Here are some lessons learned from a recent SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 Migrations.
- Migrating a network you have barely touched is much more difficult than a network you built from the ground up.
- Always follow the instructions in this document.
- If this is the second migration of the network…especially if the previous network was running Exchange 5.5, you need to stop and uninstall (in that order) the Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Connector.
- If installing on a Dell server, be sure to download all of the appropriate drivers for the server (especially the Chipset and Network drivers) before starting, in case you need to ignore the System Management Tool.
- Once again, printer drivers are a pain when dealing with a 32-bit client and a 64-bit server. If worse comes to worse, install the drivers on the client machines.
- If others have moved items around in Active Directory (AD) so that they are not in the expected positions for the Migration tool, there will be a fair amount of clean up in terms of security and distribution groups. If you can, clean up AD to the default settings before the migration.
- If you have a client who likes to use Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), they will hate the SBS Console settings. Download the WSUS installer and install the Admin Console (only) on their machine.
- If the client has a spam appliance or filter not on the server, turn off content filtering in Exchange.
- Having to have the original SBS 2003 disks to uninstall Exchange is a pain in the ass. Always keep your disks!
That is it for now. Best of luck!