Exchange 2003 Test Environments

 

This section provides information about the test environments that you can use to deploy Exchange 2003. However, be aware that, because this document is designed to help you quickly learn about the new features, it does not provide detailed instructions about how to deploy Exchange 2003 in a production environment. For basic instructions about how to get Exchange 2003 up and running in a test environment, see "Deployment Features of Exchange Server 2003."

Operating Systems

Exchange 2003 runs on Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 Server SP3 or later versions. Exchange 2003 has been optimized to run on Windows Server 2003; in fact, several Exchange 2003 features require Windows Server 2003 functionality.

Exchange 2003 is supported in all Active Directory forest environments: native Windows 2000, native Windows Server 2003, or mixed Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 forests. When running in an environment that uses Windows 2000 domain controllers and global catalog servers, the domain controllers and global catalog servers that Exchange 2003 uses must all be running Windows 2000 SP3 or later versions. This requirement affects both Exchange 2003 servers and the Exchange 2003 version of Active Directory Connector (ADC). ADC does not work with domain controllers or global catalog servers that are running a version of Windows 2000 earlier than SP3.

Note

Although Exchange 2000 SP2 and later versions is supported in an environment by using Windows Server 2003 domain controllers and global catalog servers, Exchange 2003 is the first version of Exchange that is supported when running on Windows Server 2003. Exchange 2000 is not supported on Windows Server 2003.

Information about 32-bit Operating Systems Support

Exchange Server 2003 is supported on 32-bit operating systems and hardware. You can run Exchange Server 2003 on 32-bit operating systems on x64-bit-based hardware. However, Exchange Server 2003 is not supported on 64-bit operating systems, 64-bit Itanium hardware, or 32-bit emulators that are running on 64-bit operating systems.

x64 refers to 64-bit processors that are backward compatible with 32-bit applications (typically known as x64 or AMD64/EM64T). For Intel, this is the 64-bit Xeon processor or Pentium processors with EM64T (not the Itanium or IA-64). For AMD, this includes all the AMD64 processors (Operton, Athlon, and Turion). For more information, visit the following Web site at https://www.intel.com/business/technologies/.

Note

The third-party Web site information in this topic is provided to help you find the technical information that you need. The URLs are subject to change without notice.

Coexistence and Upgrade from Previous Versions

Exchange 2003 can coexist with Exchange 2000 and, when running in Exchange mixed mode, with Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 servers.

For Exchange 2000, Exchange 2003 supports in-place upgrades.

In-place upgrades are not supported for Exchange 5.5 servers. To upgrade from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003, you must join an Exchange 2003 server to the Exchange 5.5 site, and then move Exchange resources, such as mailboxes, to the Exchange 2003 server. Use the Exchange Server Deployment Tools to migrate from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003. For information about the Exchange Server Deployment Tools, see "Exchange Server Deployment Tools" in Deployment Features of Exchange Server 2003.

Although Exchange 2000 did support in-place upgrades from Exchange 5.5, the "move-resources" scenario is the recommended Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000 upgrade path.