There are a number of factors that you should consider before your migration to Exchange Server 2013.

For the upgrade from Exchange Server 2010 to Exchange Server 2013 the Exchange Server Pro organization has gathered the following information.

Active Directory Requirements

The system requirements for Exchange Server 2013 include the following for Active Directory:

  • Forest and domain functional level of Windows Server 2003 or higher (up to Windows Server 2012 R2 is supported with Exchange Server 2013 SP1 or later)
  • Schema Master running Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later
  • At least one global catalog server in each Active Directory site where Exchange 2013 will be installed that runs Windows Server 2003 SP2 or higher

Using the ADInfo.ps1 PowerShell script the following information was discovered.

PS C:\Scripts\Exchange2013Planning\> .\ADInfo.ps1

*** Forest: exchangeserverpro.net ***

Forest Mode: Windows2003Forest
Schema Master: HO-DC.exchangeserverpro.net

*** Domain: exchangeserverpro.net ***

Domain Mode: Windows2003Domain
PDC Emulator: HO-DC.exchangeserverpro.net
Infrastructure Master: HO-DC.exchangeserverpro.net
RID Master: HO-DC.exchangeserverpro.net

*** Global Catalogs by Site/OS ***

Site, OS                                      Count
--------                                      -----
HeadOffice, Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise     1
HeadOffice, Windows Serverr 2008 Standard         1
BranchOffice, Windows Serverr 2008 Standard       1

This meets the Active Directory requirements for Exchange Server 2013. As Exchange Server Pro will be building the Exchange 2013 infrastructure in new datacenters there will be new domain controllers installed and Active Directory sites created for the datacenters.

Supported Clients

Work was performed to ensure all clients workstations have been upgraded to Windows 7 with Office 2013 to meet the minimum support client versions for Exchange Server 2013.

For more information on discovering client versions in an existing Exchange environment see the following article:

Storage Quotas

The Exchange Server 2010 storage quota configurations for databases were checked using the StorageQuotas.ps1 PowerShell script:

The organization does not plan to use storage quotas for mailboxes on Exchange Server 2013. However, a small number of individual mailboxes were found to have a quota configured on them by running the following command:

Get-Mailbox | Where {$_.UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults -eq $False} | ft name,prohibit*,issue*

These mailboxes have had their mailbox quota overrides removed in readiness for migration to Exchange Server 2013.

Email Routing Topology

The Exchange Server Pro organization’s email routing topology has been documented as follows:

exchange-2010-2013-migration-current-mail-flow

The following configurations are within control the IT team:

  • DNS/MX records
  • Firewalls
  • Load balancer
  • Exchange servers
  • Devices (eg printers and MFPs)

The following configurations are not entirely within control of the IT and may be controlled by other application or device support teams:

  • Business Applications
  • Building/infrastructure components

Internal/External Client Access DNS Names

Virtual directory report has been generated using Get-VDirInfo.ps1. The report shows that there are two namespaces and split DNS in use:

  • autodiscover.exchangeserverpro.net
  • mail.exchangeserverpro.net

exchange-2010-2013-migration-virdirinfo

SSL Certificates

An SSL certificate report has been generated using CertificateReport.ps1.

exchange-2010-2013-migration-certs

Applications and Devices Integration

A review of mail-integrated applications and devices has been conducted. For example:

  • Antivirus/Antispam
  • Backup products
  • Fax/SMS gateways
  • Virtualization
  • Telephony/Voice integration
  • SMTP relay

In the next part of this series we’ll look at namespace planning for the Exchange Server 2013 environment.

About the Author

Paul Cunningham

Paul is a former Microsoft MVP for Office Apps and Services. He works as a consultant, writer, and trainer specializing in Office 365 and Exchange Server. Paul no longer writes for Practical365.com.

Comments

  1. Richard C

    Any way to get the Get-VDirInfo.ps1 script? I got your book but the link is broken

  2. Kristen Thiesen

    Where can I get Get-VDirInfo.ps1. script?

    Just bought your book on migration from 2010 to 2013 🙂

  3. Ahmad

    I have a 2010 server URLs configured with FQDN of the 2010 server (something like servername.domain.com). When I am upgrading to 2013, I am correcting the DNS names including ActiveSync URL (to something like mail.domain.com). This means that all iPhones will need to be reconfigured manually, right? or will the iPhones check the new autodiscover and pick the change automatically? – Thank you!

  4. Dragos

    Hi Paul,

    What tool do you use to plot your diagrams? Thanks.

    1. Serkan

      Visio + Office Visio Stencil for Exchange 2013

  5. Gowhar

    Exch 2013 SP1
    Using no split DNS.
    Having 2 CAS servers
    Using WNLB must work???

  6. Patricio Rangel

    Actually have a 4 Server in NLB for my CAS,HUB, OWAs but, see in Exchange 2013 this function don’t work fine, can you recommend use a third party balancer option? Regards.

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