Recommended Exchange 2007 Lab Setup

I need to get going on this and was just curious how I should set this up.

I'm thinking two domains with two servers in each, one for edge transport, and one for the others. I might just do a single server in one domain to see how that setup works.

Does that sound about right?

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HeroPsycho

Yes.

I'd also publish Exchange through ISA if you can, and on one of your domains, setup Exchange 2003 and migrate it to 2007 as well.

dynamik

I'll obviously need another 32-bit box for 2003, but can I run ISA on one of the Exchange servers, or will I need another VM for that as well?

Also, is it pretty simple to setup 2003 for a test migration if I have no experience with that?

TIA.

HeroPsycho

Just do it all in VMware.

No, Exchange + ISA on one instance of Windows = bad idea.

You don't absolutely have to actually setup ISA end to end with Exchange for the purposes of the certifications, but you do need to know the concepts of why ISA is the best choice for securing Exchange access over the internet. However, I definitely would setup Exchange 2003 coexistence/migration with Exchange 2007.

dynamik

HeroPsycho wrote: »

Just do it all in VMware.

*whew* good thing you said something. I was about to pick up a few servers on eBay.

HeroPsycho wrote: »

No, Exchange + ISA on one instance of Windows = bad idea.

Even for lab/testing? I can see why it would be less-than-ideal in production. Do you think I could throw it on the edge transport machine? I'm just trying to keep the number of VMs down. I wanted to do this on my laptop, but it seems like 4gb isn't going to be sufficient. Does Exchange enforce the 2GB minimum requirement, or is that just a minimum for production?

HeroPsycho wrote: »

You don't absolutely have to actually setup ISA end to end with Exchange for the purposes of the certifications, but you do need to know the concepts of why ISA is the best choice for securing Exchange access over the internet. However, I definitely would setup Exchange 2003 coexistence/migration with Exchange 2007.

I may not delve into this immediately, but I'd like to learn about it. I actually have the ISA books I've seen you recommend, so I guess now will be a good time to bust those out. My big priority is that 2003 to 2007 migration I need to do in a couple of weeks. I'm not really focusing on the certification right now (though it makes sense to go after at least 236 after all of this).

Thanks again.

danclarke

Just one clarification: the edge transport servers should be stand alone servers.

rjbarlow

I suggest You to deploy two domains connected by two routers (W.S 200x RRASs) for simulating a leased line link; the main domain will have:
2 DC (one standard and one Global Catalog)
2 servers Exchange back-end (for future clustering)
1 server Exchange front-end
1 client
One DC can be even a CA, the RRAS server can be an ISA.

The second domain will have:
1 DC
1 server Exchange
1 client (optional)

Routers (RRAS servers) --> 128 MB
DCs --> 160
Exchange servers --> 200 MB
Client --> 128 MB

You are well whithin 4 GB of RAM.
That is very similar to my lab and it works fine in a core2duo 6550@2800 MHz and 960 MHz RAM.

For clustering I never used VMWare, so I can suggest You to use Virtual Server 2005 R2, but for all the other I strongly reccomend You Virtual PC 2007 because You will not have to loose much of Your time browsing options in web pages.
The fun is that You can load Your Virtual PC 2007 machines within Virtual Server 2005 and viceversa with not so a great effort after all, until You configure an IDE controller instead of a SCSI for the system disk when You install the S.O.

HeroPsycho

Exchange 2007 servers running on 200M of RAM would be an exercise in futility even if it would work. Definitely need more RAM than that.

Daniel333

What's the goal of the lab? MCTS? MCITP?

Seems to me you would want two domains.

Each with 4 Exchange 2007 servers. Try to have all your roles seperate, an ISA on each domain, a couple of PIXs to build a DMZ. On one domain grow it from a 2003 to 2007. And on the other domain make it a clean install of 2007. Probably make one domain a 2003 and the other a 2008 for exposure.

You can use GNS3 and Vmware to simulate the envionment by binding the virtual NICs to a cloud in GNS.

Should be able to pull off each domain on a x4CPU with 4gigs of ram.

astorrs

I'm going to be the voice of reason here...

Duplicate your clients setup as best you can (single Exchange server, 1 domain or whatever it is) and migrate it to Exchange 2007. Once you've figured out the kinks/processes for migrating, then consider blowing away the VMs and starting over with a clean lab.

Now that your immediate needs are met, we can have a little fun...

For the clean lab, I would start with a single Exchange server running all the roles and once you have that running properly (a setup you are likely to encounter in SMBs in the future) then start "growing" the clients to the point where you need to split each of the roles to its own servers. Once you have each role distributed (and ISA protecting OWA & Edge) I would have my client "acquire" a new company with Exchange 2003 and migrate them into the environment. Then maybe have them acquire another company with Exchange 2007. Make sure each new company folds the AD environment into your master one (using ADMT or another tool to eliminate the need for the old domain completely). If you want a real challenge, build a Domino and a GroupWise server and migrate them into Exchange too.

You'll learn enough for the certs as you go, but more importantly you're simulating what you'll likely be encountering in the real world... "Mr. Consultant".

dynamik

astorrs wrote: »

I'm going to be the voice of reason here...

Yea, some of these scenarios are a bit more complex than I need right now.

However, I do appreciate all the suggestions. I'll definitely incorporate all your ideas into my future studies. Thanks again

jbaello

Just curious is there really a need to have a RRAS to simulate 2 sites interconnecting via a WAN? when I did my lab at work it was all VMWARE slapped them all on the same subnet, and configured 2 separate Forests, then played with replication etc. I figured I shouldn't worry about the networking part since it's not my job, unless there's a special reason why.

astorrs

jbaello wrote: »

Just curious is there really a need to have a RRAS to simulate 2 sites interconnecting via a WAN? when I did my lab at work it was all VMWARE slapped them all on the same subnet, and configured 2 separate Forests, then played with replication etc. I figured I shouldn't worry about the networking part since it's not my job, unless there's a special reason why.

Not unless you want to test the impact of bandwidth limitations and latency.

rjbarlow

jbaello wrote: »

Just curious is there really a need to have a RRAS to simulate 2 sites interconnecting via a WAN? when I did my lab at work it was all VMWARE slapped them all on the same subnet, and configured 2 separate Forests, then played with replication etc. I figured I shouldn't worry about the networking part since it's not my job, unless there's a special reason why.

The good having that is You can simulate really two sites (of course not connected modem-to-modem), as many questions in the MS exams require to think about, You can simulate break-downs of the connection etc.