Exchange and Domino side-by-side

[fieryhail]

Hello, I'm put in a rather strange position. We currently run Lotus Domino 8.5x and Lotus Notes 8.5x as well as Lotus Quickr 8.2. We're using Domino directory/LDAP at this time. I'm being asked to setup an Active Directory system for better integration of user with our Cisco Unified Communications systems, CallManager, Unity Connections, and soon Unified Presence. We also run a Blackberry BES server for Domino currently. Cisco is dropping support for Domino with v8 product line and this is a large part of why I am being asked about an AD integration, possibly a replacement for our directory services. To go along with that, I'm being asked to setup a "trial run" of Exchange 2007 at the same time.

While the idea is intriguing, I forsee lots of issues. One of them, is it possible to have directory synchronization with Active Directory and Domino Directory? Such as, can I sync existing users from Domino to AD? And also, can I add users to AD and have them appear in Domino as well? I realize that this is kind of off topic, but wasn't sure how to phrase it so I apologize. The next big issue, assume I setup an Exchange 2007 system, is it possible for a group of users who currently use Domino/Notes for email/contacts/calendaring to get the same email/contacts/calendar appointments in both Notes clients connected to the Domino servers and at the same time in Outlook (or Entourage for Mac users) connected to the Exchange server? This is why I brought up the directory services sync earlier. Also, Lotus Quickr would be staying in place as a content management system as we already have several custom database designs in place and working very well.

To sum it up, is it possible to have both systems running side-by-side for a time so management and some users can access the same content on both systems to prepare for a possible migration? The blackberrys will be staying on Domino only at this time to try and minimize complexities, they would only be switched if a full migration to MS platform were to take place. Any insight on this would be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading.

 

[58sniper]

First, migrating to Exchange 2007 is a mistake, IMHO. It's an outdated version of the product. You should look at going to Exchange 2010 SP1 or later.

As for migration and coexistence, check out the thread thread1674-1615959. My colleague Santhosh is very knowledgeable about this.

You don't want users using both messaging platforms at the same time. You want to migrate them over and have them using Outlook with Exchange. Trying to keep both mailboxes syncronized will be troublesome at best.

Blackberry devices will need to switch to an Exchange version of BES if you migrate those users over.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[fieryhail]

Thank you very much for your response, I will be reading the Qwest documentation also. Just a side not, the reson for Exchange 2007 vs. 2010 is because lack of support of Server 2003 in Exchange 2010. One reason Domino has worked so well for us is their multi-platform support, meaning a mixed environment of servers. We have a mix of Unix (AIX, Solaris, and linux) as well as Server 2003 servers. Not ready to make the jump to Server 2008 at this time.

I'm aware of the BES issue, but since this isn't even certain of moving the groupware system to an MS platform, no changes to be made at the BES level at this time. Managng 2 mailstores I agree, does appear to be daunting and troublesome at best, but I'm hoping that in a small group will be quasi-manageable, at least until a determination can be made whether it will be a go or not. The biggest issue currently is the necessary integration of Active Directory, primarily for the Cisco products. I personally have little experience with AD, most of my work has been in the unix field with LDAP. However it seems that AD is becoming rapidly the DS of choice today. Thank you again for your help with this.

 

[58sniper]

Not ready to make the jump to Server 2008 at this time.

Ok, but you have to look at support lifecycle as well. Server 2003 is way outdated. Since you'd have to at least go to 64bit version of 2003 to support Exchange, it's a mistake to not go to 2008, especially with all of the enhancements to Active Directory and server features that come with 2008 and 2008 R2.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[fieryhail]

Thank you Sniper. For what it's worth, we are using the x64 2003 version, but a couple questions, and please don't shoot me lol, I'm a unix guy, not windows. What are some of the key advantages of 2008 R2 vs. 2k3 R2 x64? Also, how is interoperability? Will 2008 require a massive amount of re-education or is is fairly similar to 2k3? Thanks for your time.

 

[58sniper]

Lots of security enhancements, performance optimizations, and some features that make administration far easier. Like awesome group policies options, etc.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/