Migration Question from 2.46 to Unity 3.1(4)

[bbickerstaff]

There are a lot of great posts on the migration process. I just want to be sure that I am on the right track.

Current installation:

Unity 2.4.6 Build 135 Voice Mail Only

Windows 2000

Exchange 5.5

The customer needs to migrate to a new hardware platform (Dell 2550) from an existing platform. I need to know the best way to accomplish this. They are currently a Voice Mail only customer and will remain Voice Mail Only.

Questions:

1.) If they are Exchange 5.5 now and plan to stay a voice mail only customer, is it beneficial to remain Exchange 5.5 or should they be Exchange 2000.

2.) Are there any issues with using the export/import utility when going from 2.4(6) to 3.1(4)? Or should I use the DIRT tool? Not sure which one is more beneficial.

3.) When using the import/export tool or the DIRT tool, are there any issues with Server Names being different?

4.) THE MAIN REASON for the migration from one hardware platform to another is the fact that they wish to be able to FAIL BACK to the original Unity server if something goes wrong (500 Users). In some of the posts, it was indicated that You can't fail back to the original server. I'm not sure why you can't do this?

Thanks for your help....

[kechambe]

1) If you plan to remain VM only I would stick with Exchange 5.5. It's a little easier to wrap your mind around and pretty stable.

2) The DiRT tool only works with 3.1 and later. The export/import should work fine for you.

3) There is no problem with the server name changing with either tool.

4) I can't think of a reason why you can't fall back if it is a VM only system. If it was a UM system and you ran the Unity uninstall than I could see that as an issue but it doesn't sound like this is what you will be doing.

Keith