Hello I am currently looking to upgrade our Exchange 2007 setup from SP1 to SP2. Setup consists of the following, SCC cluster and additional standalone server all replicating data via SCR to a seperate standby server. During the Exchange SP2 upgrade and when using SCR in Exchange 2007 is the order of upgrade important. I understand best practice is to upgrade CAS, HUB, edge, etc servers first and then mailbox servers last. For the mailbox severs should I upgrade the SCR target first or the SCR source first, does the order of doing this matter? Also does it matter if the either the source or target is upgraded before the other, will it cause a problem if the source/target are running different service packs or do they need to be done at once? Thanks Jonathan

Yes, the order does matter, you should upgrade all passive copies before upgrading the active one. The order recommended by Microsoft are as follows: Upgrade the passive nodes first. Cluster continuous replication (CCR) environments always contain a single passive node, but single copy cluster (SCC) environments can contain several passive nodes. During the upgrade of the passive nodes, the clustered mailbox server can remain online and available to clients. After all passive nodes have been upgraded to Exchange 2007 SP1 or SP2, the clustered mailbox server must be taken offline and moved from the active node to an upgraded passive node in the cluster. Next, the original active node (now a passive node) is upgraded to Exchange 2007 SP1 or SP2. This information and much more on the subject can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb676559(EXCHG.80).aspx Martin Sundstrm | Microsoft Certified Trainer | MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator | http://msundis.wordpress.com

Hello Martin Thank you for your fast reply. I understand what you say and agree with you that the ordering is important when it comes to the SCC cluster and passive nodes need to be upgraded first. For recovery purposes the SCC cluster also replicates data via SCR to a seperate data centre. The thing I am unclear on is whether I should upgrade the SCR target before or after I upgrade the SCC cluster (SCR source). So for example if the SCR source is running Exchange 2007 SP1 and the SCR target is running Exchange 2007 SP2 or the other way round will it cause any problems? Should the source or taget be upgraded first and does it even matter which is done first? So its the order of upgrade on SCR sources and targets that I am unclear on. Thank you.

Sorry for not being clear about the SCR. SCR can be considered a normal mailbox server so you can either start with upgrading the SCR copies or you can safely wait with the upgrade on the SCR copies until you have finished the SCC. In short, it does'nt really matter and there are no special instructions when doing the upgrade on SCR either. Martin Sundström | Microsoft Certified Trainer | MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator | http://msundis.wordpress.com

Thank you.

No worries, glad I could help. Good luck with installing the update!Martin Sundstrm | Microsoft Certified Trainer | MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator | http://msundis.wordpress.com