Demystifying Exchange 2003 Mailbox Moves

Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) introduces new site-consolidation functionality that uses the Move Mailbox Wizard to move (or migrate) mailboxes between Exchange servers that are located on different sites or administrative group/routing group pairs while the Exchange organization is in mixed mode. Although this functionality is new, Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2000 Server support mailbox moves between servers in different administrative groups if the Exchange organization is in native mode.

This site-consolidation feature might seem like a minor enhancement, albeit of great use and importance during consolidation and migration exercises, but don't underestimate its complexity. Let's look at the prerequisites, processes, and behind-the-scenes activity associated with cross-administrative group mailbox moves. In the interests of brevity, I'll deal exclusively with mailbox migrations and their effect on distribution lists (DLs) in cross- administrative group scenarios. In a future article, I'll discuss the considerations for moving DLs, Contacts, and Outlook client profiles. . . .