SBS 2003 to Exchange 2019 migration specific question

andrew smirnov 21 Reputation points
2021-11-23T08:57:54.733+00:00

Hello guys,

We have quite an old SBS 2003 with Exchange installation.

Mail delivery configuration scheme is a little bit strange, so I'm looking for some kind of confirmation it will work with Exchange 2019. As far as I know there is no Exchnage 2019 trial so I can't check it out by myself.

So, in local network we have sbs 2003+exchange, and several outlook clients. Local outlook clients are NOT INCLUDED IN DOMAIN. Just a workgroup.

SBS has no connection with outer world. It is used as a mail storage for Outlook clients only.

All mail send/receive operations initiated from Outlook clients goes through another one external mail server via pop3/smtp.

Just after mail delivery via external mail server local Outlook automatically updates local pst AND SBS 2003 Exchange DB (no addons, no rules, just outlook behavior).

So in result all user mail stored in individual pst files at local PC AND in SBS 2003 Exchange DB.

In case of local PC loss/failure new Outlook installation download all the mail from sbs 2003 to local PST, automatically.

Th question is will it work as before in case of sbs 2003 ->win 2019+exchange 2019 transition&

Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server: A family of Microsoft client/server messaging and collaboration software.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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Accepted answer
  1. Kael Yao-MSFT 37,481 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2021-11-24T01:58:06.877+00:00

    Hi @andrew smirnov

    As far as I know there is no Exchnage 2019 trial so I can't check it out by myself.

    The latest CUs of Exchange 2019 are available in the below links, which you can download for test.
    Exchange 2019 CU10
    Exchange 2019 CU11
    Below are some links about the hardware requirements, prerequisites and compatibility (clients,AD,etc.) of Exchange 2019, which you may need to take into consideration before install.
    Exchange Server system requirements
    Exchange Server prerequisites
    Exchange Server supportability matrix

    And since you are using SBS 2003 (Exchange 2003), you cannot migrate to Exchange 2019 directly.
    To migrate from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2019, You may need to:

    1. install Exchange 2010, migrate to Exchange 2010
    2. install Exchange 2013/2016,migrate to Exchange 2013/2016
    3. install Exchange 2019, migrate to Exchange 2019

    Here is also a link about the similar question for your reference: how to migrate exchange 2003 to 2016 including active directory renaming please help

    However, in this case it may take a lot of effort.
    A workaround would be migration with export/import pst files via Outlook.
    You may simply setup an Exchange 2019 server and create mailboxes on it.
    Then import the pst files into these mailboxes.
    Export/Import pst files via Outlook: Export or backup email, contacts, and calendar to an Outlook .pst file

    --------------------

    Back to your question, did you mean the users have two mailboxes?
    One is hosted by Exchange 2003 and the other is hosted by one external mail server. And the Exchange mailbox is only used for storage.

    In case of local PC loss/failure new Outlook installation download all the mail from sbs 2003 to local PST, automatically.

    In my opinion, it should work the same way for you.
    However, there are also many factors you may need to take into consideration.
    For example, Outlook compatibility as mentioned above.


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