DNS/website migration with an Exchange server

Question

I would like to migrate my organization's primary website to a different hosting provider, which is a straight-forward process, however we also have an exchange server that handles mail for this domain. Our domain registrar is Network Solutions and our DNS appears to be handled by our current hosting provider (XO Communications). For our website, I realize I merely need to change the naming servers to point to the new hosting provider-- which I'm assuming I'd do via Network Solutions-- however, I'm unclear as to the way our exchange server needs to be handled in this transition.

In the DNS zonefile at XO, I can see two entries listed under "MX Record (Mail Exchange)"-- i.e. one listing "mail.ourdomain.com" and another for "mailhost.xo-hosting.com." If I change the name servers listed in the Network Solutions control panel to those for our new hosting provider, I'm assuming I also need to change the server name listed in the MX record at XO? Or do I actually need to migrate the DNS management altogether to the new hosting provider? Finally, what modifications do I need to make to the Exchange server itself?

Thanks for any assistance here; I've dealt with migrating websites many times but never with the mail server component...

Answer 1

In order to move Exchange Server to a new server, I suggest using Ed Crowley Server Move Method, by following steps below:

1. Bring up a new server as a new server in the same site. Use a different name for the new server. If you need to move Exchange to another server with the same name, follow the instructions in the Microsoft article “XADM: How to Move Exchange Server to a New Computer with the Same Name” (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q155/2/16.asp).
2. To move user mailboxes to the new server, start Microsoft Exchange Administrator, click Tools, and select Move Mailbox. You can move all the mailboxes at once, one at a time, or several at a time. In many cases, you can move mailboxes during working hours because each user is locked out of his or her mailbox only while that mailbox is being moved.
3. Create replicas of the public folders on the new server. When the contents of the folders have been replicated (do wait a little while!), remove the folders from the old server.
4. Create new connectors on the new servers. Change the costs of the old connectors you're replacing to be higher than the new ones, then recalculate routing.
5. Create mail exchanger (MX) records pointing to the new Internet Mail Service (IMS) as appropriate, and change the cost on the old MX record so that it’s higher than the costs on the new records. When you’ve verified that messages are flowing across the new connectors, remove the old ones, then recalculate routing again.
6. Follow the steps in the Microsoft article “XADM: How to Remove the First Exchange Server in a Site” (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q152/9/59.asp) if the server you're replacing is the first one in the site.
7. Leave the old server up for a while to give Messaging API (MAPI) clients time to connect to the new server automatically ( the old server provides referrals to the new one). It's true—you don't have to reconfigure MAPI clients!
8. Tell POP3 and IMAP4 users how to reconfigure their clients to point to the new server.
9. If you have a WINS or DNS alias for the old server, point it to the new server.
10. Stop the Exchange services on the old server, then use Exchange Administrator to delete the old server's server object, thus removing it from the site.

Hope it could help.