Migrating from Microsoft Mobile Information Server

If an organization already has the Microsoft Mobile Information Server (MMIS) installed as part of an Exchange 2000 mobile-enabled environment, the migration path to Exchange 2003 is pretty clear: There is no migration path . The organization has two options to replace Microsoft Mobile Information Server with Exchange 2003. One option is to install Exchange 2003 on a new server and migrate mailboxes from the old MMIS-enabled Exchange 2000 server to the new Exchange 2003 server. Or the organization can uninstall MMIS from the Exchange 2000 server and then do an in-place upgrade to Exchange 2003 on that server.

Installing Exchange 2003 Mobility from Scratch

The more dependable and preferred method of migrating off Microsoft Mobile Information Server to Exchange 2003 is to just start from scratch with a new server, the non-upgrade approach. In this scenario, the existing Exchange 2000 server with MMIS installed remains in the Exchange site. A new Exchange 2003 is installed and joined to the existing Exchange site. Mailboxes are then moved, using the Mailbox Move function in the Exchange Services Manager tool to move mailboxes off the old Exchange 2000 server with MMIS to the new Exchange 2003 server.

This non-upgrade approach of moving mailboxes from an Exchange 2000 server with MMIS to Exchange 2003 enables the administrators of an organization to simply move users' mailboxes off an old server to the new server. There are no conversions of mail, and the mailboxes are migrated in real time with little or no interruption of service to users because mailboxes can be migrated in the middle of a production day.

NOTE

Although mailboxes can be migrated in the middle of a production day, the Mailbox Move process will not move a mailbox in use. Move mailboxes when users are not logged in to the system. This can be done at a time when a user is out to lunch or otherwise not expecting to use Outlook for a period of time. If you attempt to move a mailbox while the mailbox is in use, the Exchange server will wait until the user exits his or her mail client (such as Outlook) and then automatically begin the mailbox move process from the old server to the new server.

Any time a server is added to an Exchange site, or mailboxes are moved from server to server, the Exchange environment should be properly backed up and information validated to ensure that a clean backup has been secured.

After a user's mailbox has been migrated from the old Exchange 2000 server running MMIS to the new Exchange 2003 server, the user now has full mobile access through the Exchange 2003 mobility functions rather than the older MMIS mobility functions. All sequences and processes for the client remain the same; however, because of improvements in compression and algorithms that prioritize the replication of information more effectively in Exchange 2003, the user will experience much better performance. More details on performing a server-to-server migration using the move-mailbox method of migration is covered in Chapter 16.

Replacing an Existing Mobile Information Server

The other method of replacing the Microsoft Mobile Information Server on an Exchange 2000 server with Exchange 2003 is to do an in-place upgrade from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003. This process requires the MMIS software to be uninstalled from the Exchange 2000 server before proceeding with the Exchange 2003 in-place upgrade. To uninstall MMIS, after conducting a full backup for normal best-practice safety purposes, select Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Program. Select the Microsoft Mobile Information Server application and click on Remove. This removes the MMIS from the server.

After the MMIS is uninstalled, a server can then be upgraded in place to Exchange 2003. The step-by-step procedure for performing an in-place upgrade from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003 is covered in Chapter 16.

NOTE

When a server is being upgraded in place, a full backup should be conducted on the server. This ensures that a safe backup copy is available in the event of a catastrophic failure during the migration process. Because the in-place upgrade provides no easy rollback in the event of a failed upgrade attempt, the Move Mailbox method described in the section "Installing Exchange 2003 Mobility from Scratch," earlier in this chapter, is the preferred method for improving the integrity of the migration process.