Installing Exchange Server 2003 (versus Exchange Server 2000)

In this article I will review installing Microsoft exchange server 2003 and then importing a database from another server.

All in all, the install is going exactly as it did with 2000 server. If anything, I would say that the install is a little easier, more informed and ran smoother then the 2000 version.

One nice add-on that was not in the 2000 version is the nice little checklist installer that you go through to install it. Basically it tells you the major steps to perform and even gives you a hint at how to accomplish this task. This level of support was only available by spending hours digging through some Microsoft tech board looking for that one article that tells you how to do this. Bravo Microsoft for taking something that extra step to make it easy to install your email server.

Basically you start out with a 2000 server, run all the service packs and upgrades. Next run a dcpromo on the server and make it a domain controller. Next, pop that windows 2003 exchange server CD-ROM into the computer and open the deployment tools. Now mind you on a new install, after installing SMTP, NMTP, upgrading all the service packs, and joining the domain, you can basically skip directly to the last step and install exchange. All of the other steps are just best practices that don't have much use. For example, the tools install can be done at any time when you actually need it. running domain prep and forest prep separately are not necessary on a new install because if you just run the install, they are done anyway by default. A Microsoft tech showed me this after doing it the long way over and over again. He said that this is done incase upgrading active directory fails, its easier to see what went wrong. Of course this will never happen in a new clean server so why bother?

Even on my fast 3.0GHZ server the install took about 45 minutes, so grab your self some coffee and doughnuts because your going to be there a while.

All in all, up to this point I like the more streamlined setup that Microsoft has provided over 2000 exchange server install. We will see how well the importing the database goes here in a second.