did someone allready done this ?
What can you say about this process ?

Thanks for your help

DWiDo

Post #: 1

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RE: exch2003 Consolidation - 8.Jul.2008 10:38:26 AM

warrenlee

Posts: 85
Joined: 24.Aug.2007
From: Hong Kong
Status: offline

Suggestions:-

using exmerge to export mailboxes to PST files (e.g. export messages old than half month, keep mailbox size as small as prossible)
moving mailboxes to central Exchange
transfering PST files via Internet or remote USB drive shipping to central site
using exmerge to import PST files to mailboxes
remote Exchange servers discommission

How to configure the administrator account to use Exmerge 2003...
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823143

Remark: assume same Active Directory and Exchange organization.

< Message edited by warrenlee -- 8.Jul.2008 10:56:00 AM >

_____________________________

Warren Lee (MS MVP, MCTS and MCSE, VMware VCP)
Hong Kong
...... Why the life is colorful? Because we can't predict future.

(in reply to DWiDo)

Post #: 2

RE: exch2003 Consolidation - 8.Jul.2008 11:02:58 AM

uemurad

Posts: 5471
Joined: 7.Jan.2004
From: California, USA
Status: offline

Your idea is interesting (something I never thought of), but I'd ask you to think about the following:

1. What are you planning to do with the new inbound mail from the time you start moving any particular mailbox to the laptop, to the time it has finished being moved from the laptop to the central server?

2. What are you planning to do for the moving users during that time? Will they simply be disconnected?

3. What is your contingency plan? What will you do if the data (laptop) doesn't survive the trip?

4. How will your users connect to Exchange after the data move? Understand that the user experience will likely be quite a bit different (i.e. slower).

When my company was faced with this same issue, we first implemented an archival system (Symantec Enterprise Vault), had the Vault collect some of the data, then moved the mailboxes last. It gave us control over how much we archived/moved at any given time.

_____________________________

Regards,

Dean T. Uemura
Microsoft MVP - Exchange
exchangeguy.blogspot.com
uemurad@yahoo.com

(in reply to DWiDo)

Post #: 3

RE: exch2003 Consolidation - 8.Jul.2008 6:29:08 PM

Sembee

Posts: 3503
Joined: 17.Jan.2008
From: Somewhere near London, UK
Status: offline

I have done something similar in the past.

New email will not be a problem as it will simply queue on whatever server it arrives on waiting to be delivered. Start the server up and then wait for the queue to be flushed out.

Personally though I would take a backup of the server then pickup the entire server and move it to the current location.

Saying that, I have recently moved 12gb of data from London to Russia, over a slower connection than the one you have stated (you don't say if it is 4mb up and down or just one way). It took some time to move, but spread over a number of nights it went across fine with minimal disruption and no risk to the data.

Simon.

_____________________________

Simon Butler,
Exchange MVP
Blog: http://www.sembee.co.uk/
Web: http://www.amset.info/
In the UK? Hire me: http://www.amset.co.uk/

(in reply to uemurad)

Post #: 4

RE: exch2003 Consolidation - 10.Jul.2008 10:14:12 AM

DWiDo

Posts: 6
Joined: 10.Jun.2008
Status: offline

@warrenlee: good idea I did not think of. I can work on this scenario. Thanks for that.

@uemurad:
Q1: is answered by Sembee
Q2: Move will be done during the night, then the users should not be affected
Q3: in axample X-ray at the airport ? good point. In anyway the server will be backed up.
Problem could be the restore... if the drives are not the same beetween source and destination and if the backup tools are not the same :(
Even if all of that points are OK, it will take time to recreate the index. Maybe a NtBackup to a hard drive could help ? does someone have an idea on that ?

Q4: RPC over Http

@Sembee: lines are synchrone (same in / out)

thanks to all for your interest and your answers
DWiDo

(in reply to DWiDo)

Post #: 5

RE: exch2003 Consolidation - 10.Jul.2008 12:34:35 PM

uemurad

Posts: 5471
Joined: 7.Jan.2004
From: California, USA
Status: offline

I would avoid the PST method if possible to preserve Single Instance Storage.

Good point made by Simon about the messages queuing. I was speaking off the top of my head and he was speaking from experience. I guess my point is only a concern if the server being decommissioned is the entry point to your Exchange Organization - which would be very unlikely.

I still prefer using the Mailbox Move Wizard. I've moved many large mailboxes this way by scheduling it and letting it run over the weekend. It doesn't require babysitting, will back itself out if it runs into any major issues, and preserves SIS. Just be sure that you have ample disk space for transactional log files at both ends (at least equal in capacity to the total size of the mailboxes being moved). Schedule a backup as soon as possible after the moves are complete (even if you are moving only a handful each week). That will ensure recovery for the new configuration and also flush out all those log files.

I also like Simon's suggestion of moving the entire server if that's possible. Put it on your local network, change the IP address to fit into your subnet, then move the mailboxes.

_____________________________

Regards,

Dean T. Uemura
Microsoft MVP - Exchange
exchangeguy.blogspot.com
uemurad@yahoo.com

(in reply to DWiDo)

Post #: 6

RE: exch2003 Consolidation - 10.Jul.2008 5:44:05 PM

Sembee

Posts: 3503
Joined: 17.Jan.2008
From: Somewhere near London, UK
Status: offline

If the connection is 4mb both ways then it is not likely to have DSL type issues. I would therefore have no hesitation in recommending the use of Move Mailbox overnight.

Simon.

_____________________________

Simon Butler,
Exchange MVP
Blog: http://www.sembee.co.uk/
Web: http://www.amset.info/
In the UK? Hire me: http://www.amset.co.uk/

(in reply to uemurad)

Post #: 7

RE: exch2003 Consolidation - 11.Jul.2008 2:40:20 AM

Exchange_Geek

Posts: 1013
Joined: 31.Dec.2006
Status: offline

quote:

The current deceided process is :
1 - Go on site with a laptop running 2003Srv+ Exch2003
2 - Move the mailbox to the laptop (mailbox move)
3 - Fly to the central server
4 - Move the mailbox to it...
start again for each office.

The reasons are:
- poor bandwidth beetween the offices (4Mbit)
- big mailbox size (from 500MB to 7GB)

You can perform one other step to achieve simpler solution rather than having to take exmerge / move mailbox to an Exchange Server on laptop (installing the server is another headache). Also, there is a risk in doing this step - i believe no one has counter-checked this part. What if the DB you are travelling with (after move mailbox) crashes without you have taken any online backup - trust me this is a major headache.

What i would suggest is to copy the EDB / STM files across to the other server - simple. Once, you are there - disconnect all the mailboxes (if they are in bunch of 100-200 max thats ok) - mount the DB on your new server (this would show you the mailboxes in disconnected state) - once DB is mounted simply reconnect the mailboxes to their individual users using Mailbox Recovery Centre (this last step shouldnt take much more than 10mins MAX).

Benefits of this step - you always have the mailbox database on the other server - in circumstance where the DB gets destroyed / corrupted in transit - you always have the other server to help you continue working with those users.

Any suggestions ?

(in reply to Sembee)

Post #: 8

RE: exch2003 Consolidation - 14.Jul.2008 7:14:04 AM

DWiDo

Posts: 6
Joined: 10.Jun.2008
Status: offline

@Exchange_Geek:

Thanks for your proposals. If I believe Micrsoft, the database transfer can be done when both servers are in the same "admin group", isn't it ?

All exchange servers are in their own admin group (1 admin group per country)

Seems that the only supported way to do this consolidation is to use the standard move mailbox even if the network bandwidth is not a highway

(in reply to Exchange_Geek)

Post #: 9