This page is designed to keep all MS Exchange mailbox users apprised of the upgrade process from MS Exchange 5.5 to MS Exchange 2000. Feedback to the 'UNH CIS Exchange Administrator' from within the Global Address List is welcome.

8/25/04 - Mailbox migration update:

All Exchange mailboxes have now been migrated to the new Exchange servers. We previously communicated that we would contact each client individually and schedule a time for a user to abstain from accessing his/her mailbox while we migrated it. However, after several months of moving mailboxes in this manner, with virtually no problems other than scheduling and interruption of access for the user, we determined that moving the mailboxes overnight when the servers were less busy would serve our clients better by eliminating the downtime that a user would experience during the day as well as allow us to complete the migration within a very short period of time rather than requiring many more months to accomplish this. If you have any questions or experience any problems, please contact the CIS Help Desk at 862-4242, and they will follow up with the Exchange administrators.

The Exchange 5.5 servers, BSC2, BSC3, and EXCH1, and the interim site replication server will be decommissioned over the next few weeks. This will eliminate some minor performance issues that are inherent with running the Exchange 5.5 and Exchange 2000 installations in parallel.

MS Outlook 2003 uses a new feature for Exchange users called Cached Mode or Cached Exchange Mode. Cached Mode is the new default configuation for Outlook 2003. It provides an experience that is similar to the Offline configuration in earlier versions of Outlook. When you are running in cached mode, your Exchange mailbox is synchronized to a local file (an .ost file),and the offline address list from your Exchange server is sychronized to a collection of files (.oab files) on your computer. If you do not travel with your computer and use the offline configuration, we recommend that you disable the Cached Exchange Mode. Step-by-step instructions can be found in the 'All UNH Exchange Users' public folder located in the Public Folders/All Public Folders list.

3/9/04 - Migration Update - email delivery:

On 3/8/04 at 8:30 a.m. and again at 2:30 p.m., routine changes were made to the UNH Directory Name Server (DNS) servers to include the new Exchange mail servers for direct delivery of e-mail. These changes resulted in the potential for e-mail sent from outside of the Exchange servers that was routed to one of the new servers to be queued for later delivery to the recipient. E-mail that was held in a queue has begun to be delivered this morning, and we anticipate that after 2:30 p.m. today there will no longer be any delay in delivery of e-mail. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have created for you and appreciate your reports of this e-mail behavior.

2/13/04 - Migration Update - email from Public Folders:

Users who receive automatically generated emails from some USNH/UNH Public Folders may temporarily see some unfamiliar names in the "From" field, as well as in the Global Address List. While steps are being taken to synchronize objects from the old system to the new one, a long string of characters and numbers is appearing for Mail-Enabled Public Folders, rather than the more user-friendly names that users are accustomed to viewing. For example, users who receive automated P-Card statements may see: 'INCOMING1EC544521EC544521EC544521872DC2748FC85' rather than 'Banner Pcard' in the From field. Exchange Administrators are working to resolve this issue as expeditiously as possible.

Mailbox Move Scheduling
All users will be contacted in advance to set a time/date for the move, scheduled for January/February timeframe. Exchange mailboxes will be moved to the new servers gradually (migrating from MS Exchange 5.5 to MS Exchange 2000). While an Exchange mailbox is being moved, it will not be accessible to the user. The length of time required to move a mailbox is dependent upon the size of the mailbox, so all users should reduce the size of mailboxes as much as possible prior to the move. It is imperative that users not attempt to access their mailbox during the move process, as doing so jeopardizes data integrity.

Performance Issues
During the period that mailboxes are being moved, users may notice that the overall performance of the MS Exchange 5.5 servers is degraded. This is because the process of creating new mailboxes and moving large amounts of data between servers is resource intensive. After migration to the MS Exchange 2000 servers, users will notice an improvement in performance.

Global Address List Change
A major change, which all users will notice, is in the Global Address List (GAL). This is the list that is displayed when you click the To: button to select a recipient(s) when creating a new e-mail. In MS Exchange 5.5, the GAL is created and maintained within the Exchange application. In MS Exchange 2000, the MS Active Directory Global Catalog becomes the GAL. Therefore, the appearance of the names in the GAL will differ from MS Exchange 5.5.

In the current MS Exchange 5.5 system, the GAL is sorted alphabetically by Firstname. This GAL consists of people and resources that may or may not have an Exchange mailbox. In MS Exchange 2000, all names in the GAL will appear as Lastname, Firstname, and will be sorted alphabetically by Lastname. People and resources that may or may not have an Exchange mailbox will be included in the list.

During the migration, one noticeable difference will be the way clients are displayed in the Global Address List (GAL). The Global Address List for clients who have not migrated to the new servers will appear in a mixed format--names of clients who have Exchange mailboxes will continue to be listed FirstName LastName, while names of those who do not have Exchange mailboxes will be listed LastName, FirstName.

People who do not have Exchange mailboxes are denoted with a blue and green globe next to their name in the GAL in the current MS Exchange 5.5 system. In preparation for the upgrade, all of these non-Exchange mailbox entries will be converted to Lastname, Firstname format. While inconvenient, making this formatting change is required prior to the migration of data to the new servers. This change will address the complaints clients have shared with the system administrators about the old format of listing clients by Firstname first, and will bring the new installation in line with industry recommendations and the generally universal convention of listing names alphabetically by Lastname first. Once a client's mailbox has been moved to the new server, all clients will be listed in "Lastname, Firstname" format. This will result in quicker and more accurate searches. For example, if you are currently performing a search in the GAL for "Katherine Downs", there are many variations of the first name to consider: should you look under Katherine, Catherine, Kathy, Cathy, Kate, or Cate? After the migration is complete, you will be able to perform the search by looking up the last name of Downs.

Once users' mailboxes are migrated to MS Exchange 2000, the view will no longer be mixed--all names will be sorted Lastname, Firstname. Prior to your mailbox being migrated to Exchange 2000, if you find the mix of the two formats confusing (Exchange mailbox users appear Firstname Lastname, while non-Exchange mailbox entries appear Lastname, Firstname), there are a couple of hints located here to sort the GAL which may be helpful.

Shared Calendars
For users who share calendars, the free/busy schedule for people who are migrated to MS Exchange 2000 may not be immediately available to MS Exchange 5.5 users. Once a mailbox is moved to MS Exchange 2000, the user must enter the personal calendar and make an appointment before it become accessible to users with MS Exchange 5.5 mailboxes.

Outlook Web Access (https://exchange2.unh.edu/exchange)
Another major change, which many off-campus users will appreciate, is the new look and feel of Outlook Web Access (OWA) in MS Exchange 2000. Many revisions were made, making it much more functional and user-friendly. The logon process will be slightly different from the current deployment of MS Exchange 5.5 OWA. A logon 'Help' webpage is being created to assist in the transition to the new version. In addition, assistance will be available from the comprehensive Help feature within OWA, as well as through the CIS HelpDesk Call and Dispatch Center (2-4242).

Message Size Limit
MS Exchange 2000 will have a standard message size limit of 20MB, including text, text formatting, images, and attachments. If a user attempts to send a message that exceeds this limit, a warning error message will appear notifying the user that the message cannot be sent. The majority of users should not experience problems with this limit. Setting message size limits is a 'best practices' standard which is required to keep the servers performing optimally. Users who need to send a message in excess of 20MB are advised to use plain text (rather than MS Word) as the e-mail editor, provide a URL to link to large references, or to break the message into smaller parts to attempt to reduce the file size below the limit. Using a compression application (such as WinZip or PKZip) is also an option. Because ZIP files are now being blocked as attachments by the UNH email servers, the .zip file extension will need to be changed before sending, and then changed back to .zip by the recipient prior to opening. Assistance with any of these strategies is available by calling the CIS HelpDesk Call and Dispatch Center (2-4242).