Planning a Transition Path
The transition process varies from organization to organization depending on the complexity of the current deployment. The transition process occurs in several phases. Each phase introduces individual Exchange 2007 server roles and features. At the conclusion of each phase, your organization will be running in a supported transition mode. The end-to-end process is designed to maintain messaging functionality and stability throughout the transition process.
Before you start the transition process, we recommend that you assess and document your existing environment. In general, you should document existing settings and configuration information for your Exchange organization, the Active Directory directory service, and your network.
Exchange 2007 Readiness Check
The easiest way to capture most of the information about your Exchange organization, Active Directory, and other settings and configuration information is to scan the organization using the Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool (ExBPA). ExBPA version 2.7 and later includes an Exchange 2007 Readiness Check scan that can be used to assess your organization's readiness for Exchange 2007. As part of that assessment, the organization model is also identified.
After the Exchange 2007 Readiness Check scan is complete, a report is generated. After the report is complete, navigate to the All Issues tab and look for an entry called Transition documentation. Select this item to display the organization model for the scanned Exchange organization.
Other Documentation
In addition to using ExBPA to collect Exchange Server organization information and perform an Exchange 2007 Readiness Check, we recommend that you document some information about your environment.
Table 1 describes the Exchange Server organization information that you should collect. The collected information can be used to roll back to an previous environment or configuration, and it is useful as reference material for comparing the existing environment to the environment to which you transition.
Table 1 Exchange organization settings
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Settings
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Information to document
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Exchange organization
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Mixed or native mode
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Exchange server hardware
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Processors, memory, disk storage, and network throughput
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Exchange Server version
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Version and service pack level
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Exchange server configuration
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Server roles, such as front-end servers, dedicated bridgehead servers, mailbox servers, and public folder servers
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Administrative groups
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Administrative group names and permissions assigned to Exchange administrators
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Administrators
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Exchange administrators and any permissions delegation that has been performed
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Storage groups and stores
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Store configuration, database and log file locations, and any policies that are applied
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Data recovery plan
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Backup and restore plan
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Routing groups
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Routing group master, names and locations of servers, connectors and their properties
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Policies
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Recipient policies, server policies, store policies, and any exemptions that have been applied at the user level
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SMTP namespaces
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The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) namespace for all domains for which the Exchange organization is authoritative
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Global settings for message delivery
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Recipient filters, sender filters, address filters, message size limits, and message formats
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Message security settings
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Virtual server configuration, authentication and encryption settings, and secure relationships with other domains
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Antivirus software and settings
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Antivirus software installation locations and settings
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Anti-spam and antivirus settings
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Intelligent Mail Filter spam confidence levels, IP Block List and IP Allow List settings, and attachment blocking settings
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Smart host
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Complete configuration information that includes IP addresses, authoritative domains, and real-time block list (RBL) subscriptions
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Exchange 2007, Exchange Server 2003, and Exchange 2000 Server store the following information in Active Directory:
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Data about how the Exchange organization is configured
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Schema objects and attributes that are used in Exchange
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Recipient information
Exchange 2007 also uses Active Directory sites for routing.
Table 2 describes the Active Directory information that you should collect.
Table 2 Active Directory settings
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Settings
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Information to document
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Active Directory sites
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Site names, directory servers in each site, and IP subnets that are associated with each site
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IP site links
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Sites included in each site link and costs that are assigned to each link
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Functional level
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Forest and domain functional levels
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Expansion servers
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Servers that expand distribution list membership and that use one or more global catalog servers to resolve the membership
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Security groups
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Security groups and security group membership for any groups that have been delegated administrative responsibility for the Exchange organization
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Security permissions
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Document accounts that are members of Schema Admins and Enterprise Admins universal security groups
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Server placement
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The location (organizational unit) of each server within the directory service
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We recommend that you also document your existing physical network, firewalls, and name resolution servers as part of the Exchange organization upgrade. By documenting these settings, you can identify which locations will provide the most robust connections and optimal bandwidth for server-to-server communication.
Table 3 describes the information that you should collect.
Table 3 Network settings
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Settings
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Information to document
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Physical network
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Network backbone, autonomous system connections, and available bandwidth
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DNS
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DNS servers and Mail Exchanger (MX) records for your organization
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Firewalls
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Port availability to external and internal systems
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Perimeter network servers
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Any servers that are located in a perimeter network or screened subnet, and the network services that they provide, especially any servers that provide SMTP-relay functionality
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During the planning process, use the information that you have gathered about your existing environment to plan the most efficient and effective transition path for your organization. The transition process for the Exchange organization involves deploying new Exchange 2007 servers and then moving the existing messaging services and data to those servers. After all Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange 2000 Server servers are no longer providing any messaging services to the organization, they can be decommissioned.
Exchange-Aware Products
Any Exchange-aware products in your existing environment, such as anti-virus software, antispam software, backup software, and others, will need to be upgraded to or replaced with newer versions of the software that are compatible with Exchange 2007.