HiIn the process of moving our principle Exchange 2007 server from one to another. Last hurdle seems to be the free/busy information which is appearing inconsistent On the new server every hour I get the following:Log Name: ApplicationSource: MSExchangeFBPublishDate: 22/10/2009 08:01:24Event ID: 8207Task Category: GeneralLevel: ErrorKeywords: ClassicUser: N/AComputer: SMMEXCHANGE09.pera.comDescription:Error updating public folder with free/busy information on virtual machine SMMEXCHANGE09. The error number is 0x80004005.This seems a fairly common error and I've followed several threads on the matter which all point towards replication from the old server to the new.If I load up Public Folder Management Console on the new server and look under SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY at the relevant Administrative group' properties it shows a number of items, which I assume means it has the content, updated recently, and on the replication tab I have it and the previous Exchange server. Everything as it should be I think?If I load up PFDAVAdmin and look art the same place, on the Items tab I get a list of folders, but if I click onReplicas I get Exception: The remote server retrned an error: (404) Not Found.PDFAVAdmin on the old mail server returns it and the new server under the Replicas tab.Would be very grateful for any suggestionsThanksSteve

Hello, Here are my suggestions: 1. When talking about free/busy you shoul always keep in mind that this is dynamic information. We should never worry about replicating the contents of the free/busy system folder for one server to another in a scenario like yours. 2. Depending on the OL clients you are using the process of free/busy retrieval cand be quite diffrent: if you have only OL2007 clients than the free/busy foler will never be used. Free/busy data will be retrieved by the CAS server via the Availability service ( using XSO) directly from the mailbox of the attendees. If you do have OL legacy clients ( like OL 2003) then all you have to do is to ensure that free/busy system folder exists for the Exchange Administrative group, because the OL 2003 and the OL 2007 clients will need that to publish their free/busy data. Once again, this is a dynamic process, OL publishes the FB data every 15 minutes and on shutdown. So dont worry about migrating the data from the old free/busy folder to the new one on the new server. You should only make sure that when decomissioning the old server you will have a valid free/busy system folder on the new server for the clients to publish in.The 8207 error might be caused by the duplicate of FB system folder that currently exists.Hope it helps, Mihaihttp://blogs.technet.com/ehlro/

Thanks Mihai. Sounds like I may begetting overly worried about nothing.We do have legacy (2003) clients. I'm not sure I understand about how to ensure that "free/busy system folder exists for the Exchange Administrative group".If I understand you correctly there is no need for replication between the different servers, simply that each server servicing clients has its own free/busy area. Whats the best way of confirming that?Thanks againSteve

Hello, "simply that each server servicing clients has its own free/busy area". This is not correct. In fact, we should have one free/busy system folder per Administrative Group, and not per server. So all the users hoted on the servers in an Administrative Group ( in the case of the Exchange 2007 that is the Exchange Administrative Group) will publish their free/busy data on the free/busy sytem folder that is hosted on the PF database of a particular server in that Admin Group. That server is called the SiteFolderServer.Of course one might set up replicas of that free/busy system folder on other servers aswell, but this is not recommended. Why? Because of the overhead incurred by the PF replication process which will lead to inacurate FB data.Here is a link with all the info you will ever need on FB. Reading this articles will greatly improve your understanding of the whole process : http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2006/08/04/428597.aspxNow in order to get an ideea of what is the current situation in your case please run this command form powershell and provide us the result:get-publicfolder -Identity "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY" -Recurse | fl name,Replicas Hope it helps, Mihai http://blogs.technet.com/ehlro/

OK, think I'm getting it. The link looked very useful and I'll study that anfd the associate articles to try and clear things up in my mind.I ran the command on our new server and got:[PS] C:\Windows\System32>get-publicfolder -Identity "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\SCHEDULE+FREE BUSY" -Recurse | fl name,Replicas Name : SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSYReplicas : {} Name : EX:/o=PERAUK/ou=Exchange Administrative Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)Replicas : {Public09, MAH Public folders, Public} Name : EX:/o=PERAUK/ou=MAHReplicas : {Public Folder Store (SMAHEXCHANGE)} Name : EX:/o=PERAUK/ou=MELTONReplicas : {Public09, Public}Public09=the PF store on the new server, Public=the PF store on the old Exchange 2007 server, MAH Public Folders = an existing Exchange 2007 server on another siteThe two other Admin groups and store SMAHEXCHANGEare old ones from an Exchange 2000 installation - not used by still turned on for mailbox backup purposes.So, if I understand correctly I only need the first Admin Group, and that should just have one replica? Should I delete the other two Shedule+ Free/Busy entries?Steve

Unfortunately even after getting rid of all other replications I stilll get the original error 8207 every hourCurrent state is:[PS] C:\Windows\System32>get-publicfolder -Identity "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\SCHEDULE+FREE BUSY" -Recurse | fl name,Replicas Name : SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSYReplicas : {} Name : EX:/o=PERAUK/ou=Exchange Administrative Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)Replicas : {Public09} Name : EX:/o=PERAUK/ou=MAHReplicas : {} Name : EX:/o=PERAUK/ou=MELTONReplicas : {}would be grateful for any other suggestions?ThanksSteve