Re: Offline Files -- & -- Migration Strategy
From: Dave Nickason [SBS MVP] (gwdibble_at_NOSPAM.frontiernet.net)
Date: 07/29/04
- Next message: Shakun Mahajan: "Re: OWA Premium javascript errors"
- Previous message: anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com: "Cant get Shared printers to list in the directory"
- In reply to: Bryan Linton: "Re: Offline Files -- & -- Migration Strategy"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 11:24:12 -0400
So your mail is delivered to a mailbox on your MailSite server, then
Outlook, running on your desktop PC, retrieves it using POP, right? In that
case, this should be easy. On your desktop PC only, eliminate that POP
service from your Outlook profile. That way, Outlook will no longer pop the
mailbox, leaving the messages on the MailSite. Use the Exchange pop
connector in SBS to retrieve the messages, setting it up for your own
account only. Now the messages will appear in your Exchange mailbox on the
SBS, where you can access them with Outlook, appropriately reconfigured on
your desktop PC.
1. I wouldn't go to the work of configuring Exchange to get everyone's
messages from MailSite. When you're ready to migrate from MailSite to
Exchange, just configure Exchange to be the SMTP server as in a normal SBS
configuration. If you need how-to advice on that, please start a new
thread. There are regular posters who know way more about setting up SMTP
than I do.
Exchange can deliver mail to a PST, but really what's happening is that
Outlook is pulling the mail out of the server mailbox and putting it in the
PST. There's no reason to work in this configuration since you'll
eventually need to move all that mail back from the pst to the server
mailbox. Other than the normal benefits of Exchange databases over pst's,
there's no reason not to do it either. Whatever makes the migration process
easiest and most transparent to the users, and if that's using the pst's for
a while longer, no problem.
2. I'd dump the special IP for mail, point your MX records to the SBS's
regular external IP, and open that up in the Sonicwall. IMO having more
than one external IP is a needless complication, but you may want to post
another question and get more informed advice about this. However you do
the networking, you'll definitely want to use Exchange as the only mail
server program. IMO it's the best there is, but in any case, there's no
reason to support two boxes, two OSs, and two mail server products. Plus,
the more you operate in a "standard" SBS configuration, the easier your life
will be and the better support you'll be able to get in this group and
elsewhere.
3. This sounds like you're on the right track. I remember when I first
migrated to Exchange - it's a little intimidating since you're unfamiliar
with it, but once you see how simple it is, you'll be a pro at this
migrating stuff in no time. Really the only two things to remember: don't
delete the PST, as you point out, becuase you can always fall back on your
existing setup if necessary. But, don't make the PST available as a place
to accidentally store messages intended to be in the server mailbox (close
it in Outlook and move or rename. For example, Move To MRU lists will be
pointing to the PST folder when you intend them to point to the same-named
folder in the server mailbox).
If you run into anything else, let me know. You should be able to find the
SMTP setup process well documented in the SBS docs, but if you need help
with that, I'd start a new thread. As I said, there are some real pros
here, but with the number of posts in this group, this one is old news :-)
Good luck!
"Bryan Linton" <blinton@nospam.connellinsurance.com> wrote in message
news:ekl4tQMdEHA.1656@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Let me fill in some details about our current setup:
>
> Currently we have three public IPs assigned to our SonicWall firewall.
> The
> public IP that is resolved from our mail server's DNS name
> (mail.ourcompany.com) is mapped with 1:1 NAT on our firewall to an
> internal
> IP on our private LAN, which is the IP of the NT box running MailSite.
> MailSite runs an SMTP server. When a message comes in, MailSite delivers
> the message to the appropriate user's POP3 mailbox. The Outlook clients
> are
> configured with an Internet Email service that points to the MailSite box
> for both POP3 and SMTP. So, in brief, the SMTP mail is recieved by an
> SMTP
> server and placed in POP3 mailboxes, then downloaded from the server by
> Outlook's POP3 client and placed in a locally-stored .pst file. I hope
> that
> helps to clarify things.
>
> Given this setup, you may see why I'm stumped as to how to get *my* email
> delivered to our Exchange server while the rest of the email continues to
> be
> delivered to our MailSite server, or even how to transparently and
> efficiently migrate ALL users to exchange at once. I could use Exchange's
> POP connector to get mail from my MailSite-hosted mailbox and place it in
> my
> exchange mailbox. Then I could reconfigure my Outlook client to use
> Exchange instead of the POP mailbox on MailSite. However, doing this for
> every user doesn't strike me as a very practical or efficient way of doing
> things, and it raises the following questions in my mind:
>
> 1) If I set up Exchange to get mail from MailSite's POP3 mailboxes, can
> Exchange continue to deliver mail into their .PST files, or do I have to
> import the local .PST file data into Exchange immediately? Is one method
> preferred over the other? Do they involve similar amounts of work on the
> client side?
>
> 2) Our MailSite server would still be in use in this scenario. Once
> we're
> in such a setup, how difficult or time-consuming would it be to get that
> server out of the way and have our SMTP mail flow directly to Exchange?
> I'm
> not clear what's involved here...since Exchange is an SMTP server just as
> MailSite is, is it as simple as changing the 1:1 NAT on our firewall to
> point to the IP of our Exchange server instead of the MailSite server?
>
> 3) Am I on the right track here, or completely out in left field?
>
> I'm tempted to migrate my own mail in this way and see what happens, but I
> hesitate to do something I can't undo. Perhaps I'll back up my .PST file,
> setup Exchange to check my POP3 mailbox on MailSite, and then setup my
> Outlook to use Exchange, so I can explore client-side configuration and
> migration options.
>
> Heh, I may have just talked my way thru this problem, but please let me
> know
> if I'm about to experience an ID10T error.
>
> Thanks again Dave.
>
> Bryan
>
>
>
> "Dave Nickason [SBS MVP]" <gwdibble@NOSPAM.frontiernet.net> wrote in
> message
> news:OWWG1gCdEHA.3664@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>> Happy to help - IMO Exchange Server and Outlook are why offices need
>> computers :-)
>>
>> Answers numbered same as questions:
>>
>> 1. Exchange won't use Net Folders, and you probably won't have calendar
>> problems once you migrate. You can use Public Folder calendars that can
> be
>> seen by everyone, or by any group you choose (we have an Office Calendar
>> where people put vacations, Dr. appointments, etc. as an example).
>> Additionally, users can share their personal calendars with anyone they
>> wish, while controlling the access level. For example, I can see my
> boss's
>> calendar, but not add, edit, or delete entries. Outlook 2003 has a great
>> built-in calendar viewer that lets you view other users' personal
> calendars
>> side-by-side (if you have the right permissions to view them in the first
>> place).
>>
>> 2. I'm not sure how your existing setup is getting the messages into
>> Outlook. If Outlook is retrieving the messages from a POP account, I'd
> just
>> set up the POP Connector in Exchange to pop your account and put the
>> messages in your Exchange Server mailbox. Then use Outlook to import the
>> messages from your PST into your server mailbox. You shouldn't have to
>> change any NAT or other network settings - just configure Exchange to
>> pick
>> up your account's messages in whatever way Outlook is doing now. I'm not
>> familiar with MailSite, so if this doesn't sound right it's probably
>> not -
>> post back.
>>
>> 3. You don't need an IP for Exchange. It'll use your external NIC IP.
>> Exchange will deliver messages to whatever location is specified in the
> mail
>> profile on the workstation. It's really an Outlook function. If
>> Exchange
>> picks up the messages, they go to the server mailbox. Then if the
>> default
>> delivery location is the server mailbox, that's where they stay (this is
> the
>> right configuration for a fully implemented Exchange Server). If the
>> default delivery location is the PST, when the user starts Outlook the
>> messages get grabbed out of the server mailbox and put in the PST. This
> is
>> something to watch for as you migrate - if Outlook is set up to use a
>> PST,
>> the mailbox will end up empty every time the user starts Outlook. At the
>> appropriate time, you can protect against this by changing the default
>> delivery location in control panel/mail without starting Outlook. Then
> when
>> you do start Outlook, it'll know to leave the messages in the mailbox.
>>
>> I might not be 100% clear on your existing configuration, so feel free to
>> post back if you have more questions.
>
>
- Next message: Shakun Mahajan: "Re: OWA Premium javascript errors"
- Previous message: anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com: "Cant get Shared printers to list in the directory"
- In reply to: Bryan Linton: "Re: Offline Files -- & -- Migration Strategy"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]
Relevant Pages
|
