Add a second Exchange 2010 server to enable upgrade to SP3

dagexchange-2010upgradewindows-server-2008

One of our customers has 1 (virtual) Windows Server 2008-R2 Enterprise which is a root DC with Exchange 2010 SP1. They want to upgrade Exchange to SP3 so they can easily migrate to Office 365.

Since there is no proper backup, and according to Microsoft there is no way to rollback after installing SP3, I'm not comfortable to just go ahead and upgrade.

The idea is now to install a second Exchange 2010 server but one with SP3, migrate or sync the mail database to temporary have a redundant setup. Then when all is synced, the 'old' server can be upgraded to SP3 as well, and the new server can be taken offline.

Is this the right approach?

Best Answer

Obviously the company SHOULD be running proper Exchange backups to begin with. Not doing so is simply unprofessional and shows that email isn't that important to them to begin with. They may say it's important...but their actions show differently. OR just as bad...they assume their sysadmin is backing it up properly and they aren't and haven't divulged that to management.

That aside:

I think you have 3 schools of thought here.

OPTION #1 - the "kamikaze approach"

You simply run the sp3 upgrade on the server. I can tell you from dozens of experiences with Exchange service packs that I've yet to have one result in a catastrophic failure.

OPTION #2 - the "fix what's broken first approach"

You postpone your upgrade and get proper backups working on Exchange and the DC first so that you can rollback properly if something goes wrong. Otherwise, you're simply inviting a disaster. And snapshots aren't proper backups. The built in Windows 2008 R2 windows backup utility can properly backup the entire server with Exchange to an external USB drive in a pinch if you want to get lazy about it. (http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/the-enterprise-cloud/back-up-exchange-2010-with-this-windows-server-2008-r2-feature/)

OPTION #3 - your question's approach

Putting aside the fact that it's technically against licensing unless you already own an additional Exchange license...you could bring up another Exchange server. But man what a PITA. You aren't just "syncing" email as a backup, and when you do "move it all back" you'll have to properly decommission the new server, not to mention the frustrations client's Outlook and mobile devices will have if you don't properly setup this new server as a part of your Exchange "organization". You also don't take into account the possibility that adding this server COULD cause a failure to happen on the existing Exchange server, and without proper backups you could be just as bad off.

My advice...you go with Option #2...then run the SP3 installer on the existing server.

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