Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Requirements : Additional Requirements

In addition to making sure that the hardware and server software can support Exchange Server 2010, there are a few infrastructure requirements that you need to consider. These include making sure that your Active Directory infrastructure can support Exchange 2010 and that you have the necessary permissions to prepare the forest and domain.

1. Active Directory Requirements

The actual Active Directory domain controller requirements to install Exchange Server 2010 into your forest can be a bit confusing. We are going to simplify this for you but also raise the minimum bar just a bit. Here are some tips that you should follow when ensuring that your Active Directory infrastructure will properly support Exchange Server 2010:

• All domain controllers in each Active Directory site where you plan on deploying Exchange 2010 must be running Windows Server 2003 SP2 at a minimum.

• The Active Directory forest must be in Windows Server 2003 Forest Functional level.

• Each Active Directory site in which you will install Exchange 2010 servers should contain at least two global catalog servers to ensure local global catalog access and fault tolerance.

• For organizations using domain controllers running x86 Windows, each Active Directory site that contains Exchange servers should have one domain controller processor core for each four Exchange mailbox server processor cores.

• For organizations using domain controllers running x64 Windows and having enough RAM installed for the entire NTDS.DIT to be loaded into memory, each Active Directory site that contains Exchange servers should have one domain controller processor core for each eight Exchange Mailbox server processor cores.

• Always take into account that domain controllers may not be dedicated to just Exchange Server. They may be handling authentication for users logging into the domain and for other applications.

• Read-only domain controllers and global catalog servers are not used by Exchange Server 2010, so do not include their presence in your domain controller planning.

2. Installation and Preparation Permissions

It might seem that the easiest possible way to get Exchange Server 2010 installed is to log on to a Windows Server 2008 computer as a member of Domain Admins, Schema Admins, and Enterprise Admins. Indeed, using a user account that is a member of all three of those groups will give you all the rights you need.

In some larger organizations, though, getting a user account that is a member of all three of these groups is an impossible request. In some cases, the Exchange administrator may have to make a request from the Active Directory forest owner to perform some of the preparation tasks on behalf of the Exchange team. For this reason, it is important to know the permissions that are required to perform the different setup tasks, as shown in Table 1.

3. Coexisting with Previous Versions of Exchange Server

Exchange Server is fairly widely deployed in most organizations, so it is likely that you will be transitioning or migrating your existing Exchange organization over to Exchange Server 2010. For some period of time (hopefully short), your Exchange 2010 servers will be interoperating with either Exchange 2007 or Exchange 2003 servers. For this reason, you must know the factors necessary to ensure successful coexistence.

The recommended order for installing Exchange 2010 servers and transitioning messaging services over to those new servers is as follows:

12.3.3.1. Coexistence with Exchange Server 2003

Prior to installing your first Exchange Server 2010 server in an organization that is running Exchange Server 2003, you must make sure that the current organization meets some minimum software and configuration requirements:

• All Exchange 2003 servers must be running a minimum of Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2.

• Each Active Directory site must have at least one global catalog server running Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later.

• The Active Directory forest must be at the Windows Server 2003 Forest Functional level.

• The SuppressStateChanges Registry key should be set on all Exchange 2003 servers to suppress minor state link state version changes.

• The Exchange organization must be in native mode, which means that the Exchange 5.5 Active Directory Connector and Site Replication Service must be removed.

• All Exchange Server 2000 servers must be removed from the organization.

3.2. Coexistence with Exchange Server 2007

If you are currently using Exchange Server 2007, prior to installing the first Exchange 2010 server ensure that you meet the following prerequisites:

• All Exchange 2007 Client Access and Unified Messaging servers in the organization must be at Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2.

• All Exchange 2007 servers within the Active Directory where you are planning to introduce Exchange Server 2010 must be running a minimum of Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2.

• The Active Directory forest must be at the Windows Server 2003 Forest Functional level.

• Each Active Directory site must have at least one global catalog server running Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later.