We are upgrading from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010. All Exchange 2003 and Active Directory pre-requisites are met. We are about to install Exchange 2010 CAS role first, then Exchange 2010 Mailbox/HT on a separate VM. The current external Exchange 2003 OWA URL is webmail.domain.com. We have a requirement to use a separate OWA URL for Exchange 2010 CAS such as webmail2.domain.com initially. The requirement is that existing Exchange 2003 users are going to continue using webmail.domain.com without interruption, while the new test mailboxes on Exchange 2010 and/or any pilot mailboxes migrated from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010 will use the new Exchange 2010 URL (webmail2.domain.com). The idea is that during that time period, a new SSL VPN solution will be tested and validated for Exchange 2010 remote access. Once the solution is tested and validated, the existing Exchange 2003 OWA URL will be switched to point to the Exchange 2010 CAS via the SSL VPN solution, and we will then create the legacy DNS record to point to the Exchange 2003 front end server to allow for redirection for users still on Exchange 2003. The questions are:
- Is this approach valid?
- Will the introduction of Exchange 2010 in this manner not interrupt the user community during the co-existence period? Or, will Exchange 2010 just take over?
Thanks
SF