Exam Essentials

Know the operating system requirements for Exchange Server 2003. Exchange Server 2003 can be installed on Windows 2000 Server SP3 or later or on Windows Server 2003, although it ‚ s recommended that you perform new installations onto Windows Server 2003 computers to take advantage of the improved security features and other usability features offered by Windows Server 2003. On the other hand, Exchange 2000 Server cannot be installed on Windows Server 2003, so an upgrade from Exchange 2000 Server to Exchange Server 2003 must be completed before that server can be upgraded to Windows Server 2003.

Understand the relationship between front-end and back-end servers. You must upgrade all front-end servers to Exchange Server 2003 before you can upgrade any of the back-end servers to Exchange Server 2003. When upgrading front-end and back-end servers, it ‚ s recommended that you upgrade the entire front end in as short a time as you can and then move onto the back-end servers. Be sure that Windows 2000 Server and Exchange 2000 Server are both at Service Pack 3 before attempting the upgrade.

Know which components are not supported in Exchange Server 2003. Nothing will spoil your upgrade plan faster than not taking time to consider those components that you will not be able to use in an Exchange Server 2003 organization with no Exchange 2000 Servers. If you still need to use any of the unsupported components, you will need to keep at least one Exchange 2000 Server in the organization.