Which upgrade path should I take?

[scottew]

We are currently running Exchange 2003 SP2 Standard Edition. The Exchange database is at about 65 GB's and unfortunately the company I work for does not allow me to enforce any type of mailbox limits. We are also running GFI Mail Archiver, but they have implemented a policy that people are not to delete any company emails.

Since the Standard Edition only goes up to 75 GB's, I'm trying to figure out the best and most cost effective solution.

My current configuration is a single Exchange box with the following hardware which is about 1 1/2 years old.

Dell PowerEdge 2850
4 GB Ram
4 x 73 GB (Raid 5)

I know, not the best configuration for Exchange.

So here are my options as I see it.

Option 1 - Purchase a new server and Exchange 2007 Enterprise and move everything over. This is my preference, but the most costly.

Option 2 - add a second exchange server with Exchange 2003 and move some mailboxes over to new machine.

Option 3 - Upgrade to Exchange 2003 Enterprise on the existing Exchange Server.

I was hoping to get some feedback from you guys on which would be the best path to take and perhaps some pro/cons on each option.

Thanks in advance.

Scott

 

[58sniper]

Upgrading to Exchange 2003 Enterprise would certainly be the least amount of heartburn.

I'm one for moving to 2007. I'd spec out a beefy 2007 box with room for 5 years of growth. Get all the pricing together and then show it to the PTB and say "If you don't want mailbox limits, here's what it's going to cost us". I'd also bring up the security and stability issues that not having mailbox limits imposes.

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP
Contributing author Microsoft Exchange Server 2007: The Complete Reference

 

[scottew]

Thanks Pat, I have already done as you suggested and provided the powers to be for a new server with Exchange 2007. With hardware and licenses it came to about $20k so I know they aren't going to go in that direction. It's looking like I will just be doing an upgrade to Enterprise.

Unfortunately nobody listens when I mention issues with no mailbox limits.

Thanks again for your response.