Microsoft, Linux square off in InfoWorld's Exchange migration challenge

After everything was running, however, migration was surprisingly easy, thanks to GMS’ real-time feature, which migrates a user’s mailbox the first time he or she logs in. After configuring GMS to point to Exchange and adjusting Outlook’s settings appropriately, we logged in and opened the client. E-mail migration took place in the background. The initial log-in was slow during the migration process, but after that, we noticed no other reductions in performance.

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We then installed the Gordano Collaboration Server software, which acts as the MAPI connector. This component provides the address-book link, while the previously defined IMAP connection handles e-mail. The installation was simple, and the tool worked as promised. At this time, GMS supports the migration of e-mail items only; calendar and contact entries are not supported. This has been promised for a future release. We were able to maintain our contacts and appointments by copying them to a personal folder prior to the migration and then to the new mailbox when migration was complete. This approach may not be practical for larger migrations.

SMTP messages enable GMS and Exchange to coexist during migration. Scheduling across the two systems uses Outlook’s Internet Free/Busy search, which is configured at the Outlook client. This approach is effective and seems to be the method of choice for most e-mail systems when scheduling with Exchange. And finally, GMS’ Webmail interface proved easy to use and offered users the full suite of e-mail, calendar, and directory functions.

Overall, we very much liked Gordano’s unique approach. Our only point of caution was that the production software was incapable of functioning properly, forcing us to move to a beta version to complete the review. When these bumps are smoothed over, however, GMS is certainly a product worthy of consideration, especially for small and midsize installations.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 EnterpriseEdition

A test of Exchange competitors wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t look at the reigning heavyweight as well. So we put Exchange through the same paces, migrating from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003. The results were more favorable than we had anticipated

New features in Exchange 2003 include more granular setup permission capabilities, new distribution group features, new internal support for anti-spam, and increased support for third-party anti-virus products. But even as we raised our eyebrows at the feature set, Microsoft revived its Exchange road map, once again bringing that palpable upgrade pressure to bear. Exchange 2003 Enterprise Edition is a wondrously deep product, but expect to pay for it.

We initially assumed that because we were remaining on an Exchange platform and simply upgrading the software version, the migration would be a piece of cake. Although it was certainly easier than moving to another OS platform, there were more surprises than we had expected.

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With the existing Exchange 2000 server configured with 500 users, we attempted to install Exchange 2003 on a second machine and follow the migration with that. We then promoted that server to a domain controller after running Microsoft’s ADPrep utility, which prepares Windows 2000 servers for upgrade to Windows 2003 by extending the Active Directory schema, adding new directory objects, updating security descriptors, and making other nifty tweaks.

This brings up an important point: When migrating from Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003, you may not be moving from a Windows OS to a Linux OS, but with the Exchange upgrade, Microsoft is asking you to move from Windows 2000 to Windows 2003. That’s not to say that you can’t run Exchange 2003 on Windows 2000, but upgrading to 2003 is the only way to get full functionality for features such as Active Directory integration and HTTP-based communication between Outlook and Exchange. Similarly, an upgrade to Office 2003 is also recommended, although if you push a little, you’ll find that versions of Exchange 2003 are shipped with both Outlook 2003 and associated client access licenses included, regardless of what version of Office your users are running.