Domain functional level and Exchange mode

Essendon

For my 284, I completely wiped out my rig and installed everything from scratch. Most things have been going along smoothly. Today, I discovered something which was a shock to me. I did not raise the domain functional level to Server 2003 when I installed AD on my 1st DC. I went on to install Exchange 2003 and left it running in the mixed mode. Now obviously, I cannot get the full functionality of Exchange. So the question is, can I raise the domain's functional level and change Exchange's working mode to native without problems? Would Exchange or AD complain loudly and crap itself? I know I seem like a bum posting this.

royal

You can raise your Domain Functional Level without any problems. Heck, if you've installed Exchange 2003 and are moving to Exchange 2007, one of the requirements is to move to at least 2000 native mode.

Essendon

Edit:

I went ahead and did it, with no problems at all. I turned off the exchange VM while raising the DFL, not that it would have mattered, but still was a bit cautious. I also found that you do not need to turn off any domain controllers to do this. Just do it on one DC and it gets replicated to the others pretty much right away (depends on your topology of course). Then I changed Exchange's mode to native, and thankfully that went through without a hiccup. Thanks again, royal.

rjbarlow

From what I recall and I think to be not wrong, the domain functional level is not mattering regarding an Exchange organization running in Mixed or Native Mode in Exchange Server 2003.
The one thing that comes in my mind is that You can't use Query-based distibution Groups in domains not at 2003 functional level, but this is still not related to the Exchange Native and Mixed Mode.

Essendon

Yupp, I think your right there, rj.

From techtarget:

Making the switch 

First, to be clear, the mode in which Exchange is running is completely independent from the mode in which Windows is running. Windows can be running in native mode while Exchange is running in mixed mode, and vice versa.

http://searchexchange.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid43_gci1042173,00.html#

I just wanted to be sure, I am learning the ropes man! Didnt want to stuff something up terribly, although I do learn in the process, but sometimes it's too much of a deviation from the objective at hand.

By the way, as royal said, the domain needs to be in 2000 native mode oe better when installing Exchange Server 2007.

Check this: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997909.aspx