I am currently running Exchange 2003 on a single server supporting 75 users. I am just now installing Exchange 2007 on new hardware with Windows 2008. Following is the process I'd like to go through for transitioning to 2007. Does this seem reasonable? Am I missing the way this is supposed to be done? Any comments/input are greatly appreciated. - Install Exchange 2007 CCR mailbox servers and HUB, CAS servers - copy mailboxes from 2003 server to 2007 - modify group policy to direct Outlook on clients to point to new Exchange 2007 server - take down Exchange 2003 Does this seem reasonable? I would rather not modify all clients through group policy at once if I can avoid it. Preferably I would move the clientsslowly to make sure users are able to successfully interract with '07. After copying the mailboxes over, should I setup the Exchange 2003 server as a front end server for 2007? Can that be done? I'm having trouble finding documentation on the usual/recommended way for transitioning this way, especially with regard to moving clients from retrieving email from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007. Any input here is very very appreciated. Thanks.

Hi, You don't copy mailboxes if exchange servers are in the same organization - you move the mailboxes. After a move mailbox the Outlook client will automatically reconfigure the profile to connect to the new server as long as the old server is still running. Remember also to create replicas of the public folders / system folders you still use and then use this article to decommision the 2003 server: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb288905.aspx Leif

Yes, Leifs right, you do not need to change the profile as long as you are in the exchange 200x native mode. Please view more from this thread Yes, you can set exchange 2003 as FE, but since CAS server has played FEs role, and FE cant access exchange 2007 mailbox, you may not need to remain FE Also, Any Exchange 2003 front-end servers that provide public Internet access to mailboxes should be replaced with Exchange 2007 Client Access Servers before any mailboxes are moved to Exchange 2007 ---------------------------<Upgrading Your Infrastructure to Exchange 2007> Heres an article that shows the process to transit from exchange 2003 to 2007 How to Transition from Single Forest to Single Forest

What?? So currently all my Outlook clients are configured to look at our existing Exchange 2003 server for everything (email, calendar, global address list, etc). But assuming I setup Exchange 2007 correctly I won't need to do anything to the clients? Something happens automatically to tell the Outlook clients to re-point to the Exchange 2007 servers? If so what happens?Is the Exchange 2003 server responsible for doing that? Thanks! This will make my life a lot easier!!

Luciano, When you install your Exchange 2007 server you will be able to move mailboxes from your exchange 2003 to exchange 2007 by using the a wizard in the Exchange 2007 management console. Then when an exchange 2003 user logs on to his outlook ( assume you have already moved his mailbox to exchange 2007) he will automatically be connected to exchange 2007. In fact the user wont notice anything different. The exchange 2003 proxies the user to the new server, so once exchange 2003 is still available you will not need to do anything on the clients. However if you remove the exchange 2003 server before everybody has logged on i.e. if you had a user that was out on holidays and in the meantime you had removed exchange 2003 when this user opens his mailbox he wont be able to connect. you will need to configure is profile manually or use the office resource kit tool to run the profile generator script

Excellent. One more question. I know this might sound stupid but I want to make sure... I know that Exchange 2003 and 2007 can coexist. What I would like to do is install my entire Exchange 2007 environment a week ahead of moving the mailboxes. If I install Exchange 2007 (and do the domain preparation, etc), I'm assuming the Exchange 2007 server can sit on the network and not interfere with Exchange 2003, correct? i.e. Exchange 2007 will be present, but just won't be doing anything, and Exchange 2003 will remain active. Then when the magic move weekend comes around, I can move the mailboxes and Exchange 2007 will takeover from there. Am I understanding correctly? Sorry for the dumb questions, I just want to make sure that I understand clearly. Thanks so very much for your input.

Excellent. One more question. I know this might sound stupid but I want to make sure... I know that Exchange 2003 and 2007 can coexist. What I would like to do is install my entire Exchange 2007 environment a week ahead of moving the mailboxes. If I install Exchange 2007 (and do the domain preparation, etc), I'm assuming the Exchange 2007 server can sit on the network and not interfere with Exchange 2003, correct? i.e. Exchange 2007 will be present, but just won't be doing anything, and Exchange 2003 will remain active. Then when the magic move weekend comes around, I can move the mailboxes and Exchange 2007 will takeover from there. Am I understanding correctly? Sorry for the dumb questions, I just want to make sure that I understand clearly. Thanks so very much for your input. Can someone answer this?Please and Thank you!" If I install Exchange 2007 (and do the domain preparation, etc), I'm assuming the Exchange 2007 server can sit on the network and not interfere with Exchange 2003, correct? i.e. Exchange 2007 will be present, but just won't be doing anything, and Exchange 2003 will remain active."