Microsoft has released information on how Exchange 2007 SP1 and Server 2008 will work together. Obviously you can just go to article located here and read about it, but I wanted to blog about this and give some key points about operating on Server 2008 and one of the more disappointing things that many organizations will face when they begin to deploy Server 2008.
The good:
- SP1 contains the RTM bits of Exchange 2007. One of the main reasons this was done, is because if you have a Server 2008 environment, you cannot install Exchange 2007 RTM on Server 2008 and then upgrade Exchange 2007 to SP1
- Exchange management tools for SP1 can now run under Server 2008 and/or Vista
The bad:
- You will need a writable DC/GC in your site. What this means, is if you plan on deploying only a RODC/ROGC in a branch office, you cannot install Exchange 2007 in that branch office. You will need a writable DC/GC.
- You can still have a RODC/ROGC in a site as long as there is a writable DC/GC in that site as well
The ugly:
- You cannot upgrade Exchange 2007 servers to Server 2008 at all, no matter what! You cannot upgrade your Exchange 2007 box on Server 2003 to SP1 and then upgrade to Server 2008. This means you will need to install a new Server 2008 system, install Exchange 2007 on it, and then move-mailbox mailboxes over to the Server 2008 box. This becomes very bad if you have clustered servers. You will have to deploy an entire new cluster, and then move-mailbox mailboxes from your old cluster to your new cluster.
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