Exchange 2003 on VMware

[gcmis01]

  Finished

[dmn0211 · Accepted solution]

This may help with the process. There may also be a local contact on the linkedin group for Raleigh VMUG that has done an Exchange 2003 implementation.

http://viops.vmware.com/home/docs/DOC-1181

[gcmis01]

This will be helpful when the time comes to go P2V.

However, I need references, not the actual procedure.

Thank you, though!

[TomHowarth]

moved to a more appropiate forum

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Tom Howarth VCP / vExpert

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Blog: www.planetvm.net

Contributing author for the upcoming book "[VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment|http://my.safaribooksonline.com/9780136083214]”. Currently available on roughcuts

[sshamilt]

I wouldn't recommend P2Ving your mailbox servers. Perhaps create blank ones and move the mailboxes over?

I run Exchange 2007 on VMware, I do have a very small Exchange 2003 setup (I'm talking one DC and one Exch server for about 20 users). We use it for training and as such I don't particularly pay much attention to the performance, sorry.

[azn2kew]

We've previously virtualized Exchange 2003 but performance isn't maximize and if you can utilize Exchange 2007 with vSphere 4.0 implementation, you can maximize the performance and better results due to new x64 bit code and better memory cache. As mentioned, P2V'ed isn't recommended but doable. Check out VMware site for Exchange 2003/2007 best practices guide for more details. Just to make sure you disable VMotion on Mailbox servers so that they will seperated themselves between ESX hosts if you're using CCR.

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Regards,

Stefan Nguyen

VMware vExpert 2009

iGeek Systems Inc.

VMware, Citrix, Microsoft Consultant

[jamey]

I recently did a P2V on my exchange 2007 server with about 2000 mailboxes. I had trouble with the Hardrrive that contained the mailbox DB's. The system hard drive and the hard drive containing the logs had no problems but the process hung on the mailbox DB hard drive (I tried 3 times). I ended up manually coping over the 4 mail box databases to a new hard drive for the Exchange VM and everything worked perfectly. I find that exchange 2007 runs better in VM than before but that is due to the better stroage that was available to VM.

[AsherN]

You have to make sure that all Exchange services are stopped.