CASE STUDY
Windows Active Directory & Exchange Server Setup
Unified identity management and professional email hosting under organizational control
Environment: On-Premises Windows Domain
Technology: Windows Server, Active Directory, Exchange Server, Group Policy, Outlook
OVERVIEW
When upgrading hardware, the decision was made to also upgrade software: upgrading the domain, promoting new controllers, and demoting the old ones. Exchange was also in need of an upgrade from the 2012 version to 2019.
THE CHALLENGE
We had to plan the domain upgrade in advance, otherwise the new controllers would struggle to promote. But we couldn’t bring it completely current as the old controllers didn’t support it. Moving DNS and DHCP without losing the existing configuration was another challenge. Exchange required moving the mailboxes with both servers running while not losing any inbound emails.
THE SOLUTION
We started with the domain, first upgrading it to the highest level Windows Server 2012 was capable of, then promoting a new 2022 Domain Controller. Once it was promoted, we demoted both old controllers, did the final domain upgrade, and added the secondary domain controller. Once the domain upgrade was complete, we migrated the DNS records through domain replication then copied the DHCP config. Exchange was a bigger challenge — installing the software was easy, but integrating it and moving each mailbox took time and would fail on occasion. Luckily Exchange copies the data before removing it from the source, and we discovered optimizations to improve the success of moving mailboxes upwards of 150GB to 200GB by spreading them evenly across several mailbox databases. All of which was done through PowerShell.
RESULTS
What it delivered
- Upgraded the domain and installed brand new Domain Controllers
- A clean setup with existing configs preserved for DNS and DHCP
- Updated the Exchange Server from deprecated software to the latest edition
REFLECTION
Moving the mailboxes took the most time and required several attempts to finish. The upgrade was unexpected and crucial to complete the process. We made sure to spin up new machines to avoid any possible issues with bringing old setup from 8 to 10 years prior. This made us confident it would continue working for another 10 years. It also taught us a lot about how Exchange Server works.
Have a similar project in mind?
Let’s talk about what you’re trying to build.