Exchange 2010 RTM: DAG software requirements
I recently had my lab trashed. This is really a blessing in disguise. I decided to bring my lab in-house (literally). I was using space in a friend’s lab when his disk array decided to quit. Since then, I’ve acquire a shiny new Shuttle SP45H7. I’ve decided to face the challenge and build a sweet new Hyper-V lab and get on with it. I did encounter a few drawbacks so far. I purchased a really sweet video adapter card (MSI – R4350). Unfortunately there are only two PCI-E slots and the fan on the adapter card overlaps the second PCI slot. This means that I can only use the onboard NIC. Setting up Hyper-V with one NIC only will pose problems when attempting to simulate multiple subnets. I will require multiple subnets to accommodate a cool Exchange 2010 DAG setup.
Now that I’ve decided to test DAG and its features, I started doing a little research on the requirements and was surprised to learn that both Exchange 2010 Enterprise and Standard are supported for DAG.
Here are the software requirements according to Microsoft (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd638104.aspx)
Exchange: Windows Mobile 6.0 Emulator Lab Configuration
Mobile Emulator
I think I spent more time than I should have on this particular test. Finally, I got it working as designed. What I’ve captured here are the general steps to be followed when configuring Windows Mobile ActiveSync tests in the lab. Before deciding to use this emulator in a test, remember that the emulator cannot simulate true Cellular connectivity. It can only test ActiveSync connectivity via the network.
Exchange 2010 RTM: Deploying the first Exchange 2010 server in an Exchange 2007 organization
Before doing anything in an Exchange 2007 environment, it is highly recommended that you run the ExPDA. Why? If the existing Exchange 2007 organization is an Exchange 2007 SP2, the schema extensions for Exchange 2010 will already be present.
Refer to the Exchange 2007 SP2 Prerequisites article by the Exchange Server team. It quotes the following:
- If your Active Directory environment currently does not have any Exchange Server version deployed, then when you extend the schema, the schema changes included with Exchange 2000 through Exchange 2010 will be deployed in your environment.
- If your Active Directory environment is currently Exchange 2000 and you are upgrading to Exchange 2007, then when you extend the schema, the schema changes included with Exchange 2003 through Exchange 2010 will be deployed in your environment.
- If your Active Directory environment is currently Exchange 2003 and you are upgrading to Exchange 2007, then when you extend the schema, the schema changes included with Exchange 2007 through Exchange 2010 will be deployed in your environment.
- If your Active Directory environment is currently Exchange 2007 and you are upgrading to Exchange 2007 SP2, then when you extend the schema, the Exchange 2010 schema changes will be deployed in your environment.
When the ExPDA is run in an Exchange 2007 SP2 environment, navigate to the Forest tab in the results and look for the following:
“The Active Directory schema supports Exchange Server 2010 servers.”
Exchange 2010 RTM: Exchange Pre-Deployment Analyzer
This is a pretty simple but effective tool. It looks and feel exactly like the ExBPA. You don’t necessarily want to risk checking the prerequisites for Exchange 2010 by running the setup program in a production environment, especially since it will extend the schema if you install the Exchange 2010 tools. The ExPDA can be downloaded here.
The ExPDA performes the following checks:
Exchange 2010 RTM: Exchange Management Tools (ExBPA) – Caution
DO NOT INSTALL THE TOOLS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE EXCHANGE 2010 INSTALLED IN THE ENVIRONMENT (Read the entire post, it could save you a lot of trouble)
I needed to find a method to run the ExBPA to check for Exchange 2010 Readiness in a lab environment where Exchange 2003 was installed. The ExBPA for Exchange 2003 has an option to perform an Exchange 2007 Readiness check but not an Exchange 2010 Readiness Check. (As of today – 02/21/2010). As a last resort I decided to install the Exchange 2010 Management Tools which includes the Exchange 2010 ExBPA. My lab only has an XP client which is not a supported platform for the management tools. Check the list of supported operating systems here. The tools can only be installed on a 64-bit platform.
NOTE: I attempted to install the Management Tools on a Windows 2003 Ent. Ed. Server x64 and I got an error stating the program could not locate the wer.dll file.
Instead of upgrading my XP client to Windows 7, I decided to install the Exchange Management Tools on the server where I intended to install Exchange 2010 (Windows 2008 SP2).
Exchange 2010 RTM: Exchange Deployment Assistant
Prior to installing Exchange 2010 in the lab, I decided to explore the tools available to assess the environment and test for Exchange 2010 readiness. I encountered the Exchange Deployment Assistant on the Exchange Server Team’s web site and decided to have a look at it.
NOTE: This tool should be run on a workstation with Internet access and NOT a server.
Requirements: This website requires Microsoft Silverlight and Adobe Acrobat Reader if the user wants to download the checklist.
To launch the tool, go to: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/exdeploy2010/default.aspx#Home.
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Recent
- Exchange 2010 Cross Forest Migration: The case of the missing User Account Attributes
- Exchange 2010 Cross-Forest (Cross-org) Client Migration Planning
- Vonage – Firewall
- Exchange 2010 SP1 (Beta)
- Exchange 2010 RTM: ActiveSync and the Personal Archive
- Exchange 2010 DAG Implementation
- Upgrade Exchange 2003 Default Address Policy & Address Lists to Exchange 2010
- External HA failover in multiple Internet facing Exchange 2010 sites
- Configuring IE Enhanced Security Configuration on Windows 2008 R2
- Building NLB Exchange 2010 RTM CAS / HT Servers (Hyper-V) – Part 3
- Building NLB Exchange 2010 RTM CAS / HT Servers (Hyper-V) – Part 2
- Building NLB Exchange 2010 RTM CAS / HT Servers (Hyper-V) – Part 1
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Links
- Belgium Exchange Pro's
- D Golman's Blog – Exchange Escalation Engineer
- Joe Richard's AD Site
- Eric Walter's Exchange Blog
- Harold Wong's Blog
- Exchange Server Team (You Had Me At EHLO)
- Steve Thompson – ConfigManager MVP
- My LinkedIn Profile
- Chris and Robin's Technology Blog
- Jeff Guilet's Expta Blog
- Hugh Marlor's AllUnified Blog
- Elan Shudnow's Blog
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