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What should I know about integration?

Updated: April 21, 2009

Applies To: Windows SBS 2008

You should take a moment to understand the concepts of integration. This section describes terms that you should know and tools that you can use to successfully integrate Windows SBS 2008 with Exchange Online.

The following table describes the concepts and tools that relate to integration.

Concepts and tools Description

Domain name

When you register with Microsoft Online Services, you are assigned a domain name that is similar to yourcompany1.microsoftonline.com. You can use this domain for as long as your company subscribes to Microsoft Online Services.

If your company owns a registered Internet domain name, you can add that domain to Microsoft Online Services. When you do this, you can use the domain to send and receive e-mail through Exchange Online. For more information about how to use domains, see “About Using Your Domain with Microsoft Online Services” (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=146186).

E-mail coexistence

If you use Exchange Server with Windows SBS 2008, you can continue to use that environment while you integrate Windows SBS 2008 with Exchange Online. As you migrate mailboxes to Exchange Online, mailboxes for your organization will coexist both locally and in Exchange Online. It is recommended that you migrate all of the mailboxes to Exchange Online and that mailboxes coexist only during the integration process.

Mailbox migration

You can migrate mailboxes in logical groups of users. After you migrate all of the mailboxes, you can delete the local mailboxes and configure the settings for your e-mail to be delivered to Exchange Online. For more information about how to migrate mailboxes, see “ Migrate to Microsoft Online Services” (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=147553).

Migration tools

You can use the tools from Microsoft Online Services to establish e-mail coexistence and to migrate from your current mailboxes to mailboxes on Exchange Online. Those tools are the following:

  • Microsoft Online Services Mailbox Migration Tools.    A set of tools that helps you migrate content in local mailboxes to mailboxes on Exchange Online. You can also use these tools to establish e-mail forwarding from your local mailboxes to mailboxes on Exchange Online.

  • Windows PowerShell.   A set of cmdlets (pronounced "command-lets") that you can use to script your migration of content.