Understanding Exchange 5.5 Migration Options and Strategies

In the past, Microsoft has taken a great deal of heat over the complexity of its migration path from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000. Because of these difficulties, special consideration was given to making the process of migration from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003 a much more structured, risk-averse approach. Consequently, a set of very well-designed tools known as the Exchange Deployment Tools was created to assist administrators with the task of migrating off Exchange 5.5. In addition to these tools, specific knowledge of the architecture of both Exchange 5.5 and Exchange Server 2003, and how they interact in a migration process is recommended.

This chapter focuses on best-practice migration from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003. It discusses the differences between Exchange 5.5 and Exchange Server 2003, and it then details specific steps required to migrate an environment. Close attention is given to new migration techniques made available with the Exchange Deployment Tools, in addition to the more "manual" approaches to migration.