Taking in consideration the recent extension of the end of support from Microsoft on the Exchange Server 2010 from January 2020 to October 2020 makes it a little bit calm if you are still with the 2010 version. Thou if you are still running the Exchange Server 2010 on a Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system, you should note that the operating system’s end of support was not extended and will still end in January 2020. So, if you are running on a newer operating system like Windows Server 2012 R2 with Exchange 2010 you are safe till next October, but if you are still running Windows Server 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010, your operating system will be out of support in January and still be forced to migrate.
This doesn’t mean that your operating system or Exchange Server will stop working, but you won’t get any support from Microsoft and no more security and other updates to the system. This means that you will be exposed. For this reason it’s always ideal to keep up with the supported versions and Microsoft recommendations is to go for the Exchange Server 2019.
For mailbox migration, you may manually export the mailboxes from the old Exchange server to PSTs and then import them to the new server. This process can take several hours and requires significant effort. To save time and ensure a smooth transition, you can use a specialized tool like Stellar Migrator for Exchange. The software allows you to directly migrate mailboxes from the source Exchange server to the target Exchange server or Microsoft 365 in just a few clicks. With features like automated mailbox mapping, incremental migration, and zero downtime, it makes the entire migration process faster, more reliable, and hassle-free.
Why migrate to Exchange 2019? There are reasons why a company would keep a local mail server rather than going to cloud services such as Microsoft 365 which could be for security or regulation obligation like storing their business’s data locally. Exchange 2019 has recently been released so the life time of the application is longer and with the claims of Microsoft, Exchange 2019 is their most reliable version ever.
Let’s go through the things to take in consideration and the requirements to have Exchange Server 2019 in your infrastructure but first let’s go through them one by one.
Co-Existing
With Exchange Server 2019 we have a problem with co-existence. What does this mean to us? This means that you cannot have an Exchange Server 2010 along with an Exchange Server 2019 on the same Active Directory. In this case you would need to make a hop installation to Exchange Server 2016 before migrating to Exchange Server 2019. You need to install an Exchange 2016 Server, migrate to it, decommission the Exchange 2010, install Exchange 2019 and then decommission the Exchange 2016. If you are still running Windows 2008 R2, then you can install Exchange 2016 Server on it; but when migrating to Exchange Server 2019 you must take all the other factors in consideration before.
Active Directory
With Exchange 2019 you need to upgrade the Active Directory schema as Active Directory forest functional level must be of Windows Server 2012 R2 or higher. If your Active Directory servers are Windows 2008 R2, then you must take in consideration the migration to a newer operating system. In this case you must take in consideration also the cost of the migration with regards to time/resource and also licenses for the new operating systems. You must also look into hardware requirements if you are going for Windows Server 2019 as you might look also into replacing your current hardware if it’s nearing the end of maintenance or support apart from if the hardware is up to the recommended specifications.
Operating System/ Hardware
As said above and as per requirements of Microsoft, Exchange 2019 is only supported on a Windows Server 2019 Standard or Datacenter. The cost of the operating system and the hardware support must be highly taken in consideration because you will end up with a failing Exchange Server if the hardware is either unstable or not capable of handling the load. As said before you might check into the maintenance agreements with the server/ storage supplier to see the end of maintenance date and possible hardware upgrades.
Clients
If you are running an Exchange Server 2019, you need to make an inventory of the Microsoft Office installations and upgrade all clients which are running a Microsoft Office 2010 or lower. The only supported clients are from Microsoft Office 2013 or newer.
Unified Messaging
If you have a Lync Server 2010/2013 or Skype for Business Server with Exchange 2019, Microsoft has discontinued the support for Unified Messaging (UM). This means that you will lose the feature to save voicemails in your mailboxes. You will need to find alternatives to this service like CX-E or Azure Voicemail on Office 365.
Effort
As said, there is huge effort in the
migration which needs clever planning and resources in case of the right people
and skills, hardware, licenses and of course time. Firstly migrating to
Exchange Server 2016 and then to Exchange Server 2019 is an administrative
effort in both your admin people and the users; plus it will take a considerate
amount of time.
Another option would be to install the new domain controller, raise the forest level to 2012 R2, install a member server with Windows Server 2019, decide on a cut off data, export all data from the Exchange Server, decommission your Exchange Server 2010, install Exchange Server 2019 on the new server and import all the mailboxes. This would be risky as if you forgot to export a particular mailbox you cannot natively export from an EDB file and of course there is no rollback just in case something goes wrong. Taking point that there will be downtime and you would need to find a holiday and a lot of resources to get this done ASAP so few emails are lost.
Best Alternative
In this particular scenario, you would need to prepare the new Active Directory servers and the Windows Server 2019 that will host your new Exchange Server. Decide on a day of the cut-off, take a full backup, and then install the new Exchange Server. After setup, use Exchange to Exchange Migration tool to seamlessly move mailboxes from the old Exchange environment to the new Exchange Server. The software automatically maps or creates the mailboxes in the destination, ensuring a smooth transition with minimal effort. Stellar Migrator for Exchange drastically reduces migration complexity while giving you peace of mind with its automated, reliable, and error-free mailbox transfer process.
