Greetings All!
I thank you in advance for any help, I have tried to research this on my own but have come up empty.
Existing equipment and structure =
I have 2 existing Exchange 5.5 servers running NT 4.0 as a PDC and BDC in an NT 4.0 domain (don't ask, I inherited that). They each hold 1/2 of the user mailboxes.
New equipment =
Compaq DL380 G2 Cluster Array, each node has 18.2 gig RAID 1 for OS. The shared storage has 2 storage arrays (291.2 RAID 5 and 36.4 RAID 1). They are to be loaded with Win 2000 Adv Server, MS Cluster, Exch 2000 Enterprise.
2 Compaq DL320's with 18.2 gig RAID 1 for OS
Project Goal = We will be completely migrating to Exch2000 from 5.5 ; HOWEVER upper management is uncomfortable doing a complete cutover and would like to have a small test group use the new 2000 system AT THE SAME TIME as the 5.5
I am really wary of this and can use some advice on how to do this without conflict. My first thoughts are to create a new AD domain (forest) using 1 of the DL320 for the initial DC. This would also keep the Exch2000 separate from the 5.5 servers and avoid any sync issues. Migrate (?) a few mailboxes over to this new system, then put a forwarder (?) on the old system pointing new mail for those mailboxes to the new system. It is important that the test group remains in contact with the rest of production.
I know there must be a issues with this test plan, so please feel free to poke holes in it and offer better ideas, I really could use an expert viewpoint.
Thanks!!!
I thank you in advance for any help, I have tried to research this on my own but have come up empty.
Existing equipment and structure =
I have 2 existing Exchange 5.5 servers running NT 4.0 as a PDC and BDC in an NT 4.0 domain (don't ask, I inherited that). They each hold 1/2 of the user mailboxes.
New equipment =
Compaq DL380 G2 Cluster Array, each node has 18.2 gig RAID 1 for OS. The shared storage has 2 storage arrays (291.2 RAID 5 and 36.4 RAID 1). They are to be loaded with Win 2000 Adv Server, MS Cluster, Exch 2000 Enterprise.
2 Compaq DL320's with 18.2 gig RAID 1 for OS
Project Goal = We will be completely migrating to Exch2000 from 5.5 ; HOWEVER upper management is uncomfortable doing a complete cutover and would like to have a small test group use the new 2000 system AT THE SAME TIME as the 5.5
I am really wary of this and can use some advice on how to do this without conflict. My first thoughts are to create a new AD domain (forest) using 1 of the DL320 for the initial DC. This would also keep the Exch2000 separate from the 5.5 servers and avoid any sync issues. Migrate (?) a few mailboxes over to this new system, then put a forwarder (?) on the old system pointing new mail for those mailboxes to the new system. It is important that the test group remains in contact with the rest of production.
I know there must be a issues with this test plan, so please feel free to poke holes in it and offer better ideas, I really could use an expert viewpoint.
Thanks!!!
